by Garnet WindDancer The word altar comes from the Latin word altus, meaning "high". The meaning is most likely two-fold. The altar itself is raised and also it is a place for offerings of food and prayer to be carried to the Divine, traditionally seen as living in a higher realm. The family altar is not a new concept. Indeed, most ancient homes had at least one altar, adorned with statues of patron Gods and Goddesses, that was tended daily with offerings of food, wine, incense and flowers. Perhaps that is what is lacking in today's society, where everyone either keeps their religion firmly under wraps or proselytizes on street corners to the harried masses who aren't interested in someone else's brand of spirituality. What, then, is an altar and how can it help? First and foremost, an altar is a highly personalized space, filled with any manner of candles, censures, statues, pictures, bells, athames...the list is as varied and exotic as the people who create them. It is filled with items that express your spirituality. Second, an altar, we must not forget, is sacred space. You may open your ritual circle and send the energies out into the Universe but the altar is forever hallowed ground, consecrated to the deities whom we have chosen to honor. Third, an altar is an outward expression of your inward belief. It isn't the same as wearing every piece of ritual jewelry you own and carting around a giant print edition of The Witches Bible so that everyone can see that you're a Witch. It is more profound and holy than that. Your home is meant to be your shelter from the intrusive demands of the world outside. It is the inner sanctum to which we retreat when we need to rest our weary bones. In all ways, it should reflect the people who live and breathe within its walls. If we exclude our altar, we are denying a large part of ourselves. If you can't express yourself in your own home, then where can you ever? A small note to those living with parents or husbands and families who do not practice...altars can be as ostentatious or as unobtrusive as you wish. A simple candle and rose quartz crystal on a bedside table can be as effective for the practitioner as a full-blown stone altar in the living room. For years, my altar was proudly displayed on the raised stone hearth in my dining room. It often drew comments like "what a neat/odd/interesting/weird collection you have there". To the untrained eye, it was simply a collection of items that I chose to display together. Your altar should inspire a feeling of renewal. Tending it daily, with a simple dusting and lighting of a candle and incense, can help reaffirm your connection to the turning of the Wheel. After all, isn't it within our day-to-day lives that we begin to falter and feel dragged down? Sabbats are special events, glorious and celebratory, but they are not the wear and tear of everyday life. In The Circle Within, by Dianne Sylvan, she states that one of the most disturbing trends she has seem is something she calls "festival paganism". These are people who don their ritual robes and celebrate the Sabbats with abandon and "then [go] back to acting as if [they] had no spiritual life at all the rest of the month." She maintains that "Wicca is not something you do, it's something you are - minute by minute." Try creating a morning ritual, wherein you pause before your altar and light some incense. If you don't have time for meditation, then briefly greet the day and say hello the the God and Goddess or try a simple chant. It should become a habit but it should never be done on autopilot. Home altars went the way of the dinosaur when patriarchal religion came along and told us we were no longer worthy of communing with the Divine for ourselves. Our spirituality was plucked from our grasp and placed firmly in the hands of the priests, rabbis, pastors and preachers of organized religions. Suddenly, altars were places we trembled to approach. Godhead became more and more remote and inaccessible. I remember quite clearly, as a little girl in a Baptist church, the confusion I felt when disciplined for running around and playing near the altar. God became something to fear, to avoid. He would not suffer the little children to place grubby paws on His place of worship. To erect a family altar is to reclaim our spiritual autonomy and power. It is a chance to proclaim our beliefs. It is a way to increase the flow of positive energies and attract "good luck" and balance into our lives. The Goddess embraces children who draw a picture or who collect flowers and rocks to place upon Her altar or who are comfortable enough with its everyday presence to park their Hotwheels under its sheltering shadow. She loves household kitties who feel the magical energies that resonate from the altar and curl up for their catnaps smack dab in the middle of the (unlighted) candles and the chalice of moonwater that has been left as an offering after an Esbat ritual. The family altar has then become a part of everyday life, a constant reminder of our beliefs and a way of attuning ourselves to the Wheel of the Year. As it should be.
References: Cunningham, Scott. The Magical Household. St. Paul, MN: Llewellyn,1983. Heuer, Ann Rooney. Creating the Peaceful Home. New York: Friedman/Fairfax, 1999 Sylvan, Dianne. The Circle Within: Creating a Wiccan Spiritual Tradition. St. Paul, MN: Llewellyn, 2003
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