How have you set up your personal ritual space or altar at home? Do you have any unique items that carry special significance?

Read about how various members have set up personal altars in their homes, workspaces, and even minds!

A permanent altar doesn’t have to be involved or even obvious. It can be as small and simple as a candle (an electric one will do), a bowl of water, and a picture of a tree on a shelf. I had one of those on a shelf in my office at a law firm. Having said that, our grove doesn’t have a permanent location, so we have a Grove kit (started life as a modular tool kit on wheels) and for smaller rituals, I have a messenger bag that holds everything I need to do a Grove ritual. Add a shopping bag or basket for special requirements for a given ritual and I’m good to go. I also have a magic go bag (a purse with supplies) and an even smaller kit for my day bag that fits in a small makeup pouch -altoids tin altar, ogham cards, small vials of oils (cleansing, protection, banishing, multipurpose), some Italian seasoning (protection and prosperity herbs), red silk embroidery thread, and a cotton tea bag. – LSK

A lot of what I have on mine is significant, and much of it from my own handiwork: – The table I put my altar on is inherited from my late grandfather, so it’s an ancestral remembrance. – My tree symbol is a staff I made about 20 years ago, from a sapling that had been crushed in an ice storm, and I got specific permission from the plant to take. – My wand is also something I made around 20 years ago, with permission from the oak I got it from. – My sacred center is marked by a large stone I picked up at an overgrown crossroads many years ago. It’s also been used in that role for many grove rituals, so it has quite a lot of juice built up. – I currently keep the ADF Hellenic Kin’s White Owl. It enjoys a prominent place there. (If another member of the Kin decides they want to take over, they’re welcome to do so, I’ve had it for a long time now.) – I made a set of runes from a branch I harvested and cut. They’re still my primary rune set, I pull them close to daily. – I lucked into being able to buy a Greek Alphabet Oracle set carved from stone by ADF’s own Sidney Bolam. Really great work on her part, and also get nearly a daily pull.  But I always encourage people when starting their altar space to start super-simple: I began with a stick in a spool to keep it upright as a tree symbol, a bowl of water from my kitchen, a cheap tea light, and a divination set drawn on paper. – T

Eeee! I love altar show-and-tells! So. There are a few things that remain in whatever iteration I have set up for my altar (travel, permanent, seasonal, and even the redecorating). 1. I’ve got my “pillar” from The Magical Druid that has the Kindred on one side, and the realms Sigils (designed by Ian Corrigan) on the other.  2. Candle. It can be a flame one, an electric, or even a crafted one (read; non heat producing). 3. Lizard figure or tile. Due to a Warriors Games many years ago, I accepted a geas of honoring Lizard. I have a small figurine that stays on my permanent altar, and a tile that goes in my travel one. My permanent altar has A NUMBER of things currently (way too many to go into I feel) with more focus given to the Dead, and so many rocks and bones. – D

I use the top of my late wife’s hutch. It’s kinda over crowded now as I continue to put things up there. Stones from my travels in Ireland and the UK, candles, items for rituals. I temporarily place things there to let them share the energy. – GS

I have quite a small house, so I tend to go up the wall. My altar, itself, is a bedside table my great-grandfather made. It’s about a foot square on top and has a small drawer for tools, etc. On that is a small tabletop hearth where a refillable oil candle is my hearth fire. A ceramic bowl made by a friend and practitioner is the well. I have a “tree” made by the Magical Druid with the Kindreds and the cosmos sigils. There’s a small stand (I hesitate to call it a candelabra) that holds 3 votive sized candles for the Kindreds. Next to each is a symbol of the Kindred – a small brownie, a crystal skull, and a fine quartz point. I have a statue representing the wild earth mother and an oil candle for her as well. On the wall behind the altar is a pen and ink of Brighid, a print of Mannanan, and several other prints, plaques,  and drawings. Next to the altar is a curio shelf stand also about a foot square and 6 feet tall. The top shelf is my main ancestor shrine. It has pictures of deceased immediate family, a pendant with my dad’s ashes, and dirt from family graves. Their graves are 600 miles away, and there’s nobody left there to visit so I rarely am able to get there. The next shelf holds small wooden statuettes of Irish deities. The next shelf holds seasonal decorations – its beside the altar. The next shelf holds wooden statuettes of Norse and Germanic deities. The bottom shelf has a canvas drawer where I keep supplies and decor items when they aren’t in display. This is all in my study where I can see them from my desk. – LSK

My altar is on a section of my desk that is at a higher height than the rest of the desk. I have a Skadi statue, a compass key fob symbolizing inner direction, a candle, a leaf-shaped offering dish, a larger candle shaped like a bunch of oak leaves, a paperweight from my engineering honor society, a few stones or crystals from people I care about, and a small stuffed bluebird. I also have a $1 bill there for good luck. I may put out strawberry oatmeal as an offering this winter. Part of the reason I am using my desk as an altar is that I want to be spiritually centered when I am doing journalism. I also want to have spiritual good luck in my new media work. The journalism industry has been downsizing ever since I started working in it. – KF

I live in a cabin in the woods. It’s an open floor plan and there is no wall between the living room and kitchen. l have my altar set up permanently on a round table between the designated living room and kitchen area.. It has a statue of the three Brigids on it, and from Samhain till Imbolc a framed print of a painting of the Irish Cailleach by Irish artist Jane Brideson. I also have a red candle in a brass candlestick that holds Brigid’s Flame from Kildare, and a glass jar candle,, a glass jar of water from Brigid’s Well, and a small gold wire tree  for my Fire, Well, and Tree symbols for my rituals, and a couple of quartz crystals on the altar, and a vase of dried red and white flowers.  I change the altar cloths, the crystals,, and add fresh flowers for High Days. I burn incense for offerings, and also offer Guinness beer, or Irish Whiskey, or  fresh spring water for offerings, and sometimes baked goods. When I do my Flametending shift I put a small green bowl on my altar with the names of people who have asked me to ask Brigid to help heal them. I do ask Brigid to heal them, and give them comfort and peace if it is the end of their life. – N

I have a main working altar that is on top of a small sideboard I found for that purpose that has closed storage for my most frequently used tools. On top I always have my hallows, a chalice, knife, and feather, and the tools I use for my daily self blessing; this is where I do ritual and spell work other than healing.  I have a shrine for Brighid which sees daily use as I’ve maintained an evening prayer cycle to get, and healing prayers for my community, daily since 2018. I have another one for Airmid which sees intermittent use when I am actively doing herbalism (medicine making, learning, garden planning, etc). Those 3 are in my library.  In the living room, my husband and I share an Ancestor shrine although he only uses it at Dia de los Muertos or when he misses our pup Judas strongly and wants to leave him treats.  At my private practice, I have a small, discrete shrine to Brighid as well which contains a statue, a Brighid’s cross, and led candles (no fire at the office) as my work as a psychologist is very much part of my relationship with her. The thing that carries the most significance for me is that all of my most important items-statues, images, hallows, etc-are all gifts from beloved people in my life. It brings me joy to engage in my spiritual practices literally with my community present through their kindnesses.   – AG

I have altars all over the house. One is at my bedside, another at my hearth, one in the bathroom near the tub, and another next to my workspace. Each one has some special items: stones, mostly, but lots of statues as well. – JH

I have a tealight holder from Ireland made of Connemara marble. Having that literal piece of Ireland on my altar really seems to boost the feeling of connection to the land of my ancestors. – BM

The two items that, I wouldn’t say mean the most to me, but that are both unique and deeply sentimental are: 1. I have an omphalos made of petrified conifer, and 2. A piece of marble the was quarried near my grandmothers house. This stone in particular was cut and used to make her fireplace. With what was left my father and I put a base on it and attached it to my altar. – MTS

Regretfully, I can’t. I create an altar, when I do a ritual(mostly to celebrate the High Days). I would do one, if I had a special premises to make it a temple. I have though to hire a small office even for that, but for now I have not the financial possibility. So, for now I create it and then lift it. I have been trained in mental magic and I perform my magical rituals on a mental level and my result are as good, as I would have used material things and as a matter of fact, they are even better. I wonder will it be the same with the religious ceremony, If I perform such a mental ritual anywhere in the park, in the forest or on the sea coast. Only the gifts will be material – I offer jewelry, gemstones, candles and incense(which i burn at home, I would not use these among the nature). – EK