Shrines: A Moderately In-Depth Look
So, many people have asked me how to go about starting to set up shrines and how to take care of them and use them. So here’s a big long post!
A shrine is a devotional altar set up for a specific deity or spirit. It is a place, area, or table where you make offerings, pray, and commune with that entity. Shrines are helpful because not only do they help show your devotion to the gods or spirits you venerate, but also having a physical space to routinely make offerings can help keep you in the habit of regular offerings to build your relationship.
A good way to start setting up a shrine is to pick a place or an area to set it up. It’s important to keep in mind what locations are appropriate for what beings. For example, if you’re setting up a shrine to your ancestors, it’s probably best to do so in a space of modesty (i.e. not a place where a lot of nudity or sex takes place). Furthermore, think about spaces that might be holy to the god or spirit you are setting it up for. For instance, a shrine to your ancestors in a common family room, a shrine for Hekate by a doorway or threshold, a shrine for the spirits of the land in an outdoor setting. All of these things can factor in choosing a location. While none of these are necessarily ‘requirements’, all of these considerations may help you feel more connected or even grant you better access to communicating with your deity or spirits when worshipping at your shrine.
Now that you’ve chosen a location, it’s time to start actually setting the shrine itself. Really anything can be used, an end table, the top of a dresser, a dedicated table, even an entire room if you have the means. However, even the type of structure might lend itself to different deities or spirits. If you’re making a shrine to an underworld or nature deity, perhaps a table that’s closer to the ground, or a shrine to Athena on top of a bookcase. Once you’ve picked your shrine table, it’s important to cleanse it. If you’re going to be setting up a shrine for a deity or spirit, it should be fit for them to present. Then, consecrate the shrine. This can be done by saying a blessing over the table, smoking it with incense, and/or anointing it with sacred oils.
Once you’ve picked your table, cleansed, and consecrated your shrine, it’s time to start decorating. A good starting place is deciding whether or not you want an altar cloth. After you have or haven’t placed an altar cloth on the table, start with basics. A good starting place is placing any statues you may have of the deity or spirit on the shrine. Then I like to place any candles I have made for the deity or spirit on the shrine. Next steps could include any sacred items such as bones of animals sacred to the deity or spirit, other candles, flowers, crystals, jewelry, etc. It’s then important to leave space for offerings. One of the main purposes of a shrine is to have a space to leave offerings dedicated to the entities you venerate, so leaving a bowl or a plate and some cups on the shrine to leave offerings in is a great idea. Extra decorations could include things like art of the spirit or deity. Purchasing art from other practitioners or devotees is a great idea. But if you’re on a budget it’s understandable that purchasing prints or comissions might be difficult. I am personally against printing out art that people are selling, and I think that’s theft. But if the artist is dead and it’s a classical painting I say go for it.
For me, the aesthetic of a shrine is important. Colors and themes evoke feelings, and you ultimately want the shrine to bring you closer to the god or spirit you’re worshipping, so making the aesthetic of the shrine match the way the spirit or deity makes you feel is helpful. Furthermore, crafting an aesthetic for your shrine that matches the energy of the deity or spirit is a great plan to help that closeness and show your devotion. For instance, my Hekate shrine is dark but warm. Mixing dark imagery and black with warm, red accents. On the other hand, my Pan shrine features lots of animal parts and goes for a more rustic look to mirror Pan’s divine qualities. You can take any direction you want with your shrine, as long as it evokes the feelings you need it to in order to feel close with your spirit or deity.
Decorations for a shrine also don’t have to be fancy or expensive. I get a lot of my decorations from thrift stores and the dollar store. Also, taking the time to make your own decorations can be a further devotional act. It’s all about doing what works for you and putting effort and care into making a space for your deity or spirit to commune with you. There’s no one way to organize a shrine, so whatever is done with genuine devotion and care is what is right to do.
The next step is to perform a ritual of dedication to devote the shrine to the deity or spirit. Light the candles, make some offerings (incense, food, wine) and invite the spirit or deity to accept them and inhabit the shrine. This is an important final step in the initial setting up of the shrine.
The shrine isn’t meant to be static, but instead a routinely used and maintained space of worship. That being said, it’s wise to do consistent work on it.
What to do With Offerings:
Making the offering is pretty straightforward. You leave it on the shrine in whatever receptacle and then pray to your spirit or deity. But what do you do with it afterwards? I usually let perishable offerings sit for no more than a week and usually no less than three days. These offerings can then be disposed of ritually and replaced with new ones. Non-perishable offerings can be left on the shrine and can add to the decorations (art, talismans, sacred objects) or be left in a bowl or plate (i.e. a bowl of money, jewelry, and/or crystals, etc.) on the shrine.
The shrine is meant to reflect your relationship and devotion to a spirit or deity, and therefore should shift with that relationship. Starting out, your shrine will probably be pretty straightforward and simple, but as you grow and build your relationship with your deity or spirit, you should add to your shrine. If you find something at a store that you feel fits your deity or spirit, add it to the shrine! If you begin relating to the deity or spirit in a new way, the decorations can change and you may even feel the need to remove some of them. This is natural and is an important part of any relationship with the divine. When removing decorations, make sure that you ask first and do so respectfully, especially if it is something that has been used as an offering. Overall, the important part of shrine upkeep is that it doesn’t become a place of stagnation, but of growth and transformation.
As shrines are meant to be a space of active worship, they’re going to get dirty sometimes. Incense ashes may fall onto the altar cloth, wax might drip onto the shrine, your statues or decorations might get dusty. If you’re consistent in your veneration of the spirit or deity, the shrine is going to get dirty. So, cleaning your shrine and making sure it is fit for worship and for your god or spirit to be present at is important. It doesn’t have to be an every day thing, or even weekly, but it should be done as a sign of respect and care. I tend to clean my shrines in preparations for holy days or rituals, I try to make sure I do it just generally at least once every month or so.
Shrines can be an important part of your relationship with a deity or spirit, but it can be hard to know where to start. This post is not meant to be definitive or authoritative in any way, but to help those who might need guidance find some starting points for their practice. Shrines can be anything from a transportable set up, to a whole room, but they are all equal. What’s important to remember is that size, intricacy, or expensiveness is not equivalent to devotion. Any shrine made in genuine care and devotion is equal to another. So when constructing a shrine make sure to do it from the heart and you should be headed in the right direction. It can be really discouraging to see fancy shrines as a beginner, and they can be pretty overwhelming, too. So, always remember that a shrine is to show your devotion to a spirit or god, not to compete with others. As long as you put the effort and care in, you’re golden. I’ve included some pictures of my shrines as examples of how they can differ in their design, and hope that can show that they can be anything you want them to be. I hope this post is helpful and can give some people a way to start their devotional practice.
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