At the Altar: Creating a Sacred Space
All about altars in the practice of witchcraft: what are they, how are they used, and how can you keep up with them if you want one?
Long post below the cut with further reading at the bottom.
If you're practicing a skill or taking the time to engage in a particular hobby or passion, it's usually a good idea to have a dedicated place to do that. For example, I have a garden in my yard where I grow vegetables during the warmer part of the year. All of my tools are in the same place - on my porch, where I should ideally put them in a bag or bin, but realistically scatter them to trip over later - and everything I need to engage in this practice that I love is within easy reach.
As a fun piece of neurological trivia, creating a designated space for a designated activity can actually help you feel more connected to that activity and get into the mindset of its practice much easier; our brains are excellent pattern recognizers, and love routines. If you practice something in the same space, prepped in the same way, with the same tools regularly, your brain begins to associate that space with your practice, and gets you ready to engage with it the moment you enter that space, meaning you can put yourself in the mindset of whatever you want to regularly practice by building it a dedicated space and routine. This advice is usually given to those building a workspace in their home for remote jobs, but it also applies to more creative endeavors.
All of this is to say that many witches choose to create a sacred space that is dedicated to their practice. This space is often called an altar.
What is an altar?
Altars are, in the most basic sense, simply a dedicated place to practice your craft in some manner. They're typically a table of some kind, or at minimum a flat surface, that's set with specialized dressings and includes tools and decorations that are used to practice your craft. Often witches will demark this space with a cloth, a painted sigil or rune wheel, or some other clear indicator, though not all choose to do this (hidden witches who may be in danger if discovered often hide altars in plain sight as "collections" or "trinket shelves"). It may have bowls or cups for offerings, candles, incense, mirrors, pictures, crystals or stones, herbs or flowers, and other pieces of decoration, and it may also be a place where charms, amulets, wards, and the physical aspects of spells are stored. It might also house tools like divination pieces (think tarot cards or rune stones), athames, or wands.
Some witches choose to create elaborate, permanent altars that may even encompass entire rooms, filled with dedicated decor that's rife with meaning and enchantment, stacked with books and tools of all kinds collected over years and worth a small fortune. Other witches choose to keep their altar in a small box under their bed, pulling out and setting up a small space only when they're performing a working of some kind. Still others will have small, practical dedicated spaces worked into their everyday home like the top of a nightstand, a shelf in a cupboard or on a wall, or in a cabinet. Some may create a travel altar to bring with them, which might be a separate space from their main altar all together. Some witches have many altars, while others have one, and still others may choose not to make an altar at all.
Your altar, should you choose to make one, is a reflection of your craft and your needs. It can be as big or as small, as elaborate or as simple as you need it to be.
How to use an altar
I like to classify altars into two categories: working and veneration.
A working altar is a space where you perform some action for your craft. These altars are where you cast spells, communicate with deities and spirits, divine, etc. Typically, at this altar, you'll want to keep your spell components and reference books within arm's reach. Here, you might keep spell candles and cleansing or charging stations (more on that in a later post), active spells (for example, if you have a candle spell with a plate full of ingredients), and magically powered pieces like spell jars or charmed jewelry.
My working altar is in a cabinet away from my cats. It's filled with candles I've enchanted, components in a barely organized system of tubs and jars, and jewelry hanging from hooks. I've decorated it with pieces I've made - crochet altar cloth, a home-made Brigid cross, various letters and poems, a homemade besom. It's cluttered and cramped, but personal, filled with warm colors and the scent of cinnamon. It feels like home to me, which is exactly what I need when I'm working.
A veneration altar, on the other hand, is a space you've set up that's dedicated to an energy, spirit, or deity you're working with. It might be a section of your working altar, or it might be its own space. You can dedicated a veneration altar to practically anyone or anything, but some typical favorites are various deities (God, Poseidon, Cernunnos, Vesta, etc.), the elements (earth, wind, water, fire, and sometimes spirit), particular spirits (house spirits like brownies or gnomes, elemental spirits, land spirits, guardians, etc.), and ancestors (either by blood or inspiration). Veneration altars typically have places for offerings, pictures or artwork depicting or representing the entity being venerated, and decor associated with the entity being venerated just generally.
I have a veneration altar in my kitchen that's dedicated to Mother Mary, Lady Brigid, and Lady Hestia. So, on that altar, I keep my cookbooks, seeds for my garden, an offering bowl that I fill with water each day, and candles that I light when I'm dedicating a task to them, which are scented after things I associate with them (lemons and rosemary, as well as basil and apples and cinnamon), alongside various little trinkets.
A note here on travel altars. Many witches choose to create small mobile altars in portable containers which they can bring with them when they travel. To create one, all you really need is a small container and whatever you plan to use while you're traveling. It can be as small as a mint tin in your pocket or as big as a carry on bag; it's entirely up to you. Mine is in a small chest from a craft store, and contains a few candles, matches, a mini altar cloth, salt, and some prayer cards, among other things, so that I can practice the way I like to wherever I am. Travel altars can be fascinatingly creative; I've seen people create them with decks of cards and digital apps and even inside of video games!
Altar Care and Keeping
Generally, it's a good idea to keep your altar physically clean for practical reasons. Dust buildup and overdue offerings full of rot or mold can pose a health risk, so keeping your space well dusted and fresh is a must. It's also a good idea spiritually and mentally; a clean space invites clearer, more focused thinking and easier access to your magical abilities.
As for magically cleansing your altar, I find that this differs from person to person. I cleansed my altars when I made them, and do so every time I do a major deep clean (usually around the solstices); I find that this is often enough to feel connected to my space and my magic without it becoming a chore. You may find that you need to cleanse your space more often or less - it's dependent on how you feel your connection fares.
A very simple way to cleanse your space, I've found, is with a spray bottle. Fill the bottle with some kind of blessed water (you can find a recipe for my cleansing spray here) and simply spritz it over your space as needed. You might alternatively keep a bell at your altar to ring to "break up" unwanted energies and send them packing.
You should feel free to keep your altar in whatever way feels most comfortable to you in every other way. Do you want it to be a permanent, unchanging fixture you can use as an anchoring point? Let it be that! Do you want to change it with every season? Go for it! Want to keep multiple altars all with specific purposes? Do it! Want just one altar that does it all? Why not! You shouldn't feel you have to keep an altar at all if you're more comfortable simply incorporating your practice into your everyday life wherever and whenever you feel like it. Like I said earlier, altars are reflections of you. As with practically every other aspect of witchcraft, there are no hard and fast rules to follow.
As a final note, it's generally considered extremely rude (bare minimum) for someone that isn't you to touch your altar, move things, or take anything from it without your express permission. This is a highly personal space; it's akin to someone taking and reading a diary or messing with a gift you're planning to give to someone else. If you live with others or frequently have others in your space, it might be a good idea to have a conversation with them about boundaries regarding your altar.
Further reading
Assem, Khodeir, & Fathy. Designing for human wellbeing: The integration of neuroarchitecture in design – A systematic review. Ain Shams Engineering Journal. 2023. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2090447922004130
Doshi & Clay. Rethink space: (Re)designing a workspace using human-centered design to support flexibility, collaboration, and engagement among clinical and translational research support services. Journal of Clinical and Translational Science at Cambridge University Press. 2017. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5652640/
Murphy-Hiscock, Arin. The House Witch: Your Complete Guide to Creating a Magical Space with Rituals and Spells for Hearth and Home. 2018. ISBN 9781507209462.
Prata, Emyle D., Raztresen, Sara. Discovering Christian Witchcraft: A Beginner's Guide for Everyday Practice. ISBN 979-8986487649.
