Sacred Altar

Some people feel that the left side of the altar is the creative,
nurturing side, dedicated to the Goddess while the right side of the
altar is the power and strength side and dedicated to the God. By
going by this thought mind, one would place a candle and/or image
representing the God on the right side of the altar as well as the
athame which presents the male. The Goddess image and candle would go
on the left side along with the Chalice. However, this reminds me too
much of your conventional wedding ceremonies where the bride stands to
the left of her husband of which at one time women were to "honor and
obey" and the couple were pronounced "man and wife" at the end of the
ceremony. Now "honor and obey" has been left out and most ceremonies
pronounce it "husband and wife." Yet the bride still stands to the
left of the groom. Does this denote male power over female? The
Goddess and God both have strengths and power. The masculine strength
is the physical strength and the feminine strength is the inner
strength. If anyone does any type of art, they know it is the right
side of the brain that is the creative side; the intuitive side; the
artistic side, and the left side is more the restricted side and
causes your work to be tight and less flowing. So, if the right side
of your brain is the creative side and the Goddess is the creative
and nurturing, then the Goddess should go on the right side of the altar.

For reasons above, I place the Goddess on the right side of my altar.
Another reason is since I prefer to do Moon rituals which are in
honor of the Goddess, whether it be a dark moon ritual or full moon
ritual, I do not call in the God when I do moon rituals. As stated
throughout this website, I feel that the Sabbats are more for
celebrations and not for ritual purposes. Pagans of yesteryear did not
do formal rituals and/or ceremonial magick during the Sabbats but held
festivals and celebrated instead. Also, I feel that the way one sets
up their altar depends on the individual. There are many books on
Wicca telling you something different in how to set up an altar, and
it can be quite confusing for the aspiring Witch, because in all
actuality, I feel it depends on the person and the mood they wish to
create. Also, funds can play a part in whether you have a simple or
elaborate altar and/or temple.

Altars can be as simple or as elaborate as the Witch sees fit. The
cloth in which you use should not be too expensive. We Witches must be
practical and realize that we will be dripping candle wax on the cloth
as well as spilling incense and even wine onto the cloth. Most Witches
tend to use a plain black cloth or something celestial. Pagans who
perform Sabbat rituals will change the altar cloth according to the
Sabbat theme. However, since I am more Witch than pagan and tend to
put more emphasis on Moon rituals, I use black cloths.

Some Witches set their altar up in the North, as they feel it is the
direction of the divine knowledge and wisdom. However, most Witches
set their altar in the East, as everything starts from there and ends
in the West. They reserve the North for honoring and respecting of the
unknown and which represents the mystery.

Besides having a candle representing the Goddess (and a God if so
wishing), many Witches also have a triple candle holder wherein they
place a white, red and black candle representing the Maiden, Mother
and Crone and lighting those candles before invoking the Goddess. An
evocation such as "I call upon the Maiden for inspiration and new
beginnings (light the white candle); the Mother for compassion and
nurturing (light the red candle), and the Crone for Her mysteries,
wisdom and magick" (light the black candle).

Also, on your altar, you, at the very least, should have the
following: Chalice, Salt in holder, incense, incense holder
(censer), water in bowl, charcoals, wand, oil for the occasion,
magickal knife for inscribing and/or cutting and athame as well as a
wooden pentacle/pentagram. I use the wooden pentagram which I
placed semi-precious in to give it that much more power. I use it to
charge my candles for magick, parchment paper, poppets, jewelry,
incense and oils, etc. I consecrate/cleanse the water first and then I
bless the salt. I do not cleanse the salt, as salt is already
cleansed. I have read many books where they tell you to cleanse the
salt, which there simply is no need to. Salt is already cleansed and
to me is adding insult to that sacred Element. I just simply say "I
bless you oh Creature of Salt, and as I combine you with cleansed
water may both as one create a sacred and protective circle" and then
add the salt to your already cleansed water.

I use a reasonable size cauldron (censer) with sand in it to place my
charcoal on and incense in, as charcoals tend to flare out with spirts
of fire. Too small a censer can be disastrous. Please be careful in
using a censer and make sure that it is not too small and that its
handle does not get too hot. Practical, medium size censers such as a
cauldron are more sensible than these brass ones you see in pagan
stores to burn your incense.

The burning of incense plays many important roles. You burn incense to
cleanse a room, to help in meditation, for dream work and for psychic
abilities. Incense plays an important part in our lives and religion,
and incense has been burned for such purposes for over 4,000 years or
more. Incense was believed to sweeten the air and aide in protection
and against diseases. Since the Goddess is of spirit and cannot
receive the material body of a sacrifice, even if She wanted a
sacrifice, which She does not, the essence is sent to Her by means of
sacred smoke. Native Americans believe their wishes are carried to the
Great Spirit by birds and most particularly an Eagle. Witches believe
that prayers are carried to the spirit realm through the burning of
incense. That is why I use a black cauldron to burn my charcoals and
incense and at each ritual, the room is filled with the aroma of
incense to carry my wishes to the Goddess. After I have inscribed and
dressed my magickal candle, I hold it over the incense to charge it
and send my wishes out and beyond.

Your magickal tools do not need to be elaborate and can be quite
practical. After all, during the Burning Times, they used what they
had around the house but most probably tried to keep these away from
their everyday wear. I also tend to use my wand more so than my
athame, as wands have the power to open doorways into other magickal
dimensions. Wands draw energy (as well as direct energy) from these
other worlds that affect what is going on in this world. When doing
magick, the primary connection is between this world and the world of
the Divine.

I have a white candle which is considered my "need fire" which means
if any of the 45 or more candles in my temple go out, I re-light them
from this candle, as the white candle is the first candle I light on
my altar at the beginning of my ritual. I say a few magickal words
before lighting the candle and all candles are lit from that candle.
I was taught this, as was my High Priestess (HPS) before me, as her
HPS taught her and so on.

I also have a crystal ball, a dragon and other magickal objects to
help set the mood. On my altar I have objects representing the four
Quarters. In the east side of my altar, I have a feather; on the south
side, a red candle; on the west I have my consecrated water; and on
the north side, my blessed salt is placed.

During ritual, I have music playing to help set the mood.

My temple, as well as my altar, is very sacred to me, and I do not let
just anyone come into my temple and/or see my altar for that matter.

And remember, tools do not make a Witch; the Witch makes the tools and
her main altar and temple is in Her heart.

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