Altar

A table for spiritual works that holds the magical tools used during ritual, divination, and spellcrafting.  

It doesn’t have to be a table itself and many witches, pagans, and Wiccans use various items to create their altar from. It can be a shelf of a bookshelf (if one doesn’t have much room in their house) or a desk that has been converted.

If you can make a solid top surface and you put the proper tools on it, it becomes one’s altar.The key components to defining something is an offer is the use of the object. Traditionally altars will hold the tools of the practitioner’s magical system (see ATHAME, CHALICE, CENSER, PENTAGRAM for some examples) but often will also have seasonal plants, personal tokens or talismans, and other tools that are not required but preferred by the individual person.

Special consideration needs to be put into where you place your altar and how you set it up.

Most pagan traditions will say that altars need to be placed in the East or the North. The sides of the altar are also important to note – depending on a person’s tradition typically one side will be for masculine energies and tools and the other for the feminine. The altar is a witch’s work place and is something to be taken seriously. It is impolite to go around touching other people’s altars or their tools. Be respectful and always ask permission before you fiddle around with someone’s altar!