Looking through my blog stats, I noticed that someone had searched on this and found a link here. So, I thought I’d give a little more answer to the question.
Why incense?
1) In a number of traditions (including the one I work in), it’s used in part to represent the elements of air, and more specifically the elements of air and fire during the blessing of the circle. (Water and earth are represented with saltwater.)
Incense is a lovely way to mix these: it’s also something that can be carried around the circle and shared with everyone there.
2) Scent is an extremely powerful trigger.
Some scents bring us back to our childhood. Others remind us of a specific person, or setting. Scent seems to get far into our hind brain, in ways that we’re still learning about scientifically.
Some groups use the same scent for every ritual - simply smelling it helps trigger everyone into ritual mindset. Other groups use appropriate scents for a ritual (so Beltane might involve flowers, and a meditation ritual might include sandalwood.)
The shiny new group is looking at the consistent scent approach, but we’re still figuring out what that might be.
3) There’s something very alive about it.
Watching the tail of smoke rise and shift is - like the candle flame - a moving, changing thing on the altar, transforming as we do things. Nifty.
One of the reasons I like incense is that it has all three of these things: some of the other options (a feather, or a oil burner) don’t do all of these the same way.
There are a number of common concerns. I talked about space and cost considerations in my last post, but here’s a few others I’ve heard pretty often.
1) I have pets or kids.
My experience, honestly, is that both pets and children are trainable, if you are very clear about what spaces aren’t to be messed with, and you start out with things that are either not breakable, or can easily be replaced if necessary. Growing up, my parents put some breakable stuff up high – but they also taught me what I could play with and what I couldn’t.
My previous home (with housemates), we had 5 resident cats, two dogs, and various people who could be clumsy. The cats would make a beeline for the set of windows (so we made sure that the quarter altar in that direction didn’t have breakables, unstable objects, or lightweight objects on it) and everything else was fine.
Some people put the breakables behind a door that can’t easily be opened (a bedroom or office, for example). In my current home, the only door is on the bathroom: my altar’s out in the front room, and my cat ignores it. Thoughtful placement helps a lot: my furball’s a lot more likely to explore near the window or patches of sun than away from them.
Barring these options, you might put away any breakables or sharp tools that could accidentally hurt someone, but also find lovely and meaningful items that wouldn’t be harmful (an unlit candle, stones, a bowl of water, pictures, etc.)
2) I have unexpected visitors who don’t know I’m Pagan.
If you are likely to have people drop by with whom you don’t share your religious choices (for example, people from work, extended family, etc.) there are a couple of choices.
You might keep any obviously religious items somewhere private (your bedroom is a common choice, unless people might wander in there. An office sometimes works.) You might keep them in a closed container (there are some lovely boxes that open outwards, that are deep enough to store standard items) and decorate the box in a way that means a lot to you, but isn’t obvious to others. You might have an altar with non-obvious objects to others (shells, stones, flowers, a candle, etc.) that are meaningful to you, and add other working tools only when you’re actually working.
Some people pack everything away, and set up their altar only when they’re actually doing ritual work. This seems a little complicated, but people that do it have told me that it helps them go deeper into the ritual mindset earlier in the process.
3) Someone I live with disapproves of my religious choice.
This is a complicated one, mostly because there are different kinds of situations. A teen is in a very different position than an adult working things out with their spouse.
While I’m long out of the house, I do the same thing when I go to visit my mother. She’s an active Catholic. When I visit, I bring only enough for my personal daily devotional work, and I don’t do other ritual work she might not approve of in her home. That seems only polite.
In the case of spouses, though, it’s more complicated: even if only one of them is working, the other is presumably contributing to the home in other ways, and they’ve both made commitments to being together. It’s definitely a good time to have a long discussion, and figure out exactly what the issue is. (Are they concerned about unexpected visitors? Extended family? Specific concerns about the religious choice in question? Are they being controlling? It’s hard to tell which it is without some more conversation.) What solution makes sense will depend on the issues.
In general:
There are options for almost every circumstance - whether it’s a dorm room or your own home, whether you live by yourself or share your space, whether you have pets or small children, or not. There’s no one set of requirements for a daily devotional altar and lots of options to handle more structured ritual use, if that’s part of what you do.
There are certain topics that tend to come up again and again - one of them is altars. Thinking about this due to the confluence of teaching our Seeker class focused on daily practice, and some online commentary, I thought it was a good time for a post.
Here’s my personal method for designing personal altars (take them as you will.)
1) Figure out what you want it for. Form follows function.
Do you want to do a daily devotional action like lighting a candle, or drinking a small amount of water that you’ve charged for a goal? Have the right items somewhere easy to get to, whether that’s a candle and a lighter, or a cup and carafe. Do you want to keep flowers on it? Is there room for a vase? Are you honoring a specific deity? What images or items evoke them for you? These may be copies of statuary - but they can also be very simple, commonplace items, or inexpensive objects.
2) Do you have any specific limitations?
Some people get concerned about space. I live in a 400 square foot house (think studio apartment sized) and I still have plenty of room not only for an altar, but to host a small group ritual. (Ok, to do that one, I need to have entirely portable seating in my front room. But it’s possible!)
My primary altar (see the photo above) is a 2 shelf bookcase, about a foot wide and 2.5 feet long. It’s not very big, but it’s big enough, especially if I keep non-daily use tools on the shelves below. Herbs, incense, and other items live elsewhere in my home (where I have more storage space): I take out what I need before ritual work. It’s forced me to think carefully about my tools. I also have smaller shrines and devotional centers in other parts of my home: a carved stone animal here, a pair of charged candles there, a candle for my hearth on the kitchen counter, jewelry or images hung as decoration in various places.
Some people hang shelves (use that vertical space!) or use the front part of bookshelves to get more usable space.
There are many other kinds of limitations – pets, people in or visiting the home that may not approve, small children, allergies. These all will get coverage in later posts.
3) What items do you have?
Some people say that they can’t afford an altar. While there are a few tools that it’s hard to get cheaply (Chances are good you’re not going to get a handforged steel blade or a wand with lots of decorative stones or artwork for $5), there are lots of inexpensive alternatives. Except for my athame, no individual working item on my altar cost me more than $20 – and many were far less than that. I bought some, traded friends for some, and got some as gifts.
You can pick up inexpensive wood, ceramic, and glass pieces at rummage sales, thrift stores, or stores like Cost Plus World Market, Ikea, or Pier One. You can get small carved stones (great for work with specific animals or elements) or decorative glass shapes at many places. Simple tumbled rocks are available both from esoteric stores but also from science museums and natural history stores. Let your friends know that you would really love a particular type of item (ceramic bowls).
A few tools do need some special attention. If you’re planning on burning incense, avoid burns! If you start with stick or cone incense, you can get a holder or simple dish inexpensively. Loose incense will need an appropriate censer (so it doesn’t burn your altar surface), sand, charcoal, and tongs. If you want to burn small items (wishes, things to get rid of), you want a cauldron (or get an old pot and a stand that you can dedicate to that use) for the same reasons.
In general, though, you can make do with a great deal. Wands can be made from local branches – even some simple decorations don’t cost more than a little wire, glue, and stones or beads. A pentacle can be painted or carved into wood that you then finish appropriately. Craft and hobby stores have a wide range of interesting boxes, containers, and other items you can decorate to create storage or devotional spaces.
Also, remember, you don’t need to get it all at once. What one or two things are most important to you right now? Focus on those. Then make a list of the next things you would like. That way, you can keep your eye out for them, ask for them as gifts, or consider learning how to make them (depending on the item.)
4) Do you want to make seasonal changes?
Not everyone does. My personal altar has been used for personal devotions: I don’t change it season to season. As I move into leading my own group, I am beginning to think of more significant seasonal decorations, but I’m still deciding what I want to do. (I do know I want to keep it simple and easy, with minimal storage and cost needed).
Seasonal decorations can be as simple as a yard of an appropriate fabric print for each Sabbat, You might use some seasonal foliage (evergreens in winter, flowers in summer, pussywillows in spring, dried leaves in fall.) You might add a single item that relates to that Sabbat: a blown out and decorated egg, dried corn or a bowl of grains for Lammas, a green man face for Beltane (you can make some great masks with a cheap mask base and a few sheets of different colored green felt.)
You don’t need to do this all at once either: maybe you spend a year with one single simple item, and then begin to collect fabric or more elaborate items.
Future posts:
- Dealing with specific issues (like disapproving family, or the presence of small children and pets.)
- Allergies and your altar
- Travel altars.