Why create an altar?
We create altars for many reasons:
As a space for focus & meditation
To conjure something into our life - like peace, abundance, love, or protection
For manifestation
To honor something - like our ancestors or nature
For ritual
To help us release.
Note: There is no ‘right away’ to create an altar as it is a deeply intuitive and individual journey - here I will share with you my personal process.
Before we begin our altar creation it is a good idea to get clarity on your intentions + purpose.
cleanse space
When I am creating an altar I usually do it with a specific intention during a celestial event. My most recent altar I created for Beltane - the midway point between Spring Equinox and Summer Solstice. I had a few people reach out and ask me about it and that inspired this blog.
I like to cleanse my space where I am building my altar through the sound of om, crystal bowls, koshi chimes OR with smoke, incense, and fire.
gather 5 elements + build altar
When I create an altar I like to have all five elements represented - earth, water, air, fire and aether (or plasma).
For earth I use: crystals, bones, pieces of wood, herbs, flowers and snake symbolism. I always have snake symbolism in my altar creation for the qualities snakes represent - shedding skin, transformation and wisdom. The earth aspect of my altar invokes feelings of grounding, support and symbolizes abundance, wealth and success.
For air I use a feather and say my intentions out loud, to be carried on the wind up into the heavens - much like the method of prayer flags. Honoring the air element symbolizes intellect, ideas, imagination.
For fire: I light a candle to conjure health, passion, enthusiasm, courage, adventure and life.
For water: I collect rainwater - if you are in a dry area you can take water and bless it with your hands or sacred sounds (chanting, om-ing, crystal bowls, etc). Water symbolizes emotion, intuition, psychic abilities and clairvoyance.
For aether or plasma I use a Lichtenberg figure which was a gift from a friend of mine. It is an acrylic ball shocked by electricity which creates a lightening fractal running through it.
Other things I’ll place on my altar:
Meaningful items like gifts or statues of deities
Actual physical money
Tokens, like a scarab from Egypt, or a protecting eye
Jewelry that I wear - to cleanse and to conjure
Pictures / names of people I want included
Items based on intentions, colors or seasons
Written Mantras, or spells
The way I build my altar is very intuitive, and it is my opinion that however you build your altar is best for you. All my altars are different but they follow a general idea.
Some crystals point in toward the center if they symbolize what I want to draw in - like citrine pulling in energy for abundance.
Some crystals point out to ground energy - like tourmaline or shunguuite.
Some crystals point up to release energy out and away - like quartz to create a ‘vent’ of energy, in my mind this creates a movement much like breathing.
You will notice when you create your altar and place significant items & crystals around it that some will ‘want’ to be turned in, out, up or down. This is part of the creative and intuitive process :)
CONJURE / manifest / pray
After I have built my altar it is time to sit with it. I thank the natural kingdom + cardinal directions and I focus on my intention. I meditate, allowing my mind to become blank fills it with solutions.
I pray saying thank you, I love you, I’m sorry, please forgive me, and I cast spells. I ask for guidance from my guides, I sit with the older and younger version of myself. I manifest the things I want in my life, I revisit my intentions and speak my affirmations.
Release ritual
It is my opinion that altars become conscious organisms with the proper intention & ingredients. So, when I am done with this whole process I use different stones to point/send any excess energy out an actual window. This way the process becomes self sufficient after I am finished; it completes whatever other intentions it has and then releases itself when it feels finished.
Simplified Steps to create your altar
Set intentions
Cleanse space with fire / smoke / incense /sound
Gather tokens / amulets / crystals / things from environment
Build altar
Pray / meditate / cast spells (it’s all the same magic ;)
Release ritual
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Personal note: Let me know what you thought of this blog by messaging me! I would love to see a picture of your altar if you were open to sharing!
