Changing My Altar

A blah altar...
For a while now my altar has been kinda blah. It's just been sitting there, not quite functional, not quite right, just feeling a little dusty and off. Sage Goddess put out an article on setting up and changing your altar (How to Create and Refresh a Sacred Altar for your Magical Practice). I took that as a sign that I needed to refresh my altar.

Change
Things have changed a bit in the focus of my spiritual practice since I last set up or changed my altar. I decided to sit down and do some brainstorming and brain dumping (a new favorite technique of mine lately) on what my current focus is for my spiritual practice. This way I could re-design my altar so it would be functional for my current needs and uses.

What I'm drawn to
This brainstorming was interesting. I realized that there are ideas and concepts I'm drawn to and feel a connection to, but they aren't related to what I'm actually doing and utilizing in my current spiritual practice. For example, I'm very drawn to the concepts of the Four Elements. Shamanic practices are still important to me, though I haven't been utilizing them lately. I'm also drawn to some of the concepts and cosmology of ADF Druidry like Land, Sea, and Sky and Sacred Tree, Sacred Well, Sacred Fire. I just haven't really incorporated these concepts actively in my practice lately. I LOVE the idea of candles, but in reality I haven't lit a candle in months and months.

What I actually do
Then I thought about what I ACTUALLY do and use in my spiritual practice, day to day. I came up with Crystals and Cards. That's my main focus right now, crystals and stones, and Tarot and Oracle cards. I've also been really drawn to the concept of Mind, Body, Spirit for healing and balancing (as opposed to the 7 Chakras, for example). Nature is also still important to me. Though in reality, this is a bit more theoretical than real. With my chronic illness issues, lately most of my experiences with Nature are me spending a few minutes outside each day in my backyard. I observe the weather and do my best to observe any obvious changes or unique animal sightings. Seasonal work is a big part of my Tarot work. I'm also drawn to the concept of the Moon cycle, though I'm still figuring out how best to work with that. So my practice lately has been fairly simple and focused, Crystals and Cards.

Cleaning and setting up
I set about clearing off my altar, physically cleaning the space, and thinking about how I could set up an altar to represent my current work with Crystals and Cards and Mind, Body, Spirit, preferably using the tools and items I currently have. I removed everything from the space on my dresser dedicated to my altar space. I figured having a fresh, clean, bare space to start with would be best. I looked at what I was currently actually working with, some crystal layouts and cards I had up on my altar along with a few other things. I moved my shrine to Epona to another place on my altar space and set things up according to some ideas I got while brainstorming.

The new altar

My new Crystals and Cards altar
The wooden bowl is for any crystal layouts I do
"Witchlings" used with permission U.S.Games Systems. (c) 2014. All rights reserved

My new Crystals and Cards Altar-front view
"Witchlings" used with permission U.S.Games Systems. (c) 2014. All rights reserved

The space looks a little bare. It's much more simple. It's VERY different from the way I've had my altar set up for a long time now. I think I like it, but because it's so different I think it's going to take some time for me to get used to it. The wall behind the altar space seems especially bare right now. I'm going to leave it as is for now to try to get used to it. I can always change things later if I feel the need to.

Using herbs energetically
While brainstorming I did get a unique idea about using herbs in a way I haven't before. Because of my allergies, in general I can't tolerate ingesting herbs and spices. They give me migraines. So I haven't really explored using herbs much. I also generally don't care for essential oils as the scents are too strong for me. I got some ideas related to using some teas that I really enjoy the scent of as loose herbal mixes on my altar. So instead of ingesting the herbs, I'd basically be utilizing them energetically. Their presence on my altar would contribute energetically while adding a small amount of pleasant scent. I haven't made a final decision on whether to use this technique or not, but I'll be thinking about it.

More cleaning and organizing
I also cleaned off my nightstand next to my side of the bed. I've had crystals and stones on there, ones I use day to day, since I do spend a fair amount of time in my bed. The whole top of the nightstand had just gotten completely cluttered and dusty and felt really stagnant. I took everything off of it, dusted and cleaned everything, got rid of the clutter, and set up my stones again. The Sage Goddess article mentioned a sleep altar to help with insomnia. That really drew my attention as I've been dealing with sleep disruption for a while now. I set up a small crystal layout for sleep on my nightstand in addition to my crystals and stones I use regularly and my other few essentials (glasses case, eye drops, pen, etc).

Cleansing without smudging...
After doing all this cleaning and rearranging I decided to use my singing bowl to do a bit of an energetic cleanse of the room. I know a lot of people use smudging for this. I don't, because I can't tolerate the smoke due to my allergies. Honestly, I also just don't particularly care for the smell of burning sage. I never have... I'll tolerate a brief smudge, with my breath held, prior to a public ritual, but I just don't use smudging myself. I have found that using sound to cleanse and get energies moving to remove stagnation works quite well for me. So I played my singing bowl as I moved around the room to get the stagnant energies moving again. Now the bedroom feels much lighter and much more pleasant.

Change is good
I'm feeling good about this "refreshing" of my altar. For a while now I'd look at my altar and feel that it just wasn't quite right. Not wrong, but that it needed something. That something was a change. I think it will take me a little while to get used to the change, but I'm happy with it. I looked over at my altar this morning and felt light and happy. I'm sure I have a few small kinks to work out, some small adjustments to make. I'm sure those will come with time. The change is a good one and had likely been long overdue. I'm glad I made the effort to make the changes.

Feel free to share
Do you have an altar? Does it reflect your current practice and beliefs? When was the last time you changed or refreshed your altar? How did it feel afterwards? Please feel free to share in the comments. I hope you'll join me in the future for more posts. :-)

P.S. A pet peeve of mine...
Ok, this talk about my altar reminded me of a pet peeve of mine. I absolutely CAN'T STAND when people misuse altar/alter. Altar is the sacred space. Alter means "to change." They are NOT interchangeable. So please make sure you're using the correct word. Maybe that sounds a bit bitchy, but it irritates me... :-)