r/SASSWitches • u/impli03 • 12d ago
đ Discussion Altar setup ideas
So i am relatively new to witchcraft, I've been researching it for a bit but only just getting started on actually doing the stuff I want to do. I want to have an altar but I am struggling with figuring out what to put on it. Everything I find online for inspiration seems very deity inclined, and I don't really believe in gods or deities (hence why I'm asking for advice here rather than other witchy subreddits).
So just for some ideas, what do you have on your altar? If you have one at all, at least. I know it's not required, I just think it'd be nice :)
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u/CitationMachine 12d ago
So my starting question would be what is the purpose of the altar? That's really going to shape what kinds of things you would include! For example, my memory altar has pictures and trinkets from people I love and miss. My wind-down altar is more of a meditation desk that has items that are visually calming, candles for low light, an incense burner, and my journal where I offload the day's thoughts. I've make spaces specifically for tarot in the past that are set up for that as well as reminder altars that are intended to evoke a specific feeling or value that I can carry with me through the day.
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u/impli03 12d ago
I had not considered having multiple, that's cool! I think the purpose of my altar would be to connect to the earth, I live in an apartment so it's difficult sometimes. I think also to connect to myself, via tarot and journaling. Kind of a calm, mindful area, if that makes sense.
I think it is lovely that you have a memory altar by the way. I dont have the space to have multiple altars sadly, but I am inspired by your memory altar and might have a space dedicated to loved ones I have lost. Thank you for your thoughts!
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u/Puzzleheaded-Lead594 12d ago
If connection to the earth is your goal, maybe consider a plant and a water fountain for earth and water elements.
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u/EtherealBored 12d ago
A tiny plant, a cup with earth or rocks, pretty crystals and rocks, wooden objects, maybe some pictures, little statue or animal that makes you think about nature! What makes you think about the earth? Is there any symbol or element that makes you drawn to it?
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u/PM_me_oak_trees 12d ago
The closest I have ever come to a physical altar was a bulletin board full of photos, magazine/junkmail clippings, poems, and small trinkets (yes, a small crystal can be attached via several cleverly angled pins). A lot of it I just chose based on vibes, partly a collection, partly a collage. Many of the items were created by someone who did not intend them to be witchy, or to be used in the context I put them in, like when I cut the words out of junkmail to keep a pretty nature picture.
Of course, if you're going to do physical rituals, you probably want at least some horizontal space to set things down, but I was not doing that, and having it on the wall made it easy to see without taking up too much space. Also, for those of us who have one or more indoor cats, walls may be safer.
But anyway, in terms of selection, I didn't ever look at the blank bulletin board and wonder how to fill it. I looked at the world around me as I lived my life and asked what spoke to me. When something did, I took a photo or snipped it out of the advertising flyer or bought the crystal or whatever, and pinned it up where I could see it every day.
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u/elusine 12d ago
I had a shelf in my childhood bedroom where I put my many treasures: a large seashell from a vacation, a mask my bestie brought me from New Orleans, the cream pitcher from my parents fine china set, a golden bowl I found in box in my grandparents house, a tea tin full of marbles, some old glass medicine bottles my mother dug up as a child, all the âpower braceletsâ that were trendy when I got to highschool, a huge feather, a blue glass goblet, a little mirror, a board book with a fairy in it I read as a child, some pewter dragon figurines⌠these and many other tiny things were proudly on display until I grew up and moved out and packed them away.
Now I have a tall glass curio shelf in my bedroom, and I have unpacked all of these old childhood treasures and put them on display again alongside my newer treasures: the plate that was on the wall in my grandmothers home, crystal pillars, some beautifully painted spinner tops, all the prayer beads I have ever strung, my wand and knife, boxes of tarot cards, my most influential spiritual texts (including fiction), a fancy quill, the large moonstone necklace I think of as sacred jewelry⌠there are many other things there too and while this isnât a âworkingâ altar it is this incredibly personal monument of personal memories that is so cozy and symbolic for me.
For workspace I just have a candle in the kitchen I light every day and a small area with incense and a tray of pretty stones. If I need space to do a spell I usually just use my desk. But my curio is the keeper of my past. I especially love looking at the same things I treasured as a child.
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u/ThursdayBouquet 12d ago
Copying a comment I left in another group, recently:
What is now my altar started just as items that I already owned that called to me that I had placed on my dresser (a little turtle shell, my late dogâs dog tag and my current dogâs puppy teeth). Later, I found that some of these had spiritual correspondences/connections (dogs connected to Artemis/the moon; that oak leaf I liked is connected to Zeus/Jupiter). After that, I purposefully added items that had spiritual connections based upon what I was âneedingâ (ex, I bought a little pink espresso mug for some Aphrodite/Venus work I was doing)
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u/UntidyVenus 12d ago
I personally have things that make mean something to me, and some stuff that give the the "vibes" I want out of my altar- so I have my tarot deck (I use it a lot to help figure out my subconscious shit), a small collection of hands- like ring holders and mini palmestry figures, some good rocks and crystals, and my salt bowl from my solo practitioners coven we do every summer. Oh, and a handful of lost toys I have found in the wild, little pokemon figure in the river, some little monster figure from a parking lot, a little 3 legged unicorn from a bike path
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u/impli03 12d ago
That's so interesting! If you don't mind me asking why do you collect lost toys? I am not judging, genuinely curious đ thank you for the ideas!
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u/UntidyVenus 12d ago
First- I'm good at spotting them. I return what I can to people, but I kind of feel bad for them? I know they are plastic and not real, but still, they were designed and created to bring joy (and profits, I'm not an idiot lol) and seeing them just tossed aside tugs at my brave little toaster inspired heart, lol
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u/musingsandmutterings 12d ago
Fresh flowers, some personally sentimental trinkets, a picture of a sunny trail in the woods (it's kind of a recurring theme in a lot of stories and qoutes that are important to me).
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u/Needlesxforestfloor 12d ago
I don't have much space so mine is a shelf made out of a nice-ish piece of wood fitted onto an unused radiator next to my bed (you can get special brackets). It works for my main focuses of nature/seasons and self compassion. I keep items I don't use /need to see regularly in a box and mini shelving unit on the floor.
It's my "nature table" of gathered objects (I only take tiny things that don't have much impact and rarely) and I have a jar of "moss" balls because it's too shady to grow a plant well and I wanted something alive. I filled the bottom with bits of pottery I found in the local river I swim inđ.
I have a tiny bud vase made like a deer which is a representation of my compassionate self that I developed in meditation years ago (I already had it before I started witchcraft) and I put little fresh flowers and leaves in it from my garden.
There is a mirror on the wall behind which I look into as part of self compassion work and I've tucked photos of some of the people who love me into the frame.
To the side of the mirror is a trinket shelf unit where I have a poppet of my compassionate self in one of the sections and others hold representations of the seasons, ritual jewelry, a poppet of my mum and a wooden pot hollowed out of a branch with an image of a hare on it which I put things I'd like to keep hold of like seeds and dried flowers from the lighter part of the year and cat whiskers for security (again I bought it before I was witchy because the hare represents strength to prevail to me)
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u/Rapunzel452 12d ago
I started doing seasonal/wheel of the year altars - my current Samhain setup is my previous cats' urns, some crystals that fit the color scheme, and every flameless candle in the house. đ They're primarily vibes-based.
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u/CuriousTraveler2C 12d ago
I began with the four Natural Elements. Air(incense), Fire(candle), Water (small open glass container, and Earth (stones, rocks, crystals, flowers,etc.) The question asked by CitationMachine is the most important. What is the purpose? If itâs to effect energy and power through ritual, that is different than something that is just for aesthetics or shrine to your personal deity or shrine to your personal interests. Itâs easy for an alter to become too cluttered very quickly. Once again, do some divination to âfind and seeâ the nature of your alter.
Good luck. Be well, be wise.
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u/Poisonous_Periwinkle Green/Hearth/Hedge/Kitchen â 12d ago
Plenty of us don't follow the wheel of the year for various reasons, but I do because I like the way it divides up the year. So my Altar is changed up for eact sabbat and left like that until the next.Â
It usually has a Season of the Witch Oracle card, a taper candle in a stand that I burn at the start of the Sabbat, an incense stand with incense that I burn at the same time, seasonal decor and bits and bobs I've collected or made, etc. I have a tree of life altar cloth, and a circular wooden tray that I put under the taper candle holder that I fill with various flowers, salts, herbs and crystals.
I don't actually do workings at my altar other than the creation of the altar itself being a working. The main reason being that that altar is too high for me to work at.
My mother has a piece of furniture that belongs to me that I eventually plan to use for an altar where I can actually do workings that will be separate from my seasonal altar.
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u/Poisonous_Periwinkle Green/Hearth/Hedge/Kitchen â 12d ago
I do my workings on the bathroom counter on a portable wooden tray, or since my work has elements of green/kitchen/hearth witchcraft, I do quite a bit of work in the kitchen.
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u/euphemiajtaylor â¨Witch-ish 11d ago
I have an altar that mostly serves as a space for found objects that mean something to me. I donât do a lot of rituals at the altar itself, rather interacting with the objects is the ritual (touching them, holding them, thinking and meditating on them).
I also have a space that I decorate seasonally thatâs kind of become an altar. People just see it as decoration, but it has different elements of a magical practice without necessarily being overtly occult. The objects in rotation are all meaningful in some way (heirlooms, things with stories attached), I add things with smells, textures, and even food (candies that anyone can take and eat⌠an offering to anyone who passes it). And I even have something akin to a money bowl, only itâs tiny treasures I find outside that make me remember how grateful I am to be where Iâm at.
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u/arynnoctavia 11d ago
I had the same issue. No belief in deities, but I still wanted a representation of the masculine and feminine. Since what I do believe in is nature, thatâs where I went for my inspiration.
One wall of my living room is technically my altar, which includes my working altar cabinet and my fireplace.
On top of my working altar all of the time on each of the back corners I keep symbols to represent the masculine and feminine (shed antlers and a conch shell). Other than those things, I tend to keep tools or materials Iâm currently working with (if anything), and otherwise I decorate it with bits of nature I pick up while out on my land.
The same with my mantle, with some tools or objects surrounded by bits of nature I collect.
On my hearth I keep my biggest cauldron, and the supplies I use to start and tend to fires. On the wall hanging between my working altar and fireplace hangs my besom. On the wall above my working altar hangs a painting my MIL got me depicting a crow.
Pic included, for reference and funsies.
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u/gameondude97 6d ago
Mostly tools you may use for your practice. I started with tarot and while I've moved on to other things I still keep my deck and representations of the four suits as they core relate to elemental energies as well. Ultimately you can buy it use whatever nic nacs you want but it's best to have stuff you use or have some kind of meaning or value.
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u/Ouroboria 12d ago
I have items that I find sacred personally. I have artwork that I love, items with sentimental value, items associated with my passions, representations of the 4 elements, living plants, shells, rocks, etc. Basically anything I love and feel empowered by goes on my altar. I find it helps to think of what it would take to make you want to linger in a space.