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Altar Tips for Beginners
Okay, so you’re a baby witch and you come to Tumblr looking for references on setting up your altar. There tend to be two extremes: People telling you exactly what they think must be included in an altar and then people telling you that you can set it up however you want.
While I agree that you can and should set up your altar in a way you want (there’s no right or wrong way to do it), sometimes when you’re just starting out, it’s hard to figure out what the heck to actually put on there. I know from experience. Here are some ideas for things to include on a beginner altar, utilizing items you might already have around the house!
A tablecloth, place mat, old t-shirt, etc. all work well for an altar cloth.
If you have a tarot deck, you can place it somewhere on the altar. You can also pick specific cards to feature around your altar, like The Empress to represent fertility, etc.
Rocks look great on altars! Even random rocks you dug out of your backyard! (Although you may want to clean them off first.)
While they might not look very fancy, you can put storebought containers of dried spices on your altar for easy-access. You could always switch them to nice jars or something if you want the aesthetic.
I like to put flowers and leaves on my altar because they help me feel more connected to nature. Fake flowers from a craft store are great too because they don’t wilt and they don’t trigger allergies!
Any magical item that you own and work with can go on your altar! This includes pendulums, spirit boards, scrying mirrors, etc. Remember that these don’t have to be fancy one-of-a-kind tools. You could even use that one dollar-store necklace you’ve been inexplicably holding onto since your third-grade birthday party as a pendulum.
Shiny things. Beads, gems, tinsel, metal cans, idk. I like to put shiny things on my altar. I swear I’m not several birds in a trenchcoat.
Have you ever found something random on the side of the street and kept it? Like a broken keychain or a shiny penny? I like putting those on my altar. They feel special, like I found them for a reason. One time I found a tiny broken ceramic bear head half-buried in my front yard. Obviously that’s gotta be magical, right?
Candles!!! You can never have too many candles. Especially fake candles. No fire hazards! Yay!
Feel free to add more! Remember the choice of what you put on your altar ultimately goes to you, but if you’re at a loss, I thought I’d offer some suggestions!
Altar Tour ✨🧚
my main altar is dedicated to the sun, moon, & the four elements. things i have on my altar:
general:
himalayan salt crystal lamp
all my crystals
crystal braclets
crystal necklaces
current season representation (currently: leaves i found on the ground outside my house)
four elements:
moon water
small crystal tree
incense holder
incense ash bottle
lighter
candle extinguisher (??)
sun:
picture of the sun
candle dedicated to the sun
moon:
picture of the moon
candle dedicated to the moon
storage under my altar:
extra candles
bags to carry crystals in
herbs i work with
essential oils i work with
extra bottles/jars
black salt
blue salt
protection water
rose quartz roller
incense
tarot cards
bos
intention book
spell record book
hello witches & friends!
recently my best friend & i moved in together & we finally got our altar set up!
it’s combined with energy’s of both our practices & is a great space for both of us to practice our crafts.
thought i would share for inspiration & just because we are super proud of this!
blessed be ✨♥️
updated altar for the summer solstice 🌞🌿♥️
Apollo's Altar (with some of Hermes' stuff aswell)
Yes the shelf full of K-pop albums is also part of my altar lmao
I’ve been adding to my altars the past couple of days, now that I’m home from holiday traveling. I’ve been feeling a bit disconnected from my practice because of said traveling and just general end of the semester bullshit, and my way of dealing with feeling distant usually involves gifts lol. I added a few things to my Aphrodite, Apollo/Artemis, Athena, and healing altars, in addition to giving food offerings, which has helped me to start feeling more grounded 💕
Apollo has a neon yellow squishy ball thing
Dionysus +Apollo have a wristband my Dad brought home for me during pride
Poseidon has a plush seal keychain
Hermes has an ever growing collection of bucket hats and language dictionaries :)
before i go to sleep (it is 4am sorry hypnos /g i got that sleep issues) i need to ask something
does anyone have any more modern/silly/not typical things on their altars?
for some reason hypnos likes sharks so his candle is covered in shark stickers, i also have a vaporeon figure (my fav eeveelution) and it's sitting on a candle holder on his side of my altar!
Finally posting my altar/hoard of trinkets and crystals.
Obligatory disclaimer: You don't need trinkets to be valid as a witch or otherkin. These are just things that bring ME joy. I am gushing about them because I enjoy it, and I don't promote the idea that any of this is necessary. It's just a fun bonus. Consider this a little show and tell post.
In order:
- Recent sea flavored stuff, my personal section of my altar dedicated to self-love. (Angled it so the octopus isn't visible bc... I don't want to jumpscare people + not sure if Tumblr would appreciate it.)
- My tarot/Oracle decks (the boxes in the back are just boxes. Cards are one of the things I work with most as a witch! Also don't ask me why Loki's has a bottle cap on it instead of a crystal. They wanted it there, idk man.)
- Black tourmaline, my beloved
- Crystal hoard + Aphrodite's altar in the background lol
- Aphrodite's shell heart because it's so fucking pretty
- My familiar's blue apatite! It looks like dragon scales :D I got one for myself and then they nudged me towards that one so I got two.
- Hades' and Persephone's section of my altar. (and the centerpieces of my altar, a crystal tree + black kyanite which is intensely grounding and I fucking love it + a tree agate sphere to represent the earth)
- Loki's and Apollo's section (Yes, that is Dr. pepper in a condiment container. It's my most regular offering for Loki XD they like the Mt. Dew better tho. Also Apollo's section is just vaguely cute, idk why he just likes it like that. Ignore the leftover spellwork he wanted to help so it's sitting there.)
- The Snake BoxTM is an offering box. It usually has candy in it for Loki. Also the snake box is one of my favorite things I own.
- Vivianite! This deserved its own picture because it's one of my prized possessions. DEATH MENTION TW HERE. It can grow on corpses- human included- in the right conditions! It's not common and I highly doubt that my piece did, lol, BUT I still associate it with death-y energies and wanted it for future work with Hades and Persephone.
Bro asked me for art request, so i did it, drew his monster and weapon for him
Stygian King
Stygian king (guy in black, have ears like crown)
Stalemate, Skipper (two bluish guys with hats)
Daisy (small rose like monster, King's pet)
Works in progress. New Moon Feb 2018
These offerings are just small tokens of my love for Santa Muerte... A good death is what I ask for
These are pictures of my La Santisima Muerte statues I have on my altar. She is my mother and I honor her daily... She loved having her pics taken!! These are originals from Sammi Jean Hernandez... I hope you all like..
my altars for bast and persephone ! 𓋹
Taking advantage of that full moon and putting in work tonight! Two witch balls for the house and my car, then a New Years ritual/spell. I have to say I’m exhausted now, though. Maybe a 3 in 1 night was too much??
