Portable Altars - Tumblr Posts
As a city-bound person who uses sea magick to ground and relax myself when I'm stressed, thank you. It's validating to see this kind of post.
Stuck in the City: Landlocked Sea Witches
Living on the coast or near the ocean is not an option for many people. Whether it be budgetary reasons, minors living with family, spoonie witches who need to live with caregivers, or being stuck in a landlocked state or country. Though because you have distance between you and the ocean, doesn’t mean you cannot connect to it still. Though your craft will likely not be as powerful at times as one who is practicing straight on the beach, never think that you cannot use the energies of the great oceans in your craft just because you are stuck somewhere else. With this masterpost I hope to help my fellow landlocked witches know how to connect and use sea magick.
Stop the Gatekeeping
First I would like to address a problem I have seen several times in this community (especially here on witchblr) about sea witchcraft. I have seen far too many people telling others they cannot use anything ocean related in their craft unless they are near or on the beach, and that if you wish to practice sea magick you “should just move to the coast”. This is an issue I already brought up in my little intro: for many that is just not possible.
Firstly, in several places living even near the coast costs extreme amounts of money, much more than certain people can afford. Secondly, it may not be medically feasible. If the spoonie witch’s caregivers or care circle cannot move or if moving is something that could upset their illness further, they should certainly not move just to please you “real sea witches”. Some countries are also simply landlocked, they’d have to move completely out of their homeland to reach the coast and for some that is not even an option. So before you go onto this post saying it is inaccurate because sea witches only live by the sea, please do not and think for a moment that not everyone has the same circumstances as you. We all have different lives, needs and situations going on and not everyone can live the same way. Let others practice their craft in a way that suits them.
Getting Started/Creating your Space
As in my previous Stuck In the City post, we are going to start with a space or altar set up that will allow you to help feel connected to the ocean. Depending on the space you have available there can be some fun ways for you to connect to it. First find a corner or a table or even a spare part of a room that you can use for your set up, the more room the better in my personal opinion but I understand that space can be very limited.
Clean and cleanse the space you wish to use, make sure this is done well enough for the space to be comfortable to work in. Next it is time to create space for yourself, create an area that you can either sit or even lay down in, whatever you find to be the most comfortable when meditating or rejuvenating yourself after a long day.
Once it has been clean and cleared find a nice flat space and surface to place your altar, preferable somewhere that is fire safe in case of wanting to use incense or candles. I usually in cases of meditation or long term practice try to make it somewhere comfortable with furniture or an area where I can sit or even recline during my practice. I personally enjoy some extra pillows or cushions in the corner though this is entirely up to you.
Some things to consider adding to your ocean altar: beach sand, shells of any kind (clam, oyster, cone, crushed, broken etc), crab shells, dried sand dollars, dried starfish, driftwood, ocean stones/pebbles, shell dust, sea glass, sea salt, dried kelp (powder), ropes, buckets/cups/bowls/containers, fish bones, fish oil, bottles, shark teeth, cork and sea water.
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