Shopping Cart

My Account

Help

Become a Fan

Watch Us

All Terms - By Topic - Most Popular - Recent Entries

Advanced Search

ENCYCLOPEDIA
Glossary
What's New
Most Popular
List of Articles

New Worlds October/November/December 2011 (Holiday Gift Guide) Issue

Download the PDF File version of the latest issue of Llewellyn's New Worlds Catalog

Home > Encyclopedia > Term: altar

Term: altar

DEFINITIONS

Altar: At the center of the circle is placed the altar, which magically represents the center of the universe and the center of the self. It is the working surface of ritual, the focus of awareness and power. When there is no space for a material altar, one may be visualized in the astral. The altar is square on top, cubic or doubly-cubic in dimension, and should be made of, or contain, natural stone. All these aspects symbolize that the altar is the material foundation that supports the work; it is the fixed place, the earthly buttress, where power is manifested and made actual in the world.
source: The Truth about Ritual Magic, Donald Tyson

Altar:

An altar is really a work bench holding your magickal tools. Usually it is placed at the center of the circle or working area. Sometimes it may be moved to face any of the four corners. Traditionally it is composed of two equal size cubes, one on top of the other.

ARTICLES

� previous12 next �

Creating a rune amulet

Modern rune rituals are sometimes done entirely with visualization - the runes are made in the astral world and are never actually written down or carved on any material. This technique works fairly well, but it is not in harmony with the ancient ...

Relevance:

18%

Ostara Ritual

Setup Items needed for this Ostara ritual include: Four green altar candles for the directions; Two lavender or purple altar candles for the Goddess and God; At least one cut flower for each participant in the group ritual. For solo ritual, have a ...

Relevance:

18%

Litha Ritual

Setup Items for the Litha Ritual include: Six candles for the altar; A basket of cut flowers; enough to lay out your circle (there can be space in between them); A basket of marigolds; Drums, rattles and other percussion instruments. If working solo ...

Relevance:

18%

Imbolg Ritual

Setup The items needed for this ritual include: Six green candles for the altar; Enough candles to place at the perimeter of your circle; A white altar cloth (white is the predominant color to symbolize winter�s hold, with the green candles ...

Relevance:

18%

Lughnasadh Ritual

Setup Items needed for this ritual include: Six pieces of fruit, vegetables or a combination placed in a basket near the altar; Chalice; A wand or athame can be used to cast the circle; Honey mead or other honeyed drink such as chamomile tea; ...

Relevance:

18%

Mabon Ritual

Setup Items for this ritual include: Two brown or yellow candles for the altar; Chalice; A basket of apples; enough for the circle boundary (they need not touch each other); Three additional apples; A sharp knife to cut the apples; Several gourds; ...

Relevance:

18%

Beltane Ritual

Setup Items for this ritual include: Two white candles for deities; Four candles for the directions in pastel shades or colors of bright flowers; Chalice; Athame; Sweet juice such as peach nectar; Shelled sunflower seeds on a plate suitable for the ...

Relevance:

Black Mass

Introduction: The so-called "Black Mass" (possibly, at least initially, a literary invention) was to be performed by an ordained priest—Catholic, Anglican, or Episcopal—(in later descriptions he was supposed to a de-frocked priest). It ...

Relevance:

Samhain Ritual

Setup Items for this ritual include: Two white candles and four black candles; Four small sprigs of bittersweet; One branch of bittersweet; Strands of black, white and red yarn cut to twelve-inch lengths placed in a basket on the altar; Pomegranate ...

Relevance:

Anahata - The Heart Chakra

Element: Air Color: Green Verb: I love Attributes: Love, balance, relationship, compassion We are now halfway through our seven-leveled chakra system. Below us are the first three chakras which relate to things and activities in the external ...

Relevance:

Building Empathy in These Tough Times

When I first came up with the idea of writing the book Spells for Tough Times, I did so because I knew people out there needed help. They may need help with their finances, they may need help with their families, they may need help with their health; whatever the topic, there are people in this world in need, and it seems we often tend to forget... read this article

	A Growing, Ghostly Intimacy
	It's Hard to Keep a Good Vampire Down
	Astrology on the Cusp
	Good Magical Hygiene: Essential Personal Energy Management for The Spiritually Gifted
	Put Purpose into Raising Your Frequency

Most recent posts:

Getting Back on Track
Readers, please enjoy this guest blog post by Kerri Connor, author of Spells for Tough Times. So it's February. Chances are some of you have...

Stressed? Bubbles to the Rescue!
While rushing through my morning routine I was surprised with a little tid bit on a morning radio show. First, they dangled the carrot:�According to...

Readers Studio 2012
The annual event tarot readers and lovers all around the world wait for is less than 100 days away! This event just gets better and better each...