As promised, some pictures of my altar. Just the main altar, not the hearth or Hermes's altar. I'm learning the camera so I'll try to get more pictures later.
I knitted the afghan I'm using for a cover. It's a Greek afghan pattern I found on Ravelry but I didn't have enough yarn to make a full size afghan so it fits perfectly on my yarn bin, which is under all that. The red thing on the left is the pomegranate I'm offering to Persephone. I have a close up of the altar coming up.
I have purified water in the back in a vase and my oil burner on the left, incense burner in the middle and my bell on the right. I am using the black candle for the cthonic gods, namely Hades, Persephone, Hecate. When that candle is gone, I'll probably just use another color as finding black candles is hard. I don't use a particular color for any of the other gods aside from Hestia. I use red for hers to symbolize the hearth-fire.
These figurines represent the gods: the eagle for Zeus...it's an old Avon container but the lid is missing so I'm using the jar part as a frankincense holder. The two owls represent Athena; the shell, Poseidon; the swan, Apollo; the deer, Artemis, and the snake, Asklepius. Hanging on the shelf is a set of spirit beads for meditating. I like to hold them when I pray or do any kind of ritual. They're made of jasper and hold some lovely energy. Behind the shelf is my print of van Gogh's Starry Night. I just feel a lot of energy coming from that beautiful work of art and it makes me think of the gods in the ethereal plain.
I had some other pictures above the altar, on the wall, but they didn't come out very well. It will take me a bit to learn how to do this camera thing better.
I don't really fit in with the other Hellenic polytheists, which doesn't bother me because it seems to me that choosing to fit in with them would be limiting myself. I will not willingly put myself in prison to any religious system again, especially one that insists on one way to do things, or one who believes they and they alone hold all truth. And to be honest, there are some on this particular path who behave just like the fundies I left behind. Plus, they seem to be on a very conservative political spectrum, one that I also left behind and will never return to. Not all, of course, but many. Enough that makes me wary of embracing that kind of spiritual path.
I have no doubts about which gods I should be following. I am quite content with the gods of my youth and am happily forging a connection with them. But I've discovered that I have limited myself too much by trying to label myself as a Hellenic polytheist and it's starting to feel too snug a fit. I do love the traditional aspects of the Greek gods but I'm not living in ancient Greece right now. Nor am I Greek. I'm not interested in the ancient philosophers or how the ancient Greeks thought about the gods. I'm interested in now.
I also don't believe anyone can know exactly what the gods thought about this or that based on the philosophers or the mythologies. Ancient writings are just like modern writings. They are all based on opinion. No one can know without a doubt that the Greek gods hated magick or that they were offended by miasma or that one had to perform a ritual in a particular way. It's all guess-work.
That's not to say that those writing don't have some merit. I happen to like reading other people's opinions about all kinds of things, and I'm glad to learn from them. But never again will I believe that any writings are without error or must be read literally. I've had enough of that, thankyouverymuch.
So I've pulled out my Druidry books and plan to incorporate that into my practices as well. I will yield to the pull toward magick also. It's a strong pull and I can't imagine not going in a direction I feel the gods are leading me toward. I really don't see any conflict with Druidry and the Greek gods anyway. My original problem with Druidry was that I couldn't connect with the Celtic gods. Other than that I really did like it.
So I figure it's my path, not anyone else's, and since they're not going to walk it for me, they shouldn't be able to tell me how to walk it either.
All in all, things have never been better for me spiritually.
I knitted the afghan I'm using for a cover. It's a Greek afghan pattern I found on Ravelry but I didn't have enough yarn to make a full size afghan so it fits perfectly on my yarn bin, which is under all that. The red thing on the left is the pomegranate I'm offering to Persephone. I have a close up of the altar coming up.
I have purified water in the back in a vase and my oil burner on the left, incense burner in the middle and my bell on the right. I am using the black candle for the cthonic gods, namely Hades, Persephone, Hecate. When that candle is gone, I'll probably just use another color as finding black candles is hard. I don't use a particular color for any of the other gods aside from Hestia. I use red for hers to symbolize the hearth-fire.
These figurines represent the gods: the eagle for Zeus...it's an old Avon container but the lid is missing so I'm using the jar part as a frankincense holder. The two owls represent Athena; the shell, Poseidon; the swan, Apollo; the deer, Artemis, and the snake, Asklepius. Hanging on the shelf is a set of spirit beads for meditating. I like to hold them when I pray or do any kind of ritual. They're made of jasper and hold some lovely energy. Behind the shelf is my print of van Gogh's Starry Night. I just feel a lot of energy coming from that beautiful work of art and it makes me think of the gods in the ethereal plain.
I had some other pictures above the altar, on the wall, but they didn't come out very well. It will take me a bit to learn how to do this camera thing better.
I don't really fit in with the other Hellenic polytheists, which doesn't bother me because it seems to me that choosing to fit in with them would be limiting myself. I will not willingly put myself in prison to any religious system again, especially one that insists on one way to do things, or one who believes they and they alone hold all truth. And to be honest, there are some on this particular path who behave just like the fundies I left behind. Plus, they seem to be on a very conservative political spectrum, one that I also left behind and will never return to. Not all, of course, but many. Enough that makes me wary of embracing that kind of spiritual path.
I have no doubts about which gods I should be following. I am quite content with the gods of my youth and am happily forging a connection with them. But I've discovered that I have limited myself too much by trying to label myself as a Hellenic polytheist and it's starting to feel too snug a fit. I do love the traditional aspects of the Greek gods but I'm not living in ancient Greece right now. Nor am I Greek. I'm not interested in the ancient philosophers or how the ancient Greeks thought about the gods. I'm interested in now.
I also don't believe anyone can know exactly what the gods thought about this or that based on the philosophers or the mythologies. Ancient writings are just like modern writings. They are all based on opinion. No one can know without a doubt that the Greek gods hated magick or that they were offended by miasma or that one had to perform a ritual in a particular way. It's all guess-work.
That's not to say that those writing don't have some merit. I happen to like reading other people's opinions about all kinds of things, and I'm glad to learn from them. But never again will I believe that any writings are without error or must be read literally. I've had enough of that, thankyouverymuch.
So I've pulled out my Druidry books and plan to incorporate that into my practices as well. I will yield to the pull toward magick also. It's a strong pull and I can't imagine not going in a direction I feel the gods are leading me toward. I really don't see any conflict with Druidry and the Greek gods anyway. My original problem with Druidry was that I couldn't connect with the Celtic gods. Other than that I really did like it.
So I figure it's my path, not anyone else's, and since they're not going to walk it for me, they shouldn't be able to tell me how to walk it either.
All in all, things have never been better for me spiritually.
Wow, Kathy, that's awesome. Thanks for sharing the pictures and then detailing what each item means to you.
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome. I forgot to mention the crystals I had across the front. Gifts from you, of course. :)
ReplyDeleteLovely! Even the pictures carry the sense of real and growing devotion. Wonderful, really wonderful. I congratulate you on also having some of the more clearly organized and understandable altar pictures I've seen in a while. My own spiritual place is far less organized- perhaps this is a reflection on my own ad hoc spirituality. ;)
ReplyDeleteAs for returning to the Druid books, go for it! I've been incorporating aspects of Druidry for a long time, even before I knew what it was called. Druidry (at least in the revivalist sense, since I don't think I'll ever really connect with the hard core reconstructionists) is a philosophy and way of living, not a specific spirituality. There is room within Druid practices for the names of any deity/ies. I've heard some Christian Druids invoke the names of saints during the rituals instead of any divine individual/s.
Keep doing as you do, my dear. You are finding yourself and that is the beginning of it all. Be well and be loved in light and in darkness!
Thank you, Ladyimbruim. I love OBOD's philosophies on Druidry but I have books from other groups as well. I like to be well-read. LOL It's a good thing to enjoy the journey and take the side roads once in a while. They are usually more scenic anyway. :)
ReplyDeleteBeautiful! I especially like how you use the animal statuettes to represent the Gods and Goddesses.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Debra. I wouldn't mind having statuettes of the Greek gods but the price is astronomical so I use their animal representations instead. Actually, I might even like them better than their Greek god statues.
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful and obviously very Spiritual place for you. Sometimes just looking at my altar grounds me. I have many throughout my home available to the public but my personal altar is in my bedroom. It changes as I do.
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean about just looking at the altar. My main altar is also in my bedroom (which doubles as a living room occasionally) and I often just sit and look at it throughout the night. But I love that even just doing that seems to recharge me. I've often wondered if I had too much stuff on there because I see other altars with just one or two items on them, but I can't think of a thing I want to remove. And besides...it's my altar and the gods seem to be pretty okay with it.
ReplyDelete