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I have had many altars and shrines in my 18 years of practicing Paganism. Altars in boxes for storability or in a roll-out knitting carry case for portablity, shrines in wall-niches and in bowls, and both on tables and shelves, inside and out. I can say that nearly every room in our home has had an altar, including the bathroom and excepting the closets.
In the bedroom, there is usually a blessing bowl that functions as an altar on our dresser, in the kitchen is my personal altar, the family altar changes with the seasons, an outdoor shrine hangs in the corner of the balcony, and there is even a shrine in the bathroom. I happen to think that while all space is sacred, having a sacred space for meditative moments and as a reminder of that space’s purpose helps keep the energy in that space anchored in a way to maintain the good vibes necessary for peaceful living.
Many Pagan 101 type books and websites will offer instructions of what an altar should look like and what tools one should place on it and where they should be put. For new comers, something like this is probably helpful, but outside of specific paths, unnecessary. My first altar was pretty standard–straight out of Buckland’s Big Blue with the god on the left and goddess on the right, athame, bell, etc. 18 years later our household altars are fairly well deconstructed to whatever the heck inspires us. Either way, it really doesn’t matter as long as it suits its user–at the end of the day, an altar can be anything from a place to store your stuff to the place that anchors the sacred in your space…and just about anything you need it to be inbetween.
Some ideas:
- The best place to get altar tools are thrift stores, yard sales, flea markets, etc. Also nature is a great place to find things, as is the Dollar Store and craft stores for DIY projects.
- An excellent resource for making/recognizing one’s kitchen as a sacred space is Cooking Like a Goddess: Bringing Seasonal Magic into the Kitchen, by Cait Johnson, which also discusses the ways to have that space, and the food you prepare reflect the seasons.
- Seasonal (holiday) shrines can be made out of blank wreaths for the door, decorated appropriately (the dollar store has some AWESOME supplies), and placed on a wall. A few Ostaras ago, I took a wicker wreath, wrapped it with sphagnum moss and soaked it with water, and then planted it with grass seed (which sprouted) and decorated it with eggs…we recycled or gave to a friends compost pile all of it when we were done.
- Unconventional containers make cool shrines. An antique (or modern reproduction) pitcher and basin set (used in the days before people had personal bathrooms to wash up in) makes a great elemental shrine for water, and a terrarium can be turned into an awesome earth shrine, with just a big jar, a garden trowel and some outdoor exploration.
- Craft stores like Michael’s and JoAnn’s have $10 wooden slat crates which can be nailed or screwed directly into the studs in the wall for the perfect wall nook for an altar (also good stuffed animal shelves for kids)…or you might be able to find one at a thrift store or flea market.
- Don’t be confined to “traditional” altar items–feel free to DIY, or just step completely off the beaten path and find something else. A couple of weeping willow branches can be bent and woven into a beautiful pentacle, leaves or flowers can be sewn into garland (both can be seen in the above pic), wax from old candles can be recycled into new ones, etc.
bay witch musings 
What about garden alters? I actually spent all day in the garden and my mind kept lingering back to the idea that I needed one in the corner…flat rock…but what else do I want there… i got home and there was your post…any ideas for me?
ps- loving all the recent updates…
Thanks! Finishing school and having the hubby around (both for himself and for help with the kids) has given me more time, less stress and more ideas…so I’ve been working on my stack of half written posts and post ideas!
As for a garden altar…I think it depends on what you plan to do there (mostly ritual/active work or mostly meditative/inner work?) as well as the natural qualities of it (shady or sunny, wet or dry, etc).
If you want to use it at night, you might consider the tiny LED “fairy lights”, torches or a fire pit. If you have a specific deity you would like to incorporate, I’d look at garden statuary places for inspiration, but if you are a DIY type, there is something called hypertufta that you could try for making your own. Another think to consider are if you want to incorporate elemental correspondences–water features, wind chimes or mobiles (you can make some awesome mobiles with old dishes, beads, etc—every magpie-ish), rock stacks, torches can all be used for that. If you have a tree nearby, you can incorporate it into the space–in China and Japan prayer ribbons are often tied into trees.
Personally, if I had a yard (I’ve been an apartment dweller for quite some time now), I’d put my flat rock in front of a fountain with a small pool. In that pool, I’d put a goddessy hypertufta statue studded with shells and beach glass. On either side of my spot, I think I’d plant a smaller under-story native tree (for me, probably redbud or dogwood), though…if I had room, I’d just plant a weeping willow where it could grow over my altar area, and I would put fairy lights and chimes in the tree.
ah excellent…you’ve given me some ideas! my alters are always simple and express gratitude and protection for my space…i actually have 2 gardens-one i will be selling on the side of the road and the other for our family…the intention and energy of each is very different. I will have to find a way to…well, nevermind…I’ll work it out…you have my wheels turning now! Thanks for the help!