How-to: Set Up an Altar

This is a question that gets asked on a pretty regular basis--how you you set up an altar or what is the "right" way to set up an altar.  For starters, it really depends on what tradition(s) you might be working in.  Someone who is a practicing Catholic is going to have a very different looking altar than someone who is Baptist or Hindu.  Furthermore, in many folk magic traditions altars are not necessary or are even relatively late inventions.  However, there are some general rules to consider when creating an altar or sacred space for yourself.

• What do you do?  Do you light a lot of candles?  You probably need a place for matches as well as candle lighting tools, if you use oils you need a dark cool place to store those as well.  If you work with needle and thread a lot then you might want to consider dedicating a part of your craft or sewing room to your ritual work.  If you write recipes and petitions then you writing desk might be where you do most of your work.  An altar is a place of honoring the Divine and a place where you can do your sacred work--it does not have to be in any one specific room or locale.
• East is for gain and West is for decrease.  This idea comes out of the very old tradition of following the sun--the sun rises in the East so on a spiritual and metaphorical level our desires, fortunes, and dreams can rise and gain strength with that fiery star.  It sets in the West allowing our fears, bad habits, and negative issues to go down with it.  If you want to set up a prosperity altar you might think that given the above rule you would place it in the East, but I encourage you to think about what the biggest challenge to your prosperity is.  If you really need to draw more money then make that altar in the East, but if you really need to decrease debt you might want to consider a Western banishing altar.
• Altars need to have tools that you actually use.  If you are going to use your altar for prayer then have your rosary or mala or prayer beads and sacred text ready to go.  If you do a lot of hands on ritual work at your altar have the tools that you need for that--do not try to have a high magic ceremonial altar unless you actually are a ceremonial magician
• Altars need to be private--usually this is true--an altar needs to be in a more private place so that when you are working at it you attention and intention are clearly focused and uninterrupted.
• Altars should be beautiful--consider your tradition and influences, build something that is pleasing to you and to your Higher Power(s), don't skimp and remember: simple can be beautiful.  You are also not limited to only working with table top space--decorate the walls and floor around your altar as well.
• You might need more than one.  If you are an active amateur or a professional then I recommend you have at least 3 altars--2 are for clients: one for increase and one for decrease and the third is your own personal altar where you go to reground and pray or meditate.  If you find yourself doing a lot of one type of work you might want to consider creating an altar specifically for that as well.
• Altars are not magically shielded from dust and debris--at least mine aren't--like everything else they require consistent upkeep and cleaning.

Creating altars should be invigorating and fun!  If you start to really stress about it then stop--don't force the issue--altars have a way of letting you know where they need to be and when they need to be created.  Trust yourself to know when the right time is.

Candle Houses

As most of you know, I burn A LOT of vigil candles and for awhile now I have been thinking about where the best place to burn candles would be.  As we all know, burning vigil candles can be a tense experience because we don't want our homes or offices to catch on fire.  When I first started doing candle work in college I had large stock pots in my dorm rooms full of candles (smoke alarms were disabled of course).  Since then I have experienced with several different altar set ups--always wishing for something that was safe, beautiful, and most importantly dedicated solely to the practice of setting lights.  Vigil candles are incredible magical tools-I love the act of blessing, dressing, and setting each candle for each special client and condition.  Well, I learned about Austin Forge from my husband--and I cannot recommend their work highly enough!  Matt at the forge made me two beautiful candle houses (we were inspired by some of the candle houses at various Catholic churches around town) and he customized them for Milagro Roots!  I am thrilled with the results and have to show them off to all y'all!  Just as having your own dedicated space fo conjure work is an incredible experience, so is having a dedicated space for my candles--especially since more and more requests are rolling in after the founding of SOUL.

 

 

 

Apprentice week and updates

Well, the Lucky Mojo Apprenticeship has come and gone.  Momma Hen and I are both now graduates and apprentices and we will be able to pass on the knowledge we have learned at the hands of miss cat and the LMC staff to our own clients!  It was a touch and go thing for me this year, I was not sure I would be able to make the apprenticeship with the new baby, but we managed and he did great! It has also been a crazy, crazy past few weeks--we have moved, Milagro Roots has its own office space, and I have several new, exciting, and BIG projects that I am working on--more will be revealed in time.  I plan on talking a bit in a later post about the awesome Hoodoo Workshops sponsored by MISC, but right now I just want to tell everyone hi and let the graduates from miss cat's HRCC course know that the apprenticeship is so totally, completely, amazingly worth it!  Most of the time when folks talk about the apprenticeship we discuss the fact that is one of those incredibly rare opportunities where you get to learn from a living master the hands on approach to old fashioned conjuration.  However, it is really so much more than that.  Apprenticing with miss cat grounds you firmly in the history of our tradition.  As Hoodoo and all things conjure related become more and more popular we also see more and more people trying to claim what Conjure is or is not.  The nice thing about our tradition is that there are many primary source materials that can help separate the wheat from the chaff and the apprentices get quite familiar with these materials.  I believe that the entire process makes one a better magical worker but I also believe that it makes one more knowledgeable and therefore of greater service to clients.  I will leave you all with a few pics from the week:

Momma Hen and Lil' Jessi preparing bath crystals

 

Miss cat's awesome collection of antique sachet powders

Baby Jasper taking it all in

Exciting News, Candle Reports, Spell Reports, and Readings

Hi everyone,

Well crazy times just get crazier over at Milagro Roots!  This weekend our family is moving into a new home and Milagro Roots will have a separate office space--dubbed by Miss cat the "conjure casita."  Phone lines will be up and running by Sunday and I will perform my first readings in the new space on Monday.  I am recovering from a nasty 48 hour virus that hit me last week and has pushed me behind schedule on candle reports, spell reports and a few readings--so for those of you who have been waiting patiently, I'm afraid you will have to wait a little bit longer.  We are thrilled with our new home, but with the chaos of moving, a 1.5 month old little one and all the rest I am juggling a lot of balls right now and I appreciate everyone's patience.  In the meantime my readings have become even more popular and I am now booked pretty much through the end of April.  I am also thrilled to announce that both Momma Hen and myself will be finishing our apprentice week at Lucky Mojo and attending the workshops the first weekend of May.  I will be performing readings in the reading tent so for those of you who are attending--look for me there!