Rituals for Magic and Meaning. Cerridwen Greenleaf

were blessed in earliest times by the blood of animals or even captives from tribal wars. Now we bless altars by sprinkling them with salt, a magical substitute for blood.

      Seasonal Altars

      There are many reasons to create personal altars, and four of those reasons are the seasons of the year. You altar helps you to maintain balance in your life and deepens your spiritual connection to the world around you. A seasonal altar is your tool for ceremonies to honor Mother Nature and connect with the deeper wisdom of the earth. A seasonal altar enshrines the natural world and blends the energies of flowers, stones, shells, leaves, and any and all gifts of the season. I think of my seasonal altar as the middle ground between earth and sky, the meeting point of the four elements: earth, air, fire, and water. Creating a seasonal altar is a life-affirming act. It is my way of honoring our ecology and our planet.

      Spring

      You can create a wonderful outdoor altar for spring by planning two seasons ahead and planting tulip or hyacinth bulbs in a circle. When the flowers begin to bud, place an image or statue in the center. It could be a bust of the Greek youth, Hyacinth, immortalized in myth and in the gorgeous flower itself. Throughout the spring, you can stand inside your circle and pray or chant for the rebirth of the world all around you.

      Summer

      During this season of sun and heat, the fullness of life and growth can be celebrated with colors of yellow, green, and red. As you travel on vacation, bring back shells and stones and create an altar devoted to this season of joy.

      Fall

      The leaves are now falling and the harvest is here, calling for a gratitude altar that reflects the bounty and continuance of live. An arrangement of pumpkins, acorns, multicolored branches, and a handsome bouquet of leaves will honor the natural changes that characterize autumn.

      Winter

      White and blue represent snow and sky. Star-shaped candles and a bare branch on your altar symbolize this time to go within, explore the inner reaches of self, and draw forth the deepest wisdom for the coming spring. In The Blessed Bee, a Pagan family magazine, Selene Silverwind writes on the subject of setting up a candle-free children’s altar. She emphasizes the importance of changing the altar for every season and holy day, specifically for Samhain, our modern-day Halloween, and Yule, the precursor to our Christmas. In so doing, Silverwind points out that you are “teaching children to connect with faith at a deep level,” helping them participate in their religion in a physical way instead of trying to stand quietly at a ritual. You are also teaching them the meaning of the seasons and how they affect us.

      Healing Altar: Crafting Well-Being

      Creating a healing altar will safeguard your physical health and that of your loved ones. Your altar is your sacred workspace. It is charged with your personal power. Set up your healing altar facing north, the direction associated with the energy of manifestation. North is also the direction of the hour of midnight, the “witching hour,” and an altar set up facing north at midnight promises potent magic.

      To ensure healthful beginnings, find a pure white square of fabric to drape over your altar to make a tabula rasa, or altar equivalent to a blank slate. Take two green candles and place them in green glass holders or votive glasses and position them in the two farthest corners of the altar. Place your incense burner in the center between the two candles and light the incense. Sandalwood, cinnamon, camphor, and frankincense are all powerful purification incenses that are perfect for the creation of a healing altar. Burn one or all of these purification essences to consecrate the space. Adorn your altar with objects that symbolize healing energy to you. You may perhaps choose a candleholder carved from a chunk of amethyst crystal, which contains healing properties; an abalone shell with the iridescent magic of the oceans; a sweet-smelling bundle of sage; a small citrus plant bursting with the restorative power of vitamins; or a bowl of curative salts from the sea.

      These symbolic items, and any others that you select, will energize your altar with the magic that lives inside you. It is also important that the altar be pleasing to your eye and makes you feel good when you look at it so that you want to spend time there each and every day. After you have been performing rituals there for a while, a positive healing energy field will radiate from your altar.

      Altar Herbs

      Refer to this list whenever you are setting up your altar and setting your intention for ritual work. It is a concise guide to the enchanted realm of herbs, essences, plants and plant properties.

      Benzoin can be used for purification, prosperity, work success, mental acuity, and memory.

      Camphor can be used for healing, divining the future, curbing excess, especially romantic obsessions, and a surfeit of sexuality.

      Cinnamon refreshes and directs spirituality. It is also a protection herb and handy for healing, money, love, lust, personal power, and success with work and creative projects.

      Clove is good for bringing money to you, for protection, for your love life, and for helping evade and deter negative energies.

      Copal should be used for love and purification.

      Frankincense is another spiritual essence that purifies and protects.

      Lavender is a plant for happiness, peace, true love, long life, chastity, and is an excellent purifier that aids with sleep.

      Myrrh has been considered since ancient times to be deeply sacred. It aids personal spirituality, heals and protects, and can help ward off negative spirits and energies.

      Nutmeg is a lucky herb that promotes good health and prosperity and encourages fidelity.

      Patchouli stimulates and grounds while engendering both sensuality and fertility. It also supports personal wealth and security.

      Peppermint is an herb of purification, healing, and love. It supports relaxation and sleep as it helps to increase psychic powers.

      Rosemary is good for purification, protection, healing, relaxation, and intelligence. It attracts love and sensuality, helps with memory, and can keep you youthful.

      Sage brings wisdom, purification, protection, health, and a long life. It can help make your wishes come true.

      Sandalwood is a mystical, healing, protecting essence that helps attract the objects of your hopes and desires and dispenses negative energies and spirits.

      Star Anise is a lucky herb that aids divination and psychism.

      Tonka Bean brings courage and draws love and money.

      Vanilla brings love and enriches your mental capacity.

      Wood Aloe is good for dressing or anointing talismans and amulets you want to use for protection.

      Prosperity Altar: Using the Laws of Attraction

      Your altar is the nexus of your magical powers; it is also your medium through which you give gifts to the Roman god of abundance, Jupiter, also known as Jove. Jupiter is a rain and thunder deity who also controls fertility. He will rain abundance down upon you if you gain his favor through ritual observance. His “jovial” qualities include leadership, jollity, generosity, expansiveness, and a royal manner. Your middle finger is your Jupiter finger and you can also increase your fortunes by leaving a ring on your altar overnight and then place it upon the middle finger of either hand. Ideally, for the best result, it will be a green or gold stone such as peridot, tourmaline, or citrine. If you can find a statue or bust of Jove, you should place this symbol on the right side of the altar, accompanied by the image of an eagle, which is the ideal prosperity altar emblem, as the eagle is Jupiter’s bird totem. The eagles of Rome and America are this royal bird of the king of gods. Lapis lazuli, the beautiful blue stone beloved of the Egyptians, is also sacred to Jupiter. The alchemical symbol for this stone is the astrological sign of Jupiter in reverse, and the blue of the lapis