Having an altar is a really beautiful and powerful way of bringing sacredness and ritual to support your everyday life – and it doesn’t have to be elaborate or fancy for it to truly make an impact. 

In its simplicity, an altar space is an area that is set up to reconnect you to things that will be anchors or reminders to help you on your journey. Having said this – if you don’t have a physical space that this works with –  you can also create a more transportable offering that can travel to different spaces. 

There is no right or wrong way to set up an altar space but here are some things to consider…

Intention

First of all get clear on what you wish this altar to represent. 

When we see things visually it can spark or activate something within us. So depending on what we need support with, what we are manifesting, or what we wish to honour – we can choose our altar components to meet our individual needs. 

If you are seeking support in an area of your life – for example to feel calm and peaceful – you might like to choose things that remind you of this, such as items that ground you, or that remind you to relax and trust. 

If you are seeking to manifest something, you might like to have reminders of that – whether that be objects, or even words of encouragement that keep your wishes and dreams in mind. 

If you are seeking to honour someone, or something, you could set up your altar to include visual anchors for this – for example – a teacher or a guide, a goddess or a deity that you particularly want to work with. 

You might simply want to create a beautiful space in your home to welcome in a certain energy – perhaps nature, the moon, love, or creativity. 

Whatever your intention is – the first step is to be clear on this so that you can start to bring together those things that will keep you connected to it.

Bringing together your altar items

This is not an inclusive list, but merely some suggestions to help you begin to gather sacred items that mean something to you. 

The elements

Bringing in something that represents the four elements is a beautiful foundation for your altar. 

Fire: Candle or Incense

Water: A cup or vessel, it may or may not contain water – but the intention is there. 

Air: Feathers or Incense 

Earth: Plants, Stones or objects from nature

Spiritual representations

If you follow a specific spiritual path – for example Buddhim, you might like wish to bring in a representation to honour the culture and tradition you are connected to. Suggestions could be a Buddha, a Goddess or God that stands for what you believe in or perhaps a book that has been instrumental in your learning journey. 

Crystals

You can choose crystals to include on your altar that help to bring in the energy that you wish to connect to. Some of our favourites include black tourmaline for protection, selenite for cleansing, amethyst for connecting to intuition and labradorite for grounding. 

Photos

Including photos that have meaning to you is a beautiful addition to your altar. You could gather imagery of people that you love, ancestors, teachers, or even places you have been or wish to go. 

Cards

If you use Oracle or Tarot cards you can include them on your altar. Perhaps selecting one for a certain phase to guide you, or simply having your favourite deck on the altar ready for you to pull a card whenever you feel called. You can purchase card stands that are a nice way of presenting them.  

Sentimental items 

You can also choose to bring in anything else that is important to you and that connects you with your intention. These could be gifts you have been given, books, pressed flowers, jewellery or any other items that bring support to you. 

Once you have gathered your items together, choose a space that is clean and clear to set them up. Purposefully set them out in a way that visually speaks to you and presents them in a way that connects you to your intention. 

Altar on the go

If you don’t have the space to create an altar, or perhaps if you are travelling and wish to take items with you to ground and anchor you no matter where you are located – you can create a travelling altar with a few items that can be set out wherever you are. 

We hope you enjoy creating your altar space, if you would like to share a photo of your altar with us on Instagram then please tag @elizabeth_carolineuk so that we can see it.