Home Shrine

A brief description, with photos if possible, of the Dedicant's home shrine and plans for future improvements. (150 words min)

My home shrine began its life as a small table stashed away in the guest room and has since transformed into an entire room dedicated to ritual.  For this paper though, I will focus exclusively on my ADF alter.  It is a semi-artistic piece of my life.  For the most part, my altar is still only used for high days, but since being brought to a more visible location it has definitely helped me to acknowledge and praise daily.  It’s a simple black table that is usually covered with a cloth to match the up-coming High Day, or left bare depending on what working I am doing. It isn’t as spacious as I would like it to be, but it’s still an improvement over what I was originally using. To represent fire I have a candle in a hand blown glass dish and for the well I have a blue dish filled with seashells I have found in bodies of water. The tree is represented by a Kindreds pillar. 

I also have a six-tiered candleholder with colored candles, which I light during the call for each Kindred as well as Well, Fire, and Tree.  I also have an item representing each of the Kindreds, including a book and photos for my ancestors, several smaller stones from different locations for the nature spirits, and a wooden plaque that I made to represent the Shining Ones.  I recently was lucky enough to find a plaque for Minerva to place on my altar as well.  I also have added a candle for the Hearth goddess and one for the Earth mother.  In the center of it all, below the tree, is a labyrinth that is used to represent the Omphalos. 

Each piece on my altar has a story and reason for its presence.  For example, the ancestor’s book originally belonged to my great-grandmother.  No item was chosen hastily, so replacing them is very difficult.  Over time I would love to get more items that I have made on the shrine and maybe find a way to adapt the shrine to the seasons more thoroughly.  I also hope to get a second piece to better represent the Shining Ones as the one I am currently using is focused primarily on my Patron.  I expect over time the shrine will continue to grow and change.   (390 words).