my shrines
- written as a comment to a post about streamlining altar space in justtamilia's blog.
While I have a ritual room, my shrines to individual Powers are all outside that room. The ritual room contains: 1) my main altar (ContraryWise Craft); and 2) my shrine to the Three Kindreds (the land spirits, the ancestors and orisa, and the gods), where I do much of my evening practice. But the shrines to Esu, Gwydion, Jesus, Dionysos, and Mathonwy are scattered throughout the apartment. My solution to streamlining altar space is to integrate the shrines as much as possible into the everyday of my apartment, especially those in public space. For example, the shrine to Mathonwy is located on the back of the toilet and is focused on the oil candle that I light when I take a bath. That's because my bath is a time for purification, reflection, and seeking serenity, all of which I associate with Mathonwy. If a guest uses my bathroom, they will see an oil candle sitting in a decorative piece that happens to have multiple fleurs-de-lis, with an eggcup holding sand and ashes from joss stick incense. All that shows is that I like to take relaxing baths by candlelight with pretty smells. And it only takes up about a quarter of the toilet top. On the large side, I was just given a wooden table to hold plants under the windows in my bedroom. I moved Dionysos' shrine objects to the center of the table, and am now planning on surrounding him completely with plants. He will have his own little jungle. :) From my point of view, everything on that table is part of the shrine, so watering the plants is a form of honoring Dionysos.
But I don't attempt to honor all of them all the time. On my weekly "shrine night"--which is usually Monday because that day is associated with Esu in Santeria--I make new offerings at the shrine to the Three Kindreds, then light whatever spell/prayer candles I have going. (The spell/prayer candles are kept on the shelf below the Three Kindreds shrine, so I can easily include them in my evening practice.) After the Three Kindreds shrine, I'll make some offering at Esu's shrine. Each week, I'll pick one or more shrine for devotion. If I feel like focusing on Esu that week, the offerings will be multiple and I'll usually play music for him on my computer. If, on the other hand, I want to focus on one of the other shrines, I'll just toss Esu three pennies and maybe light a candle or incense, then give time and attention to the shrine of Gwydion, Dionysos, or Mathonwy. (The Jesus shrine gets attention when I read Morning Prayer or Evening Prayer at home, which usually happens on Sundays that I don't make it to church. So he isn't part of my shrine night practice.)