Ariadne’s Thread; Chapter II: Altars Questions
1. How did it feel when you set up your altar?I didn't set up a new one this time, because I have three I keep up in my house at all times already. A holiday altar in my dining room that is built at the start of each season by Earl and I, and evolves with things we find during the holidays all the time. On top of the armoire in my bedroom is the second of my large altars in my bedroom, which is dedicated to Air, because I am in a year of being dedicated to the element of Air.
The third, and main one, is in the corner of my room. It's very much a collection of everything I am doing in a year. Classes, holidays, personal spells and prayers. It grows and changes with me as I and the year as we grow and change.
2. Did you encounter any obstacles in building or consecration?I always do, but I don't think they are ever in a bad way. I feel like every time my altar shifts and changes and alters from what it once was, the process has birthing pains in it. Learning how to re-associate myself, redefining my symbols and what I need to express in my spaces.
There's always the moments when I'm stuck looking all around me, wondering what will fit here next. Whether I'll find those things meant to sit here from the hands of others or a class or from some object in my bedroom I'd never seen in this light until just then.
3-6. How did the ceremony go? Were you moved by the experience? Did you go into an altered state? Describe in detail. Did you receive any special visions or messages from the Goddess?I'm lumping these together, since I sort of didn't do any of them. This chapter was designed toward the novice who hadn't built an altar, and I simply amended it to fit best for the me who has been building altars since my early teens. I used this month as a place for cleaning things up and cleaning them out. Being more aware and present in my choices and habits toward my altar work.
I put away my Five Elements Through Five Senses altar, which turned into a spell space that was needed. I went with my gut on not being ready to tear down the Chakra altar of the year, until later this month when RCG chooses it's new class for the year (or, perhaps, in February when the new year-long class begins).
I was supposed to be putting away my Temple of Twelve altar tonight, but it'll be up another week, or month, for various reasons I will get into in other places. I'm on the cusp of the end of this year's Main Altar, with everything being about to phased out, so I may end up revisiting this chapter as things change for me very soon.
As a good ending note, I did like reading this chapter far more than the last one. Yes, maybe it was generic information I've read a million times before, but there were only two pages about the things I railed about last time. I'm feeling a lot better about this in general and I'm holding a bright candle in my heart that the book and I continue to mutually adjust to each other like this all the way through.
The third, and main one, is in the corner of my room. It's very much a collection of everything I am doing in a year. Classes, holidays, personal spells and prayers. It grows and changes with me as I and the year as we grow and change.
2. Did you encounter any obstacles in building or consecration?I always do, but I don't think they are ever in a bad way. I feel like every time my altar shifts and changes and alters from what it once was, the process has birthing pains in it. Learning how to re-associate myself, redefining my symbols and what I need to express in my spaces.
There's always the moments when I'm stuck looking all around me, wondering what will fit here next. Whether I'll find those things meant to sit here from the hands of others or a class or from some object in my bedroom I'd never seen in this light until just then.
3-6. How did the ceremony go? Were you moved by the experience? Did you go into an altered state? Describe in detail. Did you receive any special visions or messages from the Goddess?I'm lumping these together, since I sort of didn't do any of them. This chapter was designed toward the novice who hadn't built an altar, and I simply amended it to fit best for the me who has been building altars since my early teens. I used this month as a place for cleaning things up and cleaning them out. Being more aware and present in my choices and habits toward my altar work.
I put away my Five Elements Through Five Senses altar, which turned into a spell space that was needed. I went with my gut on not being ready to tear down the Chakra altar of the year, until later this month when RCG chooses it's new class for the year (or, perhaps, in February when the new year-long class begins).
I was supposed to be putting away my Temple of Twelve altar tonight, but it'll be up another week, or month, for various reasons I will get into in other places. I'm on the cusp of the end of this year's Main Altar, with everything being about to phased out, so I may end up revisiting this chapter as things change for me very soon.
As a good ending note, I did like reading this chapter far more than the last one. Yes, maybe it was generic information I've read a million times before, but there were only two pages about the things I railed about last time. I'm feeling a lot better about this in general and I'm holding a bright candle in my heart that the book and I continue to mutually adjust to each other like this all the way through.