Altar to Chaos (the Void)
I have felt a pull to work with Chaos lately... I am referring specifically to the Chaos of ancient Greece, not as characterized by Ovid or in the typical modern sense.
... I am in the process of working out a ritual practice using the tools here.
This is the altar when it's not in use. There is a headpiece in the pentagram box that I wear during the practice, and the box becomes part of the base for the scrying mirror when in use. The scrying mirror is currently being stored in the round box seen on the left bend in the leg of the table. The lighter piece of wood below the altar is a meditation bench that pulls out for me to sit on. The black shape on the wall over the altar is an old mirror I picked up at a garage sale with two layers of a semi-sheer fabric over the top. With both layers down it's pretty hard to see much of an image in the mirror.
I use the singing bowl when I do the practice. I have mixed feelings about the dragon figure, but it usefully holds incense. The framed writing is in ancient Greek and translates to:
Chaos, you rule. Beginning and end are you, and you alone rule all, for all things are from you, and in you do all things come to their end.
When in use, I roll up one of the layers of fabric on the mirror over the altar and prop my scrying mirror up on the edge of the pentagram box. In this context I think of the pentagram as a pentalpha. The Alpha held a special significance as the first or birth-letter of the alphabet. To my understanding, in Tibetan Buddhism the "A" is also the first letter and has great significance.
The flash makes the single layer of fabric over the mirror appear more opaque than it actually is. Here's what it looks like without the flash.
This shot shows more detail of the scrying mirror. I made it more than a decade ago according to instructions in one of the Farrars' books. With candlelight behind it, it really can look like an opening into the void.
What it looks like in candlelight.
When using it, I am holding the singing bowl so obviously it isn't there. In this shot I also removed the dragon since I'm still deciding whether to keep it there or not.
...
By the way, I've enjoyed this community for a while but this is the first time I've posted one of my altars.
... I am in the process of working out a ritual practice using the tools here.
This is the altar when it's not in use. There is a headpiece in the pentagram box that I wear during the practice, and the box becomes part of the base for the scrying mirror when in use. The scrying mirror is currently being stored in the round box seen on the left bend in the leg of the table. The lighter piece of wood below the altar is a meditation bench that pulls out for me to sit on. The black shape on the wall over the altar is an old mirror I picked up at a garage sale with two layers of a semi-sheer fabric over the top. With both layers down it's pretty hard to see much of an image in the mirror.
I use the singing bowl when I do the practice. I have mixed feelings about the dragon figure, but it usefully holds incense. The framed writing is in ancient Greek and translates to:
Chaos, you rule. Beginning and end are you, and you alone rule all, for all things are from you, and in you do all things come to their end.
When in use, I roll up one of the layers of fabric on the mirror over the altar and prop my scrying mirror up on the edge of the pentagram box. In this context I think of the pentagram as a pentalpha. The Alpha held a special significance as the first or birth-letter of the alphabet. To my understanding, in Tibetan Buddhism the "A" is also the first letter and has great significance.
The flash makes the single layer of fabric over the mirror appear more opaque than it actually is. Here's what it looks like without the flash.
This shot shows more detail of the scrying mirror. I made it more than a decade ago according to instructions in one of the Farrars' books. With candlelight behind it, it really can look like an opening into the void.
What it looks like in candlelight.
When using it, I am holding the singing bowl so obviously it isn't there. In this shot I also removed the dragon since I'm still deciding whether to keep it there or not.
...
By the way, I've enjoyed this community for a while but this is the first time I've posted one of my altars.