A Witch’s altar is the sacred place where a Witch will perform rituals and spells…and often serves as a focal point for devotional workings.

Think of the Altar as an interface between the Witch and the Powers that Be…the place within the circle where the two worlds intersect…and where the Witch works with the hidden forces to connect with the source of their empowerment and to create change in conformity with their Will.  Many Witches set up their altar every time they are going to be engaged in a working and others leave theirs set up all the time.  It is often the place where the Witch keeps their primary magickal tools.

There are many Witches who prefer to work out doors and have outdoor altars in gardens and sacred spaces like groves.  Working indoors provides for privacy and also is more climate controlled.  It’s really a matter of preference.  Experiment with workings indoors and outdoors, if possible.  It will be clear to you which you prefer.

Many Witches use an altar cloth to protect the altar surface from getting worn by tools and candle wax.  Altar cloths are also a good way to help create a certain tone for the space by using color and symbol.

It’s a good idea to have working candles on the altar, so that one can see what one is doing during a working.  It should go without saying, one should always exercise great caution when working with candles or incense…they should only be used responsibly and in accordance with safety precautions.  Also, it should be mentioned, all candles and incense and other items such as herbs, sharp tools ect, should be kept out of the reach of children and animals…and never left lying around or in a place, the altar included, where they could pose a danger to others.

Some Witches use a black or silver working candle on the left side for the Goddess or Divine Feminine and a white or gold working candle on the right side for the God or Divine Masculine.  Some Witches think of these in psychological terms instead of theological ones.  After years of experience, I would advise all of us to keep an open mind about things…since we are always evolving and learning.

There is a very practical side to the Altar…since it is a place of working, many Witches keep their Athame, Wand, Chalice and Altar Pentacle on the altar.  Some pack these up between workings and allow the space to be purely devotional in between rituals and ceremonies.  In any instance, it is a good practice to treat the Altar as sacred and to only allow sacred items to be placed upon it with intention.  Once consecrated, the altar can be a place that accelerates manifestation…and we probably would do well to avoid unintentional energies and objects being included.

You will often find a bowl of water and a bowl of salt on a Witch’s altar as well as an incense burner.  Another common item is the bell or some sort of chime.  These are items commonly used in Witchcraft.

Witches often consider correspondences relating to the elements, deities, spirits and directions when setting up their altar.

Some traditions of Witchcraft have guidelines for how their members will set up their altars…but the vast majority of practitioners in the world are generally solitary and quite eclectic in beliefs and practices.  The altar can be seen as serving the Witch as a representation of the greater universe, or macrocosm.  Many would say that this is the primary purpose of the altar.  As such, many Witches will keep statues or representations of their Deities or the Spirits that they work with…including elementals, ancestors and guides, angels and demons/daemons.  Our communities can be quite diverse and each Witch altar is going to reflect the ideology of the practitioner.

Another consideration is the direction the altar faces.  Many traditions say that it should face North…and many say East.  Sometimes, especially in outdoor settings, the altar is often placed in the center.  Very often, practitioners often go with the instincts, as well…depending on what they are focused on doing and what the focus of the ceremony will be.

Some assign one side of the altar to the Goddess and the other side to the God.  Many Wiccans regard the left side as feminine and the right as masculine.  Other kinds of Witches utilize the principle of polarity in non-binary ways and tend to have less rigid gender correspondences and generally follow their intuitions.

Perhaps the most important thing about altar set up is to make sure the altar is a place where the Witch can most easily connect with Source, whatever that may mean for the individual Witch.  Some Witches spend a lot of time meditating and grounding their energies in front of the altar…which becomes all the more powerful thru repetition over time.

The altar is also a place where we can give thanks and make offerings to our Allies and Deities.  Incense is always appropriate and makes a great offering.

A Witch should make sure their altar reflects who they are and how they practice.

One of the ways a Witch can make the altar more personal to themselves is by placing an image of the Deities they work with on the altar itself.  For some and perhaps for most, the Deity statues or symbolic representations are the main focus of the altar.  Having an image of your Deities often allows for you to connect more easily when working at your altar.  For example, I keep a statue of Bastet on mine during ordinary time…since She is the primary Deity I work with.  We offer smaller figures of Bastet in Her cat form on the Witch Joseph website.

Of course, not all Witches work directly with Deities or God forms…but instead prefer to keep things less “religious”.  Some Witches place crystals or stones on their altars…especially stones that have a reputation for helping a person in their evolution and growth…a good example would be celestite to help with connection to the higher realms and dimensions…or with Basalt for protection and grounding.  Holey Stones also can be a wonderful natural object for the altar…some Witches hang one above the altar. (A Holey Stone can be charged by looking at the Full Moon through the hole.) Of course, Witches often hang all sorts of things over their altars…some hang a Pentacle or other spiritual symbol there, such as the Ankh.

It’s always a lot of fun (and spiritually empowering as well) to adorn the altar with seasonal objects and flowers…and to change the color scheme to reflect what Nature is doing at the moment.

Full Moon altars in all white are also gorgeous and quite powerful as well…as are Dark/New Moon Altars in black.  Working with the cycles of the Moon and the Seasons of the Sun at our altars teaches us that there is a time and place for everything in Nature.

Some Witches will keep photos and relics of their ancestors and beloved ones who have crossed over into Spirit…which can be a great source of empowerment and connection.

Some altars are designed to store and house the items a Witch may need for any particular working or celebration.

When selecting what to use as an altar, many Witches opt for a piece of furniture that has drawers and storage inside of it.  This can make things much easier for the practitioner since all of their items are in one place and can be reached easily and quickly when needed.

It is very convenient to store incense, candles, oils, herbs, crystals, charcoal, offering dishes and bowls, altar cloths ect…all in the same place under the altar.  It makes it much easier to change the altar around as well…for seasonal observances or for spells and workings of various kinds.  A lot of Witches keep various color candles and cloths ect…for this very reason.

Some Witches also like to keep their ritual jewelry…such as their ritual necklace or pentacle…consecrated rings and the like, in or on the altar itself to keep them safe and magickally charged.

Of course, it’s a good idea for practitioners to become skilled in Divination…so the altar is also a good place to store divination tools, when they are not in use, like the Pendulum, the Tarot or Lenormand, the Runes or Oracle Deck.  There are many options for Witches to pursue.

In the end, the more personalized a Witch can make the altar for themselves the more powerful it will be in their practices.

If you are just starting out and have never set up an altar before…I encourage you to jump in and experiment with it.  See what feels right for you…and don’t be afraid to change things up.  Your practice is your own and only you can determine what the right set up for your altar is.  Have fun with it.  I have always liked the guidance given in the charge of the Goddess when She says, “…Let my worship be in the heart that rejoices…All acts of Love and Pleasure are my rituals…”. This has proven to be true for me in my practices and a sure guide for having fun when engaging with the Spirits.  I hope you find the same joy and pleasure in yours.  

Blessed Be.