My A-Z series.

This is by no means a new concept, the whole A-Z thing people do on their blogs.  I thought it was a good idea for my blog, not because it seems like an easy option for a post every day, but because this whole 366 days of witchery is all about me reconnecting with my spiritual beliefs and an a-z of anything witchy is a good way for me to think about a witchy thing.

I am going to start with an A-Z of Witchcraft and it is likely that I will pick only one item beginning with the specific letter of the day, this will help me focus on that particular thing rather than trying to find good enough info on a lot of items.

So without further ado I am beginning with the letter A.

A is for Altar.

I do not have an altar in the traditional sense, I have a shelf where I have my crystal ball, a couple of candles and an incense stick holder.  It suffices.  I have tried to have a full altar in the past, but the lack of space has always meant that I have ended up putting my chosen items away.  Of course a lot of witches do this, but I found it particularly time consuming to have to set everything back up again when I wanted to spell.  As time is of the essence for me it just became easier to use the shelf and have the items I always use left out.  Underneath the shelf I have a few ornaments that represent different things for me, such as a lady that I call my Goddess, a wizard, a Cherished Teddy figure (Merlin who is holding a wand), a huge pestle and mortar that I use as a representation of my cauldron.  I also have a little dish underneath the shelf that I use to burn things in and for all intents and purposes this is my cauldron.
I have an emu feather that I found a few years back at a wildlife park, I have a small dish with some pretty pebbles in it and on the shelf I have some artificial flowers - you know the type that women wear as button-holes at weddings.

My altar suits me just fine and the items are personal to me.  I often read and hear about new witches who are anxious to get their altars just right.  They take a great deal of time and effort to get everything suggested and then still feel unhappy.  I always think that using your own personal ideas works better than what an author has told you to get.
Some things are just way too pricey and hardly ever get used, so it is always much better to have a good think about what you really need and what you will actually use before going ahead and paying out crazy money for items.

Altars can be as simple or as elaborate as you wish.  It is what matters to you that counts, not what everyone else has, or is doing.