This is a picture of my altar right now. I do plan on doing some more work and replacing a few things.


This is an up close picture of my hallows. I would eventually like to get an oil lamp to represent the cosmic fire.

Hello everyone!

I moved recently and now live in apartment where I have a small amount of semi-private space in the backyard! It's big enough for our old coffee table, which is already out there, and about oh 6ft x 15-20ft. I would like to have a simple but permanent altar situation set up back there instead of boxing up my usual stuff and carrying it in and out every time I want to do ritual.
I'm curious as to what others have done with their outdoor spaces. I can handle various bowls and such but I think I am still stuck with candles for the Fire and really unsure of what to do for the representation of the World Tree. Right now, I have a sculpted wire tree but it isn't something I'd want to leave outdoors. I thought some sort of potted tree might be nice but it's definitely partial shade so I don't know how well a real plant would fare.
Mostly though, I'm just looking for visual inspiration :)
( And to perhaps visually inspire others, this is what I've got going on indoors:  )

It is probably a bit early, I haven't even finished de-Christmasizing the house yet, but my Brighid Flamekeeping shift came up the other night so I decided to set up my Imbolc altar.

I apologize if these pictures are a little dark. The flash, I find, tends to make everything a little "harsh" so I opened up the blinds in hope that natural light would give a truer view.

Full Altar


At the center front is the Fire consisting of a burner and three pillars, directly behind that are the Tree and Well (my altars are set up ADF style, for more info about that follow this link). To the left at the rear is my Nature Spirits Shrine, to the right my Ancestors Box and Circle Friends. Other assorted ritual needs like my divination bag and offering bowls and, this is Imbolc after all, a bunch of candles throughout.

( several more under here )

Here is my current main Shrine area. I have several other smaller Shrines throughout the apartment for various Kindreds. These photos are during a none High Day devotional. I try to decorate with seasonals for each High Day.

This one shows the mini Nature Spirits Shrine on the main Shrine:



This one shows the mini Shining Ones Shrine on the main Shrine:



This one shows the mini Ancestors Shrine on the main Shrine:

This one's not an ADF style (no fire, well, tree - that's on my main altar) but I thought I'd share.

Currently, I'm not so happy with my main altar so I've taken some time to work on another one. I just bought this wall tile (from a different store) and as soon as it came in I...

( ...rearranged my altar )

x-posted to my spiritual journal astra_dedicant and pimp_my_altar

Ok, I figured out I could add some photos of mine, too, though it changes every week, sometimes it gets pretty messy...

This was in our former flat, my first altar:



more contemporary:

If anyone has questions please feel free to ask.



( couple more, under the cut )
~ Jamie

x-posted to pimp_my_altar

Full Altar


( two more behind the cut )

Thanks
~ Dubhlainn

X-posted to pimp_my_altar

As close as I can get to fitting my whole altar in a shot


Close up of altar after a Thargelia ritual


A shelf with offerings on it


Selene


The Ancestors


Hermes


Hestia shrine

My shrine is currently disassembled and packed in boxes, since we just moved on Saturday and I'm still trying to find all the bits of it. It had already evolved past where it was in these photos and had been moved onto its own table by the time it got packed up, but this is where it started. I have a room of my own in the new place, which is dedicated to a desk, a couple bookshelves, and my shrine, so I'm looking very forward to expanding and elaborating my hallows and having a place I can really use well for meditation and devotion. I have some grandiose plans in mind but we'll see how long it takes me to bring them to fruition! Once I get the new one up I'll post pics.

Obviously these were taken shortly after a rite of some sort as there is "stuff" (I think that is the technical term) in my offering bowl.








The altar cloth is one I embroidered back in the late 90's while studying with Stone Creed Grove; the Fire, Well and Tree were all really new to me but making this really helped me think about what the symbols meant.