My Altars & Shrines
My house is full of shrines and altars, and more of them keep cropping up as the need arises. I love creating beautiful little niches in which to honor the Gods and spirits I work with. So far, Odin alone has three altars of His own as well as part of the main Northern Tradition altar, and we have an entire room (formerly our basement, now the Temple Room) devoted to our Gods and the Work we do with and for Them. So keep checking this page; I will keep updating it as my altars and shrines grow and change, and as I build new ones!
For all of the photos below, if you click on them they will open to their full size. I'm including some notes about what's on each of them and where I got (or in some cases) found things because sometimes it can be hard to decide what should go on an altar, and why. Some of these choices are more personal to me, but they may still provide a little inspiration. Also, it's not always necessary to spend a lot of money; creativity goes a long way, and you never know what treasures you may discover at Target or even the dollar store.
Odin altar in the Temple Room
This altar is actually set up on the top of an old file cabinet. It's covered with a scrap of fabric from JoAnne's, and features an Odin doll I purchased from a sadly now-defunct web site, an Odin drinking horn with a scrimshaw-like design, my spiritual family prayer beads, a copper bowl containing a set of clay runes, my bottle of Odin oil from BPAL, a jarred beeswax candle (the scent is Wine & Roses), a pair of smaller beeswax candles in heart-shaped glass holders, my Tarot deck (the Necronomicon Tarot, currently), a crow feather gifted to me by my sister Jolene, a scrying crystal, a rose quartz pendulum, and my runic prayer beads resting on a piece of ethically-obtained wolf leg fur. There is also a bottle of Aquavit (which He loves and often makes me share with Him--vile stuff!) and a dark chocolate anatomical heart I gave Him for Valentine's Day. The book is a leather-bound blank book containing rituals, prayers, and letters I write to Him as a devotional activity. This altar is where I do my morning and evening devotions and meditations, as well as my rune and Tarot work. The file cabinet holds my knitting and sewing supplies, other decks of Tarot cards, lancets, and various other things I use often and like to keep close at hand.
Above the altar is a print of Helena Domenic’s painting of my patrons, Odin and Gunnlod. (The original is above the living room altar.) To the right you can see the top of one of our drums; a photo of those will be posted to the Sacred Tools page at some point. To the left is the Bestla/ancestors shrine.
Bedroom Odin altar
Hey, I’m married to Him; of course I have an Odin altar in my bedroom! This one is on the top of my dresser, and is covered with a runic altar cloth I made myself (from a fleece throw and metallic fabric paint). I found the wolf and eagle busts at the dollar store, of all places! Other items on the altar include Oberon Zell’s Odin statue, a framed copy of my favorite portrait of Him, Tarot cards featuring Him that I framed, a plastic Valkyrie figurine (okay, she’s really Eowyn from Lord of the Rings, but she represents Gunnlod here for me), a dragon candle holder, a scrying crystal, a bowl containing a set of rune staves I’m working on and a few other treasures, some of my jewelry (I like to keep it on His altar when I’m not wearing it), my spear head (a gift from my sister Jolene—who is awesome, as you may have realized by now from reading this site!), a bowl containing a piece of black rabbit fur, a scrying glass, and my keys, another Wine & Roses candle, various gemstones, a couple of wolf figurines, an offering bowl I made for Him (the inside has runes spelling out Odin wood burned into it, and there is a rune pendant that was too ornate to wear mounted at the bottom), and what I refer to as my Cute Little Odin Horn ™. I don’t do as much actual Work at this altar as I do at the one in the Temple Room, but it still needs to be there, for obvious reasons.
Living room Odin altar
This one is on an actual end table covered with a black tablecloth, and currently lacks an Odin statue—a situation I plan to remedy soon! It features framed pictures of Him I printed out, yet another Odin drinking horn (this one commissioned specially by me, so it has lots of more personal symbolism on it), a pair of snakes gifted to me by a friend, a patchouli beeswax candle standing in a well-like candle holder (complete with two birds sitting on the rim!) I found at Target, a raven statue, a painted wooden bowl with a raven I picked up at Marshall’s for $3, a pack of wine cigars I bought for Odin, a stack of proofs for my new book, and a twig formation I found that forms a perfect Fehu rune. Above the altar is the original of the Odin and Gunnlod painting. This altar is the one that irritates my daughter the most, needless to say, as it’s right next to the TV!
Main Northern Tradition altar in the Temple Room
This altar is still under construction; it’s huge (occupying the entire surface of a large metal office desk) and will eventually include a lot more members of my personal pantheon. The centerpiece is a representation of the World Tree that changes seasonally (currently it’s a lightning-struck branch of oak that fell in a storm, festooned with lights and decorated with felt hearts from Michael’s for Valentine’s Day), a cast iron cauldron to represent the Well of Wyrd, a smaller cauldron and shell for burning recels and holding used wooden matches, a box of wooden kitchen matches (I prefer these to paper matches or lighters), a mugwort smudge stick, my Pirate Odin ™ statue (purchased at the Renaissance Faire one year for $5), a Viking Barbie to represent Gunnlod (I plan to do Barbie doll mods to represent both of Them as well as some of the other Gods, but haven't gotten started with that yet), stuffed wolf and horse toys, and a beeswax mistletoe scented candle (for personal reasons). On the left side of the altar is a section for the Vanir, with statues of Freyja and Freyr and a beeswax magnolia scented candle. To the right is my seidhr high seat, draped with a sheepskin and my shawl.
Bestla altar
This altar actually sits on top of the ancestor shrine, which I share with Jolene. The altar cover is a scarf. There isn’t much here so far—just a little plastic dog figurine (for personal reasons), a lavender-scented beeswax candle (She likes lavender), and my spindle. Bestla, Who learned to spin at Urda’s feet and Who fashioned Odin’s blue-black cloak with Her own hands (in the tradition of Northern mothers weaving magically protective clothing for their sons), is the patroness of my spinning, knitting, and other fiber-oriented activities, so my spindle resides here when not in use. Above the altar hangs an original painting of Her by Ravenari, which will also be the Ten of Coins in Raven Kaldera’s forthcoming Giants’ Tarot.
Another view of the Bestla altar
This time I have added a crystal bear (Bestla’s animal); it belonged to my mother and is thus doubly appropriate. The cloud of pink fluffy stuff is new roving, waiting to be spun.
Ancestor shrine
I share this shrine with Jolene; I have the top shelf, she has the bottom one. On mine is a sugar skull made for me by a spirit worker friend, a statuette that belonged to my grandmother depicting an old Jewish woman (which my grandmother in fact was—at least by the time I knew her), a red glass apple that belonged to my mother (she collected apples—appropriately enough since from what I’ve been Told Idunna is among my ancestors), and a few other items representing different aspects of my non-human bloodline. I will be adding some photos of my parents to this shrine, as well as a few other mementos of both my human and non-human families.
© 2008
wodandis@gmail.com