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Practical Magic Tech: Spellcasting Altars (101)

This post is part of a series of animistic, spirit-oriented spellcasting for beginners. Go to the masterpost to see them all.

This is a 101 theory post. Go to the masterpost to find actionable steps for altar building and consecration.

Loosely defined (remember, we aren't trying to label everyone, we just want to clear the weeds in our corner of the magical universe), an altar is a sacred space used to facilitate two-way communication and movement with the unseen worlds.

Altars are often built to house and honor gods and spirits. There is a fairly significant difference between someone building an altar or shrine to honor their god(s), and a spellcasting altar for witchcraft.

Our goal with a spellcasting altar is not really to honor anything. We can build a separate altar or shrine to honor a god if we would like to do so.

Instead, for the purposes of this series, a spellcasting altar is:

A hardwired connection to the otherworld,

Which makes gathering metaphysical energy easier, and

Drawing power out of the ethereal and grounding it into physical objects is easier, which means

Successful manifestation is easier.

Delivering targeted spells is easier.

Also, it's beacon that naturally accumulates and collects spiritual power (this is why people can put things on their altars to automatically charge them).

And it's powerful method of classical conditioning.

Classical Conditioning: It's Hella Useful

If you use a spellcasting altar for most of your spellwork, after a little while just being in its presence is going to click you into a magical headspace.

Yes, spellcasting altars are imbued with actual magical power and have very useful metaphysical properties. But their utility extends beyond the metaphysical.

Also they're a great place to store all your spellcasting stuff.

(By the way: try using a specific stimulus, such as an earthy grounding scent or wearing a headband, every time you practice grounding, centering, and exiting a magical headspace. It's a really really helpful tool)

Does it need to be a physical altar?

No. A physical altar is only one piece of spellcasting "tech". If that tech is not viable for you, you have many other techs to draw upon.

Digital altars can also hold metaphysical energy. True magic can be done through web pages. Ask anyone who's been in an occult server on the rough side of the web.

All that being said, you don't necessarily need any altar. They're a handy tool but no one tool is everything.

Let your path serve you, not the other way around.

What about size? What about shoebox or mint tin altars?

Oh boy, get ready for my favorite hill to die on!:

Spellcasting altars are nothing more than container spells.

In a jar spell you take, idk, some rosemary for sleep protection, some iron nails against nightmares, and some lavender for sweet dreams. You put them all together in a jar and consecrate them to your intent and those independent components come together to create something greater than the sum of their parts in order to effect magical change.

In a spellcasting altar, maybe you take a candle for connection to the otherworld, a crystal to accumulate energies, and little colorful stones to represent the Western buildingblock elements (fire, earth, air, water). You put them all together on a specially marked flat surface and consecrate them to your intent and those independent components come together to create something greater than the sum of their parts in order to effect magical change.

When you cast a container spell, you are linking up a variety of powers to work together in the long term. And nobody is out there telling you to get a gallon-sized glass jar. In fact it's popular to use the teeniest little jars possible.

Get yourself a mint tin if that's what you prefer. Hell, a matchbook with a sigil drawn inside. Make your altar into a notebook or a tumblr blog. All that is necessary is that you find it to be useful; that it gives you more back than what it takes to use it.

But I do have one thing to say in support of the classic on a shelf/flat surface altar: They're kind of like hypersigils, and that's really handy

What if you made a container spell for general prosperity, and then put that container spell inside a bigger container spell for general empowerment of everything placed inside of it?

That's what a spellcasting altar is!

It's a big cauldron of power designed to help you manifest your desires and link power to objects in the way that you choose. Start adding other finished spells back into it, and it's like a magical combo move that multiplies power and makes it easier for you to manage everything there.

Too much volatility and movement in your financial life? Take some of the prosperity stuff off of your altar - and just like that, the magic in your life has shifted.

All your spells are lagging and there's not much motion? Light a spicy, fiery candle on your altar to give everything there a tangy boost.

Feeling irritated by someone? Print out a picture of them and place it on your altar, facing away from you. No spellcasting, chanting, or ritual required - an act of magic was done because an action was taken in a magical place designed to manifest every intent you put within it.

The real benefit of spellcasting altars is that they do a lot of the heavy lifting for you.

You're probably not interested in practical magic because your life is great and you already have enough time, energy, interest, or ability to manage everything in a mundane way agreed upon by Society.

I actually think there's a pretty good chance that you're interested in practical magic because there's not enough of you to go around to deal with things in a mundane way.

Magic is real, and real things tend to take real work.

So how is it helpful to turn to a new methodology of managing your life, when it takes just as much time and energy as you were spending before?

Spellcasting altars, even small ones, even digital ones, help us out. They automatically collect power for us to use later on, so we don't have to drink our precious Get Stuff Done juice. They house doors to the otherworld you can just open and close, instead of having to create the door every time you need it. They help us automatically get into the spellcasting mindset through a hardwire connection to the otherworld and the magic of classical conditioning.

Spellcasting altars do specific things and fill specific needs. Therefore, they're not going to be necessary or even useful for everybody. Try them out and see if they're useful for you. If so; a tool has been added to your toolbox. If not; you have considered and discounted something unhelpful, and now you can move on to better things.

This post is part of a series of animistic, spirit-oriented spellcasting for beginners. Go to the masterpost to see them all.

Now I've been going through my old grimoire and so far, I've got

Tips to know before practising witchcraft

Elemental Witchcraft: Water Magick

Shielding, centering, and grounding

Sigils

A spell

A few diary entries

Shells (a list)

Cleansing a space

Colour Magick

The Pentacle / Pentagram

Imbolc (notes from a podcast)

Rituals

Study spells

The Moon: some facts

Moon Magick

Auras

Meditation

Intention and vision boards

Méditations based on the Moon phases

Magickal self-care

Dream Journalling

The books I've read so far are:

Llewellyn's Sabbat Essentials: Mabon, Yule, Imbolc, and Ostara

Water Magic by Lilith Dorsey

Air Magic by Astrea Taylor

Fire Magic by Josephine Winter

Earth Magic by Dodie Graham Mckay

Moon Magic by Diane Ahlquist

Moon Spells by Diane Ahlquist (NOTE: I'm not quite sure if Diane Ahlquist identifies with witchcraft, so I wouldn't base my entire practice of Moon magick from her books)

Pastel Spells by Orriculum Rose

The Modern Witch's Guide to Magickal Self-Care by Tenae Stewart

The Witch's Book of Self-Care by Anne Murphy-Hiscock

I HIGHLY recommend starting out with the books on self-care for beginner witches, even though there aren't any rules about where you start learning. This is only because it's easy to get burned out or feel overwhelmed by the lack of rules, and we all need reminders to slow down and take care of ourselves nowadays. Tenae Stewart's book tells us to find out for ourselves, while Anne Murphy-Hiscock's book has plenty of ideas and tips for beginners.

The Witch of Wonderlust channel on YouTube has also been incredibly helpful, and I also listened to some episodes of thecomfycozywitch podcast.

Some topics + prompts for your grimoire or book of shadows

books you want to read

local folklore / mythology / legends

the wheel of the year

plants you have in your house or garden (their care, properties, uses, draw them etc)

theban alphabet

days of the week and their correspondences

write about a deity you worship / are drawn to

draw art for / of a deity you worship or are drawn to

colour magic

the elements

write about the crystals you own (draw them, write their properties, correspondences, uses, how it makes you feel etc)

how to make your own crystals

your birth chart

your sun, moon and rising sign

natural medicine (as a chronically ill witch I love natural medicine NOT AS A SUBSTITUTE FOR PRESCRIPTIONS! for example I take all my prescription meds and then if I'm having period pain I might drink some raspberry leaf tea)

positive affirmations / mantras that you connect with

how to manifest

history of witches

deities in a certain pantheon you're interested in or drawn to

write about a spell you've done (how you did it, why you did it, how you felt, the results of it, what you would change if you did the spell again etc)

chakras

write about a dream you've had

tarot reading tricks and tips

moon phases

sabbats

zodiac signs

family tree

poetry / songs / quotes you connect to (i like to find ones that make me feel powerful or witchy, or remind me of certain aspects of my practice. a song i like for this is rhiannon by fleetwood mac and i'm going to post more things like this regularly on my page)

feathers and their meanings

simple everyday magic

recipes

some ideas for the next sabbat you plan to celebrate

tarot spreads you like

write about a tarot reading you've done (any prep you did, the deck you used, the cards you pulled, your personal interpretation of the cards based on the art and how you feel, the meaning of the cards, how the cards relate to the questions you asked, final reflection on how you feel the reading went)

interesting mythology

tree of life

glamour magic

money bowls

crystal shapes and their meanings

grounding techniques

cleansing

protection

banishing

cord cutting spells

essential oils

types of divination

planets and their correspondences

angel numbers

witchy wishlist

go to supplies and ingredients (herbs and things that you use regularly)

favourite crystals

working with your inner child

if you've had a really good or particularly insightful meditation session it can be nice to either draw or write what happened and how you felt during it

witchy arts and crafts and diys you want to do

altar ideas

read a witchy book / watch a witchy video and take notes

write about your ancestors

witchy things to incorporate into your daily routine

what is a tower moment

witchy reset / self care days

the history of the area you live in

veiling

how to make your own incense sticks

shadow work

shadow work prompts

ok, that's all the ideas I have for now and I hope that helps someone! I'll be posting some pages from my grimoire and some more prompt / topic ideas in the near future which I'm really excited for.

P.S. please remember that everyone's practice is their own and you should do what feels right to you while respecting that other people have their own beliefs (as long as they're not hateful).