Welcome to Gaia! ::

I would love to discuss/share altars, they fascinate me. smile If you have any pics of your altar, I would love to see! (if you dont mind sharing that is)

I also have a few questions/concerns:
I have a fairly large altar in my bedroom (currently residing in my closet since there is no room and my parents do not like the idea of an altar in the house) and I just dont feel a connection to it. I clean it and meditate there, but I feel like I dont have a special connection to it and I want to.
How do I connect with my altar/dieties? (a problem here is if I do a circle I cannot openly speak or my parents will freak out about it, which leads to question two) when I cast a circle, am I able to 'speak' from my mind?

Also, I have been studying my religious choice for the past year I've been on this path (I decided to study first to figure out which im most comfortable with) and I have yet to actually have Ritual, can you guys explain how you guys do this (if you practice ritual)? I would really appreciate it, I want to make my first Ritual memorable. smile
Thanks!

Merry Meet, Scarlet.

One thing to always remember about your alter is that, no matter which style you go with, it is YOUR alter. Do you have things on it that you feel a connection with? Or is it only things that others have told you to keep on it? I stay with a typical alter set-up: Goblet, plate, wand, bell, representations of the Goddess and the God, symbols of my personal deities, candles and more. One thing I have found is that when it comes to my items on my alter, I prefer to make them myself. Of course I can't make a goblet or plate but the wand, bell, candles and representations are simple enough to make. Making your own items allows you to embue some of your own power and essence into the items themselves. This is how I get my connections to my alters. Also, feel free to add things that make you feel at peace. My familiar is a Dog, so I have a dog figurine on my alter as well. It looks like my dog, driffis, that I had when I was 7 and who was taken away from me when I was 17. Having it near me, helps me feel at peace when working my magic.

I've been working is Aidin (An irish goddess of Love) since I started down this path, almost 4 years ago. True enough, I don't pray to her as often as I should, but Aidin and I have a very close relationship. I've learned that you don't only have to pray to the gods and goddesses, but you can also just talk to them, be it out loud or in your mind. I do this daily with Aidin and it has helped me connect to her. But keep in mind that not every witch is the same. Some things that work for me, might not work for you. You just have to try different things until you find the right way for yourself.

As for the rituals, they can be done in many different ways. For me, I use candles to mark my circle. One at each of the 4 quarters. The words don't HAVE to be said out loud, in my opinion. I've done rituals where I use only my mind, when speaking to the deities or working spells and whatnot. All that matters is that you are comfortable when you are doing these things. The gods won't condem you for making mistakes during rituals or anything in the process. Afterall, even they have a sense of humor.

I hope that I have helped you out, even if it just a little. If you have anymore questions, feel free to pm me. I would be more than happy to help you in anyway I can. I have a list of books that might be helpful and if I don't know the answer to one of your questions I know plenty of people who would. ^_^

Merry Part and Blessed Be

My goodness, thank you for such a great response! heart
I think I'll PM you in a little while, I still have a few questions and I dont want to overload this thread with them, haha.
Thank you again!

No problem sweetie. I remember how overwhelming it was when I first started down this path. I studied Paganisim/True Wicca for nearly 2 years before I did my self-dedication, and it helped me a lot in the long run.



lol It really is very important. One thing I love about Paganisim, it's not strict when it comes to it's worshiping. You can do it in many ways and it's one of my favorite things about this wonderful and exciting religion.

And thank you. You're is very nice too <3

I thought this might be of interest to you.

http://paganwiccan.about.com/od/glossary/g/altar.htm

@Dragon-- yep, I actually figured out the solution to my problem a few days ago and now I'm extremely connected to my altar. I love it heart

@vwytche- thanks! Although I knew all of that it was nice to go back and read it over again. smile

Working around people that are skeptical or uncomfortable with what you're doing can interfere with what you're doing. It's like being able to make a free throw 100% of the time when you practice but when you have everyone watching you play you may miss all the time.


On the subject of altars: When I use one, I just use the floor.

My boyfriend is a practitioner. He's the one who's kind of helped me along until now. And the others are watching, interested in the rituals, but not participating.