So, you’ve done it. Your altar is cleansed. You have your
Athame. Your cauldron. Your lit red, green, and white candles. Your rod, and
staff and wand! Your chalice is full of mead, and your brazier is burning low
with banked coals of the sacred woods. Your got your shell top FILLED with a
good, fragrant and smoking, smudge! And, well and a day, look! You’ve even
sealed each of your thresholds with salt! Now look at you, aren’t you just the
prepared Pagan?
If you were like me, most of the preceding paragraph made NO
sense! Athame? Smudge? And WHATS with
that salt business? Cauldron? Sacred woods?
It all seems to be something that is too much. Do I, as a
Wiccan, or even more simply, a Pagan, NEED all of those things to “Worship
properly”?
Simple answer?
No.
Complicated answer?
No, but all of these things, properly explained, do assist
in focus for some.
Maybe I can help define some of these words, and show you
that they are just that words. Words cloaked in frightening ignorance. So, lets
bring each one to light, and see them for the beauty they can be, yes?
Let’s start simply. What is an Altar?
The Mirriam-Webster Dictionary defines it as such
Altar- a usually raised structure or place
on which sacrifices are offered or incense is burned in worship
That’s it! Simply a place where YOU choose
to do your worship. A kitchen table, a marble slab (if you have one) an
ornately carved box, or simply a table in a quiet corner!
Candles. Many of us know they come in many
shapes. Tall, short, rotund, thin. They can be made from many materials. Bees
wax, vegetable wax, soy wax. And they come in the colours of the rainbow!
Many people who follow a Pagan path use
candles for ritualistic purposes and Spell work. I’ll not go into great depth about
candle magic. Because that deserves an entry all its own! I will, however,
encourage you to do your own reading on candle working, and candle magic. At
its simplest though, sometimes candles just look pretty on your altar. And there’s
nothing wrong with that!
Athame?
Collins Dictionary defines it as follows: Athame- a Wiccan’s ceremonial
knife, usually with
a black handle, used
in rituals rather than for cutting
or carving
There are many, MANY vehement arguments
about your sacred knife. For that’s what an Athame is, simply. A Sacred knife.
Kitchen witches might use a trusted,
comfortable, Chef’s knife. While a Hedge witch may use a sickle. You might be
crafty enough to make your OWN blade, and that would make it truly your own!
Should it be sharp? After all, it’s just
ceremonial. THIS is where the arguments come in. Some believe, that, by its
nature a knife is meant to be sharp. Others, citing the ceremony fact, feel
that your knife is meant as a symbol.
There are a few different paths that ask for
2 knives. One black hafted for ceremonial use. To “cut” in the air spell, or to
“Sever” imagined bonds.
The other knife is white hafted. This knife
is kept for practical purposes. Cutting herbs, rope or thread during spell
working, and even drawing a bit of blood, if that’s your path.
In my humble opinion, it’s YOUR knife. It’s
sacred to YOU! Sharp or not, ceremony or not, what feels right in your hand? In
your heart?
As well, if you follow a particular path,
ask the elders on that path, or ask your teacher. They will have their own
opinions.
There are many more things to speak of.
Other tools that might go on your personal altar. And, I will talk of these in
another post.
But, please, if you have a question, email
me, or ask it in the comments section.
As before
And so again
Merry meet, and merry part my Wandering
friends!
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