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Hi V,justv wrote:I've seen some really great pictures of altars and I notice that some are very large and there are multiple altars through out a persons home. Im planning to set up a small altar in my room because its the only private area of my home. Is that ok or does the set up and area of your altar have an effect on the spells? I hope Im wording this right![]()
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You don't have to. You may want the assistance of whatever deity or deities and/or ancestors you work with and maintain images of on your altar to assist you with the work. In that case, having the spell on that altar may be what you want. If the person and situation you wish to compel perhaps requires a different sort of deity, or is a situation that just doesn't feel right for your general altar, you may choose to set up one just for that working.justv wrote:If I'm going to do a compelling spell, should I place that on an alter all its own?
I find that it depends on what you are doing work-wise. If you are doing some pretty harsh compelling magic then I would cleanse my altar in between uses. As Mary mentioned, many people like Florida water. I personally am a bigger fan of VanVan or Chinese Wash followed by Hyssop oil if I have been doing compelling/reversing/revenge work.justv wrote:I appreciate all the adviceI'm going to go ahead and keep it seperate. After I complete the work and dispose of whatevers left do I need to cleanse the altar/table I use before I begin new work?
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I am not quite sure what you are asking here. Are you asking about the actual items you would put on the altar? If so, usually that depends on what spell work you are doing. Conjure is not like Wicca where tradition requires certain objects to be placed in corresponding directions. Most have certain things that are permamantly on their altars and everything else will vary depending on what kind of work is being done. So if you are doing lots of candle work then you will have lots of candles on your altar, etc. Is this what you are asking?Sharona22 wrote:Please give me some info on a basic yet correct altar setup, and what are the reasons for these items
I'm not sure there is a one-size-fits-all "correct" altar set-up that I could describe for you. Unlike a neo-pagan altar, or an espiritismo boveda, or a Catholic shrine, all of which have fairly consistent forms, implements, and imagery, hoodoo 'altars' take many forms, and these forms are secondary to their primary functions: the preparation of the material components of spellwork, and the deployment of same (eg: burning candles and incense, housing lodestones and roots, etc).Sharona22 wrote:Please give me some info on a basic yet correct altar setup, and what are the reasons for these items
Bri and ELKnapp already answered you very well, but i would like to chime in here with more of the same, Sahrona:Sharona22 wrote:Please give me some info on a basic yet correct altar setup, and what are the reasons for these items
You can, indeed, have a perfectly functional hoodoo altar space that is an altar space only during the time you are actively using it. Living room coffee tables, kitchen tables and sinks, bathtubs, etc. are commonly used as non-exclusive, non-permanent hoodoo altar spaces.Sharona22 wrote:If you are say using one room for altar and changing as per use as long as you cleanse area in between thenthat is ok right??? and there like you said are no constant haves like wicca so can you almost leave it empty until you are doing something or would this be too void
Whatever works you know? Some people have an alter for one kinda work and a seperat alter for another kinda of work. Thats fine but not everyone follows the rout. I for one have one alter I use for all my work. Just keep in minds that you should probably clean it between different workings. If you just did enemy work you should definitely clean the alter, both physically and spirituality, before doing say, love work, you know?chayanna wrote:I've just joined this forum and I never realized that there should be altars for each subject ie. a love altar seperate from a money alter...I just have one altar for everything I work on
Is thats a bad idea?
This is how my altar is set up. It is 14 feet long on the south wall of my living room, and goes from uncrossing, road opener, and blessing on the left to controlling, court case and cursing on the right, divided by section, with love and money drawing in the middle.catherineyronwode wrote: If you only have room for one altar, the best way to use it is to have it be wider than long and to run along the South wall of your room. That way, you can work the East end of it (the left side as you face South) for increase, and the West side (the right side as you face South) for decrease. The middle -- due South, or High Noon position of the Sun -- is then used for all spells of sustaining, of Protection, and of Blessing.
Matter magically, no I don’t believe so. However I found having my altar shelf at shoulder height really helped my working experience, as I needed to go UP to it, changing my perspective. It also made the altar look very pretty as the presentation was at eye level.justv wrote: Does the height matter?
Reynolds wrote: This may be heresy, but I may be 'inheriting' a clock table (it's a miny table with a clock for the flat part) and I'm thinking of moving Saint Expedite onto it, which might be appropriate.
As far as i know, in traditional conjure, altar height only seriously matters with respect to money altars.justv wrote:Does the height matter?
miss cat, what you said about the height of the Money Altar really hit home. I have a Hispanic backround and have always been told and even scolded about putting my purse on the floor. My Grandma and Aunts always say "Pick up that purse! Do you want to be poor?!" I know thats a little much but it's a very strong belief. When we go to resturants we either hang it on the back of our chair or theres an extra chair full of pursescatherineyronwode wrote:I believe that this is a direct extension of the general and widely-held African American folk belief that a woman should never set her purse on the floor when out visiting because if she does, she will become "low in money."
I did not know this, but the tradition is alive in my family too! In church, at a restaurant or when visiting we were always told to put our purses on a chair or a piece of furniture and not let them be on the floor. So interesting!catherineyronwode wrote: I believe that this is a direct extension of the general and widely-held African American folk belief that a woman should never set her purse on the floor when out visiting because if she does, she will become "low in money."
Well I'm surely never going to forget to keep my purse off the floor!catherineyronwode wrote:Another common place for an altar in hoodoo is in the living room, where photos of ancestors and distant family may be displayed, candles burned, and vases of flowers placed decoratively and with magical intent. As with the subject of altars in the bedroom, you may hear people from other religio-magical cultures say that it is "wrong" to put pictures of the dead and the living on the same altar, but that belief is not found in conjure, and should best be understood as the opinion of people who come out of and are practicing a different path or tradition.
catherineyronwode wrote:The belief that one should not pt a photo of a living person on an altar with the dead is not found in hoodoo, therefore it is from other cultural traditions and off-topic for this forum.
Bri wrote:I have not had any bad experiences from the mixture and I feel a distinct guardian presence from the ones that have passed on, directed to the ones that are still living, but that is just my experience.
I think you might want to read through this thread, because this topic was covered pretty well.theusurper wrote:i have my altar in the badroom because i feel very confortable there and i do my spells love, money or revenge in the same place, is bad idea? help me
This will depend partly on the material the burner or snuffer is made from. Brass may be polished; wood/ceramic/stone may be cleaned with Chinese Wash; and WD-40 will remove soot and stains from a variety of surfaces.butterfly wrote:how should the incense brazier & a candle snuffer be cleaned?