This originally appeared in the “Ask a Witch” column of the Pagan Chronicle‘s Midsummer 2024 edition.
How do I set up a personal altar?
Setting up a personal altar is a matter of, well, personal choice. Anything that connects to you on a magical level and helps you create the mindset of engaging in Craft Work is proper. For instance, stones that you have an affinity for, images of deity that you want to work with, magical tools like wands and athames (ritual knives), are all right.
A simple altar set up might look something like this:
On the surface upon which you’re building your altar, lay out an altar cloth appropriate for the season. Split the altar with an imaginary line into four equal quadrants corresponding to the Projective (i.e. Masculine) Elements, and the Receptive (i.e. Feminine) Elements, and place something that reminds you of that Element’s properties—perhaps a dolphin image for Water, a dragon for Fire, a Dragonfly for Air, and a hare for Earth—in each of those quadrants. A gold candle for the Divine Masculine and a Silver candle for the Divine Feminine might stand at the head of the Altar. A single candle of any color corresponding with the Work you’re doing would be great as well.
What is an archetype?
Archetype is a word you’re likely to come across when you’re learning about different pantheons (see below for what a pantheon is) and Tarot/Oracle cards. The Merriam-Webster dictionary offers the definitions as: the original pattern or model of which all things of the same type are representations or copies (Prototype); an inherited idea or mode of thought in the psychology of Carl Gustav Jung that is derived from the experience of the race and is present in the unconscious of the individual.
In the Tarot, archetypes are easiest to spot in the Major Arcana in cards like the Empress, Death, and Temperance; near universal concepts transcending cultures.
As it relates to godforms, you’ll find many deities sharing similar traits. Thor for example, from the Teutonic pantheon, is associated with lightning and thunder—traits he shares in common with Jupiter from the Roman pantheon. Ares, from the Greek pantheon, is a god of war, which he shares in common with Yaweh, from the Levantine pantheon. Erishkigal, a chthonic goddess from Sumerian mythology, who was kidnapped and taken into the underworld, shares a similar story to Persephone/Kore from the Greek pantheon, and a connection could even be drawn between them to Mictecacihuatl from the Aztec pantheon.
What is a pantheon?
A pantheon is a cultural collection of gods, i.e. the gods of a people/culture. Some great examples of this include the Teutonic pantheon (Oðin, Þor, Freyja, etc.), the Orishas (Elegba, Oyá, Yemayá, etc.), and the Goidelic speaking people’s pantheon (Caillech, The Dagda, Macha, etc.).
When learning about pantheons, it’s important to keep in mind that there were cultural pantheons, where most of the gods of a particular people are recognized, i.e. almost everyone in Rome made offerings to Jupiter (research the Diocletianic Persecution for more information about the consequences of refusing to do so); local deities associated with villages, settlements, and areas, sometimes called the genii locorum—the spirits of the land; and even household and family gods.
