Devoured by Flame

In order to go about building an altar, you need to understand the distinction between creating an altar and then using it to its creation. There are many moving parts based on how often it is used, environmental factors, energetic components, and who is using the shrine. 

First, we need to define the characteristics of a shrine versus an altar as those two terms tend to be conflated. To establish why and how we use a shrine, we need to differentiate it from an altar.

An altar is an active aspect of a practice. It is where spells, incantations, invocations, and other work can take place. You can have an altar which can share a space with a shrine, but you cannot have a shrine that shares a space with an altar. 

The shrine, on the other hand, is where a Deity resides. It is an untouched component of the altar wherein a Deity can have a statue, candle, and offering bowl combined with whatever work you can do on the altar. The shrine cannot be both a shrine and an altar, but if you place the shrine as a part of the altar, that is different. The difference – as with all things – is intention. We need to have a space for the Divine to create a connection and essentially build a bridge between our realm and Theirs. 

How you go about creating a bridge is what I’m going to get into here. 

Energy Built Over Time

If we think of energy like a vacuum in which it can be stored or given away, it tends to create a false situation of making sure you always keep it flowing without any real resonance or storage. However, that’s not the case. Energy can build to the point where it can maintain a sort of resonant field around it. When the Divine get involved, we add in an additional energy source on top of our own to make the space sacred.

Think of the battery of a car or the battery of your phone. The car is charging the battery constantly by the engine (until it dies over time but that’s not the point) and the phone needs to be plugged into a wall in order to maintain its full capacity charge. 

Over time, the battery can degrade and the capacity of the battery can be overloaded to the point of short circuiting or efficiency can be depleted depending on environmental changes. If the conductor of the energy – the wires, charging device, or circuiting – gets ruined to some degree, the battery will not be charged as effectively. In the case of the car, the ignition won’t turn over and in the case of a phone, it would charge very fast if at all. 

So why am I talking about wires and batteries?

The Gods are an enormous part of the universe energetically. They make their own energetic reserves in their own way. However, They can be broken down into smaller pieces given the necessity. Think of it like water flowing from one place to another, not really holding form until it is given one, and depending on the environment, it cannot be contained even if given a form. Where energy is concerned, it is our part of the work to create the battery in which They can be contained to some degree. In this case, the altar or shrine is the battery and we are the creators of that battery. 

Batteries need to be charged in order to be useful. A shrine can be charged by you all the while you are in the process of eventually becoming the conductor from which the Divine (a car battery) can travel to you (the phone battery). But in order to be the best conductor, you would need to clear the space for Them to travel within you and around the altar. 

The Divine is capable of being perpetually charged just as a car battery lasts a lot longer due to the way it is being charged by the engine. They have nearly endless reserves of energy that are at Their disposal. However, They are not impermeable nor are They completely resilient to certain situations that are not conducive to Their presence. 

The goal for the Divine is to create a sort of anchor point to use. Once They anchor into it, it is easier for Them to flow through that point, but that cannot happen without proper treatment and storage of the installation. Like a car part or an iPhone, you need the proper conditions of storage – wine needs to be kept at 60 degrees Fahrenheit with certain humidity to keep at best maintenance – the shrine becomes an anchor once the conditions allow for Them to make it an anchor. 

This is where ritual becomes an important part of the design and the design plays a role in that function. Each time it is used properly, regardless of the conditions it is stored in, it can eventually be charged as a battery in which the Gods can settle and live there and provide Their own part of it. Until then, it is mostly because you created the battery by using your own energy with ritual. 

The ritual can be as simple as lighting a candle, placing an offering, or using it as a way of communication – sort of like a phone call that can go to voicemail depending on how close They are, or a text to be read later, or the phone can be live based on proximity and how close They are to the shrine. Think of them either being more or less comfortable picking up the phone or not answering until They can get to it in time. 

The phone line gets turned off every time the altar is closed and the line can get stuck by the operator if it isn’t dialed correctly. They can either pick up or they can’t.

This depends on the way it is operated and handled, as well.

Proximity to the Divine

In order for the Deity to come down through the altar to receive an offering, They need a path. That path is created when you are intentional about the way you give and receive energy. 

So if the environment around it is harsh – say you live with your parents who are abusive, you live in an apartment that has rodents, you have very little means of cleaning the environment in and around the area, or you are not living in a permanent situation – it becomes a problem of where you store your altar. Through no fault of your own, you then need to think of a better way to prevent the outside world from interfering with your signal or line of contact.

At this point, an altar would be best suited to be kept inside a box or a cabinet that has doors that open and shut. Once the energy is sealed inside, little can be let out until it is opened. The more energy that is sealed inside the container, the less likely it is for the Deity to have a problem getting inside of the box as it would be properly sealed and stored and carried in an intentional way. 

The box also shouldn’t have incense dust, it shouldn’t collect dust on your shelf, should be properly stored away from animals or anything that could knock things over. If you have a cat, for instance, the best way to maintain proper cleansing is to have it out of reach of your animal so they do not get into the altar space. 

This is not a moral obligation nor should it be a chore or something to be shameful of. If you do not currently live in an environment where the energy is unable to be cleansed well enough to be fit for Divine usage, there is no failure on your part. You have the option to make it easier for yourself and for the Divine to use what you create.

It is then up to you to create meaning in that little area of space you created. You open the box and have a cloth to set your things down. In the box, you would want an image of the Deity, a bowl to receive offerings, and a candle and incense stick to both cleanse and create a sort of generator for the energy to be used and then stored during the duration of your ritual. 

This means you would need to practice every day, or most days where you are able to – at least for five minutes – open the box, light the candle, and call the Deity into the container. You can offer them food or libations, and keep it there with you until you are finished, and throw it out or eat it when you are done. 

This tends to be easier for yourself to begin with and beginners would have an easier time of storing it, and not needing a ton of room for their altar should they need to keep it locked up and out of sight for someone to go looking for it and get in trouble for practicing a religion they might not agree with. 

The objects inside the box are sacred and should be stored in an environment that is separate from the rest of the living area – on a shelf or table is best, but under the bed or drawer also is fine if you need to make sure it isn’t seen. As long as you know it’s there and that it needs to be kept up with on a regular schedule, there’s no issue with where it is located only how often it is accessed. 

If you are, however, living in an environment without animals who climb things, or people who make your life miserable, or things that can crawl inside, and you maintain a relatively “normal” lifestyle free from dirt and grime regularly around it, then you would be able to keep a shrine on an altar, hutch cabinet or shelf, as long as you tend to it regularly. If it functions as a normal part of your daily routine, it will build energy at a more efficient rate than if the circumstances around it were different. 

Think of the environmental changes being a poor conductor for the Gods’ energy. It is not a moral problem nor is it a good versus bad follower, but it is a significant difference in the way we change our approach to the Divine. No two altars are created the same for the same reason and as such, no two relationships make the Divine any less powerful. 

Humans as a Power Source

Humans also have energetic storage like a battery. They can be used to conduct energy and save time for the Divine to be more efficiently present but not all humans are capable of doing this from the start. 

If we look at our paths and lives entwined with this power source, we are also entwined with the Divine and how they can power our altars. Depending on our relationship with the Divine, we can grow our energetic storage to retain more of Their presence the more open we are to retaining it. 

Maintaining a constant conversation with Them, creating reciprocity through offerings, and showing devotion towards Their values is a good first step in being a good conductor for Them. However, if you want to keep getting closer to Them, there are certain things you can do to retrain your body and mind to be more open. It’s like rewiring an electrical socket, replacing the battery of a car with a stronger one, or even becoming a hybrid car with both electric and gas motors. 

With the socket analogy, you can plug things in by being aware of Them for a short amount of time. Once it is unplugged, however, that connection stops and is hard to find unless you find another power source for Them. This can happen through ritual, creating a sacred space for them (the box we talked about earlier, or making a circle and then closing it), or doing away with someone who wasn’t good for your path until you don’t realize why it came to be like that. These are all temporary situations in which the Divine can touch our lives and then leave until you’re in that environment again. 

Most people build a relationship in this way, and then retain some of it to use later on, while others only tend to complete the connection and then let it wither until the next ritual they do with other people or online, or they find a “sweet spot” in their own patterns where they feel connected. The more you do this, the more you become like a phone battery that needs to be charged constantly. Most people have to charge their phone every night before the following day to have full range of use throughout the day. If you own an iPhone, that battery decreases with updates and you’d need to charge it more often. 

Efficiency also plays a role in this analogy. The more efficient you are in using it, the easier it is to retain this connection for longer. Doing things like associating with people, jobs, or life circumstances who have a negative impact on your energetic field (think energetic vampires that steal energy away be it physical, mental, or emotional) can impact the efficiency no matter how good of a battery you are.

If you are doing something that is conducive to developing a good relationship with yourself and the world around you, you are extending the lifespan of your battery. It’s akin to the phrase “filling your cup” all the while retaining what is in the cup before pouring it out of it.

This means that energy is not always fluid – it isn’t as easily drained and it’s not as easily given and it’s dependent on the ways in which we make sense of ourselves that give defiance and substance to who we are as people. 

We tend to make it so that we have to be an actor to retain the Gods’ attention – formality and ritual do not have to go hand-in-hand, but rather purpose and intention are much more useful at developing this kind of skill. 

If you are going about it in the way that you are using the Gods like a vending machine, to dispose of offerings every time you need something, or only lighting a candle when you are feeling down, you will not be able to be a good conductor. If you bring this kind of thing before the Gods and They come down to it, They will only stick around as long as you have the energy to maintain Their presence. If it isn’t there, They won’t act and you will likely be less aware of whether They visited or not. This isn’t a hard and fast rule, it just is the tendency. 

Beginning Practices for Retaining “Energy storage”, Reciprocity, and Relationship

You can do these practices wherever you have your shrine set up – be it on a windowsill, bedroom, or on a mantle. The point is, you are at your shrine and you can remember to be at it every day or regular enough that it’s a habit.

If you do these every night before bed or every morning before you start your day, it becomes as habitual as brushing your teeth. The steps to begin this work are simple but the most important aspect is to define where you are working. 

Materials

• An altar or shrine – have it be inside a box if the environment is unstable, unclean, or cannot be changed to be made that way. If you have an animal, keep it contained, as well, as it would mean you would have to take into consideration your surroundings and make it more durable which could mean you would have to work a bit more diligently to make progress.
• On the altar have the following:
  • A candle – if you cannot have a flame candle, an electric light can work or LED candle – anything that creates light works.
  • A bowl
  • An effigy/image of the Deity that is being called
  • Incense – if you cannot have incense to burn, use salt water, herbs, or any combination of those two things that can purify your surroundings if they are not actively cleaned

Daily steps to build connection

1. Light the incense/burn herbs/lay out whatever you want to separate the space from others.
2. Build the altar if it is stored in a box. Lay it on the ground with either a piece of fabric, towel, cloth, or anything that can keep it away from the ground. Place the image there, put the bowl out for an offering, but if no offering is being made, then light whatever you can to signal that you are there and reach out.
3. If the altar is not in a box, open the shrine doors and light the candle inside. Don’t open and close it if you don’t need to, and do not touch the objects regularly without first washing your hands and cleaning around it. Keep the space around it clean and tidy. Don’t let pets climb on it. 
4. Make the offering if you have one. Pour the offering into a glass or leave it in the bowl. If it is food, make sure there is a napkin it is wrapped up in, or a dish it can sit on top of. Don’t leave crumbs around the altar. 
5. Say a few words to the Deity – don’t just be silent. Indicate your intention. Bid them good morning, afternoon, or night. Sit there for a while or, if you want, talk to Them. Give Them an update on how your life is going. Keep Them invested in your whereabouts. You can journal, make notes, do divination, whatever you feel like doing. This can range from 5 minutes to 2 hours to all day if you want it to. Just remain intentional and present during it. If you lose track, blow the candle out and put it back. Acknowledge you will come back another time.
6. Thank them for Their time. Make no promises as to what you plan on doing next time unless you keep them. If you can, make them at this time.
7. Blow out the candle, put away the shrine or close the altar, and then do the same thing again next time or change it up. Whichever way you prefer as long as it’s habitual and you get started, that’s all that really matters at this stage.

Notes:

• Plan to be honest with yourself and not make yourself do something you can’t enjoy if you’re not wanting to. If you’re not wanting to spend an hour every day, don’t do it. A little goes a long way and consistency is more important than quality, quality is more important than quantity. 
• Be formal but don’t be too formal that you make yourself feel uncomfortable. Treat Them like a guest in your house at this stage, as that’s what They are. You can be friendly and have a good conversation, but only as far as it is. For instance, if this is a new Deity relationship, don’t make jokes you know would sound wrong. Don’t act like They’re your friend immediately – you don’t know Them and They hardly know you no matter how many lives They may or may not have traveled with you across. You still don’t know Them. 
• Even if you do think you know Them, and have reached out to Them in the past, assume otherwise until They confirm through other means. Do divination and make sure that the connection is established. Ask Them questions and wait for an answer. Ask for an explanation if it’s not the answer you’re wanting to get. Until you have confirmation, be respectful of the Deity’s time and presence and do not ask Them for things. 
• Set goals for yourself and meet them, but do not promise the Divine these goals unless you intend to make Them happen. Otherwise, it’s not a good way to start out on the right foot, and also it’s rude to invite Them into your house, have Them be ready to be there, only to neglect to keep your promises. 
• Make yourself excited about this time of the day. If you get something out of it, keep going. If you don’t, change the way you intend on maintaining this relationship. It is not supposed to be something that is forced upon you or made to make you feel guilty. Have fun with it. Build a relationship. Listen for Their reactions.
• If you’re unsure about where you should put your altar, unless indicated otherwise, put it into a box like a shoe box, a wooden box, or any other container that will seal it off. This is something you can do no matter what the environment is and it is more likely to get efficient use of your time and energy. Essentially, the more effort you want to put into maintaining the shrine, the more space you can take up. The less effort you want to maintain, the less space you can take up. It’s proportional – so when in doubt, bigger is not better.

How to know it’s working

Eventually, there will be telltale signs that happen every time you do this work. The way you can see that is by doing it often enough and remaining open and vigilant to any signs that come up or any words or phrases that come into mind. Pay attention to your feelings when you open the shrine versus when you close it. If it feels too boring or bland, make it more personal. Write letters instead of speaking out loud, give food you can enjoy to eat with Them as you sit at the altar and talk. Food is a good way of establishing relationships. Bring Them to your table to eat with. Make tea and sit for a while and talk. Do whatever it is you might do with a friend to get to know Them, but don’t make it about yourself. Bring Them into it. If they have preferences, ask Them to make it known to you as best as They can.

If you have reoccurring signs such as every time the altar is closed down, the energy changes, or that it builds the more often you do something, that’s a really good indication that it’s working. Don’t get paranoid that you’re not bringing the right Deity down. It isn’t very often that an imposter will come along and trick you into giving them offerings. The more you do this often, the less likely an imposter will come along and grab it, anyway. 

Eventually, the Deity will be responsive enough that there is no way you’re full of shit. Sometimes it happens right away and other times it takes time. Some people end up moving along a lot faster than others and other people take time. It’s really dependent on how you “mesh” with that particular entity or combine with Them to make the space. When you really start to get a taste of the Divine and Their capacity to bring down Their energy, you will raise your own with enough strength to experience it and it can be a bit addictive in its own way.

I will get into this in detail in a later post. For now, I highly recommend this as a starting point for all who want to go deeper with their Deity, build a relationship with one, and maintain a spiritual practice that can go back to basics instead of overcomplicating how you do this sort of thing if it’s not needed. 

It’s easier to start small before building upon it, otherwise you run the risk of burning yourself out, making Them feel slighted by your inability to keep up a solid infrastructure, and you end up running into the same problems again and again until you finally assume you’re intolerant and incapable of ever doing this kind of work.

The next steps will elaborate and go more into describing the capabilities of the human and the Deity together in making this shrine all the more important to the relationship.