Paraphernalia
I can remember when I was first starting that I wanted all the best tools but money was an issues so I used to troll around car boot sales, charity shops and flea market trying to find things that I could use for my alter. You will quite surprised on what you can pick up for just a few quid.
Over the years I have replaced all my second had stuff with brand new stuff and some of it is more pretty that practical (who does not have a chalice with a loose liner) but it makes me think what tools do you really need? To be really honest you don’t really need any tools, fingers can replace wands and athames and a chalice can be replaced by cup etc.
You can spend thousands of pounds buying robes; alter statues, [wikipedia]wands[/wikipedia], [wikipedia]athames[/wikipedia], Chalices, Crystals to dress your [wikipedia]altar[/wikipedia], pots and dishes and [wikipedia]cauldrons[/wikipedia] and pointless things like hand bound virgin parchment paper leather bound book of shadows but having expensive tools does not make you a good witch or even a competent witch. When building your tools worry more about what feels like than what it looks like, just remember to cleanse second hand items full before use.
So what do you need for a basic alter from my point of view a candle and a joss stick works fine but if want to add more to that then you can. Here are some ideas for low cost replacements to expensive altar equipment.
| Equipment | Replacement |
| God/dess statues |
|
| Wands |
You can use whatever you comfortable with musicians my find the drumsticks work perfect for them just remember to only use it for rituals |
| Athame |
|
| Altar Bowls |
|
| Chalice |
|
| Censer Charcoal & Incense |
|
| Altar Pentacle |
|
| Book Of shadows |
|
| Candles | No substitute use tea lights |
I have found that I have better rituals with altar equipment that I have created myself they may not be the prettiest but they have all the energy that I poured into them when made them.
A good idea is to join a pottery class and make what you need. Remember that no one has the right to tell you should not put something on your alter create what you feel is right for yourself.
When your first trying out a pagan path there are two very good reasons why you should create your own personal tools rather than buy direct from a catalogue or internet shop, the first is it will help you empower the items with greater ease due to your personal connection the second is paganism is not for everyone and why spend a fortune on something your not going to continue.
There is one thing that never seems to get mentioned in regards to altars and that a tape deck MP3 Player or CD player as music is important in raising energy I will chat about music in rituals in next posting, but insure what ever technology you use to play your music just make sure it is ease to control and that you can pause and play with out to much trouble.
| Cyber Cauldron Shop Pagan Paraphernalia Altar supplies | ||||
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