So, it’s been a while since I posted about my projects. The chalice is finished, has seen use, and is currently waiting to be washed. The Board is still waiting to be worked on. The Altar though, has finally reached a state of being finished enough to be used. Of course, with these things, they are never truly finished, but from here on it’s going to be more about stuff added to the altar than the actual working on the altar itself.

Here’s some pics I took.

 

The pictures came out a bit blurry. I don’t know if that’s because my camera is crappy (likely) or if it’s that spiritual interference you sometimes hear about with people taking pictures of their altars. I like to think it’s probably a bit of both, because that means that my altar is actually gathering spiritual energy.

You can see the offering plate I made there in the front, my ritual knife behind it, and the ebony wand I got. I don’t know that I’ve posted about the wand, the brief run down is that it’s 9 3/4″ long. It’s not pure black ebony, as I’m finding out, but I’ve been working to charge it. If you look close, you can see little hematite rune stones. I’ve been using them as part of my new daily practice. More on that later.

I haven’t ritually cleansed it, or anything. I probably should, but I’ve been busy and I ended up starting to use it before I got it cleansed, and just been going from there.

The idols there are for Thor and Hel (more on that when we hit “I” in the Pagan Blog Project). The picture there is Freyja, because I’ve started trying to reconnect to her ever since I did my post on her. And I don’t have money to get a Freyja idol at this time.

The reason for the Pic is because I’ve actually decided for my next project I am making a travel altar, something I can take with me on trip (should I ever actually get to go on one). Here’s what I got so far:

As you can see, I take the picture of Freyja, I’ve got one of Thor (yes, that is from the movie, I don’t wanna hear any grief, it was awesome and worthy of Thor), and Hel. I got all those frames, the box, and the candle dish at a local thrift shop by great luck. Initially the travel altar was gonna be bigger, and I was gonna find some of that foam so I could pack idols in it. Then I realized pictures would work just as well, and be a Hel of a lot easier to do. Had to get a new color cartridge, but that in the end wasn’t a big deal. I still need to get a chalice and cloth for it. I’m debating on cutting extra from the one on the main altar, or finding something else that might be a bit more durable. I will write about anything I find.

I’m still trying to settle on a pic for the Thor image. I like the one I got, but I’d like to get one more in style with the other two I got, i.e. torso, friendly, and slightly more anime/cartoon. Which is harder to find than you’d think. Apparently Thor comes across as rather stern to most artists, and deviant art keeps giving my computer viruses for some stupid reason. I might break down and use this:

It’s not perfect, but there’s something kinda cool about the God of Thunder using an iPod. I wonder what’s on he’s play lists. Probably a lot of Heathen Metal. Or opera.

Oddly enough the pictures (at least of Hel and Freyja) seem a lot more approachable than the idols. I don’t know why that is. As my practice keeps going, we’ll see what happens. Who knows, the idols might be replaced with the pictures. Maybe I’ll get used to the idols. I’ll write more about that later.

Thoughts, suggestions, mindless rage? Feel free to comment.