Neptune's Dolphins

My experience with altars is that they are places of devotion. After reading “The Witch’s Altar” by Jason Mankey and Laura Tempest Zakroff, I find that they are also used for blessings, consecrations, honoring, inspiration, magic, ritual offerings, sacrifices, and spellcraft. Afterwards, I looked at my own altar differently. I did do all those things but regarded them as acts of devotion.

 

My main altar is for devotion to the Roman Gods. Since I practice the Religio Romana, I have the proscribed Roman altar. The Roman religion is exacting in terms of honoring the Gods. Because the Gods, humans, and the Others rely on reciprocity between each other, proper piety (pietas) is important. (Religio Romana is an orthopraxic religion.)

 

Called a Lararium, the altar is the home of the Lares and Genius (Note 1) (the household and family spirits). It is usually placed by the door to watch over the comings and goings of the family. (The altar is like the door — a liminal space.) Therefore, it is placed near the entrance.

 

The Lararium has containers for incense (acerra), salt (salinum), and milk (or wine) (gutus). The offering dish (patera) is for food or milk from the household meals. The incense burner (turibulum) is used for creating scents or to burn incense. Finally, the Sacred Fire (Who is the Goddess Vesta) is represented by the lucerna (sacred lamp) where the fire is symbolically kept.

 

Like the standard Neo-Pagan altar, the Lararium has representations of the elements. Water is represented by the offering dishes for milk and wine. Fire is the lucerna, while Earth is the salt container, and Air the incense burner. Of course, Spirit is represented by the statues of the Lares and other Gods, as well as the Sacred Fire. Roman altars are used mostly for devotion although magic is done by offerings, petitions, prayers, and requests.

 

There is a standard Roman ritual for consecrating a Lararium. First is the cleansing of the self and the altar with water (Ablutio). The Praefatio is the incense offering to Janus, the Divine Doorkeeper, God of Liminal Spaces. (Note 2) The Precatio is the formal prayers and offerings. The Redditio is the final offering to Janus. Before closing, one final offering is made – the Piaculum, which is to excuse any mistakes that were inadvertently made during the ritual. Then the rite is over.

 

Notes:

 

Note 1. The Lares Familares (Guardians of the Family) and Lares Domestici (Guardians of the House) are depicted as youths holding cups and bowls. The Genius, depicted as a snake, is the Guardian Spirit of the Family Line.

 

Note 2. The two-faced God, Janus, always receives the first and last offerings of any Roman ritual.

 

Works Used:

 

Adkins Lesley and Roy Adkins, “Dictionary of Roman Religion.” New York: Oxford University Press. 1996.

Mankey, Jason and Laura Tempest Zakroff, “The Witch’s Altar.” Woodbury (MN): Llewellyn. 2021.

Triarius, L. Vitellius, “Religio Romana Handbook.” Charleston (SC): Masonic Press. 2014.

 

 

Branscombe asserts that rituals serve as sanctuaries. “Mindful, intentional, and ceremonial experiences can reflect back to us both the ‘truths’ and the ‘untruths.’ This is the power of ritual: to engage and infuse life with present moment awareness, gain inspiration from our current experiences, and align with a deeper connection towards the sacred, individually and collectively.”

 

Usually when people think of rituals, they picture a church service. However, standing and singing the National Anthem is a ritual. Having high tea with a friend is another ritual. In fact, a ritual can be anything that is done with intention and attention.

 

Mindful of the potency of rituals, it is important to establish liminal spaces between humans and the Gods (Note on Altars). During a ritual, a sacred alchemy happens between the human and the Cosmos. This is because a person pays attention and holds space where the Unknown can enter. This action allows a space for the multiplicity of life.

 

More than formal activities, whose steps are etched in stone, are the daily rituals of morning coffee and other mundane activities. Daily rituals are a part of the rhythms of daily life. The threads of the tapestry of life, they weave the woof of humans with the weft of the Sacred.

 

A daily devotional practice brings balance to our lives. It is the pause in the day that establishes a rhythm and steadiness in life. The daily devotions tether people to the here and now. They act as the axis mundi between the mundane and the sacred. Through daily rituals, people align themselves to the cosmic and natural rhythms of the Worlds. These devotions give the power to the person to pause and feel any presence that may be there. By allowing ourselves to sit with the Unknown, we can feel the Gods unfolding.

 

Five Steps for a Daily Ritual

By Mara Branscombe

 

Choose a simple intention: “Today, I am praying to gracious Venus.”

Start with a simple step: List three attributes of Venus.

Have something inspire you: It could be an image of the Goddess.

Honor the ritual: To do this, set time aside to do it daily.

Release the outcome of the ritual: Allow your inner mystic to shine forth.

A Note on Altars:

An altar is a place of magic because it exists in our world and in the others. Altars are liminal spaces where the Gods and Ancestors reach out to us. An altar needs to be attended to and kept clean regularly. The more we care for our altars and have our daily rituals at them, the greater the connection between this world and the others.

 

Suggested Reading:

Mara Branscombe, “Ritual as Remedy, Embodied Practices for Soul Care.”

Julia Paulette Hollenbery, “The Healing Power of Pleasure.”

Christian Valters Paintner, “Birthing the Holy.”