Altar space has always been an important part in my witchcraft from the very beginning. It isn’t necessary or required that you work with an altar in the craft at all, but this practice helps me immensely. In spellwork, a functioning altar space makes my magical projects and spells stay more organized. I also have altar shrines for my ancestors and the deities I work alongside. The contents of any altar I create fluctuates depending on the work I’m doing at the time and who/what I’m trying to invoke at that moment. This altar practice can be modified to almost any altar situation to add more depth and representation to your sacred space, plus they are really fun and simple to make.
What Are Altar Cards
These are cards I add to altars to invoke magical elements, deities, sacred animals, you name it. If you want some more visuals added to your magical work, I really recommend giving these a go.
What do They Bring?
For example, say you wanted to connect more with the Fire element. The first step is processing what the Fire element looks like TO ME and searching for a few images that reflect that. WARNING: DO NOT PICK THE FIRST 3 IMAGES ON GOOGLE AND CALL IT A DAY. Truly find pictures that speak to you and what you are trying to work with. After collating the number of images you want into a simple collage, aside from the lovely visual you just created, deeper work can happen with this tool. What type of Fire energy is represented in the images you chose? Which Fire energy did you most identify with? This collage works both as physical tool and an analyzation aid for continuing work and development over time and across topics. You can even repeat it for the same subject and note the differences and evolution of your preferences over the course of your work. The options are endless.
How to Make Altar Cards
There are two ways to go about creating your altar cards:
Electronic (ease of access, travel, always having your altar with you)
Physical projects (for literal altar placement, travel talisman)
Whichever your preferred outcome, we start our search online.
**This can also be done in a physical cut and paste collage format but for these, I always use search engine magic to find the perfect fit.**
-Search whatever name you need (deity, element, animal, etc.)
-Find the best representations of that thing that connects with you. (Tip: try and keep the image number 3 to 5)
-Put the images into a collage app.
-Print and place or keep in phone and use while out in the wild.
-And BAM – you have your new altar aid.
Adaptions- Prayer and Lesson Cards
I have adapted this altar card idea a bit and have made specific prayer cards for my patron deities, as well as, lesson cards that I take from the gods that I’ve worked with but haven’t stayed. I use these cards for the same invoking energy to use in spellwork or honoring means. All my altar cards are small and to the point, to hone in the energy I really want from them.
Honestly, this has been a practice that I stumbled into making a collage of things I liked based on my favorite colors, adapted it to my witchcraft, and now it’s something I utilize more and more as time goes on and my work deepens. I enjoy the process of these so much and I hope you will make your own altar cards and find them helpful.
