Shrines

[feranaja]

Anyone here keep a shrine? More than one? Have they changed over the years? Can we see pictures?
feranaja

[vulnera]

my entire home, inside and out is basically a shrine... little ones here and there, big ones here and there as well, temporary or permanently added-to ones... i think every room has at least one, plus the "heart of the house" and the "anti-heart of the house" have their special shrine-y things as well...

here's a photo of my downstairs two years ago... with a complimentary pic of raff the dog included. the collections have grown since then, and as my grandma would say im well on my way to having the familial "carnival shooting gallery" effect in full force, lol...

*not much detail, but its the only pic i remotely have of such things..

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a281/szil74/PICT0606.jpg

[Aodh]

My body serves as a shrine during rituals such as the one I am performing tonight.

Inhabitants and decorations are present for all services.

I'll upload pictures of my incense-ink drawings on myself next time perhaps. Tonight they are rather intricate and serve multiple purposes.

Just to clarify, in this sense, my body serves as a shrine to whatever purpose I am putting forth and whatever "guest" I am entertaining.

[Sibylle]

Mine is subject to change at any time, and here are two versions I got pictures of:

http://seasons.noxmanor.com/altarblack-small.jpg...http://seasons.noxmanor.com/altarwhite-small.jpg

[Talkingfox]

My entire house is a shrine also. By being mindful of my choice in decorative objects and energy flow in layout, it serves to keep ME mindful that there is no separation of the magickal and the so called mundane.

[YsetEternal]

Yes, I do feranaja. The most recent is an active shrine/altar mix. It is not only for worship and reflection but ritual practice as well.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v662/babalon/newaltar.jpg

[feranaja]

my entire home, inside and out is basically a shrine... little ones here and there, big ones here and there as well, temporary or permanently added-to ones... i think every room has at least one, plus the "heart of the house" and the "anti-heart of the house" have their special shrine-y things as well...

here's a photo of my downstairs two years ago... with a complimentary pic of raff the dog included. the collections have grown since then, and as my grandma would say im well on my way to having the familial "carnival shooting gallery" effect in full force, lol...

*not much detail, but its the only pic i remotely have of such things..

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a281/szil74/PICT0606.jpg

Great pic vulnera - athat's an intense setting you have there! And I fully agree with your concept of the whole house being a shrine. I am in the process of taking down two shrines I've kept for close to 20 years,and what I'm doing is simply incorporating them everywhere (or gifting ppl with items they need). SO the Aphrodite pictures will be in the green bathroom, where they look best - Oxun will hang in the yellow kitchen..and so on.

Raff is a sweetie too btw...:laugh:
fera

[feranaja]

I really like the double table idea Babs. Is this for Yset or is it open to whomever you work with? Interesting you combine the two concepts, I've always kept them separate, but I guess that depends on what deity youre working with...Yset encompasses so much I can see it working well with Her.

I want to see a big picture - one of your own designs? Hanging on the wall behind this altar...
f

Yes, I do feranaja. The most recent is an active shrine/altar mix. It is not only for worship and reflection but ritual practice as well.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v662/babalon/newaltar.jpg

[feranaja]

My entire house is a shrine also. By being mindful of my choice in decorative objects and energy flow in layout, it serves to keep ME mindful that there is no separation of the magickal and the so called mundane.


This kind of brings to mind an idea of life itself lived in a sacred (aware?) fashion - is that another topic I hear calling?:laugh:

[feranaja]

Mine is subject to change at any time, and here are two versions I got pictures of:

http://seasons.noxmanor.com/altarblack-small.jpg...http://seasons.noxmanor.com/altarwhite-small.jpg

Oooh - I love the rose coloured sphere Sibylle... if I could, I'd have a whole range of different spheres (I have five right now collected over the years, but there are a few others I'd love to have as well) ... it's cool the way your layout is similar in the 2 pics,yet has such different energy on those two pictures. This strikes me more as an altar than a shrine, is it dedicated to any deity in particular?
fera

[YsetEternal]

I really like the double table idea Babs. Is this for Yset or is it open to whomever you work with? Interesting you combine the two concepts, I've always kept them separate, but I guess that depends on what deity youre working with...Yset encompasses so much I can see it working well with Her.

I want to see a big picture - one of your own designs? Hanging on the wall behind this altar...
f

In actuality f, there are four different tables. Im currently putting a lot of thought into how I can add another. It will happen when it wants to.

As for the wall behind it, I still have the following there for the time being. When I have time and money permitting, I am planning on painting that image you saw ages ago...

for the time being, here is whats on the wall behind it...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v662/babalon/wall.jpg

[Sibylle]

It is an altar and not a dedicated shrine. We have a decorative altar in our bedroom as well, where I currently keep the clear crystal sphere. That altar has an entirely different feeling.

[feranaja]

Sibylle: I see...well there is a sort of overlap there. The pics look more like altars but given the changes you made they could be either.
Is your partner a Pagan too?


Babs: That pentagram lends itself to seasonal decoration - which is at the heart of everything we do, no?

I've posted my 2 shrines before but I will again in a bit, as both are coming down soon...
and new ones taking their place.
fera

[Sibylle]

My husband isn't a pagan, but has appreciation for many spiritual symbols and art forms,as I do. We have items that reflect our focus all around. The Aphrodite corner and buffalo corner are in his space, while the decorative altar and dresser are in our space. The round table is in the living room.

Looking forward to seeing your shrines...

http://seasons.noxmanor.com/altar-dresser.jpg...http://seasons.noxmanor.com/altar-round.jpg

http://seasons.noxmanor.com/aphroditecorner.jpg...http://seasons.noxmanor.com/buffalocorner.jpg

[feranaja]

My Aphrodite shrine last summer - it's been changed since then, I finally got the picture hung up! BUt many aspects are the same...colour themes etc..

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a33/feranaja/shrines/FathersDay005.jpg

[Naomi]

Now I want to make shrines....that is one nice looking collection of pastel stuff F&N

[feranaja]

Thank you Naomi - the bottom shrine cloth is an antique shawl I bought many years ago, and there are a few pieces here I truly cherish. One is the red haired glass mermaid (off to the right) a friend sent me, another is that large iridescent shell on the left, up close it is all engraved with seahorses. I love building shrines, finding just the perfect thinsg is a lot of fun... But I need a nice dark one for right now, and I'm collecting bits and pieces for it - possibly Artemis, or another aspect that represents glorious solitude, feral strength, affinity with nature and feminine power.

Love to see what you would come up with...:)
fera

[Sibylle]

That's nice looking, fera. I like antique and other shawls for that purpose.

[Nuhad418]

Damn you fera for making these threads!

This was a shrine I kept for a year to the Baron. He, along with working with Legba, helped me "contact" my ancestors. I no longer keep the shrine.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v46/nuhad418/IMG_0848.jpg

I used to keep a nature "polarity" shrine but have opted for a specifically Irish shrine (no phot yet) but here is one version of the old one:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v46/nuhad418/101-0107_IMG.jpg

And

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v46/nuhad418/101-0106_IMG.jpg

[YsetEternal]

I really should do another one for Papa Legba... Though for some reason I dont feel the need to anymore. It more like an internal shrine is already there...

[feranaja]

well Nuhad just can't stop himself though. His apt is like, one little corner of furniture and 300 shrines, altars, workings, I never know if Im sitting on a chair or some loa or Crowley's face or some Goetic thingie or Jesus...unbelievable.
I blame myself, I confuse him a lot.
fera

[Naomi]

Sitting on Crowley's face.

Wow and I think he would enjoy that, you know...


I guess I will get around to the shrine thing today...

[YsetEternal]

LOL.... so when are you two gonna put the final touches on your system?

Ive been waiting... :D

[feranaja]

rofl..that was totally unintended too...

[YsetEternal]

OMG naomi thats tff... LOL damn it you beat me to it...

[feranaja]

oh trust me, Nuhad will never let me live this down...

[feranaja]

This is my Oshun shrine last summer. I dont think I can part with it. My relationship to the Orisas is just too integral a part of me. So...here you go. I hope to work on it more this summer - paint a better peacock, add some items..


http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a33/feranaja/shrines/weirdedout029.jpg

[Naomi]

http://www.thetengu.com/abrahadabra/dragonshrine.jpg

[Kuroyagi]

Naomi: that statue looks like a tortoise-hybrid, is dragon very much connected to the tortoise in your view, or am I reading this wrong...? In Asia theres that saying (or charme for longevity actually): it goes: a crane lives 1000 years and a turtle/tortoise lives a 10 000 years...or something like that.

fera: your shrine looks very new, did you just establish it then? (there needs some blood or whatever to be spilled on it!)! yeah!

[feranaja]

Love the dragon, Naomi...:) and the plate, what is it? lots of energy there for sure.

K, I kept an Oxun shrine from 1988 to last September, so about 18 years. I've dismantled it now, but it was not at all new in that picture, I'm just a neat freak. I always gave her white roses when she had done something special for me, otherwise I used the more traditional carnations and sunflowers.

fera

[Naomi]

It's a dragon tortoise, one of the mythical creatures of china.... just one of the many strange artifacts that seems to find its way into my grasp inexplicably...he's very friendly and has brought lots of luck since I rescued him. I would always visit the zoo a couple of years ago and there is a China giftshop at the panda exhibit. I would go in and sit and talk to him because he was so friendly, but his price was about 700 dollars. After a couple of years he didn't sell, and his price came down to about 148! I asked the gods for some extra money to buy him and I got him. I found out he has a loose black ball in his mouth, and something inside of his shell - I don't know what. The back is engraved with all sorts of writing and a glazed white symbol is on the top of the shell.

I know he is very old because I found out later from the chinese antique shop owners that they had resold many of their antiques to the zoo when the panda exhibit opened - including the tortoise. They had artifacts in their backroom dating back to the prehistory of China and even the Jurassic! Hmmm, the stuff in there was better than a museum - but only certain pieces were magickal.

These ancient pieces tend to move through my grasp and I pass them on to the right people, returning them to their past owners from ages gone by so that they can reconnect - though the dragon tortoise is one piece that truly belongs to me - he's very content and never has asked to leave.

The plate has eight dragons on it, with one breathing water on a pearl, it was given to me by a restaurant I used to frequent that always gave away gifts during Chinese new year.

[Kuroyagi]

Thanks fera and Naomi youre inspiring me, maybe I'll also make a shrine when having some time...yes the "dragonturtle" looks very friendly, has he got two pairs of eyes or does it only look like that on the pic? Is this the mythical creature that is referred to as the dark warrior or another one? I have often heard of the 9 (sons 0f dragon) and 9 dragons but rarely of eight...

fera: from the recent photos I must say that your living place is lovely, sunflowers are powerful I think,as a child I played with them and gave their seeds to birds but they never felt to me like "flowers" somehow, they have much more potential (sounds maybe strange...). when I lived in a house with a large garden there were many of them, there also was a whole sunflower field nearby...