This page is to track the changes in my home shrine / altar.
This was my first attempt at an altar, on top of my dresser. I really wanted to include the wall tree my sister and brother-in-law gave me several years ago. The fire is represented by a candle on my Unitarian Universalist chalice, and the well and offering bowl by the brown bowls with leaves that I purchased at the thrift store.
Having the shrine in this area ended up not being a wise choice. As you can see, the cats definitely wouldn't stay off of it, and they liked to play with the items on it and knocked a few off. I initially thought I would like having it in that location because I would see it several times a day, but the dresser stuck out just far enough from the wall that it slightly impeded traffic flow from room to room. Finally, at the time, I did not feel called to a specific heart culture, nor was I very far into my Dedicant Path work, and I seldom used it outside of sabbat rituals.
Outside of reading books and participating in sabbats with the Herb & Fable community, I drifted away from my druidry work for several months. I was inspired to put together a new altar and rededicate myself to my druidry work when I renewed my ADF membership in May 2026. This altar was born of the desire to keep my altar on my actual hearth. The shallow casserole dish was given to me by my paternal grandmother in summer 2005 when I first moved out on my own. I took the measuring cups for my candle, well, and offering bowl from her home in fall 2025 after she died. The honey dipper represents the tree and was originally attached to a cord. It was awarded to me in roughly 2016 for completing a 5K walk to raise money for honeybee habitat. It also includes a stand for burning cone incense. I don't attempt magic currently, but the clear quartz seemed like it might eventually be useful.
I have continued with the casserole dish altar setup. I see it constantly, but for whatever reason, the cats don't get on my stove or mess with it, even when I make offerings of milk to Brigantia. I think I have found the right hearth deity, perhaps the right hearth culture, since I actually use it and make offerings somewhat regularly. I move it to my kitchen island when I am doing messy cooking that will splatter, and most components are easy to put in the dishwasher.
Site last updated September 2026.