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Author Topic: Conflicting altar issue  (Read 3973 times)

celtickitty16

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Conflicting altar issue
« on: March 16, 2014, 04:45:28 pm »
Hi all,
I am new to Paganism and I woud like an altar within my house now I have moved to my own place .However, I keep striking a problem as what I believe my patron goddess to be is Bast (egyptian) and the goddesses and path that I mainly work with now is the Celtic Pagan traditions as my heritage is Scottish.
I know Bast would not like to share an altar spot with Rhiannon and nor would I expect her to, so Im struggling with how to respect her properly and create a celtic fae earth altar as well..any ideas please on how I can do this respectfully cause shes given me a lot of gifts in the past that I still use and want to do her justice.

please dont hesitate to contact me if you can help or just for a chat .
I don't bite..much
Kitty:)

Emma Eldritch

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Re: Conflicting altar issue
« Reply #1 on: March 16, 2014, 05:12:15 pm »
Quote from: celtickitty16;142621
Hi all,
I am new to Paganism and I woud like an altar within my house now I have moved to my own place .However, I keep striking a problem as what I believe my patron goddess to be is Bast (egyptian) and the goddesses and path that I mainly work with now is the Celtic Pagan traditions as my heritage is Scottish.
I know Bast would not like to share an altar spot with Rhiannon and nor would I expect her to, so Im struggling with how to respect her properly and create a celtic fae earth altar as well..any ideas please on how I can do this respectfully cause shes given me a lot of gifts in the past that I still use and want to do her justice.

please dont hesitate to contact me if you can help or just for a chat .
I don't bite..much
Kitty:)

 
My heritage is part Scot too. There's a village with my last name in Scotland, which I always figured my grandfather was making up but was confirmed by a cab driver when I was visiting Loch Ness. Thus far it hasn't had any impact on who I worship, though.

I can think of two solutions to your problem: make multiple altars/shrines; you say you have your own space, and so you could concievably make a little Bast shrine on a shelf or something if you prefer to have daily access to things with no set-up.

Altnerately, you could have an all-purpose space where deity representations are not left out 24/7. You'd store them elsewhere, and take them out solely for worship. This is the method I personally use for deities - the only altar/shrine that is permanently set up in my home is for my ansectors. Everything else is stored nicely and taken out as needed. This works for me because my apartment is quite small (it's a glorified bachelor) and I do all my work in the main room. (The dead people are in the kitchen nook.)

I once read somewhere that in places where space is truly a premium and you need to have different deity altars permanently out, you could use small screens to separate them. So maybe that would aso work? I'm not sure.

Leirion

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Re: Conflicting altar issue
« Reply #2 on: March 16, 2014, 05:14:09 pm »
Quote from: celtickitty16;142621
Hi all,
I am new to Paganism and I woud like an altar within my house now I have moved to my own place .However, I keep striking a problem as what I believe my patron goddess to be is Bast (egyptian) and the goddesses and path that I mainly work with now is the Celtic Pagan traditions as my heritage is Scottish.
I know Bast would not like to share an altar spot with Rhiannon and nor would I expect her to, so Im struggling with how to respect her properly and create a celtic fae earth altar as well..any ideas please on how I can do this respectfully cause shes given me a lot of gifts in the past that I still use and want to do her justice.

please dont hesitate to contact me if you can help or just for a chat .
I don't bite..much
Kitty:)

 
Is there any reason you cannot have multiple altars (space could be an issue). Back at my old house where I just lived in a bedroom, I had 5 separate altars set up. Right now, I use a bookshelf, so I have room for five altars as well, each on a different shelf.

I have not run into any issues with conflicting deities like you describe. So far, all the ones I work with are mostly okay or neutral with each other. So I have an altar for my the main deity I work with, then another altar for ones from different pantheons (abrahamic and shinto mostly at the moment).

I do not do a lot of candle lighting on the individual shelves because they are not very high, but on top of the shelf I have a more general working space, where I can pull out an object that I have for a particular deity, set it on an offering plate, and light a candle and/or incense.

Emma Eldritch

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Re: Conflicting altar issue
« Reply #3 on: March 16, 2014, 05:15:32 pm »
Quote from: Leirion;142623
I do not do a lot of candle lighting on the individual shelves because they are not very high, but on top of the shelf I have a more general working space, where I can pull out an object that I have for a particular deity, set it on an offering plate, and light a candle and/or incense.


You're much smarter than 20-something me... Oh, the scorch marks on the cheap IKEA bookshelf....

celtickitty16

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Re: Conflicting altar issue
« Reply #4 on: March 16, 2014, 06:06:58 pm »
Quote from: Mama Fortuna;142622
My heritage is part Scot too. There's a village with my last name in Scotland, which I always figured my grandfather was making up but was confirmed by a cab driver when I was visiting Loch Ness. Thus far it hasn't had any impact on who I worship, though.

I can think of two solutions to your problem: make multiple altars/shrines; you say you have your own space, and so you could concievably make a little Bast shrine on a shelf or something if you prefer to have daily access to things with no set-up.

Altnerately, you could have an all-purpose space where deity representations are not left out 24/7. You'd store them elsewhere, and take them out solely for worship. This is the method I personally use for deities - the only altar/shrine that is permanently set up in my home is for my ansectors. Everything else is stored nicely and taken out as needed. This works for me because my apartment is quite small (it's a glorified bachelor) and I do all my work in the main room. (The dead people are in the kitchen nook.)

I once read somewhere that in places where space is truly a premium and you need to have different deity altars permanently out, you could use small screens to separate them. So maybe that would aso work? I'm not sure.

 
Hello thank you. this is a great idea, I shall set up a Bast alta in my loungeroom on a book shelf and my Celtic earth one in my back room which is my meditation room when it's not being used for storage lots of laughter.
If you dont mind me asking which village are your ancestors from.My family name is biggar(t) we come from south lanarkshire now known as Hamilton.

celtickitty16

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Re: Conflicting altar issue
« Reply #5 on: March 16, 2014, 06:09:17 pm »
Quote from: Leirion;142623
Is there any reason you cannot have multiple altars (space could be an issue). Back at my old house where I just lived in a bedroom, I had 5 separate altars set up. Right now, I use a bookshelf, so I have room for five altars as well, each on a different shelf.

I have not run into any issues with conflicting deities like you describe. So far, all the ones I work with are mostly okay or neutral with each other. So I have an altar for my the main deity I work with, then another altar for ones from different pantheons (abrahamic and shinto mostly at the moment).

I do not do a lot of candle lighting on the individual shelves because they are not very high, but on top of the shelf I have a more general working space, where I can pull out an object that I have for a particular deity, set it on an offering plate, and light a candle and/or incense.

 
Wow 5 altars that's wonderful I honestly thought their energies would over ride each other ,but I shall certainly have more than one. thank you for your help :)

Emma Eldritch

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Re: Conflicting altar issue
« Reply #6 on: March 16, 2014, 06:45:53 pm »
Quote from: celtickitty16;142628
Hello thank you. this is a great idea, I shall set up a Bast alta in my loungeroom on a book shelf and my Celtic earth one in my back room which is my meditation room when it's not being used for storage lots of laughter.
If you dont mind me asking which village are your ancestors from.My family name is biggar(t) we come from south lanarkshire now known as Hamilton.

 
If you have the space, multiple altars can be very nice!

Oh, I don't mind. It's called Mauchline. As far as I know, not much is interesting about it. XD

Leirion

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Re: Conflicting altar issue
« Reply #7 on: March 16, 2014, 11:14:48 pm »
Quote from: celtickitty16;142629
Wow 5 altars that's wonderful I honestly thought their energies would over ride each other ,but I shall certainly have more than one. thank you for your help :)

 
Well, my altars are currently in disarray, and the bottom one is mostly being used for storing ritual stuff, but in theory it is great! When I did keep them in better order, I never had issues with one's energy overriding the others. And my 5-shelf altar is directly next to my partner's 3-shelf altar, so total at times we have 8 of them going at once with no issues!

Leirion

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Re: Conflicting altar issue
« Reply #8 on: March 16, 2014, 11:15:28 pm »
Quote from: Mama Fortuna;142625
You're much smarter than 20-something me... Oh, the scorch marks on the cheap IKEA bookshelf....

 
I found out the hard way in my early 20s, when I accidentally melted a DVD case on the shelf above my altar...

HarpingHawke

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Re: Conflicting altar issue
« Reply #9 on: March 17, 2014, 02:55:45 am »
Quote from: Leirion;142656
I found out the hard way in my early 20s, when I accidentally melted a DVD case on the shelf above my altar...

 
Hope it's okay that I'm laughing. Was the DVD all right?

I haven't melted anything yet, but my bookshelf is much too tall for candles to live on top of it (either that or I'm just really short) and the cats would get to anything placed lower. I've scrubbed off as much scorch as I can, but it still kinda looks like a dragon had a tantrum inside the shelf. :whis:
"There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self." - Hemingway

Leirion

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Re: Conflicting altar issue
« Reply #10 on: March 17, 2014, 03:14:11 am »
Quote from: HarpingHawke;142681
Hope it's okay that I'm laughing. Was the DVD all right?

I haven't melted anything yet, but my bookshelf is much too tall for candles to live on top of it (either that or I'm just really short) and the cats would get to anything placed lower. I've scrubbed off as much scorch as I can, but it still kinda looks like a dragon had a tantrum inside the shelf. :whis:

 
The DVD was perfectly fine! It did not even melt too much. I laughed, too...after I got over the "OMG I could have set my room on fire" reaction. Lesson learned, though!

anonymus

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Re: Conflicting altar issue
« Reply #11 on: March 17, 2014, 11:14:28 am »
Quote from: Leirion;142682



Was the shelf itself damaged? I have a cheap storage cabinet were the bottom part is for storing overflow of books as well as binders and notebooks + my tarot cards; the top I try to keep clear as shrine/alter area which I occasionally use candles on and I was wondering if I need a barrier to keep them from scorching it. I currently use a thin metal[at least I think it's metal] lid from a coffee box to hold them, only problem is that means no lid for the box + I'm not sure it's thick enough.

beith

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Re: Conflicting altar issue
« Reply #12 on: March 17, 2014, 12:31:54 pm »
Quote from: celtickitty16;142621
Hi all,
I am new to Paganism and I woud like an altar within my house now I have moved to my own place .However, I keep striking a problem as what I believe my patron goddess to be is Bast (egyptian) and the goddesses and path that I mainly work with now is the Celtic Pagan traditions as my heritage is Scottish.
I know Bast would not like to share an altar spot with Rhiannon and nor would I expect her to, so Im struggling with how to respect her properly and create a celtic fae earth altar as well..any ideas please on how I can do this respectfully cause shes given me a lot of gifts in the past that I still use and want to do her justice.

please dont hesitate to contact me if you can help or just for a chat .
I don't bite..much
Kitty:)

 
I agree with the other suggestions here about setting aside a separate space for Bast.  I'm in a somewhat similar boat in that I'm following a neo-Druid path but am drawn to the Egyptian deities.  I've been making offerings to Sekhmet on my main altar and they have been well-received as far as I can tell, though I wouldn't call her my patroness (I don't have one - no godphone here!).  I am considering setting up a shrine specifically for Sekhmet, although I have some space constraints and commitment hesitations.

My heritage is a typical US American mutt...all European but the breakdown is over many areas of Germany, English, Scottish, Irish, Ulster Scots, French-Canadien, and several branches I haven't been able to trace back out of the US yet.  I have Eastern European DNA as well, which I think is from my Prussian ancestors who lived in present-day Poland.  This means I'm having trouble walking the heritage line.  I do love working in the context of neo-Druidry, I love Irish and Scottish music and culture and participate in Irish dance.  But I just feel no connection with the Irish deities I've studied so far and feel quite drawn to the Egyptian ones.  I am hoping to merge these harmoniously, but it's a process I'm only just beginning.  So, I understand your dilemma!

In short, I think setting aside a shrine just for Bast is your best bet, but if you honor Bast in the context of your Celtic altar/religion she may be accepting of that as well.

Leirion

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Re: Conflicting altar issue
« Reply #13 on: March 17, 2014, 05:56:16 pm »
Quote from: anonymus;142709
Was the shelf itself damaged? I have a cheap storage cabinet were the bottom part is for storing overflow of books as well as binders and notebooks + my tarot cards; the top I try to keep clear as shrine/alter area which I occasionally use candles on and I was wondering if I need a barrier to keep them from scorching it. I currently use a thin metal[at least I think it's metal] lid from a coffee box to hold them, only problem is that means no lid for the box + I'm not sure it's thick enough.

 
That particular shelf was mounted to a wall. So it was just some metal brackets, then some plasticy-covered white wooden slabs from Home Depot. Somehow, it did not even leave carbon residue, let alone any damage. The heat just somehow got absorbed and transferred to the DVD case.

So I think a lot of that would depend on the material your case is made out of. Nowadays, I just burn candles on places that have plenty of clearance, like the top of my altar shelf, or on my partner's altar which has shelves that are spaced out by about a foot and a half or so.

I think metal would make a good barrier, but I am not sure the thickness required. A cheaper piece of wood could also potentially make a barrier, but wood tends to be flammable, so...

anonymus

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Re: Conflicting altar issue
« Reply #14 on: March 17, 2014, 09:53:15 pm »
Quote from: Leirion;142749



 
Here is what the cabinet looks on it's own if that helps.

[attach=CONFIG][/attach]

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