“Awakening the altar – whether you are doing it as part of a working, or just to spend time with the Ancestors – is a visceral experience. Practicing it regularly not only gets you good at doing the exercise, but also, repeating visceral techniques will trigger things in you, bring about changes in you… these experiences move the cauldrons within. It becomes an act of devotion, and also an act of spiritual growth.” – Peter Paddon
Altar raising, or awakening the altar, is the act of bringing an altar to life and raising this specific area into the space between the worlds. This is a charging and setting of intent for the altar, and also by extension oneself. Some practitioners choose to awaken the altar only when doing workings, some — and I’m in this camp — choose to keep the altar active at all times. Then, when I perform a specific working, I feel things out and may choose to formally raise the energies again or bring in additional ones as needed. For me, the benefit of keeping an active altar is that it keeps me connected consciously and subconsciously with the Ancestors and Deities I work with, allowing myself to be open and influenced by Their presence at all times.
At this point on my path, I have a very simple and direct method for raising my altar. I have done away with a lot of the formality over the years as I’ve nurtured and reinforced those initial bonds I set out to build. I call in my patron deities, some of which have items to represent them on the altar itself — for example, a selenite tower for Arianrhod and Caer Arianrhod. I call in the Ancestors using the method as described in detail here. I also call in Light Bringer and Night Bringer with this little couplet:
“Fall to me, Light Bringer! Illuminate the shadow black as night, your twin
Night Bringer! Darkest veil that sharpens sight I call you in.”
Once all the calls have been completed, the last thing left to do is to declare the intent to, and actually place, the altar space between the worlds.
“By my word and action, between root and crown
This space I affix, where up equals down
HU!”
At this point, if there is work to be done, I begin. If not, I simply enjoy being with my family and keeping the gateway open for communion.