Spirits, Space, and Altars – How to protect your room mate from getting humped by an Incubus.
This morning someone in the Strategic Sorcery group asked about altars and the spirits that they attract in limited and shared space. I started to answer him there but I thought perhaps this might be useful to Sorcerers in general, so I am moving my answer here. Over the course of my career I have gone from having zero permanent altars in my parents house and keeping everything secret, to having one permanent altar in my bedroom, to having a permanent stone circle in their backyard. When I moved out of the house I had one or two altars at all times, one for work and one for offerings and contemplation. This continued throughout my time as a renter with roommates and later with my wife.
When my wife and I bought our house I finally had a dedicated room where I could spread altars out and go bananas…. and I did. We bought the house with no intent of having children so my wife and I each had a dedicated room. Cut to a few years later, I am looking around at all the shit piling up at the baby shower for my twins and I realized that my room had to go. Not only did I give up the room, but I had to set up in the garage, which is not heated or air-conditioned. Serious step backwards in terms of sorcerous real estate.
Today I have a part of the garage looking like a proper shrine with three altars in it and a few sacred cabinets that function as sacred storage. I also have a few small areas at my desk, which is in an alcove off the living room. Most work, even my daily meditation, requires some pulling stuff out and setting it up.
Boo Hoo for me…I hear similar complaints from people all the time.I feel your pain. I wish I had a whole building dedicated to it, and one day I may. But make no mistake… not only can you do magic without massive altars stewn about, but most people do.
NO DEDICATED ROOM? Oh No!!! You don’t have a dedicated room you can get all Doctor Strange in? Poor you. You are like the 90% of people that have practiced magic before you, many of whom managed to make magic while living in the same room with extended family like Charlie and the Chocolate factory, because thats how people lived. Ever wonder why so many spells want you to go to a crossroads, a special shrine, or some lonely desolate hilltop? Its not just because those places are fucking awesome for magic, its because most people didn’t have a permanent altar at home that they could do weird shit at.
“BUT I WORK MULTIPLE TRADITIONS SO THEY ALL NEED THEIR OWN ALTAR!” Do they though? What is gonna happen? I used to think this too, but I was wrong. If you can manage learn these traditions with your ONE brain, speak their prayers with your ONE voice, and have the spirits and powers move in your ONE life, then you can manage to honor them on one altar. Really. If there is some kind of epic conflict then its going to surface whether they are one altar or separate altars. Honestly, the greatest conflicts and taboos are usually between spirits of the same tradition. Read some Greek Mythology! Its like Real Housewives of Olympus meets Special Victims Unit.
NO ABILITY TO EVEN HAVE AN ALTAR? Mom and Dad don’t want an altar? College frowns on candles in the dorm? I wonder if people ever had to practice in secret in the past. Its occult because its secret people…
BUT THE SPELL/TRADITION REQUIRES ONE! Bummer. Guess you have to do something else until those circumstances line up. There are all kinds of things I don’t do because of practical considerations. I can go out buy a Tesla Model X today, and believe me I want to, but we are saving up for a new house that is more important. There rituals and programs that I have on hold because of space or because they are too high maintenance. I don’t have a Naga Khang in the house? Why, becvause its such a pain in the ass that you practically have to hire a nanny to care for it. No thanks.
So please understand that if I can do magic in less than optimal conditions, so you can you. In fact some of the BEST magic I have ever done has been while travelling. No altars other than what I can set up in the hotel, the street corner, or the trail.
Now let’s talk solutions.
Sacred Storage: These are cabinets where stuff is stored with the respect and sacredness that you would give to an altar. The difference is when you need the stuff you take it out to use it, then place it back in for storage. Silver Daniels uses plates so that they come out of storage ready to roll.
Use plain objects: Do you really think traditional witchcraft entailed oodles of stangs, sigil carved athame’s, and skulls? It’s like an inquisitors wet dream… Use plain items when you can. Pass others off as art, people do this with Glyphs I make all the time. Can’t burn incense? Have a bowl of potpouri or wave an incense stick then burn it outside afterwards.
Visualization: Tantrikas have commitments to engage in jor drol (sex and killing) yet Tibetan monks take Tantric empowerment all the time. How do they get around the no sex part? They visualize it. I bring this up because if it feels lame visualizing the God of the Witches rather than having Chris Orapellos bitchin statue in front of you, take heart! You are still not as lame as dude visualizing himself doing sex magic.
Wards and Calming Techniques: Sometimes the issue isn’t space, but activity. Your roommates are tired of waking up to being dry humped by incubus, and your spouse is calling you at work because your Zuni Fetish is chasing her around the apartment. Exercise some control. Place some seals up and make the spirits understand that in the apartment, they stay in that room. Use some camphor blocks or peace water to calm things down a bit after heavy work. Respect the people you live with and be aware of how your practice impacts them.
Get Communal Space: Do you live near other practitioners? Maybe they have similar problems. Magical Lodges lease spaces all the time, there is no reason that independent sorcerers can’t do the same. Gather some friends and set up an occult time-share. There are artists that share studio space, and there are hacker spaces, why not Sorcery-spaces?
* The awesome photo above is not from me but from Tiffany Boggins, who owns and operates Witchlab and makes oodles of awesome things for sale. If you are looking for Witchcraft that is less “Charmed” and more “The Love Witch”, she’s your gal!