Shrines: The World Inside Our Homes

Readers, please enjoy this guest blog post by Ben Stimpson, author of the new Ancestral Whispers.

One of the first things many Pagans want to do when they start practicing is to erect an altar or shrine. It makes total sense; creating that little space as a focal point for our practices is important and something found across the world. But, why is it important and what do these spaces actually do for us and the spirits we work with?

The Difference Between Altars and Shrines
There is some debate as to what the difference is between a shrine and an altar. The words are often used interchangeably, but I’ve found it useful to think about the differences and how each can relate to each other. For me, a shrine is a space devoted to the gods or spirits where every element present is designed to differentiate that space from the mundane world. An altar is a particular space devoted to performing some ritualistic action to that deity or spirit. In my worldview, shrines can contain altars but altars do not contain shrines. Ancient and modern temples often have these elements, with specific sanctuaries created for the deities and then an altar where the ritual work takes places. When Wiccans cast a circle, they are building a shrine that has an altar as a central component. When a priest approaches the altar, often that altar is within the sanctuary of the Church, which is a shrine.

Altars and Shrine as Technology
While in modern secular society we tend to see sacred shrines as spaces to view or as places that the deities or spirits dwell within only, traditionally spaces such as shrines and altars are much more like a form of sacred technology. Altars are meant to be used; shrines are meant to be related to. The purpose of a shrine is to have a central place that interaction with a spirit or deity can take place; they don’t exist for no reason. In traditional societies, most deities and spirits are understood to have a dwelling place somewhere in the cosmos, and so shrines are for our benefit to create bridge points between ourselves and those beings. While traditionally temples in many cultures were off-limits except for the few priests or aristocrats permitted to view the enshrined, domestic shrines in the home were very common and allowed the general populace to engage with their spirits and deities in non-official ways. Often these shrines emulated or were plugged into the same sacred geography that informed the official temple design.

The Whole World On A Shelf
For many traditions, the difference between an altar and shrine is that a shrine is often viewed as the universe on a smaller scale. Whether you take that symbolically or literally, the same worldview that underscores sympathetic magic applies to shrines. Elements placed within a shrine often are symbolic of larger forces, and in a sympathetic way bring those larger forces from macro to micro. In ancient days, deities and spirits were venerated at the physical locations associated with them, but as traditions expanded and the deities and spirits connected to them had adherents far from their abodes a common development occurred in many traditions where local shrines were linked to the main sanctuary through emulation. For example, Hindu and Buddhist shrines and temples are constructed to emulate the grander cosmological structure, with the enshrined deities or figures sitting within a slice of their home abodes. If one pays closer attention, this can be seen in the structure of Mosques, Gurdwaras, Synagogues, and Churches. When I started to develop my ideas of shrines, when I clued in that many of them cross-culturally represented underlying worldviews, it made total sense to me. You are housing the images or representations of deities and spirits within the perceived environments of their origin, filling the space with iconographic symbols of power, and interacting with smaller version of the entire universe. That was powerful to realize, and more importantly, it allowed me to become very intentional with my shrine building.

Things to Consider When Building a Home Shrine
There are so many considerations when building a shrine at home, and as you become more experienced in your practice and your relationship to deities and spirits deepens your shrine will naturally evolve to reflect those relationships. In my book, Ancestral Whispers, I go deeper into the process of lived practice and speak about the role of shrines when it comes to the ancestors. Below are some key points I’d suggest meditating upon while building your shrine:

• Who is it for? The deities or spirits you might enshrine all have different needs, different personalities, different roles. Think about the deities who will be in your sacred space area and consider what their needs are.
• What is your intention? What will you do with a shrine and what role does it take in your practice? I feel like many starting out on their spiritual journey want to have a space to express their new-found way of life, but often are looking for others to tell them what to do. Explore for yourself what a shrine or altar does in your practice, what element it can bring to your work.
• What is your relationship to that figure? I often teach that all spirituality is underpinned by relationship, and in shrine construction relationship is very important. In constructing a shrine to spirits or deities, ask yourself what relationship you already have with that being and how a shrine might impact that relationship.
• What is your responsibility with a shrine? The difference between a shrine and a tchochke shelf comes down to responsibility. You’re not just housing objects; they have much greater meaning than just trinkets. When you build a shrine there is a certain responsibility to the shrine itself and the spirits or deities housed there. Consider how you will take care of the shrine, what your responsibilities and duties are to it, and how it will fit into your practice.
  

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  Our thanks to Ben for their guest post! For more from Ben Stimpson, read their article “Relating to Non-Biological Ancestors: Expanding Our Definition of an Ancestor.”