Blessing an Altar

Set the altar up in the way you like, with as many or as few tools and decorations as you are comfortable with. Place a candle in the center or the altar (or as close to the center as possible) with a bowl of water and a bowl of salt close by. Light the candle, saying:

By wick and wax, by spark and flame,
I bless this altar in my name.

Sprinkle salt into water and use the index or index and middle finger(s) of your dominant hand to stir until the salt is dissolved. Use the same finger(s) to anoint each corner of the altar as you say:

No phantom, ill, or shadow stay,
Be cleanse, be whole, by dusk, by day.

Pass incense or burning herbs over the altar, allowing the smoke to touch every corner. Say:

By breath and wind, by whisper thin,
Let spirits know this space within.

Place your hands upon the altar and speak:

Let this be hearth of my craft,
The temple of my rite,
The shrine of my power,
The gate to my sight.

Draw in a deep breath and exhale as fully as you can over your altar, as if blowing out candles. Say:

Bound to my hands, bound to my breath,
A sacred space where spirits rest.

If you would like to offer blood, use a sterile needle or lancet to prick your finger and anoint the altar by milking the fingertip until the blood drips onto the altar surface. As you do, say:

Fed by flesh, sealed in bone,
This altar stands as mine alone.

If this is your first time setting up your altar or you are setting up an altar in a new space, you can call on your spirit Familiars, Allies and Ancestors to inspect their homes on the altar. Knock upon the altar three times, and invite the spirits saying:

I summon spirits, near and dear,
I call on you to heed and hear:

Come if you will, stay if you may,
Be welcome here, by work and way.
I bear no chains, I keep no thrall,
But those who guide may hear my call.

Leave an offering of wine, honey, or bread at the altar’s edge or upon the windowsill of the same room. Complete the blessing by passing your hand over the altar and saying:

As root to tree, as bone to flesh,
As star to night, as wave to crest—
So stands this place, so holds its might,
In waking hour and dreaming night.