Tutorial Tuesday: Pocket Altars

Hello friends!

Some time ago I was going through a bit of a nature phase. I always go through phases but I was really into it. You might remember since I had a bunch of tutorials on making a flower press, pressing the flowers in a press, pressing flowers in books, ect. Well, I had a small book I made for gathering the flowers and pressing them instantly until I could transfer them more permanently into a book or my press. I also have another small box in my purse for collecting things in nature. I always carry baggies and vials with me and when I took it out one day my friend snatched it up because they liked the tin opened it and just kind of went, "Oh, sorry I didn't realize this was an altar." I kind of looked at them funny and I realized the things I had in it was basically a mini altar set up.





Portable Altars have been a common and reoccurring thing I've heard mentioned in books. Many people have traveling altars or box altars, an outdoor altar although those are typically permanent, ect. I have a chest which I keep an altar set up in, under my actual altar. I don't have an outside altar exactly but now that someone brought it up I do have a portable one that I keep in my purse.

So today's tutorial is going to be about creating a portable altar that you can fit in a box or a tin and stick in your purse in case you're somewhere and you need to do some work.

Supplies you will need will generally be changed out with each purpose but in general:

• Candles either white or of color geared towards purpose (Pictured are tealights and birthday candles)
• A lighter / matches**
• Nail/Tack*
• Chalk*
• Mini Writing Utensil*
• Various Stones (Clear Quartz can be a sub for all gemstones)
• Bell
• Vials/Baggies
• Tin or Small sturdy box

*Optional
**Matches shouldn't really be used unless you are doing a spell for banishment. Best to bring a small lighter if it won't fit in the altar you can always keep it in a pocket or your purse.

Three types of containers: Box, Tin with completely removable lid or tin with hinged lid

The first was actually intended to be a soap box container, the middle when purchased contained push-pins and the third was a gift I picked up on the way back from Vegas at Peggy Sue's and is an I love Lucy mint container.

Various lids, designs and sizes. Each has advantages and disadvantages. For example, the kraft colored box can be painted with symbols or designs, however the tins are pretty permanent with decoration. I guess you could paint them but they already have a design on them and you'd need a sealant and there's a chance that it wouldn't take.

Next, for the kraft box the problem would be putting candles into a cardboard box - its more likely to catch fire if you do not extinguish the wick properly. You also have to worry about water damaging it but it is the biggest of the three.

The tin with the removable lid is bigger, you can use the lid to set up elements without getting dirty but it could get misplaced easily.

The I Love Lucy tin is the smallest, though the lid goes all the way back unlike the kraft box, it lays flat and kind of is a cross between the kraft box and the tin with the removable lid. It's biggest problem is that it is the most shallow and the smallest so it cannot it anything extremely big like tea lights in it very easily.

Two types of candles that you can fit into your portable altar. I recommend the birthday candles as there are more of them, easier to fit into the tins and come in a variety of colors. Plus, you can just stick them in the ground. Tea lights you cannot carve into either if that is a necessary part of the spell.

As you can see, tea lights may be ideal because they already come in a sort of candle holder, they come in many various colors, scents and it is relatively inexpensive to get a large number of them but they may be impractical as far as space in your portable alter goes. Take that into consideration when deciding between tea lights and birthday candles. If the tin is large enough you may be able to fit both. :)

I always keep small baggies and tiny vials on me for collecting spell component and ingredients. I get the bottles (which come in several different sizes) for $1.99 from Hobby Lobby in the jewlery dept, which is also were you can get 100 packs of small baggies to collect dirt, rocks, twigs, leaves and many other things.

At the top is some sand collected from the beach. I also collected salt water and sea shell chips. You can pack your own water or salt/dirt in the baggies and vials to use as your elements!

If statuary is a big part of your set up or you need a representation of anything I highly recommend jewelry charms! They are tiny and fit perfectly. As you can see I have several different charms. I use these in making bookmarks but they work as well.

Also pictured is a match. Now previously I had said not to use matches except if the spell is for banishment. Plus they aren't as reliable as a lighter, but I didn't have a lighter small enough for the tins. All I have are those huge ones people use to light the grill with! These were for lighting the pilot light on the water heater at my old house.

A very tiny and cheap alternative to dragging along the bell from your alter! $1 cat collars from the Dollar Tree have bells that can be easily detached from the collar and put into your portable altars.

I always have stones with me. The set of 12 gemstones I got in the jewelry dept of Michaels and only paid $5 for them w/a 50% coupon and now I have tiny enough stones to put in my portable altar that I don't even need to bother with the bigger ones but if that is all you have that can work too. Keep a clear quartz, one of your favorite stones (mine is Onyx) and then if you are going out with a specific purpose a stone geared towards your goal in there. I keep a couple clear quartz chips and one of the bigger onyx stones in mine at all time and then if I know I'm going out with a purpose I add a stone of that in.

A couple of inexpensive options for writing utensils. Mini-markers found in Targets $1 bins and colored Chalk, which may or may not be useful. Only if there is cement around, which in urban areas is plentiful!

Here is what the different portable altars look like with all the ingredients in them.

Note: There are thumb tacks and/or tiny nails in the tins - useful for carving words into the candles!

Now I'm make mine with the purpose of creating a circle outdoors. Often I want to go to the beach and do a spell by the sea. Or I am on a hike and I want to collect things from nature to use for another time. Or like a few months ago I went with my family to the casino for a few days and I needed to cast a lucky gambling spell in the room. Not exactly ideal to pack an altar, so one that fit in my purse was perfect and I had all the supplies I needed.

It is also worth it to mention that I typically have cone incense in Frankensense as that is what I use instead of sage for cleansing. If you have a bundle of sage, you could break off a few leaves and put them in your pocket altars and just burn the leaves in the area to smudge and cleanse it or do what I do and use a tiny feather (collected from my mother's African Grey - he picks his feathers all the time so I use them to represent air and to spread the smoke) and cone incense because it is small enough to fit. I'm currently out and have been using stick incense, which as you could see would not fit in these pocket altars!

Do you think you'll create a pocket altar? 

Do you already have a portable pocket sized altar? 

I'd love to see pocket altars that you've created! Post them in the comments below.