The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts between February 1692 and May 1693. The trials resulted in the execution of twenty people, fourteen of them women, and five people dying in jail. The events of the Salem witch trials began in January 1692 when a group of young girls in Salem Village claimed to be possessed by the devil and accused several local women of witchcraft. These accusations quickly spread, and soon more people were being accused and arrested. The trials were conducted by a special court of inquiry, with judges and witnesses presenting evidence against the accused. The criteria for determining guilt in the witch trials were based on superstition and religious beliefs.

Setting up your altar

Centralising the focus of your power and intentions in magick rituals is a simple yet useful way of enhancing the desired outcomes of your spells. While learning and refining your skills, having a dedicated space, with all the essentials nearby, also saves a lot of time, as you won’t need to hunt around for the essential elements each time you practice.

If you are new to practicing witchcraft, an altar setup can seem convoluted and confusing, but it doesn’t have to be. Starting an altar setup requires a few basics that are central to most forms of practice, and from there you can add additional items for your specific needs or focus.

Prepare your altar space

Begin by deciding on the space you will use. At a minimum you just need an empty surface, and preferably it should be somewhere out of the way of household traffic to enable you to focus without distractions and interruptions. The space should also have adequate ventilation for when you burn or smoke ingredients so you don’t become overwhelmed with fumes. It's also handy to have a bookshelf for your important texts and grimoires/book of shadows, and a cabinet or shelves for your ingredients, crystals, and candles.

Altar table

A small table is perfect for an altar setup. Place a plush cushion next for comfort when sitting or kneeling to meditate or perform rituals. Tables that come with an inscribed pattern, such as a pentagram or triple moon can also enhance your rituals without the need for a particular cloth or additional items (more on that below).

Altar cloth

Altar cloths have multiple purposes. The first is the obvious – it protects the surface underneath, and makes the area easier to keep clean. But additionally to that, an altar cloth can be printed or embroidered with symbology to enhance your rituals, and/or to indicate where to place certain items.

Triple moon or pentacle?

A pentacle or pentagram is one of the most powerful wiccan symbols. A pentagram represents the creation of the universe and the relationship between the macrocosm and microcosm, or ‘as above, so below’. This powerful symbology therefore is a benefit to any altar setup. Whether inscribed into the surface below the altar, or on the altar cloth, or hanging nearby, we recommend you have at least one in your altar setup. The triple moon symbol, which represents the three stages of womanhood (maiden – mother – crone) is also powerful symbology with a strong history of use in magick. When using either of these symbols on the surface of the altar, power is enhanced by placing ritual items strategically on the points of each symbol.

Representing the Elements

Collect four items that represent the four elements of earth, air, fire and water. Candles are the easiest way to represent fire, and you can start simply with a black pillar candle and then grow your collection with symbolically coloured candles for specific needs. For water, an elemental resin or chalice filled with distilled water are good choices. For earth, crystals are the perfect starting point, particularly as most have multiple meanings and so building a crystal collection meets both the elemental symbology, and addresses specific focus needs. A dish of sand can also be used for earth, although this can be a bit messier if you’re clumsy like me. For air, a feather, athame, a wand, windchimes or bells are all good options.

You can also use tarot cards to represent the elements if you have a deck handy.

Book of shadows

It’s important to have a book of shadows if you are going to be working magick. It’s a notebook for writing down spells (and the ingredients/elements you are using), rituals, results and any other important notes or things you’ve learned along the way. Some witches like to make theirs decorative and full of illustrations and drawings, but if you are not that creatively inclined, it’s fine to just write in it as a journal, and/or stick in clippings from other texts. How to organise it is up to you and your personal style – some like to divide with stick-in tabs to create sections, and others prefer a more linear approach, in which you can flick through and relive your magickal progression. If your practice has rules or laws, it’s good to include these right at the front or back for easy reference. It’s also handy to create a correspondence table somewhere in the book, with lists of common substitutions for spell ingredients or ideas on how to represent the elements with what you have collected for your altar.

Refer to our blog post on substituting spell ingredients for ideas on how to substitute.

Cauldrons, chalices and braziers

Many ritual workings will require you to burn or smoke spell ingredients, burn resin incense for ambience, or have liquids or other substances (such as sand) nearby. Ideally you should have several small cauldrons and ritual bowls to avoid cross-contamination with regular spellwork. A heat-proof cast iron cauldron and copper bowl are a must for a start, and beyond that you should add to your collection as your needs grow.

Setting Up Your Magical Altar

Patti Wigington is a pagan author, educator, and licensed clergy. She is the author of Daily Spellbook for the Good Witch, Wicca Practical Magic and The Daily Spell Journal.

The altar is often the focus of religious ceremony, and is usually found at the center of a Wiccan rite. It’s essentially a table used for holding all of the ritual tools, and can also be used as a workspace in spell casting.

Pagan Altar Key Takeaways

Your magical altar is a place for ritual and spellwork, and can be set up anywhere you have the space.

Although many people include traditional tools on the altar, you can use whatever fits your budget and needs.

Be sure your altar contains all you need for effective ritual or spell work before you begin your ceremony.

An altar is easy to make. If you have a small table that’s not being used for other things, great! Will you be doing a lot of rituals outdoors? Use an old stump or a flat stone. If you’re short on space, such as cramped apartment or dormitory quarters, consider an altar space that can be used for other purposes as well – the top of a dresser, a cedar chest, even a footlocker.

Do you live in an environment in which you’d like to keep your altar private? You may wish to just create a “portable altar” that can be put away when not in use. Find a nice box or bag to keep your tools in, and then get them out when you need them. If you have an altar cloth, it can double as a storage bag – just put all your tools in the middle, bundle them up, and tie it shut like a pouch.

You can have permanent altars that stay up year round, or seasonal ones that you change as the Wheel of the Year turns. It’s not uncommon to meet someone who has more than one altar in their home. A popular theme is the ancestor altar, which includes photos, ashes or heirlooms from deceased family members. Some people enjoy having a nature altar, on which they place interesting items they find while out and about – a rock, a pretty seashell, a chunk of wood that looks appealing. If you have children, it’s not a bad idea to let them have their own altars in their rooms, which they can decorate and re-arrange to suit their own needs. Your altar is as personal as your spiritual path, so use it to hold the things you value.

The criteria for determining guilt in the witch trials were based on superstition and religious beliefs. Spectral evidence, or claims of seeing the accused's spirit causing harm to others, was considered compelling evidence. Many of the accused were elderly women who were considered outsiders in the community, making them easy targets for suspicion and accusation.

Basic Altar Setup

So you've decided to perform your first ritual, and you're setting up an altar. Great! Now what?

It's actually pretty simple to set up a basic altar. You'll probably want to include a few things, like your magical tools, but ultimately the altar should be about functionality. It needs to be set up to help you achieve your goal. Here are the things that most traditions of Wicca and Paganism include on altars.

• Symbols of the four classical elements. Typically, these are aligned with the four cardinal directions. Use a bowl of dirt or sand in the north aspect of your altar to represent earth, a stick of incense in the east can symbolize air, a candle or charcoal in the south for fire, and water in the west.
• Candles. You can add a goddess candle and a god candle if your tradition calls for them, or you can use candles representing the four directions. Be sure to have a lighter or matches handy.
• The athame. Most Wiccans and Pagans use an athame in ritual, so place one on your altar if you'll need it during a ceremony.
• The wand. The wand is used to direct energy, so if you use one, keep it on your altar.
• Your Book of Shadows, or BOS. If you're going to be doing rituals, it's helpful to keep this on hand.

Add other items as needed, and as space allows. You can include whatever spell components you need, cakes and ale, and more. If you're celebrating a sabbat, you can decorate your altar for the season as well.

Regardless, make sure your altar contains all you need for effective ritual work BEFORE you begin your ceremony.

Once you've figured out what you like to have on your altar, and where you want to actually place those items, add a simple sketch or even a photo into your Book of Shadows, so you can easily construct your altar again the next time you need to.

Witchcraft setup

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Gain an understanding of what an altar is. + Why witches use altars. + The many purposes of altars. + How to use an altar. + Setting up altars. + PLUS checklist of what to include. Designed to inspire and help you live a more witchy life! Blessed Be, Bec Black ─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ─── * Please note:
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The trials were highly influenced by the beliefs and fears of the time. The Puritans, who settled in Massachusetts, believed in the existence of witches and witchcraft, and they saw the devil's work behind every misfortune or illness. The trials also reflected the tensions and conflicts within the community, with personal rivalries and disagreements sometimes leading to accusations. The trials came to an end in May 1693, when the governor of Massachusetts disbanded the court and pardoned those who were still in jail. The events of the Salem witch trials were a dark chapter in American history, and they serve as a reminder of the dangers of allowing fear and superstition to dictate justice. Today, the trials are often studied as an example of mass hysteria and the dangers of a witch-hunting mentality..

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