In a temple, an open area (a mountain, a forest), or a house, an altar is a raised structure or table on which sacrifices are offered to worship or appease a deity.
- Blood, grain, food, or incense were used as sacrifices in the past, as were replacements for blood offerings, such as the bread and wine used in the Christian Eucharistic rite.
In modern Pagan practice, an altar has come to signify a shrine or a location dedicated to the honoring or worshipping of a god or ancestral spirit that is appropriately adorned with respect, votive items, and perhaps food, flowers, and incense offerings.
The magic implements of the Wiccan faith are usually kept on a functioning Wiccan altar.
- A votive statue of the Goddess, and possibly the God, or a specific deity;
- Candles, including any specific candles required for the ritual;
- The celebrant's athame and / o r wand;
- a wilt-handled knife, bolline, or burin; a sword;
- a cup or chalice of some sort;
- any food to be consecrated and shared;
- plus any elemental signs (salt, water);
- and any (a sheaf of wheat, a circlet of flowers).
A votive statue, a candle, an incense burner, flowers, and personal objects like as a discovered shell, scone, or feather may be found on a home altar, or shrine, to a patron god, ancestor, or spirit partner (human or nonhuman).
- These altars may be temporary or permanent, and they typically represent the owner's creative talent as well as his or her dedication.
- In certain ceremonial traditions, altars are built in each quarter to symbolize the elements that are summoned.
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