Altars and Shrines

[SalixIncendium]

Do you have a personal altar or shrine? If so, where do you keep it? What's on it?

What purpose does the altar or shrine serve? What does each item represent or what is its purpose?

Pics are welcome ITT.

 

[sayak83]

Do you have a personal altar or shrine? If so, where do you keep it? What's on it?

What purpose does the altar or shrine serve? What does each item represent or what is its purpose?

Pics are welcome ITT.

I don't have one. I attend the public temple, but my personal practice involves meditation and reading scripture quite regularly (Upanishads, Gita, Mahabharata, Rig Veda, Yoga sutra, Nyaya sutra etc.). Reading interspersed with meditation whenever I have time, where ever.

 

[Vinayaka]

Do you have a personal altar or shrine? If so, where do you keep it? What's on it?

What purpose does the altar or shrine serve? What does each item represent or what is its purpose?

Pics are welcome ITT.

We have an entire room ... Hindu shrine, a place for sadhana, which includes puja, hatha yoga, japa, meditation, bhajan, and scriptural reading.

 

[beenherebeforeagain]

Do you have a personal altar or shrine? If so, where do you keep it? What's on it?

What purpose does the altar or shrine serve? What does each item represent or what is its purpose?

Pics are welcome ITT.

Yes, I have a sort of shrine/altar. It currently has an incense burner and an abalone shell, which holds the used matches and mostly-burned white sage leaves. The incense and white sage are for making offerings, also on occasion use sweetgrass and/or tobacco.

It currently includes nothing else because we have a cat, and she won't touch those items, but anything else will hit the floor in pretty short order...so other items that might be otherwise be part of the altar are currently stored in boxes.

 

[Unveiled Artist]

Do you have a personal altar or shrine? If so, where do you keep it? What's on it?

What purpose does the altar or shrine serve? What does each item represent or what is its purpose?

Pics are welcome ITT.

I live alone so I set my living room up as an altar on one side and small dinning table on the other. I have The Buddha suttas and The Buddha statue. All my meditations, prayers, and studies are there.

 

[Liu]

I have an altar open for everyone to see who enters my room, but it's pretty simple - just a small table with a fireproof plate and some candles, and a few pictures on the walls around. So I assume most don't even recognize it for what it is, assuming it to be just a focus place for meditation, or even just a stand for candles (which actually are its main purposes anyway).

 

[Jainarayan]

I have a shrine with a number of statues and pictures of the deities. Unfortunately it is in a corner of the dining area because of the size and design of the house. I would prefer it to be in its own room or in a room I could at least put folding screens around it.

 

[sun rise]

Do you have a personal altar or shrine? If so, where do you keep it? What's on it?

What purpose does the altar or shrine serve? What does each item represent or what is its purpose?

Pics are welcome ITT.

Yes. It's in my office against the wall. Pictures mostly.

The purpose is to remind me of the Truth and the value of focusing on it.

 

[Vouthon]

I have a private shrine with a font filled with holy water from Lourdes, a crucifix, rosary beads which I wear that once belonged to my great-grandmother, a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary, candles and images of a few of my favourite Saints (such as St. Francis of Assisi), as well as the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Oh, and a picture of Pope Francis (I usually always have one of the current pontiff, like many Catholics).

I bless myself with the holy water every once in a while, read scripture or other devotional texts and pray the mysteries of the Rosary.

The "shrine" is in my bedroom overlooking the garden. Very serene. Because of where I live, there are very high hills (known as "the Fells") beyond my garden, which in winter are capped with snow. This is what I see in the distance:

Cool, clear, natural mineral water is sourced from the spring on the Eastern edge of the Fells:

It usually brings to my mind these words penned by St. John of the Cross, extolling the immannence of God ("the Beloved") in the natural world:

My Beloved is the mountains,
The solitary wooded valleys,
The strange islands,
The roaring torrents,
The whisper of the amorous gales;
The tranquil night
At the approaches of the dawn,
The silent music,
The murmuring solitude,
The supper which revives, and enkindles love.

Let us rejoice, O my Beloved!
Let us go forth to see ourselves in Thy beauty,
To the mountain and the hill,
Where the pure water flows...~ 14 & 15

Blow through my garden,
And let its odours flow,
And the Beloved shall feed among the flowers. ~ 17
The bride has entered
The pleasant and desirable garden,
And there reposes to her heart’s content;
Her neck reclining
On the sweet arms of the Beloved​

 

[The Emperor of Mankind]

I have a personal shrine in my room with statues and objects associated with a small number of gods. I haven't used it in the last little while so there's a coat of dust which I'll need to remove asap.

 

[SabahTheLoner]

My altar is in my room and I don’t like people to be in my room so I only put it away when we have nosey relatives come over. It seems lavish but most of the items I have on it are either things I had in the first place, cheap tools from online or thrift store trinkets. I have a few statues that are easy to put away if need be and those are the only investments I put in it. The altar is a reflection of both who I wish to be and how I see the world. It changes with my personality.

 

[Quintessence]

I have several shrines and an altar.

There are shrines to each of the Four in my home in different rooms. Most who might visit and look at them would just think it is some interesting collection of wall art and knick knacks. Various isolated objects in other areas also have religious significance, and again, would just look like decorations to the uninitiated.

My altar has an entire room to itself, and I tend to not permit others to enter that sacred space unless they are kindred spirits. They can stand at the door and look inside all they want, but they can't pass through the gateway unless they know how to respect a sacred space. Being invited into that space is a must.

 

[arthra]

Baha'is don't have "shrines" or "altars" in our worship. But we usually have what we call the "Greatest Name" in an elevated place in our homes. The Greatest Name is a representation in Arabic calligraphy "Ya Baha'ul'Abha" and translated means "Oh Glory of the All Glorius"

 

[whirlingmerc]

Do you have a personal altar or shrine? If so, where do you keep it? What's on it?

What purpose does the altar or shrine serve? What does each item represent or what is its purpose?

Pics are welcome ITT.

My alter is in heaven where Jesus is the great high priest

 

[SalixIncendium]

My alter is in heaven where Jesus is the great high priest

I find it fascinating that you have your own personal altar there.

Now that you've piqued my interest, perhaps you'd like to take a stab at the other questions you quoted?

 

[Buddha Dharma]

I do keep a very large house shrine in the attic. It has Buddhas and Bodhisattvas obviously, but I also venerate a number of deities, and some of them outside the Buddhist tradition before I became Buddhist.

 

[Sirona]

[GALLERY=media, 7720]Sirona's home altar by Sirona posted Oct 8, 2016 at 7:57 AM[/GALLERY]

Have a look ...

 

[Sha'irullah]

Indeed I do although it never feels complete and is in rapid flux. Libraries make great shrines

 

[Buddha Dharma]

Here's some pictures of my house shrine kept in the attic.



These aren't recent, so I've made some changes. I combined all my Buddha and Bodhisattva shrines into one and have Kuan Yin and Manjushri in there now. I have Indra and Zeus done together in an Olympians/deities of Mt Meru shrine I've since put together. As I've explained in other threads, I accept the common Indo-European connection with these deities. An icon of Indra and statue of Zeus now set next to Apollo, Hera, and Athena. Yeah I'm a syncretist lol

In my view Zeus is Indra, Hera is Indrani, etc

Not pictured here I have a shrine to Rudra, Cundi, and Ganesha. I have a shrine with some of the Kami like Amaterasu.

The Kami are traditionally venerated in Tendai and other Japanese schools. The now extinct Greek Buddhism obviously interests me

Oh yeah, I forgot, also not shown because these are old pictures: I have a shrine to Brahma and Yama also. Brahma is historically very important in Buddhist cosmology. I'd like to have Vishnu.

 

[Holdasown]

Do you have a personal altar or shrine? If so, where do you keep it? What's on it?

What purpose does the altar or shrine serve? What does each item represent or what is its purpose?

Pics are welcome ITT.

I have a gods altar and an altar for my dead. Both are out in the dinning room where they can be seen. My gods altar is pictures of the gods along with offering bowls, plates and items I have to represent them. My altar for my dead has various possessions of my family, pictures, a candle for Hela and a deer skull. My witch altar is private and in my bedroom.