How To Decorate Your Pagan Altar

In decorating your Wiccan or Pagan altar, reflect where you are right now.

Select your altar cloths and altar items to match the seasons, celebrating the part of the Wheel you are riding.

Or you can choose to decorate your altar to match an energy you want to increase in your life. (See below for some sample Altar Decoration Ideas.)

What goes on a Pagan altar? Just about anything you want. wicca-goddess-and-god-statues

You can use herbs, leaves, branches, rocks, shells, carvings of animals, tarot cards, rune stones, pictures of deities, and anything else that represents . . .

An energy that you wish to invoke or manifest in your life,
Something that you wish to honour,
A gift of gratitude to the Divine,
Anything else you wish to bring to your sacred space.

Manifestation Magick With Your Altar Decorations

When you create a Pagan altar, you are creating magick.

When you want to manifest something in your life - a deity, or emotion, or physical object - you can do that with your altar decorations . . .

Put its symbols on your altar, front and centre.
Surround it with supporting elements . . . other things that attract that energy.
Spend time giving these symbols your attention and energy every day.
And you will find it starting to appear in your life.

In essence, decorating your Pagan altar is crafting a spell for your well-being.

Keeping this in mind will help you choose just the right altar decorations for your needs in the moment.

Pagan Altar Decoration Ideas

Here are some ideas in altar decoration for certain emotional states . . .

Feeling Depressed		Feeling Anxious
Altar cloths	Sunny Yellow	Altar cloths	Purple
Deities	Your Matron God/dess, Isis, or Kali	Deities	Demeter, Tara, Artemis, or Ganesh
Candles	White	Candles	Light blue
Flowers	Cheerful, daisy-type flowers	Flowers	Violets or anemones
Stones	Amber	Stones	Amethyst
Scents	Eyebright, St John's Wort, Savory, Thyme, Borage	Scents	Lavender, Eyebright, Sage
Other	Drink St John's Wort tea	Other	Potted flowers, Drink chamomile mint tea
Feeling Blue		Feeling Fearful
Altar cloths	Pale pink	Altar cloths	Light Blue
Deities	Brighid, or Mary	Deities	Artemis or Kali, Dancing Shiva or Pan
Candles	Yellow	Candles	Yellow
Flowers	Violets	Flowers	Chrysanthemum
Stones	Rose quartz	Stones	Black hematite- no crystals!
Scents	Violet, Pine, Borage	Scents	Snapdragon, Eyebright, Basil
Other	Sea shells	Other	Big pine cones
FFeeling Despairing		Feeling Stuck
Altar cloths	Bright red	Altar cloths	Bright green
Deities	Kwan Yin, Mary, or Yemaya	Deities	Dancing Shiva, Kali, Danu, or Brighid
Candles	White	Candles	Red
Flowers	Tiger lilies	Flowers	Cuttings of green branches or flowering fruit trees
Stones	Pearl	Stones	Quartz crystal
Scents	Lavender, Rosemary, Mint, Borage	Scents	Motherwort, Mint, Mandrake, Basil, Anise
Other	River stones	Other	Red ribbons on your athame
Feeling Stressed		Feeling Irritable
Altar cloths	Purple	Altar cloths	Pale pink
Deities	Matron God/dess, Voluptus, or Lalita	Deities	Kuan Yin, Green Tara
Candles	Ivory pillar candles	Candles	Sky blue
Flowers	Pastel colors and green leaves	Flowers	Narcissus or Daffodils
Stones	Hematite or amber	Stones	Moonstone
Scents	Vervaine,Thyme, Lavender	Scents	Tarragon, Passion Flower
Other	Eat cucumbers	Other	Drink Chamomile Tea
Feeling Poor		Feeling Spiritual Apathy
Altar cloths	Gold	Altar cloths	Black with stars (silver or gold)
Deities	Lakshmi, Gaia, or Moon Mother	Deities	Matron God/dess, or Tara
Candles	Silver	Candles	Silver, Gold, or Sky blue
Flowers	Lush garden roses or large bouquets, Hollyhocks	Flowers	Yellow and pink roses
Stones	Rose quartz and pearl	Stones	Turquoise
Scents	Rowan, Alfalfa	Scents	Sandalwood, Myrrh
Other	Fruits, nuts, bread pentacles	Other	Decorate your chalice with flowers, colours, shiny things
Feeling a Creative Slump		Feeling Spacy or Ungrounded
Altar cloths	Orange	Altar cloths	Brown
Deities	Brighid, Saraswati	Deities	Gaia, Artemis/Diana, Green Man
Candles	Turquoise (if you can stand it) or red	Candles	Brown or Black
Flowers	Lotus, Water lilies, Orchids, Jasmine	Flowers	Geraniums
Stones	Lapis Lazuli or Herkimer diamond	Stones	Hematite
Scents	Vervaine, Mandrake, Jasmine	Scents	Wisteria
Other	Decorate with Stars	Other	Potted plants
Needing Healing		Wanting Love
Altar cloths	Spring Green	Altar cloths	Dusty rose
Deities	Green Tara, Hari, Medicine Buddha	Deities	Aphrodite, Venus
Candles	Yellow	Candles	Red
Flowers	Jasmine	Flowers	Irises, Plush roses (red, peach, or pink)
Stones	Amethyst	Stones	Moonstone
Scents	Rosemary, Pine, Juniper, Jasmine, Hyssop, Ginger	Scents	Lovage, Rose, Vervaine, Rose Geranium, Periwinkle
Other		Other

Create Your Own Pagan Altar Decorations

These are merely sample altar decorations, to get you started.

There are countless other ways to decorate your altar for each of the situations above. What works on your Pagan altar may be different than what is suggested here.

The best way to tend your Pagan altar is to create the sacred space that nurtures you.

Remember, if you are just following the "recipe" someone else has written, the magick will not be as powerful as the spell you create for yourself.