{"id":20110,"date":"2023-02-07T13:34:45","date_gmt":"2023-02-07T07:34:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fivefoldlaw\/?p=20110"},"modified":"2023-02-11T06:04:37","modified_gmt":"2023-02-11T00:04:37","slug":"witch-this-not-that-altar-egos-or-foiled-curses-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fivefoldlaw\/2023\/02\/07\/witch-this-not-that-altar-egos-or-foiled-curses-again\/","title":{"rendered":"Witch This, Not That: Altar Egos (Or, Foiled! Curses Again.)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u201cI love finding out about discourse when I\u2019ve already made a strong decision. My profile picture <\/em>is my altar.\u201d \u2013Davo Deth<\/a><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I was once conscripted to help run a private ritual, and afterwards, one of the participants came up to me with questions.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you were setting up the altar, I couldn\u2019t help noticing that you put your knife<\/a> in a specific place, in a very deliberate way,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd that made me wonder: What was the symbolism behind that? What was the deeper meaning?\u201d<\/p>\n

And in response, I was like, \u201cI\u2026 I put it there so that I could reach it.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was probably not the answer he wanted, alas, but it was the only one I had to give.<\/p>\n

If I ever have to put together an altar to Ellis<\/a>, this will be it. (Image courtesy of Stefan Keller<\/a> via Pixabay.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The memory of that conversation came back to me last week, while I was munching on salty snacks<\/a> and leisurely scrolling through the latest WitchTok<\/a> imbroglio. Apparently, someone had uploaded a video that included images of their altar, which prompted a veritable platoon of online occultists to descend with videos of their own that were all, \u201cNooooo!!! If you post a picture of your altar, people can use it to curse you<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Less hypochondriac voices quickly entered the fray, reasoning that a) if your immediate environment is adequately warded, no one could use a picture of your altar to direct a curse into it, and b) the likelihood of anyone truly attempting to curse anyone else through an altar pic is slim to none. Unfortunately, the doomsayers doubled down, inventing all kinds of creative rationalizations regarding protective magic and its ultimate impotence in the face of baneful sorcery.<\/p>\n

Unless, of course, the protective magic itself is<\/em> the baneful sorcery. In the latest hot take that (as always) I promise I am not making up, putting wards on yourself or your home is probably causing your friends and family to come down with serious illnesses.<\/p>\n

I can only assume that by next week, altars in general will be declared closed practices<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Currently, I do not have the spoons<\/a> to process the whole Deadly Protection debate (although Deadly Protection<\/em> would be an amazing name for a series on Investigation Discovery<\/a>). Instead, let\u2019s take another look at curses<\/a>, how they work, and whether or not a picture of an altar would make for an effective target. (Spoiler: It would not.)<\/p>\n

\u201cYOU COME INTO MY HOUSE<\/em>\u2026\u201d (Image courtesy of Stefan Keller<\/a> via Pixabay.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n*
** In its most recognizable form, a curse is a type of sympathetic magic. A representation of a given victim is created\/obtained to act as a link to the victim themself, and whatever happens to the representation will happen to the victim.<\/p>\n
** *Examples of representations, ranked from least to greatest efficacy, include:<\/p>\n

\nThe victim\u2019s full name.<\/li>\nA photograph of the victim (rendered less useful by filters and touch-up apps \u2014 online images of people tend to depict how they want other to believe how they appear versus how they actually appear in person, which reduces the connective potential of the link).<\/li>\nAn object handled by the victim.<\/li>\nAn article of clothing worn by the victim.<\/li>\nA personal concern of the victim (hair, nail clippings, bodily fluids, etc.)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n*
** So if I were going to put a curse on, say, a troublesome co-worker, I might swipe their favorite pen to act as the focus. A photo of the pen, however, wouldn\u2019t provide an effective link \u2014 regardless of how often he\u2019s touched the subject of the photo, my co-worker won\u2019t have put his dirty mitts on the photo itself. There simply wouldn\u2019t be any connection there.<\/p>\n
** *Likewise, a picture of someone\u2019s altar doesn\u2019t offer any direct linkage to that person. I mean, theoretically, you could put a curse on the altar itself, but it would probably get diffused by the metaphysical static of any active magical practice occurring there.<\/p>\n

Not to mention that if someone is regularly communing with their Gods at their altar, it stands to reason that their Gods have a defined presence there \u2014 ergo, any curse thrown at the altar would reach the Gods well before it reached the intended target. And I can\u2019t imagine that ending well for the caster. (Unless we\u2019re going back to the heady days of hexing the Moon<\/a>, in which case all bets are off.)<\/p>\n

Pretty much anything can be used as an altar, although if it decides to start floating, you\u2019ve probably got bigger problems than cursing to worry about. (Image courtesy of Stefan Keller<\/a> via Pixabay.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Of course, all of the squabbles about altar curses inevitably led to pronouncements on what does or does not constitute a \u201ccorrect\u201d altar setup, which was less about education and more about a handful of self-titled elders<\/a> and experts<\/a> attempting to assert dominance while reinforcing the insecurities of their followers. And in the midst of it, one of my own followers (who\u2019s lovely, by the way) mentioned that she\u2019d caught some flak in the past for arranging her altar \u201cbackwards\u201d\u2026 because she\u2019s left-handed.<\/p>\n

I have had people say similar things about my altar<\/a> \u2014 they actually got pretty worked up about it. But those same people also told me that I was superstitious and irrational for not wanting anyone to handle<\/a> my ritual tools, so very quickly, I made the formal decision not to listen to those people.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, an altar is just a fixture, in front of or around which worship, meditation<\/a>, or magical work takes place. And despite what anyone may say on the Internet, there is not a right or wrong way to set up an altar \u2014 there\u2019s just what right for you. Make your altar a space where you feel comfortable and confident venerating your Gods. If your Gods want you to set it up any differently than you have, I\u2019m pretty sure They will let you know.<\/p>\n

Additionally, whether or not you choose to put pictures of your altar online is entirely up to you, although Thorn Mooney<\/a> said something in a recent video<\/a> that\u2019s worth keeping in mind:<\/p>\n

"

\u201cI don\u2019t share my working magical space for the same reason I don\u2019t talk about my sex life. It\u2019s not because I\u2019m afraid people are going to hurt me \u2014 it\u2019s because it\u2019s nobody\u2019s business. I don\u2019t put my altar on social media for the same reason I don\u2019t put my underwear drawer on social media.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I ascribe to the \u201cLarger Than Life Is Just the Right Size\u201d school of altar thought, but that\u2019s just me. (Image courtesy of Stefan Keller<\/a> via Pixabay.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n*
** Thorn also explained why she\u2019s not worried about rogue witches trying to curse her through her altar, so hopefully, her words will put any lingering fears on the subject to rest. But with that out of the way, if you\u2019re at all concerned about your own altar not being \u201cproper,\u201d or not meeting arbitrary influencer standards, let me just say this:<\/p>\n
** *Sight unseen, I\u2019m going to hazard a guess and say that your altar is lovely and perfect the way it is. And anyone who disagrees with me can take their<\/em> altar and shove it.<\/p>\n

Like what you\u2019ve read? You ca<\/em><\/span>n<\/span> buy me a coffee<\/a><\/span> about it.<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/h3>\nOh, more discord, you say? But of course! Follow Fivefold Law on <\/span><\/em><\/span>Facebook<\/a><\/span><\/em><\/span>, <\/span><\/em><\/span>Instagram<\/a><\/span><\/em><\/span>, <\/span><\/em><\/span>Mastodon<\/a><\/em><\/span>, <\/span><\/em><\/span>TikTok<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/em><\/span>, Twitter<\/span><\/a>, and <\/span><\/em><\/span>Zazzle<\/a><\/span><\/em><\/span>*****
** .<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/h3>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
** *****Let’s take a look at curses, how they work, and whether or not a picture of an altar would make for an effective target. (Spoiler: It would not.)\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4491,"featured_media":21270,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3176,105],"tags":[6612,5174,6615,5970,6642,6648,3817,6609,6644,743,601,2611],"class_list":["post-20110","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-witch-this-not-that","category-witchcraft","tag-altar","tag-curse","tag-davo-deth","tag-ellis","tag-investigation-discovery","tag-left-handed","tag-spoon-theory","tag-stefan-keller","tag-sympathetic-magic","tag-thorn-mooney","tag-tiktok","tag-witchtok"],"yoast_head":"\nWitch This, Not That: Altar Egos (Or, Foiled! 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