Spring Altar

Yesterday I redid my ADF altar.  As mentioned in my essay Home Shrines, this one sits in my office, right next to my pc.  I have ADHD, so it's helpful to have this altar right here, because I'm an out-of-sight-out-of-mind person.  I have shrines and altars throughout my home--in sight.  I didn't want to lose motivation, so I put this one where I spend a lot of my time.  I also change up most of my altars and shrines seasonally.  

I switched out the altar cloths and the Reindeer for the Rabbit, dusted, and cleansed.  From fall to spring, Reindeer is my Gatekeeper.  Apparently in springtime, at least early spring, Rabbit is the Gatekeeper (I want to get a Hare figure someday because I connect better with that type of rabbit).  From the time that I joined in July last year, until fall, the Gatekeeper was Honey Bee, and I know they're going to be again, I don't don't know when yet.  

I tend to ask or wait and see what entities want to be featured in my rituals, the Gatekeeper role is no different.  So far, no deities, just these three animal spirits, which I'm good with.  Although that's not saying these animals aren't representing Someone.  

I don't usually work with deities that are specifically connected to rabbits right now (although every first of the month, Rabbit!  Rabbit!).  On my path, Honey Bee is connected to the Minoan and Hellenic Bee Priestesses, the Melissae.  Reindeer is connected to Reindeer Woman, who I've come to know as Elen of the Ways (although She has many faces/aspects).

It'll be interesting to see if any other spirits or deities step forward as Gatekeeper this year.

Other Animal-Entity Reps (UPG and Historical):

• Agathos Daimon (House Spirit/Guardian) - Vipers.
• Ariadne - Spiders, Bees, Snakes, Cats.
• Artemis - The form of Her that I experienced is antlered, with Red Stag antlers.  So not just general deer, but Red Stags are an animal that I associated with Her.  Bear, Bee, and domesticated Cats (ferals), too.  Piebald/Albino/Leucistic animals, particularly in deer.
• Baba Yaga - Chickens, Ravens, Crows, Spiders.  Like Callieach, the form of Grandmother that I experience has the same kind of wings.  The Hag entities that I encounter tend to have these same types of wings.
• The Callieach - Ravens.  (When I see Her, She has old scraggily raven wings)
• Ceres - Pollinators, Grasshoppers, Crickets, Red-Winged Blackbirds.
• Cernunnos - Bucks.
• Dionysus - Snakes, Big Cats, Goats, and Bulls.
• Eir - Swans, not just because of Her being a Valkyrie, but because for me Eir has swan wings.
• Elen of the Ways - She is also antlered with bull and cow reindeer antlers.  Reindeer.
• Freyja - Domesticated Cats, Cougars, Lynx, Falcons, Red-Tailed Hawks, and Swans.
• Hekate - Wasps, Bloodhounds, Wolf/Deerhounds, big dog breeds and mutts, Corvids, Moths, Barn Owls, Snakes, Boar, Orb Weaver Spiders, and Melanistic animals, especially if it's not normal for that species/breed.  As well as Winged Wolves.  I know those don't exist in our realm, but I have a winged wolf statue that She claimed and took up "residence" in when I had my miscarriage in 2011.  She often took that gentle form, too, when I was lost in grief during that period.
• Hermes - Turkey Vultures, Woodpeckers.
• Hestia - Donkey, Domesticated Cat (particularly house cats), Pigs
• Loki - Fox, Spiders (particularly Jumping Spiders), Constrictor type Snakes.
• Medusa - Snakes.
• The Melissae - Bees, especially Honey Bees.
• The Morrigan - Crows, Ravens.
• Odin - Crows, Ravens, Wolves.
• Pan - Goats.
• Persephone - She has three forms for me, the Flower Child Kore, the a mature woman, and a anthropomorphic doe that is half alive and half dead.  In our area, we have white-tailed deer, so definitely that kind of deer, but only the doe.
• Seidkona Spirits - Elk.
• Skadi - Polar Bears, Wolves.

I also have a variety of Animal Spirits that I've worked with other the years, who may volunteer as Gatekeeper one of these rituals.

There's a small figure of Frigg that represents all of our Hearth Deities--Hestia, Vesta, the Vestals, Frigg, Hekate, and Loki.  I originally had Her sitting on my Norse shrine, but She insisted on this one.  In Her place on the Norse shrine is a large wooden needle that came with a child's weaving loom.

The wooden blade in the front, I bought from a local wood crafter at Dayton Pagan Pride in October.  Elen of the Ways immediately claimed it as Hers.  I use it to tap the Well, Flame, and Tree when opening and closing the Gates.  I also kept Elen's prayer beads on the shrine.  When I do my own rituals or attend virtual ones, I may switch these prayer beads out for my Norse or Hellenic ones, depending on the Hearth Culture we're working with.  Since She is a Way Opener/Guide, I prefer to keep Her prayer beads on the altar at the moment.

There we are, my updated ADF altar.  I'm going to be doing a ritual later this week with my kids, too, so I'll have a picture of that altar posted...maybe with the ritual script, too.  I get so weird about sharing my ritual scripts for some reason, and it's not because I'm worried that someone's going to use it--shoot, if it resonates, use it, tweak it, let it inspire you.  I used to share my scripts, then I just stopped.  This blog is supposed to be for my adventures in Druidry.  I may post after me and the kids perform it later.  

For now, I'm going to prepare for a Dedicant Path discussion meet, via Virtual Fire Proto-Grove.  Later I'm also going to be attending Three Cranes Grove's Anthesteria via Zoom.  

Hope your Sunday is gentle.

- Dedicant Foxlyn Wren