What Is An Altar
(This is an excerpt from a University Of Metaphysical Sciences course at www.umsonline.org,
please feel free to visit the school website)
Kay Turner explains in her book Beautiful Necessity: The Art And Meaning Of Women's Altars (1999), "... from the very beginnings of human consciousness, a particular religious artform has assuaged the terror of separation by creating a special site to serve the human desire for relationship with the unseen gods and spirits. We call that place an altar, a place set apart to house the images of powerful sacred beings, who by their presence there can be called upon for help and comfort. An altar makes visible that which is invisible and brings near that which is far away; it marks the potential for communication and exchange between different but necessarily connected worlds, the human and the divine." The terror she mentions is that uniquely human perception that we are disconnected from the divine as a consequence of our self-consciousness.
In its most basic structure an altar is any surface, usually flat upon which special items are placed. An altar, by being set aside in space, is a trigger to the self to recognize some element of life other than the mundane. These special items placed in this special place are a natural focal point to any observer, and especially to the individual or organization responsible for the altar. Modern altars are constructed from any number of materials: wood, glass, cardboard, and stone are often used. Many an end table or bookshelf has been converted into altar-space, as well as simply an area covered with a cloth. Milk crates, cardboard boxes and brick and board shelves are on one side of the spectrum of useable materials, with elaborately carved artworks and crystal surfaces on the other. Kay Turner writes in Beautiful Necessity: The Art And Meaning Of Women's Altars (1999), "Contemporary altar-builders range from the very traditional to the radically revisionist". There are traditions today that follow set guidelines for construction such as Catholic and Jewish, which trace directions to the sacred texts of those faiths. Also to be found are ever evolving altars such as one observes in Santeria.
Beyond this basic level of what an altar is physically we find the deeper truth as to what an altar really is. People build altars as a portal to and as a reflection of the Divine. Marie Romero Cash explains in her book Living Shrines: Home Altars Of Mexico (1998), "Altars project the faith of the believer into the heavenly realm, which they know exists but to which they have no access other than by the daily prayers said to the saints on the altar. They serve as a means to establish and maintain the communication that provides the spiritual well being of those who pray to the saints."
Altars personalize the grand mystery of the universe by bringing the vast into the manageable. Modern pagans, among others, use altars as reflections of this universe, by presenting the macrocosm in the microcosm using images of divine and natural forces as embodied in earthly forms. Yasmur Flores-Pena writes in Santeria Garments And Altars: Speaking Without A Voice (1994), "Believers construct statues and altars to honor the spirits just as in many other faiths." Most people of European Christian faiths travel to temples and churches to experience the use of altars. This likely stems from the concept that a recognized intermediary in the form of a priest is to be responsible for the communication between humanity and the divine. Catholic and Jewish sacred spaces feature prominent altars, while Protestant altar display has been reduced considerably to a simple table that holds the sacred text within the church.
In contrast to the above most Meso-American Christians practice an avid dedication to the construction of and maintenance of home altars and shrines. This is similar to Afro-Caribbean and neo-pagan practice. Dana Salvo says in his book Home Altars Of Mexico (1997), "Mexico's Indian and mestizo peoples, in acts of private devotion, regularly construct home altars to commemorate their relations with their ancestral past and their place within a grander cosmic order." An explanation of why this may have come to be the norm for American Latinos is discussed by Marie Cash in Living Shrines (1997), "Because priests and churches were spread over vast areas, the people developed their own home liturgies and church events...The Altarcito de Casa (home altar) was used for either formal or informal prayer. This community practice of devotion at home nurtured the faith of the people and strengthened their faith."