Using an Old Secretary Desk as an Altar (Article and Images)

Books, amethyst, mortar and pestle and the key to my room.

Finding Sacred Space

I consider myself lucky to have my own space on the first floor of our house. It gives me a place for my books and other cherished items. It’s where I have my computer, library table, and a couple of small goddess-centered shrines.

But I don't have an altar there and that is by design.

The shrines work in that particular space because a shrine is a place of veneration. I can a light a stick of incense in front of Isis or Mary or Inanna or the Morrigan and be on my way.

An altar is different, because it's is a place where spiritual or magical work is performed. 

For some people that means spell casting or other witchy things. For me, it means divination, stream of consciousness journaling, sigil making and other types of inner work. 

These activities require focus. And while I can write and research and do cards in my first floor room, it doesn't really lend itself to that kind of focus. It's in a part of the house I share with other. There is traffic. Deliveries land on the front porch. 

So when I decided I wanted an actual altar, I had to look for another location.

After giving it some thought, I settled on my bedroom. 

I am single. My bedroom door locks and family members always knock before they come in. And it's a lot quieter on the second floor than it is at street level.

It is almost perfect but it is a relatively small room without a lot of free space.

Secretary desk in closed position.

Setting Up My Space

I didn't have room for another piece of furniture, and I realized I didn't need one. There already was a available surface—an old secretary desk that I almost never used. I liked that the the secretary desk (above) closed. It reminded me of a dream I had about a key and a lockbox. 

The idea that sacred items should be locked away when not in use felt resonant. 

So I decided to use the desk.

My next step was to assembly a few altar items. I put feathers and crystals and statues on my shrines and that works just fine but I didn't see the point of doing that again upstairs. 

I felt that everything on the altar should be functional so I gathered my items with that in mind. 

The list included a special deck of tarot cards and a couple of other decks that seemed to fit the theme, a small cut-glass bottle filled with water from holy sites from multiple locations, the mugwort I sometimes use for dream tea, a tarot cloth I received as a gift. 

I included a few books (list at the bottom of this post), my favorite marble bookends and onyx mortar and pestle. I bought a new journal and a few black candles. 

Aside from the holy water (which was collected from sites all over the world by wiccan author Starhawk and given out as a gift at an event I attended) every item had a pretty straightforward purpose. 

These are not a lot of items but they work for me for now. Odds are there will be more over time and I'll be sharing more pictures as it evolves.

One thing I really like about using the secretary desk is that there are lots of drawers (the lower half is like a dresser) and slots for items I'll be storing. I especially like the little cabinet in the center. I need to come up with something special for that space.

The altar as a desk.

What Passes for Magic 

I know that the kind of “work” I do at my little altar isn’t really magic. There were times in my life when I tried to do actual by-the-book magic but circles and detailed rituals never felt right for me. 

What I do now is feels organic. Often taking a half an hour or less before I go to bed, my practice reflects my interests. 

It isn't the whole of my spiritual life obviously.

I like to connect with nature in the deep woods. I like herbs and planting things. I honor or acknowledge traditional holidays and certain points in the moon cycle out-of-doors or sometimes with my family. But I don't really know anyone anymore in everyday life who shares my interests and while my family is perfectly fine with any kind of spread, talking about the deeper meaning of a given holiday isn't really of interest. 

So coming upstairs to my space to journal or drawn cards at the altar afterwards serves a purpose. 

I also journal or do cards at random. Sometimes I meditate or do other types of inner work. Occasionally, I blend some tea or make a sigil. 

If I have an especially meaningful dream or experience an unusual synchronicity, this where I sit down to write about it. 

The little altar is a cozy space too, when the lights are low and I’m surrounded by old mahogany and sacred water and the peaceful sort of energy that builds slowly over time.

Sacred water, black candles and the tarot cloth I was gifted.

A Few More Pictures

My Mythic Tarot Deck. My special deck is the University Press tarot (in wooden box)

Luna seems drawn.

Full desk. You can see the feet and just a bit of the bottom drawer.

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Books I have on top of my altar: Tarot and the Psychology of the Soul, 78 Degrees of Wisdom, Hekate Soteira, Inanna Queen of Heaven and Earth, Green Witch books, When God Was a Woman. As you can see I have a small stand for more books to the right of secretary desk. I will also be getting a picture to go between the big candle sticks. I know it looks a little bare now, but I will update!

More on sigil-making here.