It has become my tradition to clean and reset my temple in the Spring and sometimes in the Fall. As these are working altars, they do build up a lot of detritus over time, not to mention spilled candle wax. As my practice has grown, my temple has become more elaborate over the years. Not to mention my video making skills continue to improve. This year’s got off to a late start due to chemo. It was a huge project which included repotting plants as well as cleaning. For you folks who actually read the description on my videos, I thought I would let you in on the why and how. In the end, this space is a true representation of who I am spiritually.
Whenever I do this, I consider the temple “closed” for the duration. This time it took over twelve hours. When it’s done, I reopen by ringing in the temple. That’s why the video starts with me ringing a bell.
Shamelessly, just to catch your attention, a little flaming Babalon. We’ll get back to her later.
My temple has three altars and a couple of shrines. One is my personal ancestor altar. It’s split in two with my ancestors on one side and my wife’s on the other. The saint you see here is Maximillian Kolbe, an actual cousin of mine. In the center, our pets get a place as well. They are family after all.
Two, an altar to my magical ancestors. Here you see candles for Jack Parsons and Hunter S. Thompson. Plus, the latest addition, Jake Stratton-Kent. Here is housed a glass skull which contains dirt from the spot where my mentor, Mordecia Sova, passed away, and ashes from the two ceremonial fires held in her honor. The whisky bottle was used in a ritual to honor Dr. Dave, a man I never met. Both were instrumental in the creation of Emergent Magick.
Next up, my newest shrine. A fellow gave me that Babalon disk on my last birthday. I think it was meant to be a table, and I added the stand which I purchased in an antique store in Rockford. On it, our local EMK tribe’s new egregore, the Dark Mother. Thoth and Babalon are represented here as well.
That long line of toys you see are all offerings to Abtet, a familiar spirit of mine. This is his shrine and I keep him happy with Kinder Joy eggs.
On to the main temple. I don’t put much stock in the whole right-hand/left-hand path concept, but it’s a way to organize an altar. On the left-hand side, Babalon. Go ahead and hate me now, but I consider it my mission in life to rescue Babalon from Thelema. You’ll also see a couple of my favorite conceptions of the Devil here as well. On the right, my beloved Thoth. My main man – Djhuety. In the center, the Ogdoad, who I consider my representations of the elements.
There’s too much on these altars to go into detail about all of it, but if a specific item catches your eye, feel free to ask about it.
Scroll of Thoth Ko-fi – https://ko-fi.com/scrollofthoth
Get our merch on Redbubble – https://www.redbubble.com/people/jameslwilber/explore
Credits
Music – “Temple of Endless Sands” by Darren Curtis
“A Reverence for Isis,” as performed by the Egyptian United Philharmonic Orchestra with vocalist Amira Selim, for the Pharaohs’ Golden Parade celebration, April 3rd, 2021. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pharaohs%27_Golden_Parade