Do you have ‘problematic’ items on your altar?
When was it that capitalism and consumerism became so tied to paganism? At what point did being pagan mean we needed to pop down to the shops for supplies, or browse online for items we must have?
Because you know what? We don’t actually need anything to walk this path of being a pagan, a druid, a witch, to be anything. In fact, it may even be possible that items, the clutter of things, may make us less receptive to the energies of the land and its spirits. All we truly need is our own selves, the ability to be quiet and to just listen.
Not too long ago, people used their own resourcefulness and creativity more often. They had to make things, grow things, and trade things. There are still people who make much of what they have themselves. For many of us, it’s too easy to buy things, and we seem to forget how capable we are of doing things ourselves. Although people don’t trade very often these days, I have initiated some fun trades and found that people really like it. If trading isn’t possible, spending our money thoughtfully on homegrown or handmade goods is the next best option. If you are someone who has, or wants to have, an altar or several altars, you shouldn’t feel you need a lot of fancy items. It is not required! It is kinder to the earth and certainly more meaningful to use things you gather or make yourself. Plus, you will feel so pleased when you look at what you created, your own fingers doing that work.
I’ve seen beautiful and astounding altars created with true devotion. Yet, it seems to be a contradiction for anyone who desires to be in tune with earth and nature to purchase a statuary made with polyresin or polyresin blends, which will eventually contribute to the immense amount of garbage on this planet. While there are some biodegradable resins, I am not sure that much is being made with them right now as they are more costly. I also wonder how long would biodegradable resin take to degrade. According to a paper published in California, in 2017, there have been 8,300 million tons of virgin plastics produced on this earth, and frighteningly enough, half this number was just within the last 13 years of the date of that paper. That is astounding and the number is of course even larger now. Our worship and ritual items should not be contributing to that number, nor to the 2.12 billion tons of waste dumped each year.
A polyresin statue may feel a lot like plastic and be easy to identify, but if it is a blend, it may feel a lot like stone (or whatever it was blended with). Therefore, it can be a little harder to identify. One thing to keep in mind is that a polyresin blend will be much lighter than if that item was made of stone or cement. Sometimes polyresin is painted to look like metal, but again, it will be much lighter than a similar piece made of metal.
So, what is preferable? Well, statuary made of natural materials by artists rather than mass-produced is considerably better. But we can’t feel complacent just because we make the choice of natural materials either. Ask the question: where did the wood come from? I live on Vancouver Island in Canada, an island where 90% of our old growth forest has been logged. It’s a horrifying number. Even though wood is a beautiful material and biodegradable, we need to think about where that wood came from in the first place. We need to think about the birds that called those trees home, the animals they sheltered, the land they nourished.
Something else to remember is that trees are more than a commodity, they are living beings. They communicate with each other; their roots reach out and touch the roots of others, and all different species of trees create interdependent relationships called mycorrhizal networks. Scientists are only starting to catch up on what the local Indigenous people have always known; how interdependent life is. Forests need to be respected as crucial for the vibrant web of life they nurture. Each tree is an individual life connected to other lives. Mycorrhizal networks are fascinating!
There are many people making things out of reclaimed wood and wood scraps so that is a possibility when looking for statuary and ritual items. I’ve also seen some figurines from second-hand stores repurposed into amazing statuary. Another thing you can do may be to learn a skill or two such as how to weave, so you can weave offering bowls from blackberry or willow branches you find. There are very easy instructional weaving videos found online. Perhaps make your own statuary from clay or carve something in fallen wood. Gather wildflowers. You don’t have to be very skilled or talented either, anything done with the heart is good enough. You can find stones and bones along rivers, feathers, interesting driftwood pieces at the ocean’s edge.
Another natural item that can be problematic in the pagan marketplace is shells, whether they are sold as is or made into handcrafted items. A common shell seen in metaphysical and pagan shops are abalone shells. To gather mollusks for the shell trade, nets may be dragged along the ocean floor causing great damage to other creatures in the way, and to the ocean floor itself. The creatures already living in the shells are disregarded completely as if they had no right to their own homes.
In many cultures using shells has been part of their way of life as far back as they can remember. The trouble is that anytime something is marketable, it swings out of control. And unfortunately, western spirituality is abundant with consumerism. We are consuming all we desire from any country we please with nary a thought for the people of that country, nor the affect our buying may be having on wildlife and the earth.
Our need for the items is greater than it’s manageable. Even empty shells are very important in the ocean. Creatures like hermit crabs will move into them, fish may use them to hide behind, and shells that become crushed put calcium carbonate back into the ecosystem. There are ocean creatures that help with this process such as many marine snails that drill into shells and break them down. Even when collecting shells ourselves we should be careful not to take more than we need for our purpose.
Another problematic item I would be remiss not to at least mention is crystals. Obviously mining for crystals causes some destruction to the earth. Depending on the sort, some mining for crystals may be of a lower impact than others, particularly in comparison to mining for ore. Mining for ore is extensive, strips entire forests and leaches pollutants into the land. That means items you have made from metals are not guilt free either.
After researching this topic I can at least say that the destruction and work standards vary from place to place. In some places such as Madagascar, where rose quartz, amethyst, tourmaline and much more are mined, workers frequently die in landslides. And in some places, mining may involve child labor. While a lot of workers rely on this income, there are not many regulations for much of it, which makes it a problematic industry. Since there are all sorts of crystals and interesting stones that form in many different countries, it is likely you can get some perfectly wonderful stones local to where you live.
Some places may have small mines where you can dig your own minerals and/or family run mines such as in Arkansas. In Ontario, you can get local amethyst. You can also simply ask the spiritual beings you work with to guide you to a special stone that may be in your own backyard. Or back to the idea of trading, work out some trades with people in other countries. Trading can really add to how special an item feels.
I wanted to write this piece as a heartfelt reminder to all of us that the idea we need ‘things’ in our spiritual practice is simply not true. We may well be offending the very beings we want to respect when we don’t think deeply about the things we do and how we are impacting the earth. And when we do think about purchasing anything at all, let’s make sure we think about and research how that item came to be produced first. Then we can make more thoughtful and careful purchases. If we are using discernment, we are buying less as well.
Being discerning in our habits can include books too, and truly, that is something I have struggled with. Books are no great villain of course, but they are not entirely free of harm to the earth either. Putting careful thought into the books we buy and into perhaps passing them on when we have read them is a wise practice. Sharing rather than hoarding. I recently cleared out a large number of occult books that had been sitting on my bookshelves mocking me for not reading them. In fact, they started to weigh so heavily on me I was finding it hard to read anything at all. Once I cleared those books from my shelves, I felt so much lighter. Happier and no longer burdened.
My personal practice filled out quite naturally after that and a new spiritual path opened up to me as well. I was once again more in tune with energies and spirits around me, without even trying. Those books may have been full of knowledge, but they were only holding me back.
Obviously, I’m not telling anyone to get rid of their books or to not buy books! Books are amazing! But maybe reading the ones we have, passing on the ones we won’t reread would be a good idea before we purchase more. Think carefully if that book is one you are going to read. (Libraries and e-books are also wonderful resources.)
There are two wonderful and useful things I learned about stuff through the study of Feng Shui back in my 20s. The first is every item in your home should be either of usefulness or be something that you very much love because it is meaningful in some way. If the item doesn’t fall into either of these two categories, you don’t need it. The other thing was this idea of stagnant energy being stuck around accumulated items. How can energy move around your home if your home is full of ‘things’?
This relates back to the aforementioned problem of books I had. Getting them out of my house was also a way of a clearing space for more energy flow. There is a lot more to Feng Shui than this, so I do not mean to simplify this practice in any way. These are just two aspects that became incorporated long ago into how I treat my home. And they are something we can look at before we make that next purchase.
Finally, I wanted to put forth astral temples as an option with spirit work that is not only environmentally kind, but space friendly too. As well as fun and creative! I tend to have very simple altars in my home for candles and for offerings, and something far more grandiose in the astral. I personally do a lot in the astral and have a sacred grove along with a couple different temples. You can make them as simple or as extravagant as you like!
Most of us, or perhaps none of us, are able to live on this earth without causing some damage, but fortunately, the earth is resilient. Nevertheless, if we can minimize the tracks we leave the best we can, then it’ll make a huge difference.
Editorial note: This article has been slightly edited July 24th, 2022.
Lotus
Lotus lives on the unceded territories of The Coast Salish, Nuu-chah-nulth and Kwakwaka’wakw people, also known as Vancouver Island, B.C. Canada. Growing up knee-deep in nature has been a huge influence on how she lives her life; from volunteering with the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, to her animist and biocentric beliefs. She practices spirit based witchcraft and is beyond grateful to have been welcomed onto the path of obeah.