Your altar is a sacred space for you to connect with Spirit, the Universe, the Cosmos, whatever you want to call it! Religion has nothing to do with having an altar in your home - it is simply a safe space for you to connect with your highest self, along with angels, guides, whomever you wish to call in. You can, of course, add religious aspects into your altar, if that's your thing! Listen to your intuition & let it guide you, no matter what others think.
Your altar is also a space for divination, magical works, spell-casting, etc.. Remember, spell-casting is the same as prayer or an affirmation...it's the heart you put behind your words that matter. With that being said, place your divination tools upon your altar as well, so long as you have room. You never want to clutter up your altar! Space (ether) is important.
An Incomplete List of Divination Tools:
pendulums
divination cards (oracle, tarot, etc..)
runes
wands
bells
statues
crystals
coins
ash
salt
herbs
Your altar is also a great space to place things that you wish to be blessed by the sacred energy you are cultivating, or place offerings for guides, plant spirits, fae, etc.. This might look like seeds, food, crystals, drink, really anything you see fit as an offering to your guides & the spirits you wish to work with.
Brief Altar Setup: Place the cardinal directions/elements on your altar - North/Winter (Earth), East/Spring (Air), South/Summer (Fire), West/Autumn (Water), Center (Ether). Ever since I started practicing Qi Gong, I also like to add in the Chinese Elements of Wood & Metal into my altar. I provide a few elemental offering ideas below, if you're unsure of where to start.
Offerings for the Elements + Directions:
Earth / North: crystals, herbs, plants, flowers, fruit, vegetables, dirt, bones
Air / East: feathers, incense, leaves, petals, smudge sticks (sage, cedarwood, etc.)
Fire / South: candles, spheres, gold, mirrors, crystal sphere, matches
Water / West: seashells, salt, water, oil, river stones, essential oil anointment blend, sacred drink
Don't forget to clean your altar & spruce it up for each season or month! I like to freshen up my altar at each of the 8 holidays of the Wheel of the Year. I typically clean my altar with a cleansing Palo Santo, Frankincense, Cedarwood, or Lemongrass essential oil with Witch Hazel. I also smudge the space & set an intention for the season ahead as I refresh my altar.
Please reach out if you have any questions at all! And, check out my new Embodied Ambrosia clean beauty product line: https://www.embodiedambrosia.com/shop