This post marks the start of a little project I want to carry out over the next (hopefully) seven days straight. In each post I'll either muse, share, explain create something for the blog which I hope you will find interesting.
Today I want to talk about the little travel shrine I put together to bring with me to Cornwall whilst I visited my parents. As my main shrine has once again expanded and I wouldn't like to risk transporting my larger statues for fear of them getting damaged, I looked at putting together something portable and convenient that I would be able to take with me on this and any other trip away from home.
Yes I know I don't really need to have something like this but I find it is handy (for me anyways) to have something to focus on, to go through my little ritual "habits" even if on a small scale. There's something devotional about setting up your little piece of the Sacred Divine once you've settled in; just that little extra homely touch.
So, firstly I found a playing card box I've had for a couple of years. It is sturdy wood with a nice floral carving on the lid. It did have a wooden divide inside, but I removed this to give the inside a larger space.
Next I got a black silk square which would act as both an altar cloth and a little bit of protection for the other items that would go in. I then stumbled upon a lovely little pewter figure of Hekate I had otherwise forgotten about hiding in another box along with a small skull icon, an old key and a piece of Chiastolite, the "cross stone", which put me in mind of a crossroads.
I found a small incense cone holder made from wood with copper and mirror-mosiac pieces that I thought would make a lovely little pedestal for the Hekate figurine and I also took the little metal Anubis dog from my main altar, which I use to represent Hekate's hound(s). Finally I took a card from my original Tarot Deck - the Moon, which depicts triple Hekate; an image I've always liked.
Bundled all together it was a perfect - and powerful - little collection of items. I also brought two LED votive "candles" that, although they don't fit in the box, add a subtle glow of candlelight whilst being safe to use (especially in hotels where lighting incense and candles could be risky). Just to cap things off I popped in a vial of Hekate oil and my Hekate Witches Ladder.
I'm really pleased with the way I've laid it out on the top of the chest of drawers in my room and despite its simplicity, it definately feels like I've brought a little bit of Hekate with me! As a sidenote, I'm currently thinking of a way to make a sort of diorama-style shrine out of the main box, which would be used both as a centre piece and potentially as the shrine itself. Once I get started on this project I'll document the progress here, naturally.
I'm not 100% sure what the next entry will be, these Seven Days posts are going to be a little more off the cuff, so to speak, but rest assured it'll be something undoubtedly Hekatean!
