The other day I decided to reboot my daily devotional practice. Keeping it simple and letting it grow the way it grows is going to be my guiding principle. I set up a modest shrine to Hekate in the corner of my living room on an old three legged table I found at the flea market. I had just picked up a nice altar cloth on Etsy, so onto the shrine it went. An incense burner, two candles for Her torches, an offering bowl, a vessel for honey and water libations, some ritual perfume oil, and a small picture of the Goddess in a frame from the craft store and that’s about it. Theres a box underneath for incense, charcoal and candles and an ottoman in front for me (and the cat) to sit on. All tucked into a nice corner between the windows. A simple five or ten minutes is all I’m doing right now. I light the candles and incense, put on a bit of the oil, clear my head and relax. I offer praise to the Goddess and pour the libation into the bowl, “given in love and hospitality”. Then, I just sit and listen for a few minutes. A quick thank you for the presence and blessing of Hekate in my life and that’s it. The routine may grow or it may contract and I’m certainly not going to beat myself up over missing a day when I inevitably do. But I feel good with it and it was time for me to settle in for the winter months ahead. Anybody else have a daily devotional practice they are keeping up with?
That’s beautiful! That table is really cool! Sometimes it’s good to take a step back and go back to some basics! Thank you for sharing 
Yep, I’m definitely in a back to basics mode. My practice, like my home, can get cluttered and occasionally needs some clearing out before I get overwhelmed.
That altar cloth is beautiful
very beautifu lAltar ! beauty is always in the simple things, as we say in Greece!
Perfectly gorgeous 
I had mine custom made on Etsy too. Just designed it on Canva and sent it to them.
I definitely need to do the same. I was just thinking that I really need to sit down and just get back to what I should be doing. I have just been running and running. As the seasons shift, so should I. I really want to do some journaling and get back to my tarot…
I love you table! I am always amazed at the things I can find at a flea market!
@AileyGrey I figured it was good timing to reset, new moon and all. Flea markets are great, always fun stuff to find. Feeling like I will start keeping a dream journal again also, been having some interesting ones lately. I just don’t want to mentally commit to too much all at once and then get bogged down and just quit. It’s a recurring bad habit of mine.
Beautiful altar! Really nice!
Wonderful Alter! I love the simplicity of it 
Lovely altar! It’s perfect in its simplicity. Absolute perfection.
I also admire your idea and commitment to rebooting your practice. Honestly, it’s something I need to try to do. There’s no need to do a complicated daily ritual and honestly, I wouldn’t have the time or patience for it, but thinking that’s what I’m expected to do does make me less active than I’d like.
I’m taking a cue from you and going to rethink my setup and create something simple and feasible to do daily.
I definitely agree, a few minutes of something reasonable and that I want to do is way more likely to happen for me than anything I feel like I have to do or should do. And then that makes me feel better so it creates a positive reinforcement. Finding that balance between what I can get done and whatever expectations I might have is key for me.
I have trouble with this! I get it in my head that everything has to be perfect before i can do anything, such as spells or cleansing!
Your altar is beautiful. I love how neat and clean it is. And how everything just… Fits. It all looks like that’s how it was always meant to be. 
There’s a little bit of perfectionism in all of us. Perfectionism used to be a problem for me and it caused me to suffer. But in my practice, I’ve now missed more things that I’ve planned than I haven’t and somehow I’m okay with that. 
We should remember that if our intentions in how to practice are getting in the way of the practice, causing stress, worry, or feeling bad about ourselves, then the practice isn’t doing its job. It’s meant to help, not hinder. Whatever we can practically achieve is better than the ideal version that we never get around to. Sometimes, being okay with that is hard, but if we keep reminding ourselves, it’ll eventually get easier. 
@Sivonnah Same with me, what’s the saying, something like “Never let the perfect be the enemy of the good.”
@starborn That’s so true. I was watching a video about chanting mantras and someone asked what was the best mantra and the answer given was “The one you do.” I think it’s like that, the best practice is the one you actually do.
I get it! I am overwhelmed with work right now, but not necessarily in a bad way… it’s just taking a lot of my mental energy. While I am very careful to balance family time and self care time… my self care has really just been mentally checking out and doing something mindless, but I’m feeling restless and like I want something else. I have next week off so I am hoping to really to refocus!
It’s a beautiful altar, @peter3 
Everything you’ve added has either symbolism or meaning, and that makes it personal to you. Exactly how an altar should be!
I’ll be completely honest right now - no, I don’t. I used to. I used to have a wonderful practice of morning prayers with water libations for Brigid, a candle lit and tended to daily, and so much more. Right now, most of my things are put away. I have no space for a devotional place in my home, and having a pagan altar set up in my house is not a good way to sell a house in Florida 
so it’s gotta stay put up. I hope to have something set up when we move, but I want to take a different approach to worship and devotion than I have in the past. Maybe when the time comes I’ll write about it.
In any case, thank you for sharing your altar and practice reboot with us - it’s an inspiration, for sure!
