by: Rick Johnson 
PO Box 40451
Tucson, Az.
85717
RikJohnson@juno.com
The Circle is the Temple of the Gods and so should be erected with this in mind. None of this Eclectic “tap the walls with your wand” thing. Really! How much respect are you showing your Gods when you are that casual in the construction of the Temple into which you will invite the Most important Entities in your existence?
So you put a lot of effort into the Circle and as a result, there is a joke about Gardnerians who spend 30 minutes Casting the Circle, 20 minutes Purifying each other then 5 minutes on the Sabbat itself.
Well, consider that the Guest of Honour is the Last to arrive and the first to leave and you want to show them that you respect and venerate Their presence by putting a lot of effort into Their Temple.
The same goes for the Altar to the Gods which is the Center of focus.
Now you can take any old coffee table that is handy and use it but then you can’t help feeling that this is equal to grabbing a butter knife for an Athame, tapping the walls for the Circle and then, in the middle of the Rite, telling your coven “you know this is a load of crap and I’m only here because I like getting my ass kissed. It makes my empty meaningless life more endurable if I pretend to be a High priest/ess instead of BE one.”
So what I like to do is to make my Altars in the same fashion that I make my other Tools. One can cast a Circle with a butter knife but spending a week forging a blade and hand carving a handle to your own specifications not only makes you want to cast that circle more often, it also makes you put more effort and devotion into that circle.
And it is that Respect that moves the Universe.
So when I make my Altar Tables, I choose wood. Now I can buy wood but Oak is expensive and it occurred to me, why not recycle? I started this idea when I was having a breakdown during my divorce and I liked the thing so much I continued.
I visit furniture manufacturers and go through their throw-away scrap pile. Wood that they would toss into the land fill or burn becomes a thing of Holy Beauty under my hands.
The first ones were of Oak but the current ones you will see here are Cherry.
Why Cherry? Because some judge wanted Cherry decour in his courtroom so I asked the carpenters for the throw-away scraps. Free wood and saves the landfills and recycles the gifts of the Gods.
STEP ONE is to cut the wood to size. As none of the pieces is large enough to make a solid table top, I cut the scraps into smaller pieces. These then produce a ‘butcher block’ style that gives a unique beauty to the Altar.
STEP TWO is to lay the pieces out (you see my daughter Cerridwen is doing this set) and re-arrainge them to produce a nice mixture pf grain and random patterns that catches the eye.
And here you see the raw Cherry as we have chosen. Don’t worry about the plainness of the wood, when we oil it, the grain comes out nicely. And the top is about 24” by 18” with a second shelf underneath.
Step Three is to glue and clamp them together. I use good quality wood glue and strong clamps to force the glue into the cells and produce a bond that lasts forever (Unless you deliberately leave it in a rainstorm for a week or so). The one you see at the bottom of this page was made about 10 years ago and has traveled, been sat upon (you Gardnerians know what that means), had oil and wine and wax spilled on it and STILL is in excellent shape.
I leave the blank top clamped for a couple of days to ensure a good set.
btw, that's my cat inspecting the work to ensure a good product. You will see him again later.
STEP FOUR comes later… to be continued…
THE FINAL RESULT. This is one I made of oak with pine trim and inlay. Aside from the colours and maybe the inlay, this is essentially what the above tables will look like.
To contact me or to request topics to be covered, send to RikJohnson@juno.com
by: Rick Johnson
PO Box 40451
Tucson, Az.
85717
