As a solitary practitioner (or even not so solitary), you will probably want to set up an altar to the Goddess. This needn't be as lavish and extreme as the example you see before you. Keep in mind that this is a collection made over many years with the intent of eventually having an actual Temple.
An altar is a constantly evolving, growing, alive thing. Items for it will enter into your life as you proceed on your spiritual journey. An altar needn't be expensive. Using found and made items, created by your own hands can be much more effective than buying "official" items.
Your handmade items may seem primitive compared to what you might see in a store, but by creating altar objects yourself you have put our own devotion, energies and spirit into them. It will become more meaningful and effective. The Goddess appreciates these things. As long as it was made by your heart's truth, it will be lovely.
One of the first things you will need is an image of Her. It can be an image you draw yourself, as she appears to you. My first Isis image I made out of a liquid stained glass product. It is the image of how she looked the first time I met her in the Upper World. She still decorates my living room window. But if you aren't confident enough about your own creative expression, you can download one or more images from this site, or others. There are clip art books you can use, or trace a photo of ancient drawings or carvings. You can also find modern artwork of Her on posters and greeting cards in Metaphysical stores.
A statue of Isis is the ultimate, of course. So, if you are a sculptor, all the better. Both of my Isis statue I bought at The Museum Store.
Some of the things on my altar are there because they remind me of, or symbolize to me, one or more of the thousands of facets of Isis. For instance, seashells to remind me of her role as Goddess of the Sea, moon shaped things to symbolize the Moon Goddess. And so on. So when I need to call on that facet of Her, I have something on which to focus my energies.
The other things are tools I use during rituals. There are also always a few things on my altar that I know will someday find a use for, but for now, I haven't a clue. She led me to put it on Her altar, so there it sits.
The important things for your tools is NOT that they are specifically Ancient Egyptian. As long as the tool symbolizes the same thing and used with the same intention, it will work.
The setting is important too. You will need a quiet space where
you can escape from people and technology, if at all possible. You
don't want anything to disturb you during rituals.
Summer Solstice 2000
Spring Equinox 2000
I will describe the most recent photo, starting from the top. I created a border with Ancient Egyptian scenes painted or printed on papyrus. I still need more to complete it. You may notice an ugly vent on the right. To balance it, I hung an impression from Akhanaten's tomb of wheat blowing in the wind. It's about the same size and shape, and is hung equidistant from the center of the altar. In the center of those two is a picture of Khepri-Re, the Ra, the Sun Gods scarab shape, representing the morning. To the Ancient Egyptians the Scarab was sacred. It pushed a pile of dung to keep it, and the larvae forming inside, warm. The larvae appeared to create themselves from nothing, like Ra creating himself from the Sacred mound. They viewed the passage of the Sun as Ra pushing the Sun over our sky, to bring life energies.
Below the border I hung a fabulous print fabric with Ancient Egyptian scenes printed on it in several layers and beautiful colors. Since I live in an apartment, I can't paint the walls, so this was an excellent substitute. I just stapled it up there. Someday when I get my own Temple, I will paint the walls myself!
For me it was important to have a well balanced Altar with the masculine principles and feminine principles equally represented. I am also a Priestess of Ra, so it is doubly important. And yes, someday I'll have a Temple of Ra site, but He is content to let me develop this one first:)
If you don't know how to make pottery (and I sure don't) there are stores popping up all over where they sell undecorated and unfired pieces and, for a small studio fee, they supply all that is needed to glaze them yourself. And I have taken advantage of these places. At the top of the triangle of lights is a small plate which I painted yellow and drew the symbol for Ra in the center. Below that is a cross-stitched image of Winged Isis, which I cross-stitched from a kit and put Her in a circular hoop.
On the Goddess side is a piece I calligraphed (it's on the Index page of this site) which is a prayer of Awakening to Isis. On the God side is a papyrus drawing of King Tutankhamen and his wife. It is the same picture as was carved on the back of his golden throne.
Inside the triangle of lights is a maroon velvet background with sequins. You will notice three shelves which I painted with many names of the Ancient Egyptian pantheon in hieroglyphics. On the outside ones are cobalt blue candle sticks with white beeswax candles. Blue to represent the sea and white to represent the glow of the moon. In-between is a small statue of Isis. On either side of Her hangs two ritual necklace bags, each one hand made by one of my real life mothers! Under each shelf hangs a Moon Man ornament.
On The Altar - Goddess Side:
In the center is a large statue of a Winged Isis. She's sitting
on a crystal cake plate that has two 3-petaled flowers engraved on it.
Around Her are two Egyptian glass bottles with sacred oils in them.
On either side of Her are two small crystal balls. The lavender
one rest on a holder of three moons back to back with crystal's hanging
from them, and the smaller cobalt crystal ball rests on a tiny cut crystal
antique salt holder. In front of Isis on her pedestal is an oil lamp
with the face of Hathor. I got this from the Rosicrucion Store in
San Jose. I haven't found any oil that won't soak into it yet, so
it is purely decorative right now.
Along the back: Left - A blue marble flower vase and a moon shaped bottle filled with blue and white popcorn kernels. The popcorn represents new beginnings. Right - A teardrop shaped cobalt bottle filled with Madonna brand Spring Water. I removed the sticker and made a decorative cap out of polymer clay with "Isis" on it. Then there's a clay water pitcher. The sticker that came on it claimed it was from Egypt and presumably made from the clay from the Nile. I put a votive candle holder on top of it. To the outside of the candleholder I glued pink silk rose petals around it.
There's a cobalt blue goblet with moons and suns printed around it. Cups and goblets usually represents feminine aspects. There is also a clay goblet I painted to look like a lotus. When I got it home and dedicated it to Isis, it fell and broke. I was, needless to say, upset and asked the Goddess if she was rejecting it? She said, "No," and told me to glue it back together. I did. The inner section, where the liquid is held was perfect and still holds liquid. The outer sections you can see, up close, the repairs. There is also a small fish shaped piece crumbled into dust. Isis told me that it represented the breakdown of the Ancient Egyptian religion, and my putting it back together represented its rebirth. The fish shape symbolized the fish that swallowed Osiris' phallus. In the photo, I have it filled with dried rose petals.
In the back left corner are a collection of oils for anointing. There is a chime which rings for longer than one would think possible. I use it especially to call on Isis. There's also a small bottle of water from a lake that is sacred to me, a heart shaped bottle full of sacred baking soda and a tiny cut crystal cup full of salt. Salt representing the removing of unneeded and unwanted things and the baking soda representing the manifestation of what I need or want.
There's a box made from a shell where I keep my ritual rings and a couple of moon shaped candles and a blue vase to hold incense and flowers. Along the front is a blown glass winged unicorn, one of my spirit guides, a coal incense burner with a moon emblem. A couple of mirrors and a ritual knife and various assorted stones. I recharge my crystals on the mirror in moonlight.
Unseen in the photos are ritual necklaces and a heart shaped rattle.
Down the Center:
In between the two sides is an Obelisk of Sodalite, a small statue
of Anubis and a cluster of quartz crystals where I keep more of my ritual
jewelry.
The God Side:
In the back are two crystal and gold candlesticks with white candles.
A bottle in a tall stretched pyramid shape with layers of spicy spices
representing the heat of the Sun. On either side of the statue are
crystal trees representing the masculine principle.
The statue itself is actually a 3-D puzzle of King Tut. You stack layers of laser cut cardboard, with amazing detail. It came in normal grey cardboard color and looked like it was carved out of stone when it was finished. But the Ancient Egyptians believed that statues can house the spirits of the represented only if it is painted. So I took gold leaf paint and enamel paint and painted it. Then I put seven layers of decoupage glue on it, sprinkling fine gold glitter in-between the coats. Then I took four glasses and turned them upside down. I then put photos of great sunsets in the glasses as a pedestal to the statue.
On the pedestal is a soapstone carving of a lion and a lodestone (natural magnet). In front of the statue is a faceted prism and a assortment of pyramids: An oil lamp in which the flame complete the tope of the pyramid, a glass pyramid that opens on one side to put things in, a plastic pyramid filled with water and a heavy substance that swirls when you spin the pyramid, and a stone pyramid.
Finally an incense burner with the Eye of Ra embossed in it. Also to the right of the altar is a cross-stitched picture of King Tutankhamen's funerary mask, which I stitched. This is sewn to a piece of blue velvet and covers the TV when I'm doing sacred stuff.
Boy! What a list! The Altar cloth is a blue towel and I
have some veils to cover the statue for certain rituals.