Rock Pot Altars

Hello there, I am posting this because the question was asked what could be salvaged from the old Hellenismos.us-forum. This is the third item I had stored in my Evernote, a post by Astalon at this URL: http://hellenismos.us/f/YaBB.pl?num=1290833972/15. Unfortunately I don't remember when it was posted, nor do I have this information in my Evernote. It was a fairly old post though. And here it is:

Rock pot altars are useful if you are a penniless starter.

For this you need pots ( please don't tell me you cannot find decent size plastic pots ) and stones ( I hope where you come from there are stones ) and a block of wood.

I can only help you with four Gods but they should be sufficient for the household Gods. These by the way are orthopraxic as we know they were done in the past especially during the pre-Classical period where sculptures were not as common and rather expensive to acquire.

• For Zeus Herkeios, fill the pot up with pebbles and top it with a big, squarish, rough stone on it. Write His name on it. Put it on your front lawn or at the entrance to your house. This becomes his altar. ( In ancient Greece poorer households usually had a huge, squarish rock as their Zeus Herkeios altar while families who are reacher can have blockish ones but they are ornate ). On that rock you can burn incense or make libations of drinks.
  
  
• For Apollo the Averter of Evil, fill the pot with pebbles but insert once this is done the longest, largest oblong stone you can find. This becomes his altar. I suggest you write the name somewhere. Now this kind of altar is unique as it seems one form of worship was to dip your finger filled with drinks or honey and let it drip down the rock as offering. Of course incense were burnt around such rocks and it is sometimes garlanded with flowers as offerings.
  
  
• For Hermes of the roads, I would suggest that you pile small pebbles at the bottom than flatten it, then pile slightly bigger stones till it becomes a pile of stones. This is his herm. I usually write the name Hermes of the Road on the pot. You can burn incense or make libations over it.
  
  ( For Hermes of the boundary you can stack a little pile of stones on the fence or on the boundary ).
  
  
• For Hera, paint a block of wood white ( flat surface, not round ) and stick it into the pot. In ancient times some block of wood like this represents Her. Incense and offerings can be burnt as well.

With just pots and rocks ( or just rocks ) you can make yourself a few rather orthopraxic altars!

Very useful information! I was having trouble deciding how to do an outside alter with no money to spare. I have tons of rocks! I had to dig a pile of mica and quartz out of my front yard when we moved in years ago and have not been able to decide what to do with it. I wonder what I could do for a rock altar for Aschlepius (sp?)? Could something similiar be done for Poseidon with the beach stones I have from my one visit to the Pacific Ocean?

Off course you could, one can always raise altars to the Gods using stones :-)

Oh, the ideas that swirl in my head with this information!

So, mica and quartz for Apollo. Beach stones for Poseidon. River stones for the local river diety (the Missouri which practically runs thru my back yard). Now to figure out which stones to use for Asklepios. Hmmm, any ideas?

Andromeda Amethyst wrote:Now to figure out which stones to use for Asklepios. Hmmm, any ideas?

Sorry, I have no ideas on that.

Graeco-Roman altars were constructed from whatever local stone variety was carvable, really, or otherwise many were made from ceramic or terra cotta/brick.

I don't think you need worry over what kind of stone to use. Actually, unless you have the blessing of an abundance of flat and squarish stones, I think it's best to use brick. It's much more stable, easy to assemble, and much less collapse-prone that unhewn stone.

Ah, but the "floor" I already had set down. I was just trying to decide what to put in place on it. I have to do Apollon and Asklepius for past favors. But I do plan to expand it in the future. Now, for a way to keep the frickin invasive plant in my back yard from completely taking it over!

I would say you can use whatever stones are available. You're going to add things that are sacred to gods to the altar after it's erected anyway.

Generally mulch will limit unwanted plants.

Ah I would do mulch if i wasn't currently unemployed and having to figure out how to support a family of three. I guess I'll just have to pull weeds alot until i have some money. Or i need to find someone with a wood chipper since I am constantly having to cut down small trees in my yard (small forest behind my lot creates lots of trees where we don't want them, like the foundation of my house). or i'll create a rock barrier around the whole thing with the rocks my friend wants out of her flowerbeds. good thing my husband has a truck!

You can use a variety of materials for mulch and with a little creative thought find sources for cheap or even free mulch.

Read this frugal gardening discussion for some ideas.

Coffee grounds are an excellent mulch.


I use them often in gardening.

Coffee grounds also change the soil acidity, making it more acidic, oh and they will kill slugs...it doesn't work as Fast as diatomaceous earth, but it does work and doesn't kill beneficial insects in the process. Huzzah for coffee!

You can also kill slugs by putting little plastic containers with some beer in in it outside, in the ground. They'll be drawn to it because of the smell, fall in, and drown.

Aye, but every time I've tried that it seems like a sudden rain storm crops up and washes the beer right out. So, coffee for me, it has more staying power.