4. A brief description, with photos if possible, of the Dedicant's home shrine and plans for future improvements. (150 words min.)

I made my first shrine on July 29, 2010. That's it, there on the right.

In the center is the Tree. This is a branch from an oak tree, knocked down by the wind and collected by me. I removed the dead leaves, but left all the clusters of little acorns. It is in a vase filled with soil collected from my compost bin.

On the right is the Fire. I have three candles - white, red, and black - and an incense burner to hold a block of charcoal, for offerings.

On the left is the Well, a cast-iron cauldron.

In the center is the offering bowl.

To the left in the front is my bag of runes.

Two months later, after much turmoil in my life, here is my shrine again. I moved from Boston to Dallas. I took all of the pieces of my previous shrine and installed them here, but have improved it in various ways, as well as customizing it for the season.

I will be doing my Fall Equinox Ritual in two days, on September 23. Therefore, I have added some seasonal decorations. In particular, a variety of decorative gourds, since this is the season of the Harvest. I should get some wheat stalks, or something, to finish the decoration. And so I shall.

I bought a drinking horn and stand a few days ago at a Renfair. I quite like it. It will be my vessel for offering liquid sacrifices and/or holding the water of life. The cup in front of it is a gift from a friend in Portland. It is glazed with ash from the (relatively) recent Mt. St. Helens eruption. The horn replaces its previous use, but I might use this to hold liquid offerings I make during rituals, since the offering bowl is small and suitable primarily for grains and such.

I didn't really like the metal candle tray I had to hold the candles for the Fire. Nor did I REALLY like the thin little candles. I now have a simple trio of white votive candles in candle holders, which sit, with my incense burner, on a stone tile. What I really want is a round brass tray with a 2 inch lip to hold the Fire materials. In any case, I need to make sure that my votive candles do not ignite my Tree!

I added a bell, to signal the start and stop of the ritual. This is an heirloom: it is from my mother's mother's house in Michigan, where it was originally used as a signal by bedridden people that they needed attention.

My rune bag remains in the forefront, although I have moved my "cheat sheet" out of sight. Even Ian Corrigan uses a cheat sheet, as I saw on his video! I have another set of wooden runes on order; there are several aspects to this current set I do not like, and I am not yet prepared to carve my own set, although I will do that, by and by.