Witching up your Room

Yeah, so you're a Witch. You've got your altar set up in your room, and everything is all wonderful and happy, right? Of course! But when you look from the altar to the rest of your room (where said altar probably is), you realize how bloody mundane and boring the place looks! Whatever can you do? You don't have anywhere else to use for your altar and, let's face it, you sort of don't want it anywhere else, right? Having the altar in your room makes you feel safe and comfortable, and you can do a spell or ritual in the middle of the night if you need to! And at least that way you can keep your tools safe, away from prying hands and nosy people. Not that many people besides your parents and bratty siblings come in there anyway, right? Of course! And if you need to have an altar that's not all that noticable, giving your room an occult or mystical feel will help it blend in.
One of the first, and best things you can do is keep your curtains open all the time (unless you need to stop that voyeur across the street from peeping in on you or don't want to shock the neighbors while getting dressed). This lets in natural light and opens the room up quite a bit. And it lets you look at the stars at night (turn the lights off so you can see better, and do it on a clear night, silly!) and allows the Moonlight to shine in on your altar (if you can have things strategically placed) which is a major bonus and is supposed to fill your tools with energy. At the very least you can brag that the Moon shines on your altar and win the envy of your Witch friends!
Speaking of windows, it's nice to have the window open when weather allows as often as you can. It lets in fresh air (unless you live in the city, I guess) and the sounds of nature. In addition, it stops that incense smoke from lingering all day long. Put some windchimes on the curtain rod (especially if the window faces East) and some suction-cup stained-glass or something from those stained-glass coloring books.
When you want the room to feel close, comfy, and safe, close the window and curtains to make the room more confined. If you can, get or make some curtains with a heiroglyphic pattern, or Celtic knotwork, whatever goes with your room or your pantheon. Parents can't really object to your newfound interest in art or ancient history. Or, if you're rolling in cash, get luxurious dark velvet curtains (or something that looks like velvet) and tie them with thick silk (or something that looks like silk) tassels in antique gold or silver. Possibly, you could invest some time and sew astrological designs on them or something.
Your walls are important. If you ever get the chance to choose what color they get painted, leap on it and don't let go. Do your damndest to get the color you want, but a word of advice...
Don't Ask For Black
You'll be shot down immediately, and black will give the room a confined feel. And no parent in their right mind will allow it. If ya wants black, wait till you move out and then do what you like.
I suggest terra-cotta. My own room is done in it and it gives the place a wonderful warm feeling. It looks like a natural color and it's rather nice. I get the idea that it would look really good with excerpts from the Book of the Dead painted in black heiroglyphs on the walls.
Get as much wood furniture as you can. It looks nice. And wood dressers make much better altars than plastic or whatever. Take good care of it. Polish it when you can, wax it if you like, and make it look nice. The room is your TEMPLE for Gods' sakes, and natural things should be taken care of. If it's a rare wood, take extra good care of it. It gives the room a cozier feel and it's best to go natural anyway, right? Try and have a flat surface against every wall for use as an altar, and put appropriate candles and other things on them.
Try and have some glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling arranged in the signs of the Zodiac. Mobiles, wind chimes, hanging lamps, these things can make the room more open and also more Airy.
The bed would be better placed in a corner to provide more space for a Circle. Personally, I can't stand sleeping in the middle of a room and love having a wall to lean against while trying to fall alseep. It makes me feel more secure, but if it dosen't work for you, don't do it. Something I think would be interesting would be to have a canpoied bed with hangings of thick cloth (again, tied with silk tassels when you want the curtains open). Maybe you could put magical symbols on them. Dream pillows stuffed with mugwort, lavender, hops, or jasmine would be nice.
To give bedtime a cozy and magical feel, go to bed by candlelight. Snuff the candles one by one, with a snuffer, leaving the altar candles for the last (except for the one you light the way to bed with) and cover yourself with heavy blankets, take off your glasses if you have them, lean over and blow out the candle, and fall to sleep.
Speaking of candles, have the room lit by candlelight whenever you can at night. In our modern world, it feels very strange and extremely mystical. If you can, get wall sconces with mirrors. These give light to the walls and reflect it, brightening the light of a single candle considerably.


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Email: seraphsephiroth@icestorm.net