Witchy Wednesdays is all about sharing wonderful Witchy things with you, dear reader. That could mean a place, an event or an occasion, but more than likely it means an object or item that will bring extra Pagan potency to your Second Life.  I’m pleased to say that I’ve found a corker to share with you today!
First up; confession time. I’m obsessed with knick-knacks. You may have noticed this because of my tendency in recent posts to focus on brooms and altar decorations, athames and vessels.I just love all the frippery and fuss involved with being a witch, and while I know of course that you don’t need the tools, all you need is the intent, it has to be said that having the right kit for the job makes it a whole lot more fun…what can I say, I like my gadgets:) Anyway, I was going to take you on a wander into a wonderful location today, but I’ll save that post for another time because I have to tell you that I’ve just discovered the most lovely wee altar you could possibly imagine, in fact it’s one of the very best that I have seen so far.
Here’s a trick that I’m going to share with you; when looking for items I always start off with a search on Xstreetsl, using the keywords “Witch” “Wiccan” or “Pagan” to see what comes up. Witch tends to bring up role play items and costumes for Halloween as well as full avatars, but Wiccan and Pagan are much more successful search terms indeed. Anyway. I was having a quick whizz through today when I spotted a gem of a find, and decided totake a trip in-world and investigate further.
What I’d stumbled across was the rather spiffing ‘Altar Table’ made by an avatar called Poppy Teskat. If you follow the links from her XstreetSL listings, you’ll see that Poppy has an in-world store, ‘Peculiar Designs’ and it’s full of Pagan happy! It’s a small, gorgeously created store, set in a lovely location, with not many wares for sale inside (yet!) but the items that are on offer are second to none. There are beautifully sculpted candles and candle arrangements, the nicest crystal balls that I have seen in Second Life (You can see them on the mantle in the photograph; beautifully simple with wooden carved stands. I have similar in real life so I guess that’s why I like these so much, aren’t they pretty?) fairy jars, a beautiful romantic dinner set and of course the aforementioned Altar Table.
So, why is this so good? Because it looks realistic for starters, laden with sculpties and some of the best texturing I’ve seen yet on an in-world altar. It’s meticulous crafting of the highest standard. Not only that, it’s simple and effective; the altar isn’t laden down with items that aren’t needed. I especially like the fact that Poppy shows empathy and understanding and evidently knows her stuff, in her ad she states that this is loosely based on a traditional God/Goddess layout and you’d only know that if you were familiar with Wiccan practise.
There are four candles on the table top; two slender taper candles for the God and Goddess and two more chunkier specimens. All four are colour change (20 colours) and touch on/off. There are salt and water bowls, a gorgeously fat bellied cauldron, a censer of incense, a glass of wine and a plate of cakes, a bell, a crystal ball, boline, wand and athame. The censer will smoke if required, and the Pentacle at the rear can be changed to silver, gold or bronze. The crystal ball has on/off sparkles, and there’s a slight ‘bling’ to the wand that can also be removed too. The most customisable item on the altar is the altar cloth itself, which is perfectly crafted and hangs perfectly. There are 4 styles to select from and a total of 57 combinations when you add in the colour change element.
The altar is 60 prims which is rather a lot, BUT if you have the space and you want an elegant and understated work area for ritual I think this is a great find. At L$300 it’s not going to suit everyones budget, BUT there is a smaller Altar Crate that has similar features for just L$200. (Personally speaking I think you should get both, but hey, I’m greedy like that!)
This is great work, and from reading Poppy’s ad I can see that she constantly updates her products and strives to ensure that all previous buyers receive updates when released. I’m also impressed by the way she includes in her ad that suggestions are welcome.
My only suggestion Poppy is that you keep creating these beautiful items because I’m sorely impressed, and I’m sure Kittywitchin’ readers will be too:)