How to Create a Deity Shrine
This method for deity shrine creation is from Josephine McCarthy’s Magic of the North Gate (as is this method for creating a sacred grove). It is an excellent book that I highly recommend purchasing
I have used this method to create a shrine for Freya in a creek in the woods, with some modification.
Step One: Research
Know your deity. Are they a nature deity? Set up the shrine outdoors. A hearth deity? Set it up in the house. An urban deity? Set it up somewhere (including your residence) in the city. What culture are they from? What do they find agreeable? Disagreeable? Do they have a problem with meat consumption? Sexual activity? It is very important to do your research.
Step Two: Check in with the Locals
Are they compatible with the spirits in your area? The human community? Your family? Are they from a culture with a history of invading the area? What do the spirits already inhabiting your intended shrine area (household, woods, etc) have to say about bringing in the deity?
Step Three: The Outer Shrine
Set up a physical shrine. If outdoors, avoid materials that are not eco-friendly. Use common sense. Functionality triumphs aesthetics in this case- your shrine is meant to be a working space. Include an image of your chosen deity.
Ancient (continental) Germanic peoples did not frequently anthropmorphize or even depict their deities, preferring to revere them in trees and wooden posts. I traced a bindrune in blood and mud on a stone in a creek for the shrine I dedicated to Freya. I made sure the stone was not occupied by a spirit.
Step Four: The Inner Shrine
Meditate with your eyes closed in front of the shrine. Entering inner vision, examine the space around you and walk around it. When it the inner landscape is steady in your mind, visualise the shrine building up upon the land.
I saw a stone with Freya’s bindrune carved into it, flanked by two stone aquatic chimeras, and topped with the image of a woman holding a bowl of fire above the water. It took me a few sessions to stabilise it.
Step Five: Call the Deity In
Call the deity in keeping with your own practice and see them inhabit the shrine. If this is a struggle, reach out to an inner contact that is a priest/ess of the deity.
Step Six: Interact with the Shrine
Maintain the shrine by keeping it clean, interacting with the deity there, and leaving offerings. I energetically linked a candle to my Freya shrine, as it is an outdoor shrine in the middle of the water, and it is not always practical to go there. I keep the candle on an altar to her in my room.