Good morning! Happy Sunday! So, let's get into these orisha altars, shall we?

The purpose of an altar dedicated to spirits is to provide a place of connection. The altar, through dedication and continuous prayer and giving of offerings, becomes a portal between the physical and spiritual world.

Ancestors altars provide connection to the ancestors. Altars dedicated to spirit guides provide connection to those guides. Orisha altars, most assume, provide a connection to the orishas. However, orishas work through consecrated shrines, not altars.

The use of statues to venerate spirits and guides is a valid practice. They provide a focal point for prayer and offerings and many powerful and effective spiritualists maintain these altars. Nothing wrong with them at all but we can't apply the practice to orishas.

The reason why we don't use statues to venerate the orishas is because the orishas have provided a tool for connecting with them - consecrated shrines. This picture of an Oshun altar has all the accoutrements but the most important is that pot in the middle. That's Oshun.

The orisha pots house the living energy of the orishas. The energy of the orishas have been called into the pots via ceremony performed by their priests. These pots, in essence, are providing a physical body for the orisha to dwell in. This is their focal point.

Using a statue to connect with an orisha isn't effective and you could unintentionally invite some of other spirit to connect with you. There are all kinds of lonesome, roaming spirits looking for someone to give them some light, water, and food.

If you feel a connection to an orisha and you want to deepen that connection, contact an orisha priest who can provide guidance.