How long to keep holiday altar?

[WitchyMermaid95]

Hello everyone, hope you're all well

I set up my first Samhain altar this year, and I was so pleased with how it turned out!

Now, I'm wondering, after a holiday how long do you keep the altar that way? Do you wait a while before taking it apart and setting up something different? And are there any rituals that should be done as you do take a holiday altar apart?

Thanks all,

blessed be!

[SpiritTalker]

Nah, just enjoy it until it feels like the energy it gives you is dulled, or not in tune. Then you know it's time to change to the next one, as the spirit moves you. When disassembling for the next set up, dust and clean a bit to "reset" the altar surface for any new working. Seasonal decorations (autumn leaves, pumpkins, skeletons, nuts 'n berries) can become clutter when you just want to work on a spell. So that's a sign the mood has passed...as it should.

[WitchyMermaid95]

Thank you! And another question that came up while reading this response, what do you usually do with your decorations? I would feel wrong just throwing them out since they hold so much meaning.

[SpiritTalker]

Well that's going to depend on what you used, isn't it? Fresh "produce" can be chopped up, eaten or distributed to wildlife, or composted. Halloween ornaments, like any seasonal decoration, can be stored & used again next year. When you get tired of it donate to a charity shop. If you have an artsy flair some things can be taken apart and reworked into new decorations.

While on the subject, if you retire or pass on a consecrated tool that was used in ritual, it should be "decommissioned" by salt-water cleansing to remove your energy signature before letting it out of your hands, just like we'd clean it first if we bought a charity shop item to use ourselves.