Benevolent Witch's Altar
Creating a witch altar to make a beautiful still life image.
My sister, Lauresa, and I have been wanting to do a collaboration together for a while. She often helps me with my photo shoots but they're always my ideas and she is the assistant. This time I photographed something personal to her, and needed her expertise on the subject matter to ensure it was done correctly.
Lauresa's faith is Wiccan, when I asked her what her beliefs are she explained to me, "Well there is an understanding in the Wiccan community that everyone practices Wicca differently. There are Wiccans who practice witchcraft and some that don't and there are different deities that we all believe in. Mine is more on the nature side of things. I believe in an all Mother goddess, who is usually represented with the moon. She is basically the spirit of Nature for me. And a Father God who is a spirit of civilization, agriculture. And is represented by the Sun. They both have many different names. I also believe that every living thing plants and animals has it own spirit and you tap into those spirits to help cast magic. I also believe in Karma and the basis of do unto other as you would yourself. Basically don't be a jerk. Never use magic to harm as it will come back to you and never use it for selfish gains. Use it to heal, help and protect."
Although I am not Wiccan, I'm very fascinated by Wicca and witchcraft. And I feel that Lauresa's message about being kind to one another is an important lesson we can all learn.
We had a lot of fun creating this image together. Especially planning it. Deciding which elements we were going to add, and how to arrange it was a great bonding experience. I've been talking with my brother about different photo shoot ideas we can do together, and am excited to share a similar experience with him soon!
Watch the quick behind the scenes video here: https://youtu.be/ZQ8M6jzW-0g