A Shrine of Books

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Some of you may remember a post of mine back in April on Impromptu Book Altars as a unique, bookworm take on the idea of inconspicuous travel altars (with not a little art involved). In case my dear readers had any more doubts about just how far my love of books extends, I now present, for your viewing pleasure, a temporary shrine devoted to the Harry Potter book series, in honor of the publication of the seventh and final book (and, of course, the fifth HP movie coming out in a few days).


This idea was inspired by LibraryThing.com, which occasionally has these neat bookpile contests. Of course, I jumped at the chance to participate in their current Harry Potter BookPile contest, building a temporary "shrine" in my bookcase that incorporated my HP books, along with some "wizard and wizardry books" and magical objects of my own. Just a fun idea, I thought. So here are some photos that I submitted to the contest (I think I made the very first entry!). Check out the Flickr tag page for other entries, and the LibraryThing blog post for information on how to enter the contest for yourself.


I only have a crappy camera-phone, which I guess means I'm sure not to win the contest, but still... I thought it was a cute idea. So here are all my original hardback Harry Potter books, plus some of my other magic books and magical items.



Close-up of the left side, with all the Harry Potter books, plus a leather journal, stone gazing orb, bell, various bottles of herbs, stones and oils, dried flowers in a blue urn, half-burnt candle in candleholder, a small hand-carved wooden box, and of course, my wand (hand-turned rosewood).



Close-up of the right side. Books include: The Spell of the Sensuous, by David Abram; Applied Magic, by Dion Fortune; Practical Solitary Magic, by Nancy B. Watson; Real Magic, by Isaac Bonewits; Taking Up the Runes, by Diane L. Paxson; Exploring Scrying, by Ambrose Hawk; Modern Magick, by Donald M. Kraig; Herbal Rituals, by Judith Berger; and Magical Aromatherapy, and Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs, both by Scott Cunningham. Plus, a bag of mixed herbs and a small statue of a black cat.