The Altar Is Waiting…
And It’s Calling You Home
The Altar is a mystery school for witches, mystics, and seekers.
A living school where you study the craft, deepen your magic, and return to yourself through monthly teachings, seasonal rituals, and devotional practice. Rooted in ancient wisdom, modern research, and embodied, somatic understanding.
All paths are welcome: artist, mourners, threshold-walkers, and those still finding their name.
Here, grief is sacred. Beauty is power. Stillness is strategy.
You don’t have to hold everything alone.
The Altar is a sanctuary for those walking the liminal path —the witch between worlds, the priestess in her quiet rise, the seeker who remembers that power begins within. It is meant for those who:
Crave something sacred, rooted, and real
Want to deepen their craft with structure, intention, and seasonal devotion
Know they’re meant for more — and are done waiting for the “right” moment to begin
Long to be witnessed and supported in their becoming
Feel the pull of the temple, the threshold, the altar… and know it’s time to enter
IntroductingYour Teacher
Photo by Courtney Brooke
The Altar is taught by Shiva Honey—priestess, death doula, ceremonial tattoo artist, and award-winning author of six books on witchcraft, death, and ritual practice.
A nationally recognized voice in occult practice and death work, Shiva has been featured in CNN, NPR, TIME, The New York Times, VICE, and The Boston Globe, and her work has been profiled in documentary films and national television.
Known for walking between worlds, Shiva merges the mystical with the scientific, the spiritual with grounded activism, and ancient wisdom with contemporary understanding of the body, grief, and transformation. Trained at Harvard University, University of Vermont, and Cornell University, she holds certifications in health outcomes research, death doula and grief work, and plant medicine, her teaching bridges ritual practice with research on the nervous system, embodiment, and healing.
Shiva teaches at the intersection of the mystical and the embodied—where ritual meets research, and magic works through the nervous system.
What You’ll Build:
Consistent devotional practice without burnout, perfectionism, or waiting to feel inspired
Personal power and sovereignty—stop giving your authority away to compliance, fear, or external validation
Ritual as technology—practices that actually serve your life, not spiritual performance for an audience
Resourceful shadow work—grief, darkness, and death as skills, not crises that derail you
Trust in your own authority—you are the witch, this is your practice, no one else's to validate
Nervous system regulation—devotional work that grounds and centers, not more spiritual striving
This isn't escapism.
This isn't retreating from the world to light candles while everything burns. This is the interior work that makes exterior change possible.
As within, so without.
Your altar is where you fortify yourself. Where you return to ground, nourish, and remember who you are. Where you reclaim the power that gets scattered in the chaos of the world. Not so you can hide there. So you can return to the work—the real-world, community-facing, political, messy work—with clarity, capacity, and conviction.
You can't pour from an empty vessel. You can't sustain resistance without ritual. You can't change systems if you're too depleted to show up. The Altar is where you resource yourself so the work doesn't break you. Shadow work, grief alchemy, devotional practice—this is how you metabolize what the world throws at you. How you process rage without burning out. How you hold complexity without collapsing. How you keep going when everything feels impossible.
This mystery school isn't about transcending the material world. It's about being in the world with more power, presence, and sustainability. Interior transformation creates exterior change.
Not eventually. Not metaphorically.
Actually.
When you heal your relationship to power, you show up differently in spaces where power is contested. When you do your grief work, you can hold space for collective grief without drowning in it. When you reclaim your magic, you stop asking permission and start acting from sovereignty. The hermetic principle isn't just philosophy—it's technology.
Change yourself. Change the world.
The Altar is not a program to complete. It’s a body of work you return to. Study unfolds through seasonal themes, monthly teachings, and integration over time.
Study here unfolds through return — listening again, sitting with what arrives, and allowing meaning to integrate over time. Silence, rest, and reflection are considered part of the work.
Silence is welcome here. Rest is part of the curriculum.
How the School Works
The Altar is designed as a self-paced mystery school rooted in devotion, integration, and return.
There are no deadlines, no required participation, and no expectation to move quickly. Learning here unfolds through rhythm rather than urgency.
Devotion, here, is not intensity, it’s staying with the work long enough to change you.
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Each season centers around one course — a single theme of inquiry, a question or focus meant to be lived with over time.
Courses topics shift each season and explore magic, ritual, empowerment, shadow work, grief, and herbalism—taught through the integration of ritual practice, scientific inquiry, somatic wisdom, nervous system regulation, and the physiology of transformation.
Rather than moving through many topics quickly, we stay with one thread long enough for it to deepen, complicate, and reveal itself. Courses begin on the Solstice or Equinox, and new lessons (‘keys’) are released every full moon and new moon.
Seasons are intentional containers.
They allow the work to settle into the body, not just the mind. -
Each course opens the day after the Equinox or Solstice. Initial lessons, or keys, are given upon the course’s opening and additional study unfolds over time as new keys are revealed each month’s new and full moon.
These Keys may take the form of:
written teaching
ritual practice
guided meditation
music offering
reflection or devotional exercise
topic research
Each key is designed to be lived with slowly and returned to often. You are never “behind.” You may move through the material in your own time.
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The Altar honors the pace of the nervous system and the realities of adult life.
Silence is welcome here.
Rest is part of the curriculum.
Return matters more than consistency.You may engage deeply, lightly, or quietly — all are valid forms of devotion.
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The school offers different paths of relationship, not hierarchies of worth.
Some students wish to study privately and self-direct.
Others desire deeper guidance, reflection, or proximity.You are invited to choose the path that supports you now.
You may move between paths as your needs change. -
The Altar is not a static program.
It is a living body of work that grows slowly, season by season.Joining later does not put you at a disadvantage — the archive is part of the gift. This is a place you return to, not something you rush through.
The Altar is an ongoing mystery school organized by the turning of the seasons. Each season brings a focused course of study, monthly teachings released on the new and full moons, and integration workshops to weave the work together.
When you join you’ll receive:
Immediate Access:
The Initiation - access to the first course that provides the foundational tools and teachings of the mystery school
Seasonal (with each Equinox/Solstice):
Seasonal Courses: A focused study exploring one foundational theme. Each course includes intention setting, teachings, practices, and rituals released throughout the season via lunar keys.
Lunar Keys: (New Moon + Full Moon) - Twice monthly teachings that may take the form of:
Written teachings
Audio or video lessons
Guided meditations or trance work
Ritual instructions and practices
Research-backed explorations
Somatic or devotional exercises
Ongoing:
Growing library of all past courses, workshops, and teachings
Early access to new releases (books, tools, products)
Member discounts on shop offerings
Priority registration for retreats, mentorships, and certifications
For Temple Students (In Addition to Everything Above):
Quarterly Luxury Gift Boxes — curated ritual tools, herbs, crystals, oils, candles, and seasonal offerings delivered at each equinox and solstice (Value: $2,000+/year)
Bespoke Annual Ritual — a custom ritual designed specifically for you, delivered at your one-year anniversary (Value: $1,500)
Anniversary Gift — marking each year of continued study (Value: $200+)
Quarterly Private Sessions — four sessions per year (60-90 minutes each) for personalized guidance and ritual support (Value: $2,000+/year)
25% discount on all shop offerings
First access to limited programs including retreat registration, mentorships, and certifications
What’s Inside The Altar
Choose Your Path of Study
All paths include seasonal courses, monthly teachings and access to the growing archive. Each tier builds on the last. Choose how deeply you want to study.
The Altar - $111/month, $1111 full year
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Seasonal courses exploring magic, ritual, empowerment, shadow work, grief, and herbalism
Monthly ritual teachings (guided meditation, instruction, grimoire pages, seasonal wisdom)
Access to growing archive of past teachings
20% Serpentinae boutique, certification, and mentorship discounts
First access to retreats, mentorships, and certifications
Exclusive Altar shop for students
Special gifts with each year of enrollment
The Temple
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Only 1 spot remains, application required
You receive everything in The Altar plus:
Quarterly Luxury: Four curated gift boxes delivered each season with sacred tools, rare herbs, hand-poured ritual candles, and seasonal offeringsBespoke Ceremony: One annual personalized ritual designed specifically for your path—complete with custom timing, components, and detailed ceremonial guidance
Private Guidance: Four private sessions (60 minutes each) aligned with the seasons and coursework to guide your study and support your evolution
About Shiva Honey
Photo by Courtney Brooke
Shiva Honey is a priestess, author, death doula, and ceremonial tattoo artist who has dedicated her life to teaching witchcraft, shadow work, grief alchemy, and death ritual.
She is the author of five books on occult practice and transformation, including The Devil's Tome (recipient of the Anatole France Literary Award). A nationally recognized voice in contemporary occult practice, Shiva's work has been featured across major media including CNN, NPR, TIME Magazine, The New York Times, VICE, and The Boston Globe. Her practice has been profiled in documentary films and a dedicated episode of This Is Life with Lisa Ling on CNN, and she's led sold-out retreats on witchcraft, death work, and shadow practice across the United States.
Known for walking between worlds, Shiva merges mystical inquiry with scientific rigor, the spiritual with grounded activism, and ancient wisdom with contemporary understanding. Trained at Harvard University, University of Vermont, and Cornell University, her teaching integrates ancestral ritual practice with peer-reviewed research on nervous system regulation, embodied grief work, and the physiology of transformation.
Shiva's creative practice spans multiple mediums—she is a performing musician, ceremonial tattoo artist, and ritual practitioner. Her work moves fluidly between sound, image, text, and embodied practice, always returning to the central questions of power, death, and transformation. Her approach is both rigorous and reverent—rooted in the understanding that magic works through the body, that shadow work is somatic, and that ritual can bridge the mystical and the measurable.
As a ceremonial tattoo artist, Shiva creates sacred marks as devotional acts—permanent ritual written on the body. As a death doula, she guides individuals and families through the threshold of death with presence, ritual, and fierce tenderness. As a teacher, she holds space for witches, artists, mourners, and seekers to remember their power and return to themselves through devotional study.
The Altar is Shiva's offering to those ready to deepen their practice—a mystery school rooted in devotion, integration, and the slow unfolding of personal power. Here, she teaches students internationally through seasonal study, monthly transmissions, and the patient work of return.
Shiva believes that power begins within—and that the path to reclaiming it lies in the slow, devotional work of return.
FAQs
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The Altar is an ongoing mystery school, not a fixed-duration program. You can remain a student for as long as the work serves you—whether that's one season, one year, or many years. Each season brings new coursework exploring different aspects of witchcraft, ritual, shadow work, and devotion. The longer you stay, the deeper your practice becomes. There is no graduation, only continuous deepening. You can cancel your membership at any time.
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Annual payment is simply a payment option that saves you money (two months free). When you pay annually, your membership renews automatically each year unless you cancel. This doesn't mean the program is one year long—it means you're choosing to pay for 12 months upfront rather than month-by-month. The Altar continues for as long as you choose to study.
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Yes. You can cancel your membership at any time. Monthly memberships can be canceled before your next billing date. Annual memberships are non-refundable but can be canceled to prevent auto-renewal for the following year.
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You'll receive immediate access to all past courses, teachings, and resources in the library—including the current season's work released so far. Each new moon and full moon, you'll receive the next key alongside current students. You're never "behind." The work is designed to be returned to again and again, and you can move through material at your own pace.
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No. The Altar welcomes students at all levels—from those just beginning their practice to experienced practitioners deepening their work. Teachings are designed to meet you where you are. If you're drawn to the work, you belong here.
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No. The Altar is a mystery school, not a community. There are no forums, group chats, or social features. This is intentional. The work here is between you and your practice—solitary, devotional, and self-directed. You receive teachings, you do the work, you integrate at your own pace.
There will be opportunities to meet other students through small group mentorship offerings and retreats, which can be added to your membership separately.
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Yes. If you begin with The Altar and later wish to join The Temple, you may apply when a spot becomes available. Acceptance into The Temple is by application only and limited to 3 students at any time.
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The Altar is foundation study—seasonal courses, monthly teachings, and self-paced work with all students.
The Temple includes everything in The Altar plus: four luxury gift boxes delivered seasonally, one bespoke annual ritual designed specifically for you, and quarterly private sessions with Shiva. The Temple is limited to 7 students and requires an application.
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Yes. If you're currently paying monthly and want to switch to annual, you can upgrade at any time and receive the discount. If you're paying annually and want to switch to monthly after your year completes, you can do so when your membership renews.
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Students who join during The Altar's founding year (2026) lock in their rate for life. If you join at $111/month in 2026, you pay $111/month for as long as you remain a student—even as rates increase for new students in future years. This rewards those who trust the work early.
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If you cancel your membership and later wish to return, you'll rejoin at whatever the current rate is at that time—not your original founding rate. Once you leave, your rate lock is released.
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All content is delivered through a private online platform. You'll receive login details immediately upon joining. Teachings are released on new moons and full moons. Seasonal courses open on the equinoxes and solstices. You can access everything on your own time—there are no live sessions or required attendance for Altar students.
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The Altar is self-directed study. Teachings are designed to be clear, complete, and workable on your own.
Altar students can submit questions via the platform. While individual responses aren't guaranteed, common questions may be addressed in course updates.
Temple students receive quarterly private sessions for personalized guidance and direct support.
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No. Your monthly or annual membership includes all teachings, courses, and resources. Temple students receive gift boxes and custom rituals as part of their membership—nothing additional to purchase.
The only extra costs would be personal ritual supplies if you choose to work with specific herbs, crystals, or tools mentioned in teachings.
Students receive discounts on all shop offerings and priority access to enroll in time-limited programs like certifications, mentorships, and advanced study that complement the coursework.
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Click the "Apply for The Temple" button on the pricing section. You'll answer a few questions about your practice and what you're seeking. Applications are reviewed within 48-72 hours, and you'll receive a response directly from Shiva.
Ready to Begin?
Join The Altar - Foundation studies, $111/month
Apply for The Temple— Private study, limited to 3 students
