For the Altar You Won't Admit You Have.

Two brass taper holders, my child — the kind every Sicilian dining room kept on the sideboard. Patina'd, slightly tarnished, beautifully heavy. Buy them in pairs (always pairs — folk Catholic). Set them on the dresser corner that's quietly becoming an altar. Light one for what you're carrying, one for what you've put down.

INCENSE

Rosemary Smudge Bundle (Itali…

Various · ~$12

Rosemary is the Italian Catholic answer to white sage, my child — same cleansing, same smoke, but it's *yours* if you're Italian-American. Sicilian women have been hanging rosemary on the door and burning it in the fireplace for centuries. Smells like the Sunday gravy your grandmother made. Doesn't borrow from anybody else's tradition. Use this one.

ALTAR

Abalone Shell (Large, Natural…

Various · ~$15

The abalone shell is the universal altar bowl, sweet thing — catches ash, holds water, cradles salt, props up a candle, takes incense. Iridescent inside, oceanic outside. Sinderella has one on the folding table and another by the front door of the back room. They cost about fifteen dollars on Amazon. They feel ancient.

Black velvet, small square, drapes over the corner of the folding table. The cloth under the deck before you cut it. The cloth under the candleholders. The cloth that turns a kitchen counter into an altar. Cheap on Amazon, lasts forever, gets better with the wax stains. Get one. *Madonn',* every reader has one.

An assorted pack of Catholic saint prayer cards is one of the most practical altar tools, my creature — forty saints, one wallet-sized card each, full prayer on the back. Tuck the right one into your bag the morning of a hard day. Sinderella keeps a stack in the drawer of the folding table and pulls one out for almost every reading.

ALTAR

Murray & Lanman Florida Water…

Murray & Lanman · ~$8

Florida Water is the yellow citrus cologne every Latin American and Caribbean botanica sells, my child — Murray & Lanman, in print since 1808. Folk Catholic, Hoodoo, Espiritismo, Santería all use it. Splash it on the back of your neck after a hard reading. Wipe down a doorway. Add it to a mop bucket on a Saturday. *Madonn',* it works.

ALTAR

Coarse Sea Salt (Bulk, for Cl…

Various · ~$12

Coarse sea salt is the cheapest spiritual technology after a candle, my creature. A small dish on the windowsill. A line across a doorway. A handful in the bath. Folk Catholic kitchen tradition since *forever.* Buy the cheap bulk bag — kosher salt works fine. Sinderella keeps a small wooden bowl of it on the kitchen counter at all times.