From the perspective of the altar, religion takes on a whole new meaning to the practitioner. The altar is essentially the connection between the spirits (orisha) and the living. In order to work, each altar has to be activated through ceremony, which involves drums, singing, dancing, and foods, to name a few things. When an altar is “activated”, that means that ase is flowing through it. Ase is the divine force of destiny, power, and life. It flows through all things, and, when activated, can channel gods in altars. This is how altars become a gateway between the two worlds – they are made up with items that represent what the spirits like and what the spirits are like, and through placing everything correctly on the altar and singing and dancing to ritualistic songs, the altar basically becomes the divinity. Through those means the spirit forms a connection with the practitioner, and spirit possession, which is when the ase of an orisha flows through a person and the orisha resides in that person’s body for a short amount of time, can occur. Altars are meant to honor the spirits, and connect the people with these beings. In light of that, when studying religion we should look at these objects and altars in terms of how items could be of significance to both the spirit and the worshipper, and how the items all work together. This perspective can enhance an outsider’s understanding of religion, as much more meaning can be understood through observing how the objects on an altar work with each other and with the practitioners to transcend a simple understanding into something much more complex.

Emphasizing materiality affects a religion in many different aspects. Religions are often defined by what materials they use, the patterns in both texture and color, and what the objects are/represent. By focusing on the artifacts found in religion, the you can observe different influences on the original source, and see how it relates to other religions of the same diaspora. It also gives an insight on different attributes that the worshippers like or dislike. One spirit may have many different characteristics that are symbolized in a variety of ways, including attributes that are significant to the devotee, defines the divinity to him or her and why they follow the higher beings they follow. However, defining a religion by the objects that they use is not an effective way to try to understand a whole religion, rather, it’s merely the tip of the iceberg. One thing that is often discussed in study of religion is the view of the outsider. Someone who isn’t practicing a religion won’t be able to understand aspects of the religion without being influenced by personal bias or ignorance. For example, while an outsider may view an altar as objects on a table, a practitioner of the religion will be able to see true meaning behind the objects and how they’re arranged to channel ase or to please the spirits. Putting emphasis on defining a religion by its materiality is a way that promotes the blindness that comes with the view of the outsider, as it only accounts for the physical parts of a religion, not the many other aspects that can make a religion.

By centering our study on altars, we learn that while altars provide a view into religions, they aren’t able to be understood fully when they’re taken out of context. An out of context altar, such as an altar found in a museum, can’t function to the fullest context. Altars found in museums also are often observed and written about by people that are outsiders, who often define religions by their materiality and the objects placed on altars rather than the functionality and meaning of the whole altar and all of the factors that go into rituals combined together. Many religions such as Candomble are often identified by only their altars, without regard for the many other important aspects of the religion that provide meaning to practitioners, but are unobservable to an outsider. Therefore, by centering our study of a religion on its altars, we learn about the religion and material objects that are important to the religion, but turn a blind eye to deeper meaning that could be discovered if the altars were viewed in context and by people that practice the religion and aren’t subject to an outsider’s bias.