Heavenly Wood Adds New Line of Altars

KAYSVILLE, Utah, October 2006 – Heavenly Wood is proud to offer a new, handcrafted, red oak altar at http://www.heavenlywood.com/1072-altar.htm. This new altar, built from northern red oak from New York State, adds a degree of sanctity to group worship in chapels or to an individual's own sacred space.

Altars have been used in religious worship since the beginning of recorded history. For most religions altars represent the presence of the divine, and mortals striving to connect with them. Heavenly Wood has a full selection of altars and communion tables available at http://www.heavenlywood.com/altars.htm.

Primitive altars were built with mounds of stone topped with an offering slab. The slabs were designed to accommodate their function; such as, recessed bowls for burnt offerings and drains for sacrificial offerings. Some altars, like those used by Egyptians, Mesopotamians, Romans, and Mayans, were ornately decorated with accruements and symbols.

Originally, altars were placed outdoors in locations deemed sacred like groves and hills. Later, they were placed in churches and temples. In these hallowed spaces believers would offer sacrifices or devotions to their deity.

Altars were an integral part of Old Testament Hebrew worship beginning in Genesis. Altars dedicated for offering blood atonement sacrifices or burning incense to carry prayers to heaven, were present in the tabernacle, and the Temples of Solomon and Herod. Although prevalent in primitive Judaism, altars are not used in contemporary synagogue worship.

For a Buddhist, the altar is decorated with candles, incense, flowers, personal objects and a statue of the Buddha. It is used for daily devotionals to direct one toward wisdom and enlightenment.

Pagan, Wiccan, and Earth-based religions use altars to worship the god or goddess, decorating the altar with ornaments and images to symbolize the four scared elements of earth, air, fire and water.

First century Christians didn't use altars as part of their religious worship. After Pagans accusations that Christianity was not a real religion because they lacked altars, the early Christians began using the tombs of martyrs as altars for celebrating the Mass.

Catholics eventually began building wood altars, except for a brief period in the 5th Century when only stone altars were acceptable. The altars had long, narrow surfaces elevated on columns. These altars, tomb-shaped to represent the sacrifice made by Jesus Christ, were used for the Eucharist.

The 2nd Century Catholic Church, citing Revelations 6:9 which mention seeing the souls of the martyrs under the altars of God, began requiring altars be placed over the graves of the martyrs. Thus basilicas and churches were erected over the gravesites of martyrs with the altar placed directly over their grave. This tradition is continued today by placing the relics of martyrs within the altars itself.

The Protestant reformation did away with using formal altars as part of church worship. Contemporary Protestant churches generally don't have ornate formal altars. They instead use communion tables, called Tables of the Lord, which are placed in front of the pulpit and used like an altar to administer the Lord's Supper.

As people continue to seek a connection with the divine then altars, in one form or another, will always remain part of religious worship and culture. Heavenly Wood is proud to be part of the altar legacy.

For further information, please contact Morgan Cloward, Marketing Director of Heavenly Wood, 1-800-257-2968, info@heavenlywood.com.

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