Altars and Symbols for Hades
by Randall Farleigh
Obviously, his main color is black. That goes without saying. Any cloth laid on the altar should be black. And you can, of course, add bones, skulls, small tombstones, or any "death" memorabilia, to a great or lesser extent depending on taste. All signs of death are appropriate to him. You can add a bowl or box of ashes, and candle, and perhaps cups of water representing the rivers of his realm. A heart of black stone is often used modernly, not because his heart is stony, but because he has given it to Persephone.
Beyond that, the animals associated with him are (of course) his three-headed dog Cerberus, owls, black horses (they pull his chariot), black rams (his favorite sacrifice) and serpents. Figures of these are always appropriate. If you can't make a Cerberus, just black dogs will work.
Other symbols are mint, asphodel flowers (real or created), cypress and white poplar. He likes the small white narcissus plants, the ones that don't look like big yellow daffodils. Appropriate incense or oil might be a combination of mint, cypress, and musk.
Good offerings are meat, wine, and tears. You can put Hades' altar next to your altar for ancestors or beloved dead, if you have one, or combine them. Photos of your beloved dead are alwways welcome on his altar. The ancient Greeks would go to shrines of Hades to speak to the shades of their own dead.
Artwork by Amanda Forrester.