This new portal looks a lot more interesting than the old one, that's for sure. But... What could that thing be on top of it... You know, with the beam coming out? That is simply a Gaean Keystone, an activated one, that is.
As you might know, in prior version, the Portal Activator was crafted with a Spider Eye and two Sticks. Seems a bit lacking for such a dimension, ey? That's why we are introducing a much more interesting system to get the staff (which needs to be placed in the Keystone to activate the portal).
This model thingy is the Offering Altar. More advanced offering to deities will most likely be part of animation magic, but this thing is pretty much completely seperate.
The currently planned way of crafting the Staff of Gaea (aka the new Portal Activator) is by using a few Sticks, Vines, a Gold Ingot and a Gaean Gem. The Gaean Gem will be obtained by placing a Diamond, an Emerald and a piece of Obsidian on top of the Offering Altar and activating it (with a redstone signal, for lack of a better method). Blahblah, zip-zap, swoosh, particles, and tadaah, out pops a Gaean Gem.
This new way of crafting stuffs is pretty lore-friendly and overall much more interesting than most portals I've seen in a while (though the Twilight Forest portal still has a special place in my heart). I hope yer all excited.