image credit Clifton John Galasinao
Creating an Altar or Sacred Space
Creating and maintaining an altar can be a simple and effective way of shifting our focus from an outer world of doing to an inner world of being. An altar is any surface or area dedicated as sacred space that provides for a focus of spiritual intention. An altar doesn’t need to be fancy or ornate. Simplicity can actually help you to create focused intention.
Our intention for Soul Bridging is to create a place of rest, replenishment, delight, and discovery – in that way Soul Bridging itself could be considered an altar for Michelle and I. We carefully choose what contributes to it, in order that it holds the highest vibration possible. Through the energy of our intention we support connection, both for you internally through your personal work, but also through connection to wonderful and ordinary people doing soul work in the world.
Michelle and I want to share our personal altars with you in hopes that you will do the same. Let’s start a conversation about how we create sacred space in our everyday lives!
Michelle’s Altar
I have several altars in my home. Each of them hold sacred space that always reminds and calls me to remember who I am, and who I am called to be.
The altar in my creative workspace has a cloth from my Grandmother which represents all my ancestors. Placed on the cloth are two clay pieces; one, a woman representing the Divine Feminine and the other, a hand representing the Divine Masculine. Between them is a small basket that holds small gemstones that I use to offer prayers and intentions. I am committed to uniting these two energies within me.
Behind the cloth is a braid of sweet grass. Said to be the hair of Mother Earth, it is made of three braided strands representing love, kindness, and honesty, known by some as walking the Beauty Way. With the sweet grass is a sage stick. Sage medicine purifies and dispels negative energy. Quan Yin, the Goddess of Compassion, is to the left and she holds the door of compassion open always for me. On the right is a horse , a very important energy in my life – my journey with the horse invites me deeper into self discovery around true power, presence, friendship, and an indescribable love. Above my altar space I have placed my drum. It represents a renewed connection to rhythm and relationship that transports me in to greater connection to all that is.
My candles represent Spirit and serve as a reminder of my eternal connection to the light, as well as my commitment to continue to transform my darkness and bring the light to those places.
May you be inspired to create your own altar.
With love, depth, and beauty;
Michelle
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Therese’s Altar
My altar space is a very simple table in my workspace at home. A statue of Quan Yin, the Bodhisattva of Compassion, is seated on a violet silk cloth with a candle behind her. Violet is the energy of bringing heaven to earth, and the candle is symbolic for bringing light into the world. Quan Yin carries the divine feminine (Sophia) energy of wisdom and loving kindness. I chose her to be the centerpiece of my alter to support me in being kind. I have a quick nature and this can be experienced by others as abruptness and impatience. Quan Yin’s presence serves as a reminder for me that I must always work through compassion and kindness to bring light into the world. Beneath the silk cloth and the alter are crystals that I sometimes use during meditation.
Next to the alter is my meditation space and burning bowl. During times of anxiety or stress, I will write my worries, fears, or unfulfilled hopes on a small piece of paper and place it in the bowl. When I am ready to let it go, I take the bowl outside and release them with fire.
We hope you will share your altar story. Sacred practices inspire others and your story may inspire someone else to make room for the sacred in their lives.
Love, light, and blessings;
Therese
Create Your Own Altar
A personal altar can be very easy to create. Choose a quiet space – a table, shelf, room, or even an area in nature will do. As you establish your altar space, it is important to set an intention that the space will be used to hold the energy of the divine. Light a candle, or burn incense to sanctify the energy of the space. As you select objects for your altar, choose meaningful items that represent, for you, your focused intention. They will serve as a regular reminder of what you are attempting to accent in your life. You may choose to cover your altar with a cloth, select a color or texture to the cloth that is symbolic or representative of intention. As you place the objects on your alter, focus your intention and infuse them with the power of your thoughts. Don’t be afraid to change your altar items over time. When new changes and challenges present, bring them to the altar for focused intention and inspiration.
Illusion is a degree of distortion of our thoughts. This is due to our imperfect instrument (the mind) attempting to access and interpret intuitive impressions from the Buddhic plane (the source of our intuition). As we strive to improve our alignment with our soul and the One Life, a meditation practice facilitates contact with the intuitive field. However, we must ‘train’ the mind to enable it to work within the intuitive realm just as we do when we are in training for a sport or vocation.
The planet Saturn is next to the moon this month during the Cancer full moon strengthening its impact. Saturn and Capricorn ask us to take responsibility for our choices and our lives. Because we are dealing with a Cancer sun we can be emotionally vulnerable. As a water sign Cancer has a sensitive emotional nature and this full moon is asking her to take responsibility for her emotions. She needs to step away from any reactivity and direct her energy inward where she can reflect and get some distance from the drama that may be playing out in her life. She can ground herself in the earth energy of Capricorn. Once centered within herself she will feel safer to open her heart and be vulnerable with others.
A mindful “Good bye” at the end of life is powerful stuff. It is putting voice to an end without pretense. There is reality and acceptance in knowing that – ‘This life will end soon and we will not see each other again…at least in this form.’ It is a period. It is the last period, in the last paragraph of, the last sentence of, the last chapter of a book.It is the last thing we get before the words, The End. How did I want to hold this period? What did I need for a sense of completion? What was the right way to say “Good-bye” for me? What did I really want to say? How was I going to say it?
I want to feel good all the time. And when I don’t feel happy – in addition to the unhappy feeling – I’m unhappy about being unhappy! I want to as quickly as possible figure out the problem, change things up, find a solution and get back to happy. This is my habitual way of processing life events. But as I bring a more mindful approach to everyday life it becomes apparent that it’s the resistance to unhappy feelings that’s the real problem. Why so much fear around feeling anything other than happy contentment?
Darkness - when brought to the surface can be transformed into light. What would the world look like if we all took on darkness? Can you imagine the change if we all did our part?
The Transformative Power of Love - Silence gives answers. ~ Rumi