Creating a Sacred Space

We may be drawn to a person because she is friendly, or happy, or kind.

We avoid another because she is irritable and short tempered.

Just as each person has her own personality, her own energetic imprint, so does every location.

Have you ever been to a place that gave you a prickly, uneasy feeling at the back of your spine? Can you think of some favorite place that you return to over and over again because it simply feels good to be there? You are drawn to that special place because of its personality, its energy.

Throughout history, people have used ritual and ceremony to cleanse the energy of their environment, to create sacred space. The use of ceremony and ritual help us to focus and intensify our energies. Many believe there is power in the ceremony itself, others believe that the power comes solely from the intent and belief of the person performing the ceremony. The ritual used to create a sacred space may be as simple as visualizing white light filling a space, or it may require decades and the energy of thousands to create, like the building of the great pyramids of Egypt.

My own spiritual beliefs have roots in Celtic, Native American and Buddhist traditions. The cleansing rituals that have power for me stem from those cultures. When I move into a new house or prepare my home for a special event, I perform the rituals I am about to describe. I tell my students to use any or all the methods, advising them to choose only those methods that feel good and right to them. A ceremony that has no meaning for the person performing it has no power. Smudging

Smudging is a Native American practice that calls upon the spirit of sage or cedar to clear an environment of negative energy. As with any ritual, the intent and belief of the practitioner are the driving forces of the process.

Before starting my smudging ceremony, I turn on a tape of Native American flute music. The music helps put me into the correct frame of mind to perform this ceremony.

A door or window should be opened as an escape route for negative energy. It’s also a good idea to turn off any smoke detectors in the house before performing this ritual.

To begin, hold a bunch of white sage that has been bound together into a smudge stick or else use a fire resistant pot filled with loose leaves of white sage. The pot you choose should only be used for this purpose. Light the sage leaves. When they have all started to burn, blow out the flames so the leaves are left smoldering and smoking.

Walk slowly through each room allowing the smoke to fill the room and forcefully call out, “Spirit of the sage, Great Spirit (Father, Mother, God) I ask that you help me to cleanse this room and this house of all negative energies and entities. Banish from this space all that is not of love and of light. Purify this space and create a safe and loving sanctuary for learning, for healing, for ... (Choose your own words here. Your request will vary according to what is about to take place in the room.) Always finish by saying, “Thank you”. Move on to the next room and repeat the process. After smudging each room in the house, go outside and walk around the property smudging and clearing the energy of the land.

Many people believe that after clearing away the negative energy, there is a void that must then be filled with positive energy. This may be accomplished by simply visualizing the space being filled with white light, by placing the Reiki symbols on the walls and filling the room with Reiki, or by using yet another ceremony to create a vortex of positive energy, like creating a medicine wheel. Medicine Wheel

Most shamanic cultures use some form of circle to define their sacred space. The Druids performed many sacred rituals inside giant stone circles like the formation at Stonehenge. Away from these special places, they used sand or salt to cast a circle around themselves to create a protected space. The circle might be the location where magic was to be performed, or it might simply represent an energetic shield around the campsite of a traveler. In Native American traditions, a circle of stones is also used to delineate sacred space. They call this a Medicine Wheel.

To create a Medicine Wheel, first set your intent, "I wish to create a sacred space for healing."

Next, prepare the location with a physical cleaning and a ritual of purification such as a smudging ceremony.

Now, establish the four directions, North, South, East and West. Decide where the boundaries of your sacred space, your Medicine Wheel, will be. Your medicine wheel may be just large enough for you to sit in, a place to come to meditate and to heal, or it may encompass your entire living space. Place a stone or crystal at the locations on the boundary of your medicine wheel that correspond to each of the four directions. Choose any type of stone or crystal that feels "right" to you. (I generally use rose quartz.) Follow your intuition and you will make the right choice.

You must now energize your stones. Beginning in the South, approach and face the stone. Inhale deeply. As you inhale, draw universal energy through your crown chakra and let it flow into your center. As you exhale, beam the energy from your third eye, your solar plexus and your hands into the stone. (Reiki practitioners may also beam the Power Symbol from their hands at this time.) Continue the process until you can see a change in the stone and you know that it is "full." When you know you are done, turn to the West. Proceed around the circle stopping to charge or energize each stone in turn. When you have charged the last stone, return to face the stone in the South.

Once they have been charged with energy, you need to connect the stones. Using your hands and your intent, reach up and draw a ribbon of healing energy from the universe into the room and connect it to the first stone. Connect each of the remaining stones to a similar energy ribbon. Next, draw an energy ribbon from one stone to the next as you move around the circle. SEE the energy connection forming between the stones as you direct your energy ribbon. KNOW that you are shaping an enclosed column of light whose boundaries are defined by the placement of the stones. SAY, “I banish from this space all that is not of love and of light.” You have now opened a vortex of cleansing and purification, a sacred space in which negative energy cannot exist.

When you have finished, stand inside your medicine wheel. Take a moment to face each stone and give honor to that direction. Thank the spirits respectfully before taking your leave.

Copyright©2004 Jeri Mills, M.D.

By Jeri Mills