Altars to Alter

As I journey through many beautiful spaces it is always of great interest to me viewing the many creative ways that people intuitively create little vignettes of their lives on pianos, windowsills, book shelves, counters, fridge tops and doors, dressers, bedside tables, beds and even backs of toilets.

During holiday times especially, many people love to create settings out-picturing their beliefs and what they value.

Sometimes out of necessity we place certain things in certain places, but whether consciously or unconsciously, we are always expressing parts of our inner being which contain our thoughts, feelings, and beliefs.

Creating altars in our spaces are a powerful tool we instinctively use to express the desires and aspirations we have in our lives and to anchor the things we want to hold on to. For example, family photos displayed are usually about honoring certain people in our life that we value and have a deep connection to. How often do you want something and grab the brochure or cut out the picture of it so you can look at it, refer to its characteristics and qualities reminding you of what you are desiring, waiting until the right one comes to you and then making the commitment to having it in your life? I have seen people do this with pictures of people as the look for a partner, a new car, a home or special holiday. Taking visible objects and placing them on an altar gives form to the invisible realm of the thoughts, dreams and aspirations we seek.

Altars have a powerful influence on the subconscious mind and symbolic objects are an extremely powerful tool in shaping our beliefs, thoughts and feelings. Recall that our feelings and thoughts become like magnets and can greatly determine new experiences and realities in our life. It is from this principle that we can use altars to alter our being and affairs. Altars link the invisible and visible world together - the Spirit world and the material are linked through the expressions of an altar. An altar is a creation which can hold and anchor our consciousness - which is one form of our energy system. The acknowledgment we give the altar gathers energy around our desires and aspirations allowing the manifestation to occur either in our being or outer world. We feed our conscious and subconscious minds every time we think of it, honor it, clean it, pray by it or bless it, thus, the altar becomes another way to co-create our lives.

What is most intriguing about the altar is the instinctive Sacred practices and reverence that is displayed around it. It seems that a part of our deep connection with our Soul self is being expressed and honored through the creation of an altar. Whether it be tradition or just the knowing that an altar has a sacred aspect to it, our own Sacredness as a human being - both the Divine and the human is honored and cherished. This in turn alters our inner being which leads us to a greater feeling of our true nature, which is love!

So I invite you to experiment with the power of altars. Here are some simple instructions to get you going.

1. Know what aspect of life you want to alter.(family, wealth, health, fame, creativity, inner knowledge, career, helpful people, relationships)

2. Select your objects carefully. Know what they are representing in your life. Here some ideas: animal symbols, essential oils, flowers, plants, religious icons and deities, sacred objects, colors, symbolic shapes and patterns, numbers, pictures, special gifts or ancestral items

3. Prepare a place for your altar to be - choose a place you walk by often or see when you wake up or go to bed, clean it, and honor the place with a prayer, blessing, or sacred ritual of your choice

4. Attention must be given to the altar. Select a time when you visit the altar regularly. Then be still and hear the God voice within you share itself as silence brings many gifts

5. Gratitude always seals the communication.

The physical altar can lead you to the greatest altar there is - the Divine altar within. From this sacred space your whole self and life becomes an altar of sorts, holding and anchoring the love, joy and peace that lies in the altar of your Soul, only to reflect it out into the world for all to see and be.

For further information and services contact: Sacred Space Consulting at barclayspace@sk.sympatico.ca.

By Patricia Barclay