According to Google the definition of an altar connotes religious affiliation and if we continue reading into this further we might get the idea that only churches contain altars. But if visiting a country like India -or much of the East- we see right away, before leaving the train station perhaps, that altars for everyone; India is sublimely littered with altars. Some cities like Tiruvanamalai, boast the most altars per square kilometer of anywhere in the world. Some are giant and tended by pundits while others consist only of a modest carved and painted stone that sits beside the road, welcoming the travel-weary to come and pray a spell before continuing along their journey.
Altars serve the glamorous, as well as the not so glamorous, purpose of an everyday connection with the Divine. An altar is a space humans designate for acknowledging the sacred in everyday life. We can make our own altars in our everyday spaces out of everyday objects.
If you're newer to the concept that you can have an everyday connection to the Divine without aide of a priest or person of the church acting as a translator between you and Spirit, then it is strongly suggested that you take some time to begin cultivating your own connection with your helping spirits and with the Divine around you.
One way to do this is to attend Tiger Lily's weekly Ecstatic Yoga class. In this class along with moving through asanas, we meet our helping spirits and learn how to work with them. We also learn about our reciprocal relationship with the Divine in our lives.
If you're ready to begin building your altar here are some helpful steps, but feel free to shift and change things as your intuition tells you.
Step 1. Put your phone on silent (or better yet airplane mode) and designate a couple hours where you won't be interrupted. Now simply call out to the good true and beautiful helping spirits around you, out loud with your voice. Use your voice because your heart needs to hear you speak about Spirit things out loud. And because your helping spirits are quick to come when you call out to them. Many of us quickly discover that we're already familiar with the energy of our helping spirits. Or perhaps this is the first time you've noticed them. Either way you're doing this right.
Step 2. With your spirits gathered around begin to notice where in your home would like to be the designated altar space. Notice what direction the space is in. How does it orient in the room? Typically an altar contains objects representing all four directions (East, South, West, and North, which also represent their corresponding elements: air, fire, water, and earth) as well as a physical representation of Above, Below, and Center. Open your heart and feel (as opposed to thinking about) what objects would like to be on your altar representing each of these directions.
Examples of objects might be:
Air- objects that flow in the wind like feathers, flags, or prayer ties.
Fire- sage, incense, garlic, gold, stones that are red, orange, yellow, or white.
Water- a bowl of water, shells, stones that are blue.
Earth- a bowl of soil, stones, wood, sticks, or branches.
Below, above, and center can be represented by a candle in the center of the altar
Step 3. Assemble your altar and notice how it feels. I like to put a cloth down before setting my objects onto the altar. I find that the objects will tell me where they'd like to be placed. (Just to reiterate, we want to switch off our analytical mind for this project as it tends to get judgey and isn't the most positive helping force for this project. USE YOUR HEART!) Once your altar is assembled you can begin to pray, commune, and make offerings there. This is an everyday working altar, a place you want to visit daily for guidance and healing. The more you work with your altar the more alive it becomes and the more your spirit guides will communicate with you.
Enjoy and have fun!
If you have any questions please feel free to contact me.
Altars serve the glamorous, as well as the not so glamorous, purpose of an everyday connection with the Divine. An altar is a space humans designate for acknowledging the sacred in everyday life. We can make our own altars in our everyday spaces out of everyday objects.
If you're newer to the concept that you can have an everyday connection to the Divine without aide of a priest or person of the church acting as a translator between you and Spirit, then it is strongly suggested that you take some time to begin cultivating your own connection with your helping spirits and with the Divine around you.
One way to do this is to attend Tiger Lily's weekly Ecstatic Yoga class. In this class along with moving through asanas, we meet our helping spirits and learn how to work with them. We also learn about our reciprocal relationship with the Divine in our lives.
If you're ready to begin building your altar here are some helpful steps, but feel free to shift and change things as your intuition tells you.
Step 1. Put your phone on silent (or better yet airplane mode) and designate a couple hours where you won't be interrupted. Now simply call out to the good true and beautiful helping spirits around you, out loud with your voice. Use your voice because your heart needs to hear you speak about Spirit things out loud. And because your helping spirits are quick to come when you call out to them. Many of us quickly discover that we're already familiar with the energy of our helping spirits. Or perhaps this is the first time you've noticed them. Either way you're doing this right.
Step 2. With your spirits gathered around begin to notice where in your home would like to be the designated altar space. Notice what direction the space is in. How does it orient in the room? Typically an altar contains objects representing all four directions (East, South, West, and North, which also represent their corresponding elements: air, fire, water, and earth) as well as a physical representation of Above, Below, and Center. Open your heart and feel (as opposed to thinking about) what objects would like to be on your altar representing each of these directions.
Examples of objects might be:
Air- objects that flow in the wind like feathers, flags, or prayer ties.
Fire- sage, incense, garlic, gold, stones that are red, orange, yellow, or white.
Water- a bowl of water, shells, stones that are blue.
Earth- a bowl of soil, stones, wood, sticks, or branches.
Below, above, and center can be represented by a candle in the center of the altar
Step 3. Assemble your altar and notice how it feels. I like to put a cloth down before setting my objects onto the altar. I find that the objects will tell me where they'd like to be placed. (Just to reiterate, we want to switch off our analytical mind for this project as it tends to get judgey and isn't the most positive helping force for this project. USE YOUR HEART!) Once your altar is assembled you can begin to pray, commune, and make offerings there. This is an everyday working altar, a place you want to visit daily for guidance and healing. The more you work with your altar the more alive it becomes and the more your spirit guides will communicate with you.
Enjoy and have fun!
If you have any questions please feel free to contact me.
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