Creating A Personal Sacred Altar

What is an Altar

An Altar is a sacred place that you go to connect with the Divine and your Spirituality. It is typically assembled on a small table or platform embellished with meaningful items to assist in helping you connect to God, Spirit, Higher Self, Spirit Guides, Angels, Deities, etc. It can be a place to meditate, sit in silence, sit in gratitude, pray, give offerings, perform a ritual, reflect, or contemplate. It’s a personal sanctuary you can visit when you’re feeling stressed, upset, anxious, disconnected, or ungrounded. All in the comfort of your very own home!

Benefits of an Altar

An Altar creates harmony, inner peace, grounding, and connection to Spirit. You can feel the positive energy emitted by your Altar just by walking past. It will literally raise your vibration and alter the energy of your entire home and the people in it. An Altar can be seen as a highly energized and activated sacred portal to the Divine or Spirit Realm as a means to gain clarity, wisdom, self-realization, or inspiration. Due to the special energy in this space, prayers or manifestation of goals, and your deepest desires are amplified.

Where to place your Altar

Place your Altar anywhere in your home that will offer privacy and peace when needed. A bedroom, den, or private garden are great locations. Although, your Garden Altar will have to be compatible with the outdoor elements.

What to put on your Altar

1. Pictures, statues, symbols, or ornaments of spiritual teachers, ancestors, deities, ascended masters, etc. that you would like to honor, connect, and receive guidance from. Some examples would be a Mother Mary, Jesus, Mary Magdalene, Lord Ganesha, Gods, Goddesses, Fairies, Mermaids, Dragons, Animal Spirits, Arch Angels, etc.

2. Earth Elements: Plants, flowers or objects from nature. Anything including shells, flowers, sticks, rocks, gemstones, crystals, feathers, leaves, or pinecones that you have picked up along your travels that have a special meaning or significance. These items are a form of grounding and connecting to the Earth. They hold the energy of oneness; that we are not alone, we are safe, we belong here, we have purpose, and we are all connected.

3. Fire Elements: Candles or votives.

4. Water Elements: A chalice or bowl of water. Seashells.

5. Air Elements: Incense, musical instruments such as a drum, harmonica, Tibetan or crystal singing bowls, or chimes. A feather.

6. Oracle Cards: Oracle Cards can provide guidance and inspiration to help you along your journey. There are so many Oracle Decks out there to choose from. Hold the deck of cards in your hands close to your heart. Ask them a question that is of a concern. “Universe, what advice do you have for me at this time? What do I need to learn? What is my purpose? How do I fix this situation? What is my role in this situation? Show me what I cannot see.”

7. Prayer Bowl – This can be a bowl, box, or chalice. On a piece of paper, write down your wishes and prayers for the heavens. This is particularly most powerful to do on a new moon. Set your prayers and intentions you would like to manifest into the prayer bowl to be burned on the following full moon.

8. Journal – Handy for writing any thoughts, revelations, ideas, feelings, or epiphanies that come to you.

9. Mala or prayer beads.

10. Meditation cushion and blanket.

11. Smudge and smudging fan. Energy Clearing Spray.

12. Crystal Wands or any other energy work tools.

These are just a few ideas. Really, the world is your oyster. Anything that brings you a sense of peace or connection will do. Your Altar can be as cluttered or as simple as you want it. Personally, I like mine FULL of goodies.

What to do at your Altar

1. Place a meditation cushion or chair at your Altar, depending on the height.

2. Clear your space. Space clearing can be done in many different ways. You can smudge with Sage, Copal, Palo Santo, or Sandalwood. These ones are my favorite. Be sure to smudge your Altar objects and yourself as well. There are energy clearing sprays if you don’t like the smoke. You can also clear your space by using Reiki symbols or using vibrational instruments such as bells, drums, or singing bowls. Or you can clear your space trough intention or prayer by calling in your Spirit Guides and Guardian Angels. You don’t even have to know who they are. They do and they are waiting for you to call on them.

3. Sit down and get yourself into a comfortable position.

4. Take at least 3 deep breathes in and out to release any stress or tension. Let your body and intuition guide you as to how many you’ll need.

5. Set your intention. Your intention could be to clear your mind, to access inner peace, to connect with a spirit guide or a deceased loved one, to find an answer to a pending question or dilemma, for inspiration, to ground, to send prayers, to perform rituals, to sit in stillness, to reflect, or meditate.

How to take care of your Altar

1. Visit it often. Remember that you have created a sanctuary to disconnect from the sometimes craziness and chatter of your outer world and mind. It’s a place where you can go to reconnect or realign with your soul and soul’s purpose, God, Spirit, your higher self, spirit guides, angels, deities, etc. It’s your personal sacred place to meditate, sit in silence, pray, give offerings, reflect, contemplate, or just be with the self.

2. After each visit, send it love and gratitude for it’s beauty, tranquility, peace, and connection to Spirit and Earth that it provides.

3. Keep it clean, dusted, and clear the energy as often as needed.

4. Add or remove objects as needed. Switch it up with the seasons or when big changes or shifts happen in life. Let your intuition be your guide.

Ultimately there are no specific rules or right or wrong when it comes to creating your Altar and what you do with it. It’s yours to explore and evolve as it may. The purpose is that you find a sense of coming home, grounding, peace, and rejuvenation after visiting your personal Sacred Space. Our souls are calling us home and wanting us to remember our true nature and purpose. In a world that is so uncertain and chaotic, it is so important for us to go inward to find peace and to discover our own truth and limitless potential.

Andrea

xoxo

Manifest Your Best Life for 2020

If I had to choose a personal motto for 2019, it would be "Hold Fast, Stay True." An old sailors term that means hold tight to the lines when ship is aloft in bad weather or you WILL go overboard. Face the storm with courage and strength. Keep your ship upright no matter what. So what felt like one Tsunami after another, I did just that with faith that the waters would be smooth again. But now it is time to out with the old stories and in with the new!

Every New Year, I like to clean house physically, mentally, and energetically. This helps me to get clear and make room for new energies, ideas, inspiration, opportunities, and adventures to come-a-knocking. Without being conscious and thoughtful about what I want out of life and what I want to create, I'm simply at the mercy of fate. Just floating around letting life happen to me. I'm telling the Universe that I don't care, I'm small, undeserving, and unworthy of anything extraordinary. No thanks! Here are some ways to clear out the old and start thinking about what you truly want out of life and become the captain of your soul.

1. Clean Up. Messy house, messy mind. Declutter, organize, and donate everything that you haven't worn or used in the past year. Clean out drawers and closets. Remove garbage and dust. This can be a process so go easy on yourself. Now you are ready to do an energy clearing of your space.

2. Space Clearing. This should be done often as we are constantly bringing other peoples energy into our homes that attach to us throughout the day as well as our own. As humans, our emotions can run hot and that heaviness gets trapped in our physical bodies, things, walls, etc. creating a dense atmosphere and blockage of Chi/Life Force Energy flow. Clearing can be done many ways but my favourites are smudging with sage or banging a drum. Start by clearing your own energy, then go room to room in all directions. Don't forget to smudge any objects that you feel need clearing. I like to open window while I'm doing this to allow the flow of fresh air and energy, and to allow the smoke from the sage to clear. We don't want to have to explain what we are doing to the Fire Department.

3. Fire Burning Release. Choose at least 1 thing you would like to let go off that does not serve your higher good. This could be a thing, memory, emotion, experience, or habit. A great way to consciously release something is to write it down, say it out loud, and throw it into the fire. Fire is a powerful transmuter and neutralizer of negative energies. Burn that shit up and release it to the fire gods. Good-bye. See ya. Au revoir, Adios. Arrivederci. This is especially helpful when going through a major life transition. We have to let things go in order to move onward and upward.

4. Vision Board. This is a fun way to get you thinking about what the heck it is you really want out of life. Reality is that life, responsibilities, and commitments can rule the roost and we forget to live life with intent and purpose. What do you value, what brings you joy, what goals do you want to accomplish, where do you want to travel, what's your dream job, what new skill would you like to acquire, what fears do you want to conquer, etc? Grab a bunch of magazines and start cutting and pasting words, phrases, and images that speak to you onto a large poster board. If there are things you want on you vision board that you don't find in a magazine, you can write them on your vision board or print it out from the internet and paste it on there. Hang it in a place you will see often to remind you of what you want to manifest. Energy goes where energy flows. It's really fun looking at your vision board at the end of the year to see what has manifested. I keep mine year after year as some things just take a little longer to come to life. It's also interesting to see how your vision can change and evolve over time.

5. Gratitude Journal. Gratitude is one of the highest vibrating emotions and extremely powerful for manifesting. When we have gratitude for even the smallest of things, that vibration goes out to the Universe and comes back tenfold. It's called The Law of Attraction. It shows the universe that we are not living from a place of lack and therefor, we attract more abundance. It also helps to train our minds to focus more on the positive things in our lives and less on the negative.

6. Meditation. I can't say enough about how powerful meditation can be. It clears the mind, relieves stress and anxiety, and if you get really good at it, you can tap into some pretty interesting cosmic shit. I like to think of it as clearing the gateway from the heavens to the mind in order to allow messages and inspiration from the higher self or spirit to flow through. Praying is talking to god. Meditation is listening to God (so to speak). It's amazing what can come through when the mind is quiet and when sitting in stillness. Sometimes I use meditation to visualize an outcome, for healing, and for positive affirmations.

7. Make a New Playlist. Gather all the songs that uplift, spark joy, and make you wanna dance. Turn up the volume and dance dance dance your ass off. This is a great pick-me-up when feeling in the dumps. If you're in the car, throw on your shades, turn up the volume, crack the window, and radiate in your coolness.

8. Read an inspiring book. My favourites this past year were...

Warrior Goddess Training by Heatherash Amara

The Wisdom of the Shamans by Don Jose Ruiz

The Four Agreements by Don Miquel Ruiz

Women Who Run with the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola

9. Make your Appointments. If you are a procrastinator like me in this department, just do it. Get a physical, get your eyes checked, see a councillor, a chiropractor, get acupuncture, or any energy healing work that you feel is needed. Listen to the subtle signs from your body before bigger issues transpire.

10. Plan that Trip. Travel is a huge means of expanding ones awareness, consciousness, and mindset. Real life adventure and experience can be your biggest teacher. Let's face it, life can be a huge grind. It's important to subject ourselves to something fun that is out of our everyday reality. Not to mention, you will benefit from the release of dopamine from the excitement and anticipation long before the trip happens. It's a thing.

11. Self Care. Gone are the days of the idea you need to take care others before you take care of yourself. It's a old paradigm and it's not being selfish. Of course there are times when we do this, but not at the cost of exhaustion and burn out. If you're not functioning properly, the world around you won't either. Take care of yourself and know when to say no and listen to what your body and soul needs. Make time for exercise, meditation, reading, a walk, a bath, a hobby, a ritual, dance, energy work, pull on some oracle cards, paint, create something, whatever calls to you...Just do it!

12. Healthy Boundaries. It's time to stand in your power and set boundaries with people who bully, manipulate, take advantage, or energetically drain you. Many of us allow this to happen because we are afraid of standing up for ourselves and afraid of hurting the other persons feelings. It's important to set boundaries to protect yourself and it's also important to do so to let the boundary-crosser know how he/she is crossing a boundary with you. By doing this, you are showing the utmost respect for yourself, in-turn showing others to give you the same respect as well.

Big changes are coming in 2020 and it's going to be good. We can rest easy and ride the waves of this new decade knowing that with each storm we become stronger and smarter in navigating them when we live from a place of consciousness and self-love. Hold Fast, Stay True my friends! And Happy New Year!