My altar
I love my altar, its my secret place where I can just be myself at all times, at any time. Why do I love it so much? It’s the place where we can express our guilt, our frustrations and even our anger. When we communicate these emotions to our altar, we save space so as not to hurt others and break cycles of helplessness and pain. It is also the place for our dearest wishes and dreams.
The altar is where we place our Devis – Sarasvati, Laksmi, Durga, your loved ones that passed or any other deity or representation – the ones who represent the omniscient, omnipotent, non-manipulative and agendaless god. An altar is a place of refuge, our sanctuary, until we know our face, even that we can accept everything as lovely and lovable and look at it as something not separate from her/me.
We can express gratitude at the altar with words, offerings, stories, prayers, songs, dances, flowers, water, food, etc. It doesn’t matter what we offer. What matters is the gesture. The action we take to show our gratitude and create cosmic harmony.
Our life itself becomes an offering. And the final offer is yourself.
Bring your deviness when creating your altar. Leave your heart free and express yourself any way you want. Love, your devotion, your vision, your inspiration, the goals, the care – to you as a woman.
What is an altar?
Your altar refers to your ritualistic workspace. This is where your magical tools are placed along with any representations of the ritual’s theme or purpose. They are used in almost all kinds of spiritual, magical or religious ceremonies.
Altars can be beautiful and extravagant or simple and practical. Put more abstractly, I like to think of altars as a sacred area, and as you create your altar, you invite protective energies and guide your rituals, celebrations or intentions. Altars are also a place to: creativity gratitude self-exploration spiritual growth guidance
The altar is sacred and it is alive.
The energies you are invoking come from him, so be sure to show your devotion and gratitude. Here’s an important tip: if you’ve invoked a deity, think about making a final gesture of gratitude. I often look for an offering in nature that is associated with the deity I have worked with. Whatever you decide, your altar must be creative and personal for you and your ritual.
What can you put on your altar:
• Images or statues of deities (eg Sarasvati, Lakshmi, Bhumi, QuanYin, Egg Yoni, etc.) or any other image that represents to you the infallible, one who is compassionate and imbued with qualities of sanctity, security, without agenda , trust, love, non-judgment, patience, commitment, etc. • Mirror • Candle(s) or oil lamp • Incense holder • Photographs or images of people who have passed away, our ancestors • Any other object that is sacred to you
Benefits for creating altars in your home.
I was introduced to building altars in Bali. Over time, I started creating my own altars in my home and found that they allowed me many opportunities that I would not have experienced otherwise. The following benefits explain why I build altars and how they can change your life.
1. It allows the individual to have a direct connection with the divine, regardless of how you view the divine.
2. You learn new and creative ways to see situations in your life.
3. Building altars is a positive way to actually do something about the things in your life that may be influencing you negatively. This connection to the divine is always a good thing.
4. It helps you to have a spiritual center in your life that will greatly enrich it.
5. Creating altars is an art form. Contrary to what some might think, figuring out what to put on the altar to get the desired results takes time, thought, and an understanding of the symbolism. Maybe you think you can’t draw, paint or even write, but anyone can build a beautiful altar.
6. You gain a very large mental library of symbols. You learn colors and their ancient meanings, what animals symbolized to indigenous peoples and many other characters. You can learn ancient forms of symbology, like the tarot deck.
7. Building altars is meditative and relaxing. Another benefit in this high-stress world we live in.
8. If you’re an artisan, creating altar objects is another way to relax.
9. Altars create a spiritual center in the house and create positive energy and energy flow throughout the house.
10. Altars are a way to introduce children to spirituality and the divine, and also allow them to actively participate, helping with construction if they so wish.
As you can see, there are many benefits to building altars and having them at home. It is my hope that many more people will take advantage of this wonderful tool for spiritual life that we all have access to.
With love
Namaste