Create Sacred Space

Altar at the Center

“Altars mark the potential for communication and exchange between different but necessarily connected worlds, the human and the Divine. They make visible that which is invisible and bring near that which is far away.”

                                        Kay Turner (Beautiful Necessity)



          In the 1990's, I helped to lead a Women’s Spirituality Group that met monthly to explore the many ways of touching the Divine. One of the best features of those gatherings was the altar we created in the center of our circle. We began by simply throwing a pretty scarf or two on the floor in the middle and placing a few votive candles and perhaps a jug of flowers or pretty leaves. The participants provided everything else. They brought photos, rocks, crystals, jewelry; whatever represented the topic of the night for them. In the creation of that, the real meaning of altar—a sacred site for ritual—revealed itself. We gathered ourselves in a circle around the center piece, and each person told the story of the object they had added to the altar, how it came into their lives and what it meant to them. Everything on the altar was blessed by the group and returned home. For each meeting the altar changed, but it was always in the center and always beautiful.



          For as long as human beings have walked the earth, we have expressed an innate desire to bring meaningful objects to sacred places. From our cave days forward, we brought everything from bear claws, arrow heads, and wooly mammoth tusks to gold and coins and precious stones to altars around the world for blessing and as offerings to the sacred in our midst. The Mayan people of Guatemala bring beautiful tapestries and handwoven clothing to their village churches and to small shrines in the mountains to offer as gifts of gratitude.

         

          The Jewish people of Israel, and native people all over the world create stacks of stones (cairns) to commemorate their visits to holy sites. Some of the Plaines Tribes of America create stone circles (Medicine Wheels) aligned with the rising and setting sun in their sacred places. Many churches and retreat centers have added labyrinths like the one at Chartres Cathedral in France, for pilgrims to come and walk symbolic journeys to the center. They carry their prayers along a looping path into the center, and they carry out by the same path their hopes and dreams for the future. Like Stonehenge, the ancient ritual circle in England, many sacred sites are located over the Earth's energy centers, but even when they're not, they create their own energy. People experience them as holy ground.



          Some friends of mine have an altar in their meditation space. Each day they put a vase of flowers on it, light candles and a stick of incense to invite in and acknowledge the sacred at the center of their lives. I hope you will create an altar for yourself in some place that feels holy to you. Visit it often and take small stones or objects that have some meaning for you to leave there. You may find that others will follow and bring their gifts too. This is one small step toward bringing spiritual awareness into everyday reality.



                                        In the Spirit,

                                        Jane