The Creation
The creation of an altar is a sacred act.
Not only does the act of assembling the altar objects imbue a spiritual energy into the home environment, but the decision-making process that occurs beforehand is also empowering. Each object on your altar represents a different quality or an aspect of your life, and the thoughtful selection of each item begin to allow you to gain clarity about what is truly important to you.
Preparation:
Be clear about the purpose. When you are certain about why you are making an altar, you will need to make some decisions, such as where you will locate it in your home, how bit it will be and what objects you will put on it.
Intention:
Establish your intention. What is the purpose of your altar? The layout and structure will be affected and even determined by your reason for creating it. What do you hope to accomplish by having it in your home? What parts of your life will it represent? Do you primarily want a quiet place where you can center your thoughts and achieve deep inner stillness, or do you want you altar to be an alcove for photos of family members that provides a sense of connection to your extended family? Maybe this will help to clarify
the purpose:
The clearer you are about your overall objectives, the more focused and dynamic the energy fields surrounding your altar will become.
An altar can help you to:
1. Commune with the Divine
2. Heal family relationships
3. Open your life to love
4. Bring the spirit of nature into your home
5. Create vibrant health
6. Honor your transition in life
7. Create wealth and abundance
8. Open up creative channels
9. Honor your ancestors and family connections
10. Celebrate yourself
11. Commemorate achievements/losses in your life
12. Honor the yearly cycle and the cycles within yourself
13. Remember loved ones that have passed on
14. Integrate the various aspects of yourself
Envision the specific, long-term results you hope to achieve from your altar. It is not necessary to have only one purpose for your altar; it can fulfill many different kinds of functions in your life, and can change over time. Not all altars are used for meditation purposes; however, if you do use your altar as a focal point for contemplative practices, know that there is a direct connection between the intention for your altar and the results produced by your practices.
Altar Placement in the Home
Once you are clear about the intent, decide where you will place the altar. This can also affect the overall results you will attain from using your personal shrine.
"Heart of the Home"
An excellent place to situate an altar is in the heart of the home. This is the area that feels the most special, the most vital to the energy of the place. This might be the kitchen, the family room or the living room. If no room seems to dominate or have any more significance that any of the others, then you might choose to locate your altar in the physically central portion of your home.
The Four Directions of the Compass
Most ancient mystical traditions honored the four directions and oriented the altar placement accordingly. In the Catholic and Episcopalian, the altar is almost always placed on the easternmost wall (because it is said that the Resurrection occurred there). Generally the east is the place of new beginnings. However, every direction has its strength and beauty. The south is the area of expansion and growth because it is associated with the noon sun. The north is the realm of the deepest inner dimensions because it is the home of the darkest night. (In the southern Hemisphere the meanings for the north and the south are reversed.) Using the cardinal compass points to orient your altar allows you to enter into a time-honored tradition and also connects your inner sacred space with natural forces of the outer world.
Choosing the Room for Your Altar
Each room in your home has a different feeling and energy, and your altar will be influenced by the room within which it is placed.
The bedroom would be a good place for an altar dedicated to romantic love.
The living room is a good place to position an altar to honor friends and family.
The dining room or kitchen is a deserving place for an Abundance Altar because food and nourishment are traditionally associated with prosperity.
The area around the hearth or fireplace is excellent for any altar because, in past times, the hearth was considered the heart of the home, no matter where it was placed.
The entrance to your home can be an auspicious place for a Blessing Altar to bring good fortune into your life. A homes threshold is a good location for sacred objects because it symbolized the gateway between the inner and outer universes.
Some may feel that their altar is a private and personal concern and may not want it to be seen by visitors. If this is the case with you, choose a room where you can maintain your privacy.
Altar Placement Using the "Bagua"
You can also use Feng Shui, the ancient art of placement. Just as the body has an energy grid overlying our physical body called the meridian system, so each home is overlapped by an energy grid system called the Bagua. This gird system over your home influences the energy n each area of the house. By placing an altar in a particular area in the home, you deepen its influence and potency. The essential energy of the bagua amplifies the power of the altar.If you have more than one floor the bagua grid extends all the way up
(or down) all the floors. This grid shows only the general areas of the home. This can also be aligned to each room of the house by aligning the map with the main entrance to the room.
To use this method, draw an aerial picture of your home. then apply the bagua grid system on top of it:
Wealth, Blessings and Abundance Fame, Self-statement and Reputation Relationships and Marriage Family, Ancestors and Heritage Health Projects and Children Inner Knowledge and Self-realization Career and Path in Life Helpful People and Angels
In Feng Shui, each of the nine squares of the bagua relates to some area of your life. If you decide to create an altar to bring more into your life, a good place for it would be in the Relationships area of either your home or a room within your home.
If you would like to create more abundance and feeling of luxury in your life, a good place for your altar would be the bagua area of your home which is associated with Wealth, Blessings and Abundance, this area would also be used to show gratitude for the abundance you already have.
Meditation altars are best placed in the Knowledge and Self- realization and/or angels and Helpful People areas of your home.
Missing Areas:
If your home is not a perfect square or rectangle, it is considered to have a "missing part." In Feng Shui, it is felt that that missing part can affect your life. To install an altar in an area of your home that is missing an aspect of the bagua map, position your altar close to the missing area and place a mirror behind it. This gives the feeling of depth into the area that is missing so it seems to extend the room.
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