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How To Create Sacred Spaces For Art, Worship, Solace, Celebration
Red Wheel/Weiser 2002 ISBN #1-59003-011-7 I have worked with altars for most of my life - sometimes creating them consciously, sometimes creating them unconsciously. For me, they are a source of joy, a source of healing, and a source of grounding and personal power. Nancy Brady Cunningham and Denise Geddes have done a marvelous job of making the tool of altar work accessible to every woman, no matter what their background or culture may be. A good point is made in the very beginning of this book - that in creating an altar we are gathering together the scattered parts of our self, and reflecting who we are through the auspices of the altar. Through our altars, we tell the inner story of our lives. We reconnect with ourselves, and strengthen our paths. Altars can be created for any reason - or for no reason. They can be seasonal - our personal way of honoring the four elements and the changing seasons in our lives. They can be used to honor a holiday, marking that time of year in a very special way. They can mark special days in our lives - births, deaths, the first day of school, graduations, marriages, divorces, your first job, your new job, or retirement. They can be used to thank an old home for nurturing us, and bring that same nurturing energy into a new home. They can be used to honor our ancestors, to give thanks, to release fears, to call into our lives that which we wish to experience, to honor joy (or grief), to honor ourselves, to inspire ourselves. They can ground us, center us, and help us reconnect with the spiritual in our lives. Our altars reflect who we are and where we are in life at any given moment. And these moments are changeable as we move through life. From the book: "Creating an altar can be a life-affirming act in a world seemingly hell-bent on destruction." An altar is anything and everything that its creator wants it to be. It can be family pictures on a shelf. It can be a dresser top displaying items that are dear to us. It can be a formal setting, with candles, plants and other items that represent what we are honoring in our lives. It can be used to help spark our personal creativity. Whatever it is, wherever it is, it represents you. From the book: "An altar is a place where you go to reclaim your woman's intuition. This place says to the busy, rational mind: "Quiet down - let the deeper, wiser woman within you speak!" Over time your view of yourself and your place in the world shifts." Altars can be set up indoors or outdoors, they can be left up indefinitely or taken down immediately. In the outdoors, an altar can be as simple as finding a rock or tree stump to act as a base, and collecting items from nearby that draw your attention and honor the area that you are in. These altars can be left up when you leave the area, so that others may enjoy them. You may also wish to set up an altar on a patio, or in your back yard. These can be more complicated, using candles, plants, small containers of water, crystals and other items that represent the theme of the altar. One thing to remember here is that it is outdoors - so don't leave anything out that small (or large!) animals might find interesting, and might take away with them. Indoors, altars can be either public or personal - or some of both. A more public altar might be a picture of an ancestor, with a candle, a small plant or some flowers, and perhaps an item that belonged to the person. A public altar might also be something reflecting the seasons - such as a seasonal centerpiece, or a sideboard with candles, flowers and other things that represent the season (such as a pumpkin at Halloween, candy hearts on Valentine's Day, or ornaments at Christmas). Personal altars reflect highly personal issues - whether they be joy, grief, letting go, bringing in, or an active reconnecting with spirit. These can be set up in a home office, a bedroom, or any other room that not many people will be entering. These are the altars that we use for focus and meditation - that we spend time with on a daily basis, that heal us and nurture us. Altars can be permanent, they can be temporary, they can be seasonal. They can also be changing - in that part of the altar remains the same, but over time some of the items are changed to reflect the changes in our lives. Altars can be used on a personal or family basis (i.e. altars for ancestors), or they can be used for group work. They are a focus point, and act to bring a group of people together in a common act that reflects the individual energy of the group members, as well as the energy of the group as a whole. Throughout this book we are gifted with black and white photos of various kinds of altars. Would they have been better done in color? I thought so at first, but the more I work with this book, the more I see that the photos and the book work together, just as they are, to form a stunning template for working with alters. There is a wonderful chapter at the end of the book that acts as a resource for altar work. In it, the authors list, through different categories, how to focus on the different aspects of setting up and alter. These aspects are:
1. Intentions For Creating Altars Note: What to do at the altar contains many interesting thoughts on how we can make best use of alters. In the book, the authors discuss meditation and ritual, as well as using an oracle (such as the Tarot) for divinatory purposes as part of the ritual. At the very end of the book are several blank pages, left there purposefully so that you can keep a visual record of altars that you have planned and altars that you have worked with. A Book Of Women's Altars is, above all, a tool of empowerment for women. A way in which they can reconnect with themselves and with the spiritual forces in their lives. A way to honor themselves, and a way to honor life. I highly recommend this book for every women out there - all ages, all cultures. It is gentle wisdom that we can all use to heal ourselves, and those around us.
Bonnie Cehovet
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