Where we walk is Holy...Sacred is the Ground
Life offers so much, and sometimes it may feel like too much. Creating sacred space for yourself, in the form of an altar, prayer shelf, meditation room, a workspace, a garden, or even the area around your bathtub, can bring in a new way of being. Imagine a space in your home that is a daily reminder of your connection to the Divine, or ‘Source Energy.’ This space is a loving, peaceful, and nurturing setting for you to receive in, it is your sacred space.
SACRED SPACE IS PERSONAL
It is an expression of an intimate relationship with yourself and with life. It is your conversation with sacred in form and is a way of honoring creation. It is, in essence, your natural way of being. When you honor your life and find your inner sanctuary, it shows up around you. It flows from within. It flows from Source. It is the creator speaking through you into your space. Your sacred space expresses your personal understanding of our origins, and your love and devotion for the Divine source.
Many people from all walks of life create sacred space to honor the people and beings they love, cherish, and connect deeply with. This is an ancient practice which feels necessary, especially in the super-speed-tech-age we are in, for finding the ‘pause or still’ moments. In sacred space, we connect with our inner wisdom, our inner peace, our inner healing, and so much more. These sacred spaces create soulful moments for us when we can sit with and connect into them. The energy created from this connection resonates throughout our lives. Sacred space remind us that life is sacred, you are sacred, all is sacred.
SACRED SPACE IS EVERYWHERE
In nature, sacred space is everywhere. Imagine the ocean, the forest, the river, a mountain, the vast open starry sky. Creating sacred space is remembering that we are the earth, we are nature, and we are the co-creators of the grand design of the Divine dream. Sacred space contains and expresses all of this. It sings of oneness, in many forms, all pointing to this truth.
HOW TO BEGIN
When creating sacred space, begin simply. Within sacred space, as it is in nature, you can find a harmony of the ingredients you choose, balanced with open space. Create a space that invites reflection, movement, the flow is beautiful and inviting, but not overwhelming or overstimulating. Create a space that becomes a map which points to the intention that is embedded into it. Design it to reflect and invite your calm, meditative, awakened self. This is your sanctuary. As it is within you, in the essence of your soul’s offering, so it is in your sacred space.
Sometimes, sacred space is hard to create. Maybe this is a reflection of your busy life, your busy mind, your crowded thoughts. Maybe it is a reflection of your broken heart, your hesitance in trusting life. Maybe it is a reflection of how you feel disconnected, alone, and afraid. Maybe it is a reflection of not feeling worthy to give this gift to yourself, or to create harmony in your life.
Sacred space is created within us through our understanding that we are precious, we are holy, we are needed by the world as we are, gifts, wounds, and all. Cultivating this understanding, and engaging in radical self-care to heal these holy and broken-open hearts of ours, are the first steps to creating the kind of sacred space that gives us what we truly need and what nourishes us. So, today, decide that you are enough. That you deserve and are worthy of sacred space. That when you are deeply nourished, you can bring your best self to the world. And trust me, we need you.
TENDING TO YOUR SACRED SPACE
When you have begun to create sacred space for yourself, protect it. Attend to it. If we can clean and floss our teeth, wash our dishes and wear warm clothing when it is cold, we can do this for ourselves, too. We attend to our sacred space because it needs to be kept clean in form and in energy. Move things around regularly. Bring in new items and move out what is no longer resonating. Dust. Smudge with sage and incense. Bring light and air into the space as much as possible. These ways of tending this space keep it a living, breathing, healthy, vibrant sanctuary for you, a clear mirror that reflects your true nature.
Bring in plants and flowers, crystals, rocks, and water. Bring in your relatives, ancestral lineage, loved ones. Bring in candles and symbols of the Divine, of the Mystery, of Oneness. Bring in the beauty and nourishment of nature. Bring in your own unique flavor, essence, soul. Then invite your favorite friend in for a cup of tea.
Blessed Be!
SHARING OUR SACRED SPACES
- From Nicole:
Sacred space may be the key element for my spiritual practice. There is an altar I built to meditate with every morning. This altar has a photo of my children and I, many pieces from nature, photos and items of spiritual teachers, a candle, some plants, and incense. The altar is also decorated with beautiful fabric and flowers, honoring the beauty of all that is there. Every morning, I sit on a pillow in front of my altar. I light a candle, burn herbs and/or incense with the intention of clearing and cleansing the items on my altar and myself. After the little fire ritual, I stare at my altar items, acknowledging what they are to me, and offer gratitude and love for them. When I am complete with my offerings, I then receive love from them. The ability to sit and receive love from the divine beings I love has been transformational for me. Receiving love from your altar, your sacred space, is a transformational experience. Feeling waves of love washing over and through you is deeply nourishing and healing.
Even immersed in all the goodness during meditation, my mind can wander. Gently bringing my awareness back to feeling the love and to offering gratitude is so simple and reconnects me into grace again and again. When focused meditation time is complete, at least 15 minutes, I give a bow of respect for all that is, blow out the candle, and start the rest of my day. If for some reason I get distracted or rushed and miss this morning practice, I definitely feel it. A loss of the sacred I suppose. The sacred space and meditation practice is essential for me to live in a more loving, graceful, ‘Source’ connected way.
My home now has many altars with specific intentions because creating sacred space is so fun, and it brightens up everything. Bringing the sacred into daily routines stems from the sacred space created on my altar, in my home, and in my consciousness. Feeling Life Is Sacred, You Are Sacred, I Am Sacred, and All Is Sacred, is the space, the life, I am creating. So grateful for this Healing community and all the Sacred We bring in together. In whatever ways you bring in the sacred, I give gratitude. More and more of this please!
- From Devon:
I keep a sanctuary of healing, dedicated to the Goddess Quan Yin. It is her temple. I attend to the temple each day, and all my healing work happens in this space. Every item within the space has a purpose. Everything is intentionally placed. When you enter, you can feel the spirit of it.
This space nourishes me. It nourishes all who enter it. Like a beautifully prepared, vibrant whole food meal, in which every ingredient is added for it’s life affirming qualities, including nutrients, flavor, smell, color, form and beauty. Each ingredient has a purpose, and is included for its unique essence and ability to support a deepening relationship with all that is. Sacred space is created from a soulful, alchemical recipe.
My sacred space contains prayers and visions and intentions within it, within the placement of things, and within all the activity that takes place here. It contains the earth and all of her sentient intelligent life-force, the birthing, cycling rhythms of unconditional love. It contains all the earth teachings and is the earth’s classroom. It contains the star teachings, the Divine mystery, the light of unknown blessings already on their way. It contains the ancestors, our lineages, the wise ones, the council of elders who sit with us and support us in every moment of our lives. It contains the 4 legged ones and the crawling ones, the winged ones and the ones who swim in the waters of life. It contains the tree people, rooted deep and reaching for the light. It contains the flowers and all the green growing things, the medicines and sacred herbs. It contains the Divine Feminine as the infinite ocean of compassion, and the Divine Masculine as right relationship and right action, in perfect balance and harmony. It contains the Mystery. It contains you. It contains me. Within this space, my soul bows deeply in gratitude for my life, that I can be aware, and love, and sit with you.