Original post written for Blackartsygirl.com
Altars exist well beyond that spot in your grandmother's church, just beneath the pulpit. Explore the basics here as a way to spiritually welcome what you desire into your physical space.
A physical altar is a space you arrive at to hear the God in you. Altars serve as a reminder to tap back into the spiritual world, so we don't become distracted by occurrences in the physical world.
If you are unfamiliar with setting up a home altar, be flexible in your thoughts about how an altar should be. Altars can be as elaborate as one set up in a church or temple or as simple as a shoebox. There is no "wrong" way to do it starting out. What matters most is why you set it up and what you plan to do while you are there. Your intention is everything.
Who can or should have a physical altar?
Find a mirror.
Take a look.
You, that's who!
Seriously speaking, we all owe an unpayable debt to the spiritual world for our existence. A quote by Pierre Teilhard de Chardin put it best "We are not human beings having a spiritual experience; we are spiritual beings having a human experience." We honor ourselves by honoring the spiritual world. Altars serve as a physical representation of our eternal connection to the spiritual world. Regardless of your religious background, faith practices, or lack thereof, you deserve a dedicated space to become one with your intention.
Now let's discuss "the how."
How to Set up your altar:
Set your intention.
This is the most essential step. When you create this space, you're concentrating your desires into this specific environment to revisit that space repeatedly until you manifest your goal.
Choose and cleanse the space.
Choose a location that will allow you to focus on the intention and access the space at the ideal time. Physically clean the area from dust or debris that will not intentionally be a part of your altar.
Gather your tools.
The four elements* should be represented at your altar to represent balance and harmony:
Air: Feathers, Wings, Fan, Wind Chimes, Incense.
Fire: Candles, Matches, Alcohol.
Earth: Plants, Crystals, Seeds, Sand.
Water: Sea shells, Any Liquid, and of course, water
For more specificity on what is needed at your altar, consider the goal of this altar. Is the altar for:
Manifesting your vision?
Honoring your ancestors?
Protecting against stank/stagnant energy?
You decide.
There are no limits to the intentions you set.
Don't overthink this
A key factor to remember is without the activating aspect of the god force, there is no inherent magic in any place or tool, including the altar. Your intention is the energy that brings the power in. We must all recognize an inherent Divine presence already within us. This energy is the God/Goddess** within. All that is indeed required of us is to remember the divinity within and honor it with our lives. Our body is the temple, and our hearts become the altar with this practice.
If you take nothing else away from this article, remember this:
You are the altar.
Point Blank.
Period.
Every intention begins and ends with you.
Next, we'll discuss some specific sacred spaces, but never forget these are simply a reflection of what is within.
Types of Altars:
Here are five simple altar types you can set up for yourself*** Ancestor, Manifestation, Protection, Relationship, and working altar. Each altar type should include elements representing the goal of its creation. There are limitless ways of setting up each of these setups, and we could discuss this for days.
Comment below for which altar type you'd like to see featured in next month's issue:
🕊=Ancestor altar
🍀= Manifestation
🔥= Protection
💫=Relationship
P.S. If your Christianity makes you feel "a way" about setting up an altar.
Here's a podcast to pull you through. Listen to this episode of Sanctified to ground your spirit.
*= include the fifth element of metal to represent Spirit/space/ether if you are following feng shui practices or incorporating aspects of alchemy....with yo' fancy self.
**= "God" is not gendered (sorry to hit you with this one so soon in our Relationship, but it is what it is). The masculine and the feminine energies exist within the Divine/Creator/Source. How else would we all be made in the image? Don't ask me; talk to God about it.
***= There are concentrated altar types (called shrines) in specific practices, that require the assistance of an ordained spiritual leader. Even those shrines start of with the basics, so let's get comfortable with these first.
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