wittmann, william - altar making
TRANSCRIPT
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Altar Making
An Active Meditationfor Healing Your
Heart and forDeepening Spiritual
Meaning in Your Life
By William Wittm ann and FriendsAlexandra Gay ek
Char Sundust
Joelle Ly ons Everett
Kimberly Gallagher
Morris RonesSuzanne Wittm ann
Copy right William Wittm ann 2012 All Right
Reserved
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William Wittmann
4227 E. Madison, 2-C
Seattle, WA 98112
206.328.207 3
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Table of
ContentsTIP:To jump to a chapter, click the chapter name.
Thank Y ou
Free Goodies
Other Books Y oull Like from William
My Amazon Bestsellers
Books I Constantly Recommend To Clients
My Amazon Authors Page
Poem
Why Altar Making?
How This Book Came to BeWhat Do I Mean When I Say This Is Second
Nature
What Benefits Do Y ou Get When Y ou Make Y our
Own Altar?
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Y ou Receiv e These Benefits When Y ou Build an
Altar
When Y ou Use An Altar
What Can Y ou Do to Honor the Flows of the
Universe?
What Is an Altar?
What is a Shrine?
Why Y ou Want to Make an Altar or a Shrine?
How Do Y ou Build an Altar
Or a Shrine?
First What Is Y our Intention?
Clarity of Heart and Presence
Second Where Do Y ou Want Y our Altar?
Third What Elements Do Y ou Want To Include
In Y our Altar?
The Best Part,
Making Y our Altar
First, Get Present
What Does It Mean To Do Something In A Sacred
Way ?
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This Morning
Who Makes the Altar?
How Can Y ou Stay in Alignment with the Sacred
How Can Y ou Suspend Y our Critical Mind?
Inspiration from Two Mov ies
Sanctify Y our Altar
What A re Way s to Use Y our Altar?
Use Altars for Connecting to the Sacred
and for Worship
Use Altars for Pray er & Serv ice
How Y ou Can Make a Profound Difference in the
World without Leav ing Home World Work
Exercise
Use Altars for Rituals
Use Altars for Attracting Blessings
Use Altars for Giving Thanks
Jacks Shadow Altar
The Prayer Stick A Special Altar Form
Little Help from My Friends
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ltar Making as Vibrant Spiritual Practice
by Kimberly Gallagher
Contribution
Making, Sanctify ing,
Using Altars
By Morris Rones
Steps to Make an Altar
Sanctify ing an Altar
Contribution
How to Make an Altar
Conversation in my Head between William and M
By Suzanne Wittmann
rrev erent Altars
By Alexandra Gayek
ContributionThe Sage on the Dashboard
By Char Sundust
Pondering Altars
By Joelle Lyons Everett
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Strange And Wonderful Things
Contribution
Heres How to Rev iew Y our Book on Amazon
Friendly Resources
WilliamsPlayful & Sacred A rt
Williams Resources
Work with Me
Books by Others
Places to Contribute Money Flow and
Partnerships
Contact Information for Co-Authors
bout the Author
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Thank YouThanks for getting this book. Please be kind and
REVIEW this book on Amazon. I need your
eedback to make the next version better.
Obviously , y our rev iew helps others to decide to ge
he book or not.
f y ou dont know how to submit a rev iew tomazon. Y ou can read the steps at the end of the
book. Its easy , and its fast.
Thank you so much.
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Free Goodies
s a way to say thanks for getting my book, you can
go to my Free Goodies Pageto find more things
hat work for y ou.
=>
http://www.bodyandsoulmentor.com/index.php?
page=freegoodies
Consider sharing the book with your friends.
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Other Books
Youll Like fromWilliamPeople hav e reported that all my books help them t
ive a life they lov e wholeheartedly body and
oul. Obv iously , y ou can browse the list below to
ee which ones might serve you next. Read the
books description on Amazon to find out all y ou
need to decide to get the book or not.
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My Amazon Bestsellers
Do More of What Works: A Practical
Prescription for Figuring Out Your LifeThis
book contains reliable ideas y ou can apply to y our
ife so that you can live a life y ou lov e body and
oul.
Drawing the Sacred: Com m uning with the
Sacred through Drawing An IllustratedJourney (Kindle Version)Y oull lov e the Trad
Paperback Edition. It makes a lov ely gift.
Simply Serene: How to Calm Down, Reduce
Stress, Deal with Stress, and Be Instantlylert and at Peace- I packed this book with
ffective strategies I want all my clients to know.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006HIJO24/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B006HIJO24&linkCode=as2&tag=williamwittmannvhttps://www.createspace.com/4243026http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DPYEMRA/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00DPYEMRA&linkCode=as2&tag=williamwittmannvhttp://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BXP7VXK/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00BXP7VXK&linkCode=as2&tag=williamwittmannv -
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Books I ConstantlyRecommend To Clients
Foolproof Relaxation: How to Relax Your
Mind Any tim e, Any where. I could have named
his: T he Really Short and Easy Get Back to
Sleep Book. Note: Simply Sereneincludes a
version of this.
T he Eight Fundam ental Secrets to Living
ell: How to Live a Happy Life and Live Life
o the Fullest Clients love this book.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006XDS5AU/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B006XDS5AU&linkCode=as2&tag=williamwittmannvhttp://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004WG5LRA/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B004WG5LRA&linkCode=as2&tag=williamwittmannv -
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My Amazon Authors Page
Because I keep adding books, you can go straight to
my Am azon Authors Pageand choose from the
est of my books. (http://amzn.to/vXKNbC)
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Poem
Altar,
holy space
place of honor
place of honoring ritual
Altar
ev okes energies,
offers a remindersymbolic invocation
Altar
touches into quiet,
meaningful waysof remembrance
Altar
rekindles mind
and heart
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to
reawaken (soul)
From an Anonymous Friend
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Why Altar
Making?
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How This Book Came to Be
Why the book,Altar Making? Why make altars?
f y oure like me, altars belong to the priest class.
Not to folks like y ou and me. But listen...
make Sacred Landscape Altarpieces. As y ou can
ee abov e, they re beautiful and people lov e them.
While I was promoting my altarpieces for people to
buy , it dawned on me,
William, not ev eryone knows
how to m ake an altarpiece.Shoot, they m ay not even know
they can. Som e m ight even
think its against the rules.
The thoughts in this inner dialog continued toumble out...
Som e people m ight not know
how to sanctify one. T hey
m ight not know what the
benefits are. Wow! And, Holy
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Moly , they m ight never even
have thought about it at all.
To remedy this I decided to write this book of ideasor y ou.
Heres the big idea:
You can utilize altar m aking as
a spiritual practice to deepen
your connection to the Sacred.
s the idea for the book grew, I thought it would be
wonderful to have some of my friends who buildaltars add their ideas to the book. They thought it
was great too, and y ou can find their contributions
n the book starting with the foreword.
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What Do I Mean When ISay This Is Second Nature
build altars and shrines frequently, sometimes
daily in parks, my office and my home. Many
people from all ov er the world do as well. It seems
econd nature to them and to me.
Would y ou like to know why people create altars?
Well just listen to what happens to y ou and for y ou
when y ou build an altar
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What Benefits
Do You GetWhen You Make
Your Own Altar?
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ou Receive These BenefitsWhen You Build an Altar
First, because creating an altar puts you in a
state where time stops, you feel blissful, you
feel fully alert, and you may feel connected t
all that is. In other words, y ou have fun
building an altar.
When y ou make an altar, y ou get to be in the
present. The present is where you find the
kingdom of heaven. Therefore, when y ou
make an altar, you get to be in heaven.
Y ou connect to the Sacred.
Y ou align with Spirit, and y ou can bring thes
numinous qualities into y our daily life where
they belong.
Y ou get to add beauty to the world.
When y ou make an altar or a shrine, y ou
stimulate y our creativ e juices. These juices
and the sanctity y ou invoke and ev oke flows
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into every corner of y our life. Y ou can
bootstrap any project y ou want to begin by
first building an altar and listening to the
guidance and intuitions y ou get while y ou
build it.
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When You Use An Altar
The altar or shrine acts like an anchor. It
reminds y ou of y our experience of
connection that you had when you created
the altar.
The altar, once created, can bring you back
into Presence. This can happen for y ou
casually when y ou walk by it. It can ev entranspire when y ou think about it.
Finally, you can actively harness this
principle by consciously going to an altar o
a shrine for specific reasons.
Y ou can use the altar as a place for pray er
and invocation. Y ou can change the world b
using it as a focus for env isioning a blessed
world.
Y ou can use altars for healing y ourself,
others, and the world.
Y ou can use it to attract things to y ourself
that you desire such as true wealth, lov e,
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happiness, relationships, material goods, and
even money.
The altar acts as a model for others. When
y ou build altars and shrines, others will seethem and be inspired.
Pretty cool, y es?
Before we get started with the details about altars
and shrines and how to make them, I have a favor t
ask
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What Can You
Do to Honor theFlows of the
Universe?Bey ond paying a price for this manual, I ask y ou to
onsider doing something more in exchange for all
he benefits y ou will certainly receive from reading
and applying the knowledge in this wonderfulmanual.
t is a way for y ou to honor the Sacred and a way to
how gratitude for the gifts you receive.
Heres what I would like. Its easy.
One: If y ou find the ideas in this book
v aluable, pass the book on to every one who
might benefit. Send them to my website page
or to myAmazon Authors page.
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Two: Make a contribution of time and/or
money to y our favorite sacred place or to
people who are doing work y ou appreciate
and admire. If y ou make a contribution, letme know to whom you gave your gift. I
would love to hear y our story .
lov e flowing money to these two places, y ou may
oo
The Heifer Project
The Heifer Projectfocuses on making micro loans to
people. They started with the idea of supplying
heifers to people in need of food. They have
xpanded in many wondrous way s.
s one of the guiding principles of the program, the
Heifer Project trains the recipient of the heifer to
ake care of the animal and its products. As part ofhe gift, the recipient then passes the gift on to
omeone else in the village. That means passing on
a breeding pair of animals or a pregnant animal and
raining the next person. Whole v illages transform
hemselves this way. They have gone from people
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who needed gifts of food, etc, to people exporting
iches to others. It is marvelous.
More: http://www.heifer.org/index.htm
The Trust for Public Land
TPLstarted by purchasing tracts of special land
before the developers grabbed them up. Their focu
s to preserv e these tracts for future generations tonjoy . Y ou probably know; parks and beautiful
places nourish the body and the soul. Y ou may not
know there is now scientific research to support thi
obv ious insight. Visionaries in the past set aside
v ery park y ou and I have ever enjoy ed. Now, its
our turn to be the v isionary genius.
The mission has expanded from saving large rural
parcels to dev eloping urban parks in collaboration
with those communities. This work is very exciting
More: http://www.tpl.org/
encourage y ou to add y our flow to mine and help
make this a world that works for ev ery one.
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My co-authors list their suggestions at the
end of their chapters. Y ou can find the whole lis
of wonderful places in the resource section under
Money Flow and Partnerships at the end of the
manual.
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What Is an
Altar?What is a
Shrine?What is an altar or a shrine? Any structure designe
or sacred use can be a shrine or an altar. Thats it.
will not make detailed distinctions here between
altars and shrines and will use the terms
nterchangeably . Shrines hold the possibility of
walking around inside of them, though this is not
equired, and shrines can contain an altar. The
onv erse does not apply .
s with St. Peters in Rome (left), they can be fancy
bey ond belief.
Or
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Altars can be quite
simple as is the one at
the beginning of the
chapter and to the left
Although the circle
ormed of sticks is quite simple, it serv es me well in
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holding my prayers for patients and others loved
ones in the basket encircled by consecrated rocks
and limbs.
include the altar on the front cov er of the bookbecause it is so simple. It liv es on the windowsill in
my therapy office. Although the altar contains
ymbols, balance for one, it is lov ely and centering
n its own right.
shrine possesses much the same power as an alta
but we can glean an additional insight from the root
definition of the word. The word shrine comes
rom old English and from Latin meaning a box or
ontainer.
Both altars and shrines are containers. But
ontainers for what? What do they hold?
Traditionally , they hold sacred objects such as the
bones or other relics of saints. But lets lookdeeper
Altars and shrines hold and
uphold our highest and best
selves. T hey hold the place for
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our m ost sacred connections to
the Divine.
think of them both as containers and as doorways
o the Sacred.
Can you remember a time when you knew Spirit
lowed every where and magic was in the air?
This is what altars can do for y ou. They remind you
of the fundamental truth.
Spirit Flows Everywhere. Everything Is
Sacred.
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Why You Want
to Make an Altaror a Shrine?n my y outh, I serv ed as an altar boy at St. Michael
n the Hills. I lov ed to participate in the ritual. I
hrov e on the direct connection to the Sacred that
he religious serv ices made apparent. It got so that
would only attend church when I was an altar boy
My participation in the ritual fed me deeply .
When y ou make y our own altars and/or y our own
hrines, you will benefit, too.
When y ou m ake an altar, yourheart will fill with the Sacred.
While y ou're sitting there reading this, y oull
discov er that an altar you create, possesses at its
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heart the ability to transform y our life.
The altar will do nothing in and of itself, of course,
until y ou imbue it with energy and faith. The very
act of creating the altar invests the inanimateobjects with meaning and power. Or it honors them
or their inherent meaning or power. Y ou gain y ou
power and the benefits from the process itself of
reating the altar. I will show you how later on.
ou can also benefit by using the altar as a sacred
pace in which to perform rites and ceremonies.
ou can employ an altar or a shrine to heal or
otherwise support y ourself and others. Y ou can
mploy it to attract circumstances and things to y ohat you feel will mov e y ou forward on your path.
Have y ou noticed that y oure ready to find out mor
and see some examples of peoples altars? Well, let
move on now to building an altar.
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How Do You
Build an AltarOr a Shrine?
The power of an altar and a shrine lies in the making
and the heartfelt attention and intention you bring
o the task.
The nature of its construction matters not. It
doesnt matter if its big or small, fancy or simple.our heartfelt attention matters the most.
Read Suzannes process for building an altar, it give
y ou the feel of it quite well.
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First What Is YourIntention?
What do y ou want the altar to do? How do y ou wan
o use it? What do y ou want to make easier in y our
ife? How do y ou want to deepen your heart life?
Do y ou want to use the altar or shrine
to be more present?
to feel the presence of God, of the
Sacred?
for healing?
for attracting wealth?
for connecting with the Sacred? My
favorite.
for supporting y our family?
for expanding y our career?
for finding y our true lov e? for strengthening y our marriage?
Whatever y ou choose, if it comes from the heart, it
will serve the right purpose and carry the most
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potent intention.
Most commonly , y ou will know what y oure aiming
at. Y ou will feel a calling towards something. Y ou
will feel drawn towards something. Often we aredrawn to just connect with the Sacred more deeply
We feel out of touch. Making something with our
hands literally puts us back in touch.
Sometimes I feel it is time to build a shrine and I
dont know what its for. In the making, I sometime
discov er what underlies the hunger.
f y ou are uncertain as to what y ou want, you can
alway s consult y our heart.
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Clarity of Heart andPresence
How do y ou find this clarity in y our heart? Well y o
ould create an altar to help support y ou in finding
he intention in y our life. Mostly , it requires y ou to
be still, quiet and centered. (My manuals, Lookin
Deeply into Presence and Simply Serene
Four Am azingly Powerful Ways to Benstantly Alert and at Peaceshow y ou ways in
depth to find that clarity .
Here is a shorter v ersion
T urn Off T he Greedy Fearful Yam m ering In
our Head
nsure y ou have a quiet space undisturbed for a fewmoments and then sit or stand quietly .
Breathe slowly and deeply in y our belly . Ey es open
et your ey es be soft. Gently gaze at something in
he distance. Then let y ourself ex pand y our v ision
o take in as wide an angle as you can. Leaving you
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y es focusing forward gently, note y our peripheral
v ision to the left and to the right. Then up and
down. Hold all of this at the same time.
Did y ou notice? Y our mind quiets downompletely . Y ou have just tasted enlightenment.
Do all the exercises and build the altars and shrines
rom this place. Whenever your chatty v oice in the
head comes back with words of worry , doubt, greed
or distraction, return to wide-angle peripheral
v ision.
When y ou look in this way and the mind quiets, y ou
have arrived in Heav en. Build y our altar from this
place. Pray from this place. Y ou have found the
most sacred place, this place of stillness, this placeof presence.
Now, from here ask this question, What is calling
me that will make my heart smile. Then drop the
question into y our heart.
magine it leaving your head and serenely dropping
peacefully down into your heart. Y ou can assist the
process by crossing y our hands ov er y our heart an
magine breathing through your heart.
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Dont think about the question in your head. Rathe
et an answer bubble up from y our deepest heart.
Be like the proverbial cat sitting at the mouse hole,
itting fully alert and completely relaxed waiting fohe mouse to emerge. Wait in this calm alert way fo
y our heart to respond with a lovely clear answer.
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Second Where Do YouWant Your Altar?
Where do y ou want this altar to be?
Do y ou want it indoors or outdoors?
Most of my altars live outdoors and only last for a
brief time. My fav orites often last only until thenext tide comes in or the nex t gust of wind puffs.
These short-lived ones are cousins to the candle.
People light candles to focus their pray ers. The
andle burns and then disappears. Beach shrines
act the same way .
Sacred Space
What is sacred space? One of the neat things about
he Muslim faith is that Muslims create sacred spacwhenev er and wherev er one places his pray er rug.
ou can make sacred space as simply and as easily.
Where would y ou like it to be?
ndoors
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Can you think of what the advantages to an indoor
altar would be for y ou?
Do y ou need to think about children or pets thatmight disrupt the altar or whom y ou might invite to
ontribute?
The Christmas ritual of a family decorating a tree
epresents a fine example of temporary community
altar making.
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Third What Elements Doou Want To Include In
our Altar?
Every thing in nature contains
all the power of nature.
Every thing is made of onehidden stuff.
Ralph Waldo Em erson
What sy mbols feed y our heart? Which sy mbolstimulate y our creativ ity ? Which remind y ou of
hose things you want to hold close?
Photos are good. Historically, people all over the
world use icons of some sort. Most religions fav or
tatues of saints in their altars and shrines. Not all,
of course, some prohibit the use of icons altogether
Some swim in icons. Y ou choose what works for
y ou.
like to build stuff, so I recurrently have stacked
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ocks as a component of my altars.
n the stick circle on page 13, y ou see a pine needle
basket in the center. I made it specifically for use in
his altar.
Those objects that just come to y ou carry the most
power. Some come to y ou while y ou walk in a park
or down an ally. Y ou stop and pick up a crow
eather, a shiny coin, or a rock. I once found a rust
silver watch with the queen of diamonds on the
ace.
Sometimes these artifacts come to y ou as gifts from
riends.
People often employ circles and spheres as well as
verticals, standing or stacked objects. If nothing
lse, they represent respectively the female and the
male principles. Y ou can see an example of both on
he cov er.
nd dont forget Williams Playful and Sacred A rt
)
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Hot Rod Devil Duckies And Rubber Buddhas
n my office desktop altar, seen on page 1 2, y ou wil
notice a Zen Buddhist monk drinking coffee andalking on a cordless phone. At first glance this may
appear to be sacrilegious mockery of the Buddha,
but from a Zen point of view one could not mock th
Buddha any more than they have already done fo
y ears. For instance:
If y ou m eet the Buddha on the road, kill
him!
For me the coffee sipping monk reminds me to be a
entered as I can be in my work and in the world athe same time. Jesus inv ited us to be in the world
but not of it. This little guy does this well for me. It
also pokes fun at my pretensions to holiness. Did I
mention that he is a squeak toy ? He squeaks out of
his fundamental orifice.
rchie McPheehas a wide range of wonderful silly
tuff. This is where I get the little rubber Buddhas
y ou see in the photo of my altarpiece on page 6.
nd they have the Dev il Duckies I so cherish. I hav
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he Hot Rod Dev il Duckie.
Good. Now, lets mov e on to the good part makin
he altar.
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The Best Part,
Making YourAltarWhen we make an altar we come into the present
specially when we make it in a sacred way.
T he Power Is in the Making.
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First, Get Present
start by breathing in my belly slowly, feeling the
low rise and fall of my belly . Nex t, I take in all my
urroundings. What do I see, hear, and feel? Use
he wide-angle vision, I told y ou about abov e in the
ection T urn Off the Greedy Fearful
am m ering in Y our Head. This will bring y ou
nto the present quite nicely . For more details and
trategies you can read my book Simply Serene Four Am azingly Powerful Ways to Be
nstantly Alert and at Peace.
For me, using these strategies brings me into the
present enough to start the process and to operaten a sacred way.
Others find that this is a good time to invoke the
Sacred to help in the process. Y ou can offer an
opening pray er of y our choice. Awareness becomea silent prayer for me a prayer of silence.
ou can light incense or a candle. Experiment.
Find what works for y ou.
http://www.amazon.com/Simply-Serene-Reduce-Instantly-ebook/dp/B006HIJO24/ref=la_B004WCI9LY_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1348084339&sr=1-3 -
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What Does It Mean To DoSomething In A Sacred
Way?By doing things in a sacred way , I mean being
espectful to the ways of y our spiritual path. If
y oure Buddhist, y ou bow. If you are a Catholic, y o
genuflect. If y ou are a Muslim, y ou bathe andpurify.
What acts, for y ou, show respect for y ou to God or
Universe?
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This Morning
While walking to my tai chi beach, I spied a bright
y ellow willow twig on the bright green grass. Ipontaneously made an altar this morning using thi
wig as the seed.
had no plans to make an altar. I only wanted
onnection with God before I worked with my first
priv ate client of the day.
The twig triggered the process. Whats nex t?
Elsewhere on the lawn was a bigger stick for drawin
a circle in the sand and maybe for placing in the
and.
explored the waters edge today where y esterday
big waves had scoured the sand smooth
uncommon for this beach. There I found a set of
hree stones simply arranged on the virgin beach. Idrew a two-foot circle around them with my newly
acquired drawing stick.
then planted my two bright y ellow willow twigs
nside the circle. I placed the taller one closer to th
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enter and the shorter halfway between it and the
outside of the circle. They pointed to the west. In
he medicine wheel archety pe, the Teacher makes
his home in the west.
stepped back and felt a much deeper connection t
he lake and to the Sacred.
So, thats an ex ample of the process. Y ou can do
hat, cant y ou? Sure y ou can.
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Who Makes the Altar?
n a v ery real sense, I didnt plant the twigs or
draw the circle. I listened and heeded the requests
of the altar-in-making. When you shut down the
noisy mind, you disappear. And all there is, is all
here is.
When I make an altar, it feels like a collaborativ e
ffort between the location, the items, and me. Inhe process, we all become one with the Sacred.
More accurately , I remember I am one with all
iving things and Life itself.
T he landscape and the twigsalready know who they are.
T hey alway s remember.
The altar told me where it wanted to liv e. It told meo draw the circle. The twigs came to me and asked
o be placed, just so, in the west. The connection
with the sacred, with Life, y ou can see, occurs in th
process.
The product, the result has no special meaning to
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me. Except that it grew out of the connection and
herefore holds meaning and holds the connection
o the Sacred.
do appreciate it as a work of art in much the sameway I can be moved by the beauty of a fallen leaf on
he ground or the joy ous flight of a crow
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How Can You Stay inlignment with the Sacred?
To insure that I stay in alignment with the Sacred
and to honor the spirit of the objects I am
ollaborating with, I continually ask questions
nternally.
Here are the questions I pose myself. Y ou can mak
up y our own
Who wants to come to the altar? Meaning
what objects, but since every thing is aliv
it really is a who. Sticks, rocks, flowerspictures, icons, etc.
Where do they want to be?
Whats still needed, whats missing?
Is it complete, now? Most of us want to
add too much. Note you can alway s
remov e something if y ou go overboard.
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n the my th of Coco Chanel, the Celestial Empress o
aste adv ises, Just before y ou go out, stand in fron
of y our mirror and remove one piece of jewelry .
Her guidance works.
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How Can You Suspend YourCritical Mind?
ncidentally , I dont know what the images mean in
my altars. While y ou are making y our altar suspend
udgment. Dont second-guess y ourself with try ing
o figure it out. Just let y ourself hear the call. Feel
y our instincts, feel y our urges, sense y our intuitiv e
lashes.
fterwards you can figure it out if y ou wish. Often
y ou will receiv e useful hints on how to live y our
ife. The altar making process can act much like an
oracle for y ou.
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Inspiration from TwoMovies
ou can watch these two films on DVD to get ideas
on how to build the altars. As y ou watch these film
losely, y ou cant help but notice the spirit and the
ngagement display ed in the building of their altars
Rivers and T ides documents Andy Goldsworthyart. Goldsworthy takes found objects in nature and
reates a work of art on site using only the tools and
materials he finds at the site. For instance, he uses
horns to poke holes in things he wants to thread
ogether. Y oull see that he works much as Idescribed abov e.
lthough Goldsworthy might not say he constructs
altars, they share the same qualities as we have bee
alking about. His process and his heart bespeakworship. His art ev okes the Sacred. Watch and see
Still Breathing stars one of my favorite actors,
Brendan Fraser. In this story , Frasers character
builds cairns altars. For generations his family ha
been building cairns to attract their mates and to
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mov e the earth. The story revolves around his
istening to his intuition to find his wife.
Celeste Holm plays his grandmother, Ida, with
trength and sweetness. She also plays the tubawhile floating down a lov ely willow lined stream in
mall highly polished wooden rowboat.
ou can find out more about both from
Netflix.com. If y ou arent already a member, y ou
an sign up. Y oull be glad y ou did. (Y ou dont nee
o sign up to get information.)
http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/click?id=oiTi*CTFMBk&offerid=78684.10000008&type=3&subid=0%22 -
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Sanctify Your Altar
What does sanctify mean? Sanctify means to set
omething apart for sacred use. Y ou get to decide
what setting it apart means and what sacred use
means.
To me set apart means out of the way a bit.
Perhaps, out of the way of possible disapprov al of
riends, disruption by cats, dogs, ferrets, husbandswives, or children. Note y ou can inv ite children
or any of the others to participate, y our choice.
Many parents have the kids help in decorating for
holidays. Y ou know what works best.
Dedicating the altar to some purpose or honoring
ome purpose sanctifies it. Y ou want to make it
worthy of your respect and that of others.
OK, now lets mov e on to ways to use y our altar.
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What Are Ways
to Use YourAltar?
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Use Altars for Connecting tothe Sacred
and for Worship
Worship means coming into relationship with the
Sacred. Worship connects y ou to the Sacred.
Worship means to honor and love. And to come ful
ircle, to honor and love presupposes a
elationship.
For me, the best use of the altar lies in the process o
making it. I dont ev er need to see it again. Myriend, Jack Blackburn, finds the same holds true fo
him.
ou can read how my co-authors benefit in their
hapters. Ev ery one gets different things from thealtars.
Morris Rones uses it to hold space. I value
athedrals for just this reason. They hold a space
or connection with the Sacred. I can count on them
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o do that. Whenever I go to one of them, I know I
an settle and connect. The cathedral will hold me.
Likewise sitting with an altar can hold y ou. In time
of need, this holding can gently support and nurtury ou well.
n altar can remind y ou of Presence. This
emembrance serv es me by helping me to stay in
ouch with the source. I recall what matters. To
upport this, I have altars around me. (Recall Coco
Chanels warning about too much of a good thing.)
s others will say later on and I agree, Keep
hanging them to insure their freshness.
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How You Can Make aProfound Difference in the
World without LeavingHome World WorkExercise
We offer the following exercise as a gift. It is on
possible way a person can use inner forces t
espond to the call of the world for blessing and aid
f it feels right to y ou, please use it as you see fit.
This exercise has three major steps
ttunement, World Work, and Returneach o
which has stages within it.
Attunem ent
We begin by attuning to Self, Place, the
Sacred, and Allies
Honor Yourself
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As an inhabitant of this world, y ou have th
power to affect it phy sically, mentally , emotionally
nergetically, and spiritually. Y ou can and do mak
a difference ev ery day. Feel y ourself as a source o
pirit in this world, a unique presence. No one elsan contribute what you can. Y ou are invaluable a
an expression of indiv iduated sacredness. Y ou hav
he power to give the blessings of your spirit to th
world. Feel this power within y ou, the power to be
ource of lov e. Honor y ourself.
Honor Your Place
We all know that our phy sical env ironment ca
affect our vitality, mood, thinking and creativity
How often do we not arrange the space in which wind ourselves to better accommodate ourselve
within it? In the shamanic worldview, all of th
things in our space are alive and exude a subtl
presence and influence in our lives. They can b
allies in our work like a comfortable chair obeautiful work of art.
The soul of the world breathes throug
verything in your environment. In love
acknowledge this presence in all that surrounds y o
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and invite the assistance of the spirit of your plac
n the work of healing, blessing and v ision. Hono
y our place.
Honor the Sacred
Each of us has experiences of awe, wonder an
oy. We each have known the sacredness of bein
alive and the holiness of a moment. We ca
ecapture this knowing with the swiftness o
magination and stand in the presence of the sacred
he generative my stery within all things in which w
move and have our being. All World Work is t
urther the presence of the sacred on earth. Hono
he Sacred.
Honor Your Allies
We nev er act alone but are aided and supporte
by the sacred and by spiritual intelligences of th
arth and cosmos. You may have a speciaelationship with an inner guide, helper, teacher, o
ome other spiritual power who assists and protect
y ou. Or perhaps y ou can imagine having such a
ally, like an angel. If so, then at this time attune t
and in your own way call upon your ally, lovingl
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nviting its participation in your work. It brings it
own unique perspective, vision, and energy t
omplement your own in a partnership of resonanc
hat gives breadth and strength to your Worl
Work. Honor y our Allies.
The four attunements you have just complete
ome together to create a field of energy for service
his field is a foundation for y our World Work
World Work
Now call to mind a situation to which you wis
o bring healing, wholeness, blessing
mpowerment, and vision. Imagine the particularof the situation. Step into the situation holdin
about you the field of service you have create
hrough your attunements. You do not need t
project any action or change into the situation. Y o
tand as one who delivers cool water on a hot dayallowing the people and forces within the situatio
o draw what they will from the field you presen
Without personal agenda but with compassion y o
tand and create a larger, more spacious place fo
pressure to subside, for negative energies to b
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buffered and transmuted, and for the sacred to hav
oom to act for the good of all.
Be sensitive to any impressions or suggestion
hat may come that may lead you to take particular action. Be aware of you own desires fo
he situation. If y ou wish for a particular outcome
tate it clearly, and then let it go. The sacre
ntelligence seeking to unfold within the situatio
will respond to it or not. Y ou are there in spir
tanding as a radiant agent for the highest and bes
development for the whole situation, for all of th
players, for every being involved; human and no
human alike.
Return
When y ou feel complete, take a neutral positio
owards the energies with which you have bee
working so that nothing attaches to y ou. Ask y ouallies and the sacred for your own cleansing an
protection. Then direct y our attention back to th
place you are sitting. Thank the ones you hav
alled upon who may have helped in your work an
hose who may have come to help unbidden. Le
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hem go. Give thanks to your environment that ha
held you while you did your work. Appreciat
y ourself and y our willingness and ability to do th
work.
To close and ground the energy, touc
omething in the place where you are, such as you
hair, and let the blessing of the moment flow int
y our immediate env ironment. Mov e around
tretch and do whatever you need to connect full
with y our ev ery day life, knowing that the work y o
have done will be a blessing.
BLESSING
When y ou bless, y ou provide one of the most poten
erv ices y ou can. Blessing fits in with pray er.
t times when you feel impotent or helpless to
prov ide comfort or a serv ice that will help restoreomeone or a situation to wholeness, I recommend
y ou bless.
David Spanglers book, Blessing: T he Art and
he Practicehttp://tinyurl.com/ctbhz draws
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many useful distinctions and can show y ou the way
Heres what the Amazon rev iew says
Blessing, a tender book byinternationally recognized spiritual
leader Dav id Spangler, teaches the
art of invoking and receiv ing
blessings. Y es, it sounds
straightforward. But diving into the
core of this book, we discov er how
blessings represent the crux of
spiritual dev elopment--the ability to
hold the world (and oneself) in the
palm of lov ing kindness, and to
develop a practice that sheds goodintentions upon the world.
couldnt say it better so I didnt.
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Use Altars for Rituals
Every morning, my friend, Kathy Rossol steeps a
up of green tea and steps outside her sliding glass
doors out onto her deck. In the rainy season, there
s enough of an ov erhang that she can stay dry .
Kathy rises early due to a long commute into
Seattle, so many days she steps out into the
predawn darkness of a northwest winter. Still sheinds her dy ing father, her angry husband, and
eenage daughter all being at peace while she is out
here. Even though the circumstances have not
hanged, life is in balance.
Kathy describes what she does:
When I first started doing this, it was
the dead of winter - cold, dark, often
rainy. I would shut the door behindme and stand under the eaves,
cradling the cup of tea in my hands.
I started by breathing deeply , as if
getting ready to meditate. I would
sip my tea and wait for the world to
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sink into me - the sounds, the odors,
the feel of the air, the pattern of
darkness and light.
It's odd how I became attuned tojust that cup of tea and those
impressions. With each sip, with
each breath, I felt more peaceful,
more serene. It was easy not to
think about my problems.
Now that it's so light out (at 6 am),
the world seems a different place
and I initially found that unsettling.
Sipping my tea, I remind myself that
the same world is out there, justclothed differently . The green belt
behind my house contains an
immense fir tree that creaked and
groaned during the winter but now is
silent. Raucous bird song nowgreets me when I walk out on my
deck. Were those birds there before,
sleeping in the dark hours of the
morning or were they in some warm
clime down south?
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My friend Cristie tells a similar story about her
ituals in Simply Serene.
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Use Altars for AttractingBlessings
Many use prosperity altars to attract the best of life
o themselves or for lov ed ones.
ou can follow the basic guidelines of any altar and
add sy mbols and prayers for what y ou want toattract. Careful ask for what y ou want; not what
y ou dont want.
No more debt may be something y ou think y ou
want. When y ou create a mental picture of no
more debt though, the picture necessarily contain
debt.
Better to make a picture of easily paying all your
bills with bundles of money left over.
See the difference? Ask for any thing and ev ery thin
y ou want. (See Simply Serenefor more details.)
http://www.amazon.com/Simply-Serene-Reduce-Instantly-ebook/dp/B006HIJO24/ref=la_B004WCI9LY_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1348084339&sr=1-3 -
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Use Altars for GivingThanks
Giving thanks naturally follows after attracting
wonderful things. When y ou feel poor or the
goodness of life seems scarce, pay attention to all
he blessings y ou have right now. When y ou focus
on whats missing, you can easily ov erlook all yourblessings.
Count y our blessings. Populate an altar with what
y ou treasure about what y ou are, do, and have righ
now.
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Jacks Shadow Altar
Jack Blackburnplaces images of his shadow self as
an offering to God. His shadow contains thelements where he carries shame, hurt, anger, or
mbarrassment. He places these shadow elements
on the altar for healing and as a way to honor the
wholeness that humans are. He places them there t
become humble.
We have egos that when under duress go into
defensive or attack modes. We act in unhealthy
divisive ways. We control and we bluster. We make
people wrong and ourselves right.
What would it be like to offer up all y our shameful
parts to God? Would it heal y ou to admit y our flaws
before the Beloved? Is there freedom in humility ?
Experiment with y our shadow.
For more on the shadow read Robert Bly s gem A
Little Book on the Hum an Shadow.
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The Prayer Stick
A Special AltarFormSome Christian churches, most notably , the Catholi
and Orthodox Christian churches utilize the lighting
of candles as a way to energize their prayers. As
ong as the candle burns, the prayers waft to
heaven.
The Tibetan Buddhists hang pray er flags and spinprayer wheels.
The Lakota people of the Great Plains create a
prayer stick to achiev e the same result.
The adorned stick is planted upright in the sacred
ground. Near the top of the stick a simple face is
arved and a variety of objects, such as ribbons and
lowers, tied to the pray er stick so that when the
wind blows as it alway s does on the plains, the
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objects will mov e and the wind will faithfully carry
he pray er to the Great Spirit.
Suzanne and I hav e used pray er sticks for importan
passages in our lives the birth of children, thedeath of parents. I helped my y oungest construct a
grandfather prayer stick when her grandfather died
We placed it up in the woods with some of her
deceased pets.
Enough from me, now. Lets hear from my co-
authors.
Read on...
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A Little Help
from My FriendsThis section contains the genius of some friends. I
nv ited these folks to add their v iews about altar
reation so y ou could have a broader perspective
han I could prov ide on my own.
thought it would be inspirational and fun for y ou.
Enjoy.
Altar, at the beginning of the book, a
Poem from an Anonymous Friend.
Altar Making as Vibrant Spiritual
Practiceby Kimberly Gallagher
Making, Sanctifying, Using Altarsby
Morris Rones
How to Make an Altar A
Conv ersation in m y Head between
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William and Meby Suzanne Wittmann
Irreverent Altarsby Alexandra Gayek
Sage on the Dashboardby Char Sundus
Pondering Altarsby Joelle Ly ons
Everett
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Altar Making as
VibrantSpiritual
Practiceby Kimberly GallagherI met Kimberly when she taught at
my daughters school. Kimberlyplays many roles these days. Her
husband, John Gallagher, made a
valuable contribution to my book
Sim ply Serene. Y ou may visit
Johns Learning HerbsHERE. You
may contact Kimberly at
n the last sev eral years, altars have become a
ommon aspect of my life. Before I had children, I
mailto:[email protected]://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/?af=958571http://tinyurl.com/mbd4x -
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usually created them on low tables where I could si
n front of them and light a candle and pray or
meditate. Now, I find a higher surface a shelf on a
bookshelf or the top of a dresser so my special
altar items will be safe from curious little hands.
To me, all of life is sacred, and I choose things for
my altar that remind me of the sacred nature of the
universe. In this simple choosing, my altar is
anctified, and I have created a visual reminder for
my self of the beauty and sacredness of the earth an
of the importance of spirit in my life.
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Right now, I have a practice of completely changingmy altar with the seasons, choosing beautiful thing
rom nature as altar items. My personal winter alta
has ev ergreen boughs and holly berries and a
pinecone shaped like a flower winter beauty !
add candles, stones people have gifted to me or
hat I have found, and other small beautiful objects
hat embody the spirit of the season.
small dark rock, here, reminds me of the darknes
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at this time of y ear.
also have some nuts and a candle with the words
ex traordinary, ordinary relationship next to it.
These represent the golden seed, the little light thatam carry ing inside my self through the dark times
t is this seed that will sprout for me in the spring
and flower in the summer.
Changing the altar each season
keeps it alway s beautiful, fresh
and alive.
Changing the altar for me is a simple ritual
elebrating the changing seasons. My candle with
my intention and the nuts form part of anotherimple ritual. This ritual involves choosing these
tems and setting them on my altar to remind me of
he little light I am tending through the dark times
my intention of creating extraordinary, ordinary
elationship in my life). Each time I light thatandle, I remember my intention and keep it alive
within my self.
The concept of simple ritual has just come into my
ife in the last y ear and comes to me through Sally
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elebrations.
Each day from solstice until Christmas, the wood
lves bring a gift from nature for our children that
hey add to the altar. The gifts are representative owater, wood, fire, earth, and metal, the five
lements of Chinese medicine. So, by Christmas,
our altar has become a celebration of all of the
lements.
One other simple altar that I hav e recently added to
my practices is this stov e-top altar. Each new
moon, I light a candle and offer flowers to
emember our intention for our home. The stov e is
ymbolic of our hearth, the central warmth and ligh
of our home. So, I have written our prayer on abeautiful piece of paper: May this be a place of
abundance of health, happiness and prosperity .
May there be an easy flow of money and resources
o that we can be generous and also save for our
uture. May this home be a welcoming andnourishing space for family and friends. Each
month this pray er is placed with the candle and
lowers on the stov e and so each month these
ntentions are once again enlivened for all of us.
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Contribution
f this article inspires y ou to make a donation, I
ncourage y ou to gift some money to Raven Croft
Garden. They are not a 501C3 so your donation wil
not be tax deductible,but it will support the work o
his amazing learning center complete with a
permacultural garden and herbal apprenticeship
programs.
They are doing the work of helping people learn the
art of cultivating life, an essential skill in these
hanging times.
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Steps to Make an Altar
There are only a couple of steps required to make a
altar.
One is to be consciousof what y ou are
doing.
Two is to create a space that gives you a
sense of connection and comfort.
To be conscious in this case means to be aware of
y our self in relationship to the world. Be aware of
y our self as a phy sically embodied spirit in the
present moment.
t helps to be aware of y our breathing, your body,
y our mind and heart without thinking about these
hings. It also helps to have y our mind quiet or at
east not affected by the noise.
There are many different ways to create an altar. I
ometimes place objects that have meaning to me
on my desk in a particular area. I place them in a
way that feels right to me.
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I m ust literally feel
com fortable with the
placement and not just pleased
with the aesthetic com position
of m y little creation.
T his is perhaps the difference
between creating sacred spaces
and decorating.
s I create the altar from this conscious and
entered place, the altar becomes a place that hold
onsciousness and centering. I do not need to have
he altar be obv ious to others but it needs to be
obv ious to me.
t does not need to be the center of my room or my
desk or of anything. It does need to be in a place I
do not forget.
n altar does not necessarily have to have objectsn it. In fact, an empty space can sometimes
become an altar more easily without objects. The
objects need to connect with me, not distract me.
Sometimes, I have gotten focused on the object and
ost sight of the space it belongs to and the energy
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Sanctifying an Altar
Sanctify ing an altar is something I do without a
ormal ritual. While that is a useful approach, I like
o sit with the altar for a period of time (usually
day s) until it feels natural to me. Sometimes this
happens as I am creating it, but usually it is a
process of being with and connecting with the altar
and my self. Over a period of time, the altar
becomes capable of holding a space for me much astry to hold space for others. To be specific, it
holds a space free of judgment in which I can just
be. This fits with my belief of healing and living.
The way that a sacred space works is that it becomea physical, emotional, and spiritual holder of
unconditional lov e. If y ou have had a person in
y our life who loves y ou unconditionally , y ou know
he incredible v alue of being held in this space.
When this space holds us, ev olution happens for us
T he steps that happen are:
1 . Awareness we become conscious of some
pattern or behavior in ourselves.
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2. Acceptance we learn to see ourselv es
without negativ e or positiv e judgment and
come to a place where we do not need to
change ourselves in order to consider
ourselv es acceptable. This seems to be one othe most difficult positions to hold for
ourselves.
3. Honor we recognize how our behaviors and
patterns have serv ed us in very meaningful
way s. Not, of course, in a way we would
necessarily deem as positive. For example, i
I had a deep seated belief that I was a failure,
I would be able to see how a particular
pattern kept bringing me back to this
position. As is obv ious, these patterns andbehaviors are mostly or completely
unconscious.
4. Evolution this happens not when we are
able to eliminate behav iors and patterns butwhen we become aware enough of them so as
to be conscious or at choice. Often the
pattern becomes a tool we can use in a
conscious way to serve us.
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use my altars to help hold this space for me to
v olv e. I get to be my authentic self within this
pace. There is little as freeing and rewarding as
being accepted and loved for who y ou truly are as
opposed to who y ou or others think y ou should be.
Most of us have spent a lot of time defending
ourselves against the invalidation we have felt and
ose our connection with what is true to ourselves.
Sitting with or ev en near the altar starts to give us a
ense of being held in unconditional acceptance.
Life is about living, lov ing, and growing and my
altars keep me close to this.
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Contribution
support with time and money two of my favorite
organizations, Crisis Clinicand Three Cedars
School.
The Crisis Clinicis a non-profit organization
dedicated to being a support line for people in crisi
and as dissemination point with ov er twenty four
hundred local resources.
support the Seattle Crisis Clinicand would highly
ecommend others do the same as they hav e well
rained volunteers that are able to talk to people in
need of friendly and wise counsel and also able toocate tremendous number of available resources
uch as shelters, food banks, emergency mental
health support and much more. 206 461-321 0
My other favorite place to support is a school inBellev ue, Washington named Three Cedars. They
are a Waldorf school dedicated to bringing a level o
ducation to children that far surpasses others I
have found. (425 401 -987 4)
They teach children to recognize that they are a par
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of this planet and all life. At the same time, they are
bringing education to children in a way that instills
ov e of learning and curiosity . Helping children in
hese ways may be the best way for us to support a
healthier life for future generations.
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How to Make an
AltarA Conversation
in my Headetween William
and MeBy Suzanne WittmannSuzanne edits everything I write
and has known me for over forty
years, so it is easy for her toimagine w hat I will say to her in a
conversation. She also has a touch
of theater background, hence the
script format. NB: the WW in this
script is an imaginary William
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Now y ou find your place.
WW: How do y ou find y our place?
Me (With slight frustration): I dont know. Ifits analtar with artwork, you find a place in your home or
office where y ou want to be reminded, where its
lat, where y ou feel comfortable.
OK, you have y our place, and you put y our things
out.
Wait, wait, I m getting to it.
like groups of three. Three objects, three corners
hree textures.
also like to include as many senses as possible.
Sight is a given unless you are blind. Smell can be
cented candles or incense. Sound can be wind
himes or rain if y ou are by a window.
Touch can be ev oked by using different textures;
mooth rock, cool glass, rough paper, feathers,
uzzy plant leaves.
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Taste is hard. I like to include things from nature as
y ou may hav e guessed pine cones, feathers, fall
eaves, shells, rocks, flowers.
There you go!
WW (smiling): Thank y ou, Suzanne.
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Irreverent
AltarsBy Alexandra Gayek
Alexandra heals folks at many
levels. Her work with theScienceof Being Wellweb site inspires
and heals with gentle
encouragement and playful
kindness. Y ou may reach her
through her site.
Y oure in for a treat. What follows
is poetic in its feel and presentation.
To tell you the truth, my first thought of an "altar"
giv es me the creeps. What floods into my mind are
houghts of resistance.
Plenty of times along my colorful lifelong spiritual
ourney I felt confused, guilty, a fraud, or not-good
nough when I tried to take on somebody else's
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deas of what "should" be meaningful to me (candles
obacco, cornmeal, little bowls of water, salt,
pictures of this or that spiritual teacher, cry stals,
ittle statues of Jesus or Kali or Kwan Y in,)
omebody else's ideas of the rituals or prayers ormeditations I "should" do on a daily basis,
omebody 's idea that I "should" have a special spot
n my house dedicated to some sort of spiritual
practice or focus. I'm ev en reminded of my
esistance as a child to the baby sitter who insisted I
get on my knees and pray before getting into bed.
William inv ites me to contribute to this ebook, and
n the asking, all my resistance melts.
Suddenly I realize I have altars all ov er the place.
There's the little display on my desk with Annie and
Peter's wedding photo, the little wooden turtle that
made me laugh so hard as its head bounced in that
windy morning with Catherine in the open market iCabo San Lucas, a postcard photo of red poppies
hat wrap up an incredible couple of weeks in
Provence, France, a bright paper sculpture Lynnie
ent me for my birthday, the hand-drawn sign of my
name that one of my friends made to save my seat a
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a life-changing seminar, the list of qualities I pasted
on the wall to remind me of my focus, the Frida
Kahlo card Eileen gave me just after our trip to
Costa Rica.
cross the room is the colored pencil drawing of
ardinals I bought from the artist in Y ellow Springs
one day when I was feeling so grateful to have the
means to buy art, the orange doily my cousin Tracy
made for me, the photo of a bird on the sand my
photographer friend Todd took on his trip to Alaska
next to the lop-sided basket I was so proud to make
with my very own hands.
On top of my stereo in the kitchen is a plant that I
ike to think thrives on the words and music I play,next to a bright Spanish grammar book I imagine is
mparting silent fluency to my brain.
What is an altar but something that makes me smile
or laugh, drop my shoulders, rememberpontaneous joy and surprises and lightness and
riends and gratitude and lov e and my own power.
t's all those feelings that sanctify it.
f you were to follow my solo wanderings in the
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wilderness, y ou'd find me making another kind of
altar.
t all started last summer when William groaned
with longing as I told him I was taking off for aweeklong wander in the mountains. We decided I
hould make little cairns here and there for him to
v icariously experience being there.
t was such fun, finding each spot I imagined he
would love, and building a little rock figure to take
n the view for him. Those rock people stand
witness in Goat Rocks Wilderness in the Cascades of
Washington, the Grand Cany on, Big Bend National
Park. Better than photos of the v iew, they capture
he full essence of those wonderful, deliciousmoments of playfully thinking of my belov ed friend
They also pull me back into those beautiful places
ike little windows through which I can watch the
louds float past, the goats and rabbits and elk anddeer walking by , the cy cles of day and night and
moon, stars, and seasons. It's as if a part of me is sti
quietly present in all those places, feeding me a
onstant stream of peace and deep energy to do
what needs doing in the city .
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s I think about what I'v e written here, I realize
hese little touches I'v e created are what bring me
back to Truth when I get distracted by the crowd of
unquestioned negativ e thoughts that seem to gatheo readily as I interact with the world. It's not so
different, I suppose, from setting up any other
ollection of objects that represents Truth for Y OU
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Contribution
contribute to and love both of Williams favorite
auses, and would add these:
The National Park Foundation
www.nationalparks.org) which I learned from a
ong-time park employ ee was the best way to
upport the parks. I'm so gratefulto those who hadhe v ision and donated the land and funds to set
aside places of such profound beauty and make
hem safely accessible to people from all ov er the
world, and especially , to ME.
nother of my favorites is FINCA International
www.villagebanking.org). It provides financial
erv ices to people (primarily women, who represen
he poorest segment of the population with the
argest responsibility for supporting families)in
frica, Eurasia, and Central America, allowing themo create successful small businesses, avoid
dependence on v illage money lenders (who often
ontribute to v iolence and drug culture).
FINCA also provides a safe means for family
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members to send money home from work abroad -
very important in Mexico and Central America.
f y ou've traveled to these places, y ou will
understand the unsurpassed empowerment thatesults from people using their own skills, talents,
and ideas to create businesses that will support the
amilies and prov ide the means for health,
ducation, and physical safety .
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angle from my v isor. Howev er, they would
ometimes return to their source when I drov e on
warmer day s with the windows down.
My Datsun had a flat tray under the radio, for tapesand sunglasses. It soon overflowed with small
tones of unequaled beauty. They would speak to
me in their smooth voices, asking to go with me as
ompanions for a while. Once inside the car they
would find their way to the nooks and crannies
around the seats. On the dashboard, there were
tones ev ery where and I lov ed them all. As sacred
hings do, they would fan out to accompany me on
all my journey s. The final addition was what my
mother calls Nativ e American insurance: a long
prig of sage sliding back and forth across thedashboard.
have always noticed that people intuitiv ely place
hings of meaning around their rear-view mirrors.
On any road trip, the observant ey e can notice thisdelightful commonality. These include (but are not
imited to) fuzzy dice, cardboard ev ergreen trees in
assorted primary colors, dangles, feathers, beads,
dream-catchers, bells, cords, and the occasional,
but alway s ey ebrow-raising, leather strap.
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My car was unique, a force of nature inside and out
a lean, green shamanic machine, able to leap entire
ealities from 0-80 in sixty seconds -- or at least I
believed it was so. I truly loved that car, notbecause it was a 197 8 Datsun, but because my own
orm of wild safety was contained in its sacred blue
body . It was and is now essential to my well-being
o have spirited reminders ev ery where in my life,
both v isually as well as energetically .
A teacher of mine once told me that cars had the
worst feng shui possible. Perhaps my organic way o
making my cars into traveling altars is a way to
ransform that sha (bad energy) into chi (good
nergy). This was ev en before I ev er took a fenghui class or ev en had so much as a conscious clue
about good and bad.
For me that is what altars do. They transform
nergy and stabilize benefic energies that are alwaypresent and available. I can also take whatev er is in
my heart, and create a sacred site outside of me.
This acts as a gentle reminder of all that is good in
my life. It is a tangible, authentic pray er; a way tha
can pray ev en when sleeping. Each one is a
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eminder of my deep rev erence for life and daily
elationship to God. The altars I co-create with
Spirit are a sustainable, practical way to walk this
my stical path with active participation, intention,
and responsibility .
n my counseling practice, I ask that people place
money for my fee on the altar in my office.
bove this altar is a framed Japanese picture of the
loating world, a mythical community where
v ery one works together for the highest good. On
he altar are images of Serenity , a raven, and a
tatue of a Buddha from Thailand. There are stones
giv en or gathered on journey s around the world,
andles to ask that my work be of light, and the evepresent sage for purification. There are often letter
of gratitude. I also ask that all energy that comes to
me from the Source be used for the greatest good o
all. My altars are organized and clarified
igorously . They are meticulously cared for withpray ers in the forms of symbols that are meaningfu
and authentic to me and my relationship with
Spirit. Although my altars are usually tidy, the
debris -- if any -- is a flurry of pray ers.
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cried the day that old Datsun died on the West
Seattle Freeway. In the way of things, it was
v entually replaced with my very first new car
v er. She is my traveling altar, and is named Luna.
She is silver like the moon, but she is, by no stretchof the imagination, what one could call tidy! All of
her is an altar.
Willingly , she preserv es memories in each foil and
paper wrapping, in each stray ticket stub, in each
wig, and in each feather. It was a much needed
acred addition to my life.
On our first road trip together, after settling into th
driver's seat, I was looking for room to place some
tones I had gathered from my walk. To my greaturprise, I discovered that there wasn't enough
oom to place all five of them where they wouldn't
become v ictims to sliding into the great chasm
underneath my seat. I balanced the small stones on
my emergency brake until I could get them home.
am driven by life as ceremony as though it were a
beloved poem or song. My car, for example, is like
lam poetry: a cacophony of my teaching,
mentoring, learning, and liv ing life. I was
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disappointed to find that Luna had so selfishly
afforded me only a small shelf; too small and
ounded to hold ev en two stones for an altar on the
dash. Now don't get me wrong. I lov e my car. It
ymbolizes freedom; and I treat my freedom withhe same respect that I treat any mystical form of
ransportation.
The dilemma of where to put the altar in a new and
omewhat pristine car haunted me until about thre
days ago.
My intuition guided me to a small leather box that
had once held a wallet; the perfect size to perch on
he little shelf in my car. Thusly would the various
tones, feathers and saints from different traditionsall be housed safely . All I needed was a little
double-sided tape on the bottom of said box to
nsure its perfect placement. I could also protect
my feathers from the wild winds of summer driving
and still have a constant, v isual prayer to remindme of serenity and gratitude when in traffic. This
would serv e to assist my meditations in the still
imes that I have before blessing a home or
business.
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n that little brown box is tremendous serenity and
onnectedness with Spirit. No matter where I am -
n downtown Seattle for a business blessing or in th
middle of Detroit for a wedding blessing -- I have
authentic elements and reminders of Spirit, my self,and Nature to support whatev er I am called to do.
This includes any ceremony, teaching, or medicine
hat would like to flow through me in that moment.
Because, you see, these bring me that essential
eminder to be still. After all, ev ery thing is already
n motion-especially my Native American insuranc
hat glides from one end of the dash to another,
v ery time I turn a corner.
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Pondering
AltarsBy Joelle Lyons
EverettJoelle is a consultant to organizations, a
facilitator of workshops, and the author of
Strange and Wonderful Things, a boo
of original poems. The focus of her work is
more on healing than on teaching. Y ou can
learn more about her consulting and
workshops at
www.SoundResources.org and contact her
walked around my house, looking at the sacred
paces I have created there, and asked my self, So,
what do y ou think y ou are doing? What is the
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antler by a woman I met in the Altai region of
Siberia, and a wheat stalk that was tied around the
program for a wonderful meeting in Denmark.
changing array of seasonal shrines and altarshow up all around the housea handful of fresh
hestnuts in a small bowl, new crow feathers, robin
gg shell, amazing twisted and rolled strips of
madrona bark, a thick chunk of white lichen. At
Christmas, I put cups and vases of fresh holly all
around the house, and primroses at Valentines
Day.
This y ear, at the winter solstice, I picked holly ,
edar, and Oregon grape, and piled them between
wo clumps of small white birch trees we plantedast summer. The intention here is not decorating
o much as it is ritualhonoring the changing
easons and the wonder of the natural world.
was pleased to see Christmas trees in Williams listof altars. I recently found a picture of my first
Christmas tree, an old photo tucked into my baby
book, right along with my first pictures and a
priceless photo of me, probably a month old, with
both sets of grandparents.
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Decorating a tree was alway s a family ritual, and it i
one my husband and I have continued. Trimming
he tree brings back a host of memories, with
ornaments from my parents and grandparentsrees, toy s and folk art weve brought back from
rips, things we made to trim our first tree, and
ornaments made by family and friends. When we
urn on the Christmas lights, I feel like the Season o
Light has arriv ed.
ts very easy for me to get caught up in every day
outines. Hav ing these informal house shrines and
altars helps me keep in mind that Spirit and magic
are always nearby , if only I give them my attention
n my pondering, I realize that the process of
making an altar is v ery much the same process as
writing a poemI bring together things that beckon
o my attention, mov ing them around until
omething within me is satisfied. Most often, thentention emerges from the finished poem, not the
other way around.
Heres a poem that is partly about making altars
he title poem from my book:
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Strange And WonderfulThings
I'm a scav enger of stories --
I will remember what you tell me,
Offer it on outstretched palm
To someone down the road who needs
Absolution, advice, a good laugh.
I'm a scav enger of stones,
Vacant shells, fallen leav es,
And black feathers, strangely silent.
I drop them, strangers, on the sill at sunset -
By dawn some alchemy is working.
I'm a scav enger of dreams,
Hauling from the far side of midnightA kind and handsome friend,
A sinister man who stalks me,
A priestess, and a child.
In an old house, in an old land,
This cast will perform
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Y our story , my story , the story of
Stone and feather, whose shadows by
moonlight
Point the way home.
The best fresh bread does not fill
All my hollows. A good pay check
Still leav es places in my soul
That hunger for stories and thirst for dream
And would do magic with stone, seashell,
feather, and a leaf as red as flame.
-- Joelle
Ly ons Ev erett
BlackCrow Press, 2000
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Heres How to
Review YourBook on
AmazonGo to the books page onAmazon.com. Scroll down
o the last rev iew and click the Write a custom er
reviewbutton. If y oure not logged in, Amazon wi
ask y ou to login now.
Give it a star rating. (Certainly , I like 5 stars.) Then
ompose a title for y our rev iew. Finally enter your
eview. It only needs to be 20 words. Y ou can do a
written or v ideo rev iew.
Tip: I always ty pe my rev iew in MS Word so the
pelling and typos get checked and then I copy and
paste that into Amazon.
Thanks, again.
http://amazon.com/ -
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Walk in beauty ,
William
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FriendlyResources
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WilliamsPlayful & Sacredrt
Well, this is where we started, of course. Y ou will
ind just the images of the artwork here, not in their
altarpiece format. Any image can be framed or
mounted as a sacred altarpiece for y ou. Y ou can
equest paper colors and ev en color of ink for thetching.
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Williams Resources
ll of these resources help you build strength and
ase in y our body and soul.
The Body and Soul Mentorweb site
www.Body AndSoulMentor.com
The Body and Soul Mentorprivate mem ber web site offers
inspiring, effective life
coaching and potent
information at an easily
affordable price that em powers
you to liv e a life y ou
wholeheartedly love -- body
and soul.
Free Goodies
http://bodyandsoulmentor.com/index.php?
page=freegoodies
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Work with Me
Many people benefit from one-on-one work with