I’m finishing up my Ritual and Liturgy class at OSC and the final assignment was to create an altar for a specific purpose. First, I had the idea of re-doing my existing living room altar to reflect new focus and intention for the remainder of the year, but I couldn’t really get going on it. I am preparing to leave on a trip though and feeling nervous and stressed about leaving home (and my woods!). Suddenly, yesterday afternoon, the purpose of the re-visioned altar came to me cleanly—I decided to create a safety, protection, and connection altar to ground me in my home space and companion travel altar to bring that connection and grounding with me on my travels. I felt a focusing of energy and intention as I engaged in this process. It was a very powerful experience.
I chose items for the main altar that represented travel, the purpose of travel, protection, connection, each family member, and several reminders to carry my own priestess spirit out into the world. In the travel altar, I placed corresponding items connected to the items on my home altar (for example–a shell from the beach we will be visiting is on each, as well as an item created by or representing each family member). The items and purposes are described in the captions in the following photo gallery (to enlarge any photo just click on it and a slideshow of all the pictures will open up from there).
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- My kitchen table altar. I haven’t blogged about it yet, but the center dish is a family “wheel of the year” idea I read about in a back issue of SageWoman magazine—basically, you add items to it throughout the year to represent your family’s year.
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- Kitchen corner altar.
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- Main living room altar as it was before this project.
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- My two altar cloths–both dyed by the same friend.
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- I added an earth paperweight and a labyrinth to represent travel and journey-taking.
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- Sheela Na Gig is a protective symbol. I also have one of my crocheted Goddess of Willendorfs from my mom, since she is going to be traveling also (and the mini one went in my mini altar).
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- My central Goddess of Willendorf has to stay. Also joining her are Hathor (Goddess for the Exhuasted!) and the Snake Prietess of Crete.
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- Objects for the travel altar wait close by.
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- Ring from Disney World and one of my usual rings are going to stay on the home altar.
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- Stone Willendorfs–one mini and one *really* mini!
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- Womanrunes in chalice: Rune of Journeys and Rune of Protection.
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- Assorted stones from past travels.
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- Picture of my grandma, for whom we are traveling in the first place, as well as family photo.
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- Large and mini priestess sculptures
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- Something from each member of my immediate family.
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- Finished altar. Crowded, but purposeful!
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- Mamoo was a traveler and she is here too!
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- I laid out the items for my mini altar on the floor. There is stone from the woods and my woodspriestess beads as well as mini versions or representations of things from the home altar space.
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- Tiny Willendorf hanging out on a womanrunes talisman.
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- All packed up!
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- The next day, I took both candles and my travel box down to the woods to bless them and “energeticallly” link everything together!
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- And, I suddenly felt inspired to give myself a new travel ring! The green stone reminds of both the woods and the stones in my sacred space—I carry sacred space within and a symbol on my finger 🙂
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- I added three beads made by my dad to the indoor altar as well, which connect to my woodspriestess beads (plus, it means my mom and dad are both represented on the home altar and in the travel altar, as are each member of my immediate family).
Today, I took my travel box altar and my two candles down to the woods. I lit both candles in the woodspace and then took one back up to the home altar, symbolically forging the link, the circle, between the two altars and the sacred woods. I returned to the woods, where I offered this blessing/prayer upon the travel altar:
These two altars are now blessed and consecrated by this holy woodspace. Witnessed by the air, the earth, the fire, the stones. The breath of my life, the water of my blood. They are energetically linked to each other and to the woods of my home. May they be strong. May they be connected. May they be protective. May they be joyous. May the draw rich gifts, long life, deep love, and great peace to us all. The link is made, it is energetically unbroken. Safe travels, protection, love, harmony, wisdom, guidance.
Remembering that we carry sacred space within, remembering that we carry holy truth within, remembering that our bodies themselves are an altar on this earth, and remembering that our lives each day are an offering. Remembering that we can cast a circle with the physical stuff of our own being.
Let this physical altar serve as a tangible reminder of that which we already carry within.
It is blessed and consecrated, it is witnessed, it is known. May it be so. Thank you. Blessed be.
Ritual and Liturgy is the twelfth class I’ve finished at OSC! I can hardly believe I actually manage to do this along with everything else. It has been a rich and deepening experience so far. I now have about fourteen classes and my dissertation remaining! It is doable after all 🙂
I really enjoyed this post Molly. It inspires me to keep my altars more active and to share them on my Facebook page & my own website more. I am also thinking that a Intro to altar creation class might be a good thing to offer my clients. Anyway so many thoughts and ideas thanks to your post. Thanks again for sharing! 🙂 Paola
Thanks, Paola! I have so many more ideas of things to write about than actually time to write them! 😉
I know what you mean Molly! That’s why I know I will never run out of writing material for my Full Moon Share and soon the New Moon Share blog I’ll be doing for Sage Woman. 😀
I’m supposed to start writing a blog for Sage Woman too! 🙂
Yay! I heard from Anne that it’s going to be a group of us. So glad to hear you are part of it too Molly!!! 😀 😀