Creating an Altar

Creating an Altar

What is an Altar?

An altar serves as a visual focus of your spiritual intentions, affirmations, prayers, and energy. It also serves as a place to go be quiet, re-calibrate your mind, and re-ground your energy.

    Step 1: Find a Location for Your Altar

    Choose an area of your home that has little to no daily family traffic. I opted to turn one of the guest bedrooms into my meditation room. Choose a space that resonates with you.

    Step 2: Cleanse the Space for Your Altar

    Once you have found the perfect place for your Alter, clean it by sweeping, then by smudging with a cleansing herb such as sage or cedar.Stagnant energy can invade your physical space and your spiritual space. Smudging is an ancient ceremony of burning sacred plants like sage, sweet grass, or cedar. When burned, the smoke clears the space of negative ions and then blesses the space to begin fresh and new again. In essence, it’s like resetting and re-energizing the field.

    Step 3: Choose Essential Items for Your Altar

    There are no right or wrong items to choose when Spirit has spoken to you. We suggest that you do choose to present at your altar at least one item that represents the four elements, fire/light, water, air, and earth. Fire represents creative energy, strength, and sexuality. Water represents cleansing, healing, and cultivating our intuition. For Air you might use natural incense, white sage, feathers, a bird image, or even a writing instrument; for air represents knowledge, wisdom, and masculine energy. Earth represents being secure, grounded, and carries feminine energy (as in Mother Earth).

    Suggested items to include on your Altar

    • Candles (fire/light) 
    • A vessel filled with water (water) 
    • Feather (air)
    • Crystals or stones (earth) 
    • Fresh flowers or herbs 
    • Spiritual or inspirational books 
    • Journal and writing utensil 
    • Photos of loved ones (if creating an ancestral altar, photos of your loved ones who have transitioned) 
    • Food offering (for ancestral altars) 
    • Spiritual figures 
    • Printed or written inspiration (poems, prayers, affirmation, etc.) 
    • Bell (rung to vibrate or attune you to the spiritual energy)