Before there were temples and churches, the primary place for
expressing reverence was the altar. The word “altar” comes
from a Latin word which means “high place.” With a personal
altar, you can reach the heights of your spirituality and ascend
in wisdom. You construct an altar when you assemble symbolic
items in a meaningful manner, focusing both your attention and
intention. When you work with the combined energies of these
items, you are performing ritual. Your rituals can arise from your
needs, imagination, or the seasonal and traditional ceremonies that
you find in this book and others. A book I draw much inspiration
from has been Nancy Brady Cunningham’s A Book of Women’s
Altars. I love her advice to bow or place your hands on the ground
in front of your altar at the beginning of ritual work and at the
closing, explaining, “Grounding symbolizes the end of the ritual
and signals to the mind to return to an ordinary state of awareness
as you re-enter daily life.” An altar is a physical point of focus for
the ritual, containing items considered sacred and essential to ritual
work and spiritual growth. An altar can be anything from a rock
in the forest to an exquisitely carved antique table. Even portable or temporary altars can suffice such as a board suspended between
two chairs for “rituals on the go.”
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