Creating sacred space is making a declaration to the monkey mind about mindfully returning to Self. We draw a line through time and space to make it possible to reconnect fully with Source, without distractions, so that we may return back into the world fully embodied, in the fullness of our personal power. It doesn’t matter what spiritual Path you’re on – the process is the same.
“Reclaiming the sacred in our lives naturally brings us close once more to the wellsprings of poetry.”
― Robert Bly
Seven Simple but Powerful Ways to Create Sacred Space
Clearing the Space
Mindfully clear the clutter and clean your meditation or ritual room/space with natural cleaning products such as baking soda and essential oils. Make the space beautiful and inviting and air it out to replace stale old air with fresh air.
Creating an Altar
Setting up an altar or changing the items on your permanent altar to reflect your intent instantly lifts the energy around it. The altar is the hub (or heart) of your sacred space. Make it personal, so that it reflects both you, your Path and what you wish to achieve. There are no set rules for what items you should place on your altar unless you are a ceremonial magician or the like.
If you want to use candles on your altar, make sure that the colour of your candle reflects your intent: red for passion and courage, pink for romance, orange for creativity and friendship, yellow for communication, green for harmony and healing, blue for truth and self-expression, indigo for wisdom, violet for spiritual transformation and purification, brown for grounding and healing of nature/animals, gold for success and black for banishing negativity.
All-purpose colour white candles can always be used if you can’t find the appropriate colour. You can also decorate your altar with flowers and crystals according to the same principle.
Bonus tip: I like to choose the Tarot card that best matches my intent and make it the centrepiece on my altar. I might for instance choose The Empress for creative inspiration.
Meditation Music
Certain types of music raise the vibration of the room and prepare the mind to be still. I recommend soft piano music or one of the Hz frequency tracks available on YouTube. if you don’t need the music to match a particular spiritual Path. Playing meditation music is particularly helpful if you need to find stillness after a stressful day. Music is personal and what is uplifting to one person may feel boring or depressing to another. The important thing to be mindful of is to choose music that both allows you to relax and that also lifts your spirit.
Movement
You may wish to do a few gentle stretches to let go of any tension in the body, while the meditation music is playing, and then walk around the room to bless it with your eyes, hands and perhaps even your whole body in improvised (dance) movements. This could be a simple, mindful way of casting a circle of protection around your ritual/meditation space.
Ringing a Bell
The sound of a bell has been used ritually to create sacred space through the ages in many different religions. Do it mindfully and listen for the sound to dissipate after you stop ringing the bell. Then notice the stillness as it descends around you. Ahhhhhh…
Incense
Certain types of incense work better than others for creating sacred space and raising the vibration of both your mind and the energy of the room. I recommend frankincense, sandalwood or Nag Champa but don’t be afraid to experiment with what works best for you. You may also wish to smudge your space with white sage. For smudging you need either a thurible, a bowl or an abalone shell to contain the ashes.
Chanting
Chanting has much the same effect as the ringing of the bell but can be even more powerful as you use a mantra to set the intent for your meditation or ritual. Mantras don’t have to be in Sanskrit to be effective. There are Pagan Goddess chants in English you can use, for instance, if you are on a Pagan Path.
You can mix and match all of these as you choose. You may wish to chant while you clean, for instance. At the heart of each method lies intent. If you find yourself bedbound for any reason, you can still create sacred space and visualise a place where you feel completely at peace.
What is your favourite way of creating sacred space?
Comments 4
This is all one needs! I sometimes put a little snack and/or drink on the altar, to absorb the energy of the ceremony – unless it is a banishing one. I have the feeling that I can taste the intention and the shift of the energies, which take place, and that I can integrate all these gifts into my body – I guess it’s a very “earthy” thing to do, it kind of makes ceremonial work more tangible. It’s loads of fun, especially when I do a ceremony with company, because we get to enjoy and relax with a special treat afterwards, and it brings to us a giving-thanks-for-the-magic-feeling. (Let alone that often after ceremonial work I feel like after having done sports, and I can really use the physical energy boost.)
Author
Great, thanks for sharing, Katerina! Yes, it is very demanding on your energy to do this kind of work, so eating something after is always a great idea 🙂
Loved this article as I’m in the works of creating an altar but have limited space. This gave me the idea to make a wall shelf as an altar !
Author
Thank you for sharing, Silvia – glad you found inspiration for your altar here! 🙂