A personal altar is a place where you can spend time in quiet reflection or pay homage to what is truly important to you in your spiritual life. Depending upon your spiritual path, it can be a place for prayer, meditation, sacred rituals, divination or just a place to soothe your spirit. Creating your own personal altar is easy to do and here are some easy guidelines to follow.
Choose a Place
An altar can be anywhere in your home that you choose, but it should be in a fairly quiet spot. Some people choose a spot for their altar because they feel intuitively drawn to that specific area, while others base their decision purely on practicality.
Now Choose a Space
An altar space can range from large and elaborate to small and simple, depending upon personal taste and the amount of room you have. If you're skilled at wood working you may wish to make your own altar space, but for most people a small table works perfectly. If space is really tight a wall shelf or even a deep windowsill can work well too.
Setting up your Altar
Choose items for your altar that have deep spiritual significance to you. It can be anything from a candle, crystals, flowers, a feather, a smudge stick, incense, a religious symbol or anything that reflects your spiritual path. However, don't feel too limited by what you should or shouldn't keep on your altar. Whatever provides meaning to you is perfectly acceptable.
Once you've chosen your items, arrange them in a way that's pleasing to you. The only thing to keep in mind is to not make your altar space too cluttered. If you have more items then can pleasingly fit on your altar, you can store away the extra items then from time to time you can rearrange your altar and rotate new in the new items.
Dedicate your Altar
Once set up is complete then it's time to dedicate your altar. All this means is blessing it and making it a place that is truly sacred to you. How you do this again depends upon your personal spiritual beliefs but have it be something that makes that space feel special and sacred to you.
After all this is done, you'll then have your own personal altar space. Because it is a sacred space remember to keep your altar tidy and dust free. You will find that your altar can be a wonderful way to keep in touch with what is sacred, while nurturing and honoring your inner spirit.
