Home Altars
Why You Should Care for Them
Since the early 90’s, people began a trend for home altars.
People were purchasing Buddha’s, Hindu Gods and Goddesses, Tibetan Tangkas, Angels, Faeries, and Deities of every kind to create the most elaborate home altars.
Most people did not know the meaning of their often expensive altar pieces, they just knew they wanted to have one or more. No expense was spared for their beautiful home altars.
People were purchasing them in such fury that Asian governments had to put a ban on the sheer number of antiquities that were leaving their countries to adorn American and European home altars.
What was really underneath this veracious need for home altars? People were desperately seeking a deeper spiritual connection. People were no longer satisfied with using intermediaries for their spiritual growth, they wanted to create this connection for themselves.
The trend for home altars coincided with the proliferation of every type of yoga that was available. No one would have expected to see a corporate executive going to work with a brief case in one hand and a yoga mat in the other.
Yoga means union, union with God. Yoga asana’s were designed to create a deep union with source. So, whether you were doing classic Hatha Yoga, Kundalini Yoga, or trendy ‘hot’ Yoga, you were creating that connection, consciously or unconsciously.
The trend towards home altars were just an extension of the thirst for spiritual connection and peace of mind in an ever whirling world of change.
Home altars were a reminder that there is something more than the intrusive chaotic world outside.
So, you may ask, what is the problem here?
I was not aware that there could be a problem until I started doing Professional Clearing of homes, land, and office spaces 17 years ago.
In the beginning of my work as a Professional Clearer ®, I use to go directly to homes to check what was causing the home to attract unwelcomed visitors.
The homes that tended to have the most paranormal activity were homes with home altars in almost every corner. I wondered, why in every corner of the house?
Some people just loved how they look, some people thought God would hear them better, and some people felt they were more protected.
Fear is a powerful draw for the dark unseen world. Making shrines to ward off negative events or people may do just the opposite. Every day that shrine could act as an unconscious trigger, reminding the person that they are ‘afraid’. The intent behind creating an altar is important.
You may ask,’ How can home altars become problematic in terms of attracting uninvited unseen guest’ ?
Everything has energy. Everything we place in our home has a purpose, an intention (a thought behind why something is there), and a why for things being placed where they are.
Home altars create powerful hotspots in a home. If they are well attended and cared for, they tend to uplift the energy in the area they are placed. If they are dusty and ill cared for, they attract unwelcome energies. When home altars are neglected, they can act as beacons for the dark unseen world.
It is better to have one well cared for altar than 10 uncared for altars.
Here are some tips for creating a home altar that works energetically and spiritually for you:
(These same tips apply to garden altars)
- Think about your intention for creating a home altar.
- Remember that intention when you are choosing items to place on your altar.
- Attend to that altar at least once a week. This means you stand (or kneel) in front of it and honor its presence in your home.
- Honor all of the items you have placed on your altar. Some people bless each item with Sage, Camphor, Frankincense & Myrrh, Cedar, Holy Water. In India sacred statues are blessed with milk.
- Place flowers on your altar as flowers tend to yield high levels of light.
- Keep your altar and sacred items clean and well cared for.
A Special Note about Tipis
In Southwest America, people think it ‘fun’ to place a ‘tipi’ in their backyard. Not knowing that our native people only erect them now for sacred ceremony, people are using them for sleep overs or other purposes. Our native people in the Southwest erect them for ceremony and take them down when the ceremony is complete. They do not keep them up. Keeping them up may attract dead people seeking refuge, at least this has been my experience as a Professional Clearer ®.
An acceptable use of a Tipi would be for spiritual use, meditation, and prayer. Maintain the tipi as a sacred space.
Althea Gray, Human Potential Healer
https://altheagray.com