How to Make a Small Altar for Home

Use your home altar to get in tune with your center.

A home altar provides a sacred space for prayer, reflection, meditation and rejuvenation. You don't have to subscribe to any particular brand of spirituality, religion or ideology to benefit from a home altar; all you need is a sincere desire to believe in and commune with a force larger than yourself. Although you will place objects on your altar, don't allow it to become cluttered. Keep your altar clean and clear, as a representation of your soul's clarity and peace.

Instructions

1. Choose the most peaceful area in your home to set up your altar. Whether it's a corner of your bedroom, a windowsill or a quiet basement nook, create your altar away from main traffic areas of your house, where you’ll be left alone to pray, mediate and reflect undisturbed by children, spouse or housemates. You might want to set up your altar in an area that faces the direction that energizes you spiritually. According to Eileen Lighthawk of the Center for Joy, many spiritual traditions prefer to pray toward eastern or northeastern directions.

2. Set up a small table. Leave it as is or cover it with a cloth that evokes positive emotions. Your table can be whatever height you desire; consider whether you’d prefer to stand, sit in a chair, kneel or sit when praying at your altar and choose your table height accordingly.

3. Place representations of your spirituality on your table or images of deities that inspire you. Suggestions include a Bible, a crucifix, a statue of Buddha, statues of ancestral gods or goddesses or alternative texts that explain your spiritual beliefs.

4. Honor all four elements on your altar, as a statement of thanks and appreciation to the universe that sustains you. Suggestions include a candle to represent fire, precious stones, salt or sand to represent earth, a feather to represent wind and a beautiful seashell to represent water.

5. Include an object on your altar to indicate the beginning and end of ceremonious prayer. This could be a stick of incense for burning or a small bell or gong to chime gently.

6. Use a personal photo or keepsake on your altar to represent yourself and demonstrate your intent to honor and respect your own spirit.

7. Keep a small notebook on your altar to write down prayer requests, questions to your deities and visions and epiphanies you receive during prayer and meditation.

References

• Beliefnet; A Guide to Women's Altars; Nancy Brady Cunningham
• Center for Joy; How to Build an Altar; Eileen Lighthawk