shrine , alter , focal point.. all religions welcome?

Question

Do you have a main focal point for prayer , meditation etc
whatever beliefs you have , do you have any special centre piece or picture ?

would like to hear about them xx

bah
alter altar
lol

sounds love Father K
yup thats what I mean xx

sure it does Quella
just curious to how you bring religion into your environment xx

Answer 1

Yes, its a small waterfall surrounded by a grove of white oak and honeysuckle. My favorite time of year to go there is spring when the honeysuckle is in bloom the aroma is intoxicating.peace and love.

Answer 2

I don't really have an altar as such, but I put together a rough stone enclosure in the woods once, where I was able to be completely surrounded by primal landscape--below, above, and to all sides. It was my little piece of Middle Earth and I called it Arwen's Rock that sat above a sunken "valley" I call Rivendell. There's another place I call Lothlorien in the woods and it has tall trees and many oddly plateau-like rock/root formations. I would go there and pretend the world was young and that what was beyond my sight was the same as what I could see--a land of Ents and Elves. Unfortunately, it is also the land of TICKS and mosquitoes, so it isn't all fantasy and fun! But it does allow a certain mindset that is about as close as I come to prayer or devotion.

Answer 3

Indeed I do. I practise a form of Buddhism founded in Japan by Nichiren Daishonin. Twice a day I perform a ceremony --'Gongyo', which means 'assiduous practise'--this consists of reciting two chapters from The Lotus Sutra followed by chanting a mantra: Nam Myoho Renge Kyo ( translation: Devotion to the Mystic Law of Cause and Effect through Sound, Action and Vibration). This is done kneeling in front of a scroll that is inscribed with Japanese and Sanskrit characters that that embodies the state of Buddhahood; the scroll is called a Gohonzon, which means:'Honourable Object of Worship'.

Answer 4

I follow the ancient egyptian religion and have moved to egypt now, and have dedicated a room special for religious rituals.
Although the christians call it idolitry, I have many statues and offer up food, drink, incense, candles, ink, bandages and anything that could be used in the afterlife.

When I do this I always recieve a blessing, of a big obvious kind.
Something I never had when I was a christian!

So I do have an alar, and on it I put all my offerings along with flowers and then recite from the book of the dead and give praise and thanks.

Answer 5

I have two altars at the moment, I have one inside my house that is basically a table with libation bowls, a candelabra, and incense holder on it, as well as some things that symbolize my Gods and Goddesses. I also have an altar outside made of boulders, about 3 feet high, 3 feet long, and 3 feet wide, in front of it is a fire pit that I light during nighttime rituals, but I keep my outside altar bare as it is situated in a clearing in the woods near my house and isn't really sheltered from the weather.

Answer 6

I have one permanent altar at home, and also a studio altar that I set up as needed when I'm running to a hard deadline crunch (I'm a commercial artist by trade).

The permanent altar has a green altar cloth, a Goddess candle and a God candle, appropriate statuary for the Deities (Isis for the Goddess and a lovely Pan statue for the God), a center ceramic tile with a pentacle on it (for charging objects), representatives of the four elements in the appropriate directions (incense in the east, a candle in the south, water in the west, and salt in the north), and my tarot cards. There is a space on the wall above it where I can tack up pictures of certain Deities that I don't have statues for, such as Brigid and Apollo. It faces east.

The as-needed studio altar has whatever altar cloth I choose for that occasion, a "witches ladder" (a sort of rosary cord for chanting spells for concentration, focus, and creative energy), and a candle to light to the Goddess of inspiration I choose to invoke (usually Brigid or Isis). It faces south.

Hope that's enough detail to answer your question properly. :-)

Answer 7

Next to my side of the bed, I converted my nightstand into a mini altar. On top of it is placed my pentacle that I made from a cut piece of oak, my incense burner, my lantern, my oak wand, my atheme, and my small figurines of a stag and a bear. Underneath is a few candles and also my oils as well as the partial set of Ogham fews from the set I am making this year.

Of course, it seems I use these items sparingly as often I find I prefer to just go outside and listen to Nature.

Blessed Be )O(

Answer 8

I often pray and meditate at home using my mind only as a focal point but I do like to go to this quiet place in the country near me-no-one else seems to go there-and pray and meditate ourdoors close to nature.

Answer 9

Since I'm a poor bastard, I have a single altar for everything.

It's a small black table in the middle of my room. When I pray, I sit before it [on my knees, kinda], and do libations, and etc. I have a glass on it that I use for holding libations and other liquid sacrifices. During meditation, I light candles and stare.

The closest thing I have to art on it, is my jar of change. When it gets full, I plan to give it to someone in need. Of course, that's a very specific way to honor Hermes.

I love hearing about the things people use as altars and such.

Answer 10

I've got this 20" diagonal screen that I spend time hunched over in front of.....

Have a few crosses on walls, one my mother brought back from Equador, one my father gave us that was in his house for many years.

Have a small bowl full of rocks from special places and events. most of them are non descipt, but I can remember most of the stories.

Have a shelf that has candles - I like to light them on equinox's and solstices and sometimes just because.

I have poetry and paintings that friends have done hung throughout the house - that counts, for me.