If you really want to feel some powerful energy, skip the vortexes in Sedona and go straight to any old, stone cathedral in Europe! With their soaring ribbed vaults, pointed arches, flying buttresses and stained glass windows, they truly awe, inspire and humble us. The men who built them were expressing their relationship to Spirit and God. Each cathedral took decades to be completed. Can you imagine how much energy was expended in terms of time, money, physical labor and human lives to gather the materials and construct these monuments, many of which have withstood the forces of time and weather? After construction was finished, these cathedrals were consecrated as holy places of worship and service. When I have entered several old cathedrals, I have deeply felt all of this powerful energy of the sacredness of being in communication with spirit. Sometimes I meditate on evoking this energy within me. It is amazing to sit in such a space of communion with one's self and with one's God-of-Your-Own-Heart. It is a space of total presence and certainty.
Most of us spend very little time in Sacred Space. That's because no one ever told us that it even exists, much less how to create it. We rush through our busy lives distracting ourselves from finding the real meaning of life, while wondering if we will ever stumble upon it. Well, you get there a lot faster when you consciously create it. For me, "It," the meaning of life, is being in spiritual communication with yourself, with others, and with our Divine Essence, the life force energy that animates us, that makes us be alive.
If you are reading this, you probably already have some kind of spiritual practice. Do you need to bring it into present time and renew your enthusiasm for it? Have you done a consecration ritual asking Spirit to bless your sacred space? Also ask the Forces-That-Be to bless and make sacred the time that you spend in your sacred space. Write times your datebook for your spiritual practice and let no one intrude on it, or take it away from you. If you have an artistic nature that needs to be expressed, furnish the room to your liking. If you have an ascetic nature, all you need is a chair and your body. Some people take a walk out in nature, or visit cathedrals, temples and other holy places. Aim for those deeper feelings of aliveness and remembering who you are while on this physical plane. If these deeper feelings sometimes seem elusive, remember that it is a human process of experimentation and discovery. The thirty to sixty minutes you spend in deep connection with yourself is what gives meaning to the other twenty-three hours.
Exercise for discovering creating sacred space: Make a list of the places of worship for several religious denominations in the city where you live, or a nearby large, metropolitan area. Try to find those with sanctuaries that are over one hundred years old (both large and small). (Hint: Look in a phone directory and you will find some unique and interesting spiritual centers, as well as the dominant ones.) Visit these places at a time when the main sanctuary is empty. Many places of worship welcome people to enter the sanctuary during the day. Feel into the energy of each of them and notice how your body feels. Does it feel like the people who worship there come out of love, or out of obligation? Can you feel if a particular place offers its congregants a rigid or flexible dogma of how to communicate with spirit? Which of them have a feeling of holiness about them? After visiting a variety of spiritual centers, churches, temples and mosques, stop by a bookstore or library for books on creating space with rituals, decorations, music and feng shui. Go home and create your own sacred space. Let me know what you find there.
Most of us spend very little time in Sacred Space. That's because no one ever told us that it even exists, much less how to create it. We rush through our busy lives distracting ourselves from finding the real meaning of life, while wondering if we will ever stumble upon it. Well, you get there a lot faster when you consciously create it. For me, "It," the meaning of life, is being in spiritual communication with yourself, with others, and with our Divine Essence, the life force energy that animates us, that makes us be alive.
If you are reading this, you probably already have some kind of spiritual practice. Do you need to bring it into present time and renew your enthusiasm for it? Have you done a consecration ritual asking Spirit to bless your sacred space? Also ask the Forces-That-Be to bless and make sacred the time that you spend in your sacred space. Write times your datebook for your spiritual practice and let no one intrude on it, or take it away from you. If you have an artistic nature that needs to be expressed, furnish the room to your liking. If you have an ascetic nature, all you need is a chair and your body. Some people take a walk out in nature, or visit cathedrals, temples and other holy places. Aim for those deeper feelings of aliveness and remembering who you are while on this physical plane. If these deeper feelings sometimes seem elusive, remember that it is a human process of experimentation and discovery. The thirty to sixty minutes you spend in deep connection with yourself is what gives meaning to the other twenty-three hours.
Exercise for discovering creating sacred space: Make a list of the places of worship for several religious denominations in the city where you live, or a nearby large, metropolitan area. Try to find those with sanctuaries that are over one hundred years old (both large and small). (Hint: Look in a phone directory and you will find some unique and interesting spiritual centers, as well as the dominant ones.) Visit these places at a time when the main sanctuary is empty. Many places of worship welcome people to enter the sanctuary during the day. Feel into the energy of each of them and notice how your body feels. Does it feel like the people who worship there come out of love, or out of obligation? Can you feel if a particular place offers its congregants a rigid or flexible dogma of how to communicate with spirit? Which of them have a feeling of holiness about them? After visiting a variety of spiritual centers, churches, temples and mosques, stop by a bookstore or library for books on creating space with rituals, decorations, music and feng shui. Go home and create your own sacred space. Let me know what you find there.
Blessings for a Joyous and Peaceful Holiday Season.
Madeline
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Lovely suggestions! I enJoy the older European cathedrals, as well. They're breathtaking and have such Amazing stories to tell.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing.
Blessings