Witchvox Article

Author: Maewyn
Posted: August 12th. 2001
Times Viewed: 3,464

Well, the sacredness of a space depends on the space itself. If you're out in the woods, you probably don't need to consecrate rocks and trees and the forest floor; Nature has already made it more sacred than you can. If you're moving into a new apartment and are setting up your altar, you'll probably need to consecrate the space; other humans have lived here and worked here and their energies still surround the place. If you're in your backyard, it's a little more tricky. It's still technically nature, but there have been enough human energies to "de-naturalize" the space.

I identify mostly with the Druid tradition. I hate to label myself, but for this essay, I feel it's necessary for you, the reader, to understand why I think the way I do. A complete psychological profile would be more complete and give a better picture of the inside of my head, but I'm sure you're not terribly interested in my family life if you're reading this to get an opinion of sacred space.

As a Druid, I don't cast circles. I don't need to keep any spirits out—intruding, ill-meaning presences are called the Outdwellers and appeased by a separate offering—and as a solitary, there's no group energy to keep in. For these and other reasons, circle casting isn't necessary. It's an option, of course—who can tell you how to conduct your own ritual, especially if you're a solitary?-but I choose not to do it.

I think that much space is already sacred. As I said above, if you're out in Nature, you don't need to make the place sacred. But I usually do rituals at my altar, in my house, where the mundane world often intrudes whether I like it or not.

I begin rituals by lighting some candles and incense, and sitting in meditation for awhile. I clear my mind of everyday worries, recognizing thoughts when they come and summarily letting go of each. I breathe deeply, I relax, and when I'm ready, I ring the chain of soft bells overhead. By the time I open my eyes, my world is transformed. I no longer see the couch near my altar, or the huge desk where my computer sits. I see the soft glow of the candles, smell the perfume of the incense, and feel pleasantly isolated in a place that is all places, a time that is all time. My space is sacred because I will it so.

In fact, you're probably getting a little misty as you read this, envisioning me sitting at my space, or remembering the countless times you've sat at your altar. Sacred space is not a matter of making motions to consecrate it, or of saying certain words to make it holy. Sacred space is a state of mind. It's like getting lost in a good book. If I wish, I can sit here at my computer, meditate for a bit, and make a space sacred without the aid of water, incense, candles, or salt. I can envision a sphere of light surrounding me, commune for awhile with my gods, and be finished without the aid of my altar.

I've been reading Starhawk's The Spiral Dance, and in it, she talks about Younger Self, Talking Self, and Deep Self or Higher Self. Talking Self is the Self we show every day, at work or out with friends. Talking Self censors our speech and our actions, and is the one who nags at us not to eat that bit of chocolate. Younger Self is more subconscious, and as Starhawk says, rituals are a way to get to Younger Self. The motions we make, the words we say, are a way to bypass Talking Self—bypass our internal censor—and go directly to the subconscious, where magick happens. We can do rituals without any tools, because the tools are merely a way to disconnect the part of our brain that tells us we really shouldn't work skyclad because it would be so cold, that reminds us we paid way too much money for that altar cloth, that keeps chattering on while we're trying to celebrate. Talking Self is aptly named.

Sacred space is a matter for Younger Self. Once we can bypass that censor, we can go directly to Younger Self to envision sacred space. It really is all in our minds. Why else are we told to think of a spell as already come to fruition, or to use creative visualization? What exists in the mind will come to exist in the physical realm. When I envision that sphere of light surrounding me and my altar, the sacred space already exists in my mind, so therefore it really is surrounding me. I can't reach out and touch it, but I can feel it, the same way I can feel the wind. In short, I create sacred space by envisioning my space as sacred and realizing that it already is sacred. It's like "instant enlightenment": How do you know you are not already enlightened? How do you know your space is not already sacred?

One of the biggest ways I use sacred space is as an aid to meditation. Talking Self is alive and well in my brain, and I have difficulty calming my thoughts long enough to meditate. But when I sit in front of my altar, in my sacred space, my brain knows to turn off the thoughts. It's a lot easier to meditate because I have that mental cue to do so. Have you ever reached for your coffee cup and been unpleasantly surprised when you found it was empty? Have you done that two or more times in a row? I know I have. My brain knows there will be coffee in my cup, there's been coffee in it every time I've reached for it this morning, and therefore there should be coffee in it the next time I reach for it. But at least once every morning, I reach for an empty cup, whether I realize it's empty or not. My cup has been full more times than it has been empty, so the idea that it will be full is stronger than the idea that it will be empty. Same idea with sacred space. I've sat in front of my altar more times to do ritual and meditate more times than I've vacuumed in front of it, for example, so the idea of doing ritual at my altar is stronger than the idea of vacuuming near it.

This way of thinking is strengthened by books, emails, and websites that talk about doing rituals at your altar, keeping tools on your altar, making the space sacred. My altar is intimately connected with the idea of sacred space, and that's probably why I'm uncomfortable with doing rituals away from it. If I brought my altar and all its trappings to a new house, for example, it would be fairly easy for me to consider the new space sacred. If I set up a whole new altar, I'd have to go back to square one, slowly coming to think of my space as sacred. If I didn't even have an altar, it would be even more difficult to think of the space as sacred, because there would be nothing to mark off the space-no mental cue that this corner of my living room is different from the rest of it.

Creating and using sacred space is defined by the way you think about it. If you train your mind to think that your altar is sacred space and that's the only sacred space you can use, you will always feel that you need your altar to have sacred space. If you train yourself to think that anyplace you wish can be sacred space, that's the way it will be.

She of the Storm

ABOUT...

Maewyn

Location: Baltimore, Maryland

Author's Profile: To learn more about Maewyn - Click HERE

Bio: She of the Storm is a relative newbie to the Pagan scene, and has considered herself Pagan for one year this Samhain. Storm currently follows an eclectic path, but mostly identifies with the Druid tradition. She is a college student majoring in techincal writing with a journalism concentration, and hopes to work for a Pagan publishing company or newsletter. She has already been published in a few local zines. Storm's spare time is spent taking care of her cat, Lucy, her dog, Sasha, and her fiance, Odinkar.

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