AN ALTAR FOR YOUR CREATIVITY
Creating sacred space for your creative projects and journey, 3 things worth sharing: "Dead Eyes" podcast, the film experience "In And Of Itself", and kindergartener pep talks for difficult days..
Have you ever considered creating an altar or sacred space dedicated to your creative project? It makes perfect sense to me. Why wouldn’t we dedicate space in this way? Move over, vision boards. This is multidimensional energetic cooperation.
A altar for our creative process holds the energy of our commitment to embody our creativity as a sacred practice.
Last week, I attended an online writing workshop and the facilitator mentioned creating a writing altar. I don’t know about you but when I get the same nudge multiple times, well, it’s time to get moving. Within a few days I had located and purchased a rounded shelf to hang on my wall. I created my Author’s Altar to bless and encourage this book-birthing collaboration. I say collaboration because I know I will not do this alone. I will be writing with my ancestors, with my body, with the land, and with my Higher Power whom I call Amma or God. ( More soon on these portals into your creativity.)
For years I have created altars for various reasons and seasons. If you visit my home, you’ll find little altars on tables, or tucked away in corners or windowsills. So an altar for midwifing this book seems only natural.
Before you jump in to argue that you might not call the experience of your creativity a sacred activity warranting an altar, pause. Reconsider. I find the line between creativity and spirituality almost imperceptible.
My Author’s Altar is a physical representation that marks my acceptance of my latest spiritual assignment and collaboration with Spirit. It is both a threshold and a marker. It holds the intention and cooperative energetics of creating my completed and published book, honors my commitment to the process, and acknowledges that I am not writing alone.
If that feels like too much or too woo-woo for you, check out what bestselling author and “writing as zen practice” instructor Natalie Goldberg has to say about creating altars for and with her writing students.
“At the Mabel Dodge Luhan house, we transform the classroom into a Zendo, a place of meditation practice, with black cushions and chairs lined along the walls.
…Behind where I sit is a Kiva fireplace with several rounded shelves that we designate our altar. One shelf is dedicated to the names of the dead we placed there and want to remember, another shelf is for the names of people we most consider our muses whom we write for, and another is for people who need healing, special care and love.
…I also place on the altar a photo of Alan Ginsberg in a yellow wood frame, sitting in a white shirt, cross- legged, his face captured in an uncanny smile. I consider Allen Ginsburg the grandfather of the writing practice lineage.
Sometimes I bring a photo of my grandmother, whom I adored. She was no high being but she was my being. I encourage students to bring photos that are important to them.
Probably too many dogs are propped up on the altar. I tell them writing is human to human but they have their arguments — and I back down. Feathers, bones, stones, small green hard pears in August and plums in the late spring also appear. To be honest, for a long time I had a small altar but didn't pay much attention to it. But as though by osmosis it grew in me as I unconsciously passed it on my way to other things.” - Natalie Goldberg, The True Secret of Writing
YOUR ALTAR AS ALIVE WITH ENERGY
Creating an altar is a living totem for your journey. I say living for two reasons:
1) Everything is energy, as we know. Your altar is a living thing you cooperate with, attend to and care for. It is alive in that sense. The personal significance of the physical objects you select, and the collection of those objects, are imbued with the energy of your intentions and radiate energy back to you. Don’t let your altar get dusty or ignored. You attention is intention. You might even think of it as creating a relationship with the spirit of the project, and we all know that relationships require attention.
2) You will always want something on your altar that is alive and growing - like a small plant or fresh flowers, on your altar. I like to bring in other natural elements as well. I often have empty bowls on my altars that I can then fill with water or sometimes found objects from nature.
We need to move beyond thinking of altars as static completed things and begin to consider that we are in energetic participation with them. You will pass your altar every day. You will soak up the energy and intention of this physical representation of your internal commitment and collaboration with Spirit.
Creation of your altar helps you align the energetics before you begin the work. You are communicating that this matters to you, that you are committed to it, and that you know you can’t do it without the cooperation of Creative Spirit. You are offering yourself to this process. You are making a pact, a covenant. You are bringing soft earth. You are planting seeds. You are carrying water. You are practicing trust that the light will come again and again.
IDEAS FOR YOUR CREATIVE ALTAR
Make your altar as minimalist or abundant as pleases you. A good place to begin is with photos, candles, something alive ( plant, flowers), and any other items that hold meaning for you. There are no rules. What holds meaning and energy for you? What speaks to your soul and your situation? What reminds you of your truth, your purpose, your desire? Trust yourself to change out items on your altar periodically as your needs evolve or your feel guided.
WHAT I PLACED ON MY AUTHOR’S ALTAR AND WHY
To begin, I now call mine an Author’s Altar ( versus a writing altar) because my intention is to publish a completed book. I already write. I plan to publish and so the word “author” is an important distinction.
I selected several books by (mostly) women authors who inspire me. In this way, I feel I have their company and support encouraging me as I go. Sisters cheering me on.
I have a favorite green pottery bowl which is empty in a gesture of receptivity. I have a deep connection to water, so sometimes I might fill it with water.
A small statuette of the Pueblo Storyteller supports my connection to the oral tradition and healing lineage of storytelling.
A small living plant, a candle, an incense holder in the shape of praying hands. Earth/life, fire, smoke and offering myself to guidance and requesting support.
Unpolished rose quartz - my daughter’s and I each have one we bought together. This reminds me of my intention toward the generational healing of my family and is an energetic connection to my adult daughters.
A small glass globe helps me remember that I am writing in service and to share these stories as gift and offering. I often hold the globe in the palms of my hands when praying for our world.
A tiny framed photo of myself around the age of 8 years old. Seeing this photo of myself is a powerful reminder that she is still within me and I honor her in this way. This work is my keeping a promise to her. This is my big part of my WHY.
With the exception of the tiny framed photo of myself, all these items were already in scattered around my house. You don’t have to go out and purchase anything. Gather from what you already have. If there is an item you feel you really need for your altar that you don’t have, consider a photo of the item if you cant afford it or don’t want to purchase it.
Starting this way, with an energetic expression of your why and clarity around the kinds of support you are requesting is a powerful and authentic approach to beginning your project. When we begin with an aligned, heart-centered approach, we are connected to our unfolding work in profoundly meaningful and embodied ways.
3 THINGS WORTH SHARING:
Dead Eyes Podcast with Connor Ratcliff. Ron turned me on to this podcast and even if you only listen to the final episode, it’s super satisfying. All my actor friends need to listen in. “Actor/comedian Connor Ratliff (The Chris Gethard Show, USB, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) embarks upon a quest to solve a very stupid mystery that has haunted him for two decades: why Tom Hanks fired him from a small role in the 2001 HBO mini-series, Band Of Brothers.”
My favorite film of 2021. In and Of Itself. I might write an entire blog post on this one later. This is the kind of experience that is quite rare and magical in film these days. Perhaps because it began as live theatre? You’ll share this one with your closest loves. Identity, imagination, magic and memory.
Elementary students offer pep talks and uplifting messages on free hotline. They are getting over 9,000 calls per hour. You gotta call. Dare you not to smile.
Ron’s World:
Backstory: We’ve had two owls visiting our yard the last few nights. I’m slightly obsessed with them. I’ve been exploring buying an owl box for them but the tree they normally visit is on the other side of our fence, so not our tree, hence not a tree we can mount an owl box. ( As if really, anyone could own a tree, right?) Ron started his online investigation of the best situation for an owl box and the first choice is inside a building, like a barn.
Me: Well, that’s not going to work for us. We have no barn.
Ron: Let’s just put it inside our house.
Me: Sure, inside the house. And where would you put it?
Ron: Why don’t we just mount it above the television set?
Thanks for joining me here again this week. I”d love to hear what’s on your heart and mind in the comments. Have you ever created an artist’s altar? What’s stopping you? Does the idea intrigue you?
xoxo Mary