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Make Your Home Your Sanctuary

Posted 2012-06-20 02:50:35 | Views: 587

Make Your Home Your Sanctuary

 

As the pressures of the outside world increase it becomes even more important that we have a place where we can feel comfortable and secure, a sanctuary. Our home is our sanctuary, or it should be. It is the one place where we can drop our problems and relax.

If you home has not felt like much of a sanctuary lately here are some tips to help you change that.

First, consider removing all clutter. Clutter is a a place for stagnant energies to accumulate. 

Cleansing/Clearing is a must. There are many ways that you can cleanse or clear the energies in your home. If you have a preferred method, you can use that. To cleanse/clear the energies of your home you can use sound, such as a specific tone or frequency like a tuning fork. You can use music, anything classical or nature sounds, etc. You will not want to use anything with words. The words have their own frequency therefore may alter the energies that you are trying to establish. You can use prayer or you can burn herbs. Herbs that work great for cleansing and clearing energies are sage and sweetgrass. 

The process for cleansing and clearing energies is simple, you will want to walk around your home with your chosen instrument with the intention of removing undesired energies, making sure you get into every corner. You will also want to walk around the exterior of your home doing the same thing. If you are really energetic you can do the same from your yard and/or property.

The next step is to bring in the energies that you want to have in your sanctuary such as peace and love. To accomplish this you can say a prayer or simply state your intention to invite in only those energies. 

To maintain those energies I would suggest you do a visualization in which you envision a large funnel shaped moving vortex of energies coming down from the heavens through the roof of your home (with the larger end of the tunnel facing toward your home) that brings in the pure loving light of Spirit. Then do the same visualization with the large end of the funnel facing your home again but this time coming up from the center of the Earth.  This will bring you the pure grounding energies of the Earth Mother. The vortices will meet in the middle of your home and merge together forming a completely balanced energy within your home and radiate out to cover your entire property.

Next I would suggest you place what I have termed a “burden basket” at the entrance to your home. A burden basket can be any type of holding bin that you have on hand. The purpose of the burden basket is to place your troubles inside the basket before entering the home. This you will want to share with everyone in your household. You can actually place a pen and paper in the basket for everyone to write down their troubles in and place  into the basket or you can have them do so symbolically. This will depend on the skill level of your loved ones. Whatever you chose make sure everyone is aware that is designed for them to “leave their troubles at the door” and not bring them into your sanctuary.

The last step is to put something into place at each of the entrances to your home (that are used). If you have have a mat outside the entrance then you can place an actual physical object there which we will discuss in a moment, if not you can do so again using visualization and intent.

Take a blank sheet of paper (not lined) and write on it in a way that the words form a spiral or vortex. You are going to write something to the effect of “Only those with good intentions and energy can enter this space. Those will negative energies or ill feelings will drop those feelings here and this vortice will carry the energy back to Mother Earth for transmutation. “ You can use whatever wording fits for you so long as the intention of the statement above is depicted.  Make one for each of your entrances and place them under your doormats. If you would like you can laminate them or wrap them in clear contact paper. This will avoid having to replace them as often.  You could also use a crystal for the same purpose placed outside your entrances.  Just be sure the crystal you choose is one that you would not be to upset to lose should someone decide they like it.

These steps should be repeated at least once a month or more often if you pick up any negative vibes. As everyone in the home gets the hang of dropping their burdens at the door you will notice that you will not have to repeat the steps nearly as often.  The paper at the door ways is in place for visitors and works great! I hope these steps prove effective for you and look forward to your feedback.

© Sheryl Rain Carter

http://www.sherylraincarter.com 


There's No Place Like Home! Make Your's A Sanctuary


Spiritual Living In A Modern World

Posted 2012-06-20 02:48:01 | Views: 597

Spiritual Living In The Modern World cont.

 

The drive or impulse to grow comes from the deepest level of our being and is also the same instinct that causes a seed to sprout. The impulse to grow expresses itself in many different ways depending on one’s own personal make-up but includes a desire for self-understanding, knowledge and personal growth, the urge to discover & create, the wish to help others and the quest for answers about life and its purpose.

Spiritual living means acting consciously and taking responsibility for our behavior, thoughts, and emotions, as well as our relationships with others and the Natural World in which we live. It is an awareness of the way in which we choose to lead our lives that enables us to Shine Our Spiritual Light as a beacon into the dark recesses of our vast universe and unite as One Spiritual family. 

What has been coined “New Age” is merely a Re-Awakening or Re-Membering of the ways of our Ancestors. Gone are the days of living in the shadows; worrying about being shunned or outcast due to your beliefs or spiritual practices. 

We are engaging with the current shift in consciousness and awareness in mainstream science, philosophy, and religion toward the acceptance of a Living Universe where exists an underlying Conscious & Intelligent matrix of energy that receives and interacts with our thoughts. 

The options available for spiritual practice are as varied as the human species itself, and are useful in adding spice to life; the world would be a very boring place indeed if we had no flavors to chose from. 

Weather you choose to follow a particular doctrine, a specific discipline, a certain way of worship & prayer, or you meditate, chant or practice specific postures and movements are less important than the way in which you choose to walk it. Walking a spiritual practice involves learning what it means to be of service and being willing to give of oneself in the pursuit of growth & learning. This pursuit is making our world a better place to be and is never undertaken purely for the purpose of personal gain. As we follow any path, remaining open and receptive (questioning) is the mark of spiritual living. Learning can and does happen in any given moment. 

Do you need a teacher or a guru to practice spiritual living? As we discussed, living a spiritual life is one in which you remain open and receptive.  Therefore, the answer is simple. If you feel your practice would be furthered by the assistance and experience of an advisor then I say “Go for it”, with one proviso.  When you walk with an advisor, walk beside him or her rather than behind him or her. In this way you are creating footsteps rather than walking in them. Spiritual living is an experiential journey and learning is an individual process, which no one can do for you.

Living a spiritual life is not so much about reaching a specific goal rather growing, becoming and experiencing connection with the Spirit of All Creation. 

If we think of this life journey as a wheel with each spoke representing different knowledge, different doctrines, practices or beliefs, different creeds, classes and colors, different places, scents and flavors then we can begin so see that our journey from rim to rim and spoke to spoke offers a varied and personal way of experiencing and interacting with the life around us. In this way we can also begin to see that each spoke is a necessary component of the wheel of life and without all the spoke the wheel of life would become flat and no longer roll. Therefore, one spoke is no more important than the others, they work in concert with the rim to form the wheel. Just as we operate in concert with the people, plants, animals d elements around is to form the world in which we live.

 

© Sheryl Rain Carter