Make Sacred Space

When we give ourselves the gift of sacred space we are feeding our heart, body, mind and spirit. A special place tucked away from the hustle and bustle of everyday living, where one can sit quietly and commune with the divine.

Sanctuary for meditation & prayer ~ An offering of peace . . .

Our patio is home to a couple of statues that are especially meaningful for us. They help remind us to make time for meditation, prayer and reflection.

“Prayer clears the mist
and brings back peace
to the soul.”   ~ Rumi

Just by spending a couple of minutes or an hour in sacred space, we refresh ourselves and restore a sense of balance and peace in our lives.

A special place to relax, be still and listen.

Something opens our wings.
Something makes boredom and hurt disappear.
Someone fills the cup in front of us:
We taste only sacredness.”
~ Rumi

Kuan Yin ~  She is associated with compassion and healing. For me, she is a symbol of the spiritual principles of love, forgiveness, kindness and gratitude.

Lovely golden green glass suspended between sky and earth. I found this garden ornament packed away in a box and decided to hang it up to celebrate the changing of the seasons. It reflects the color of nature’s first golden green of spring, the color of  joy, wonder and impermanence.

While cleaning our zen garden on the patio table, I added a beautiful figurine that we found at one of the local thrift stores for just 25 cents. Love the detail and flow of his clothing. ~ So very Zen!

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Hand blown glass balls for your garden. ~ They are said to bring harmonizing energy into your home & garden and deflect negative chi. The blue ball represents the Feng Shui Element Water in places where it’s not easy to have flowing water. This works for me since I don’t have room on the patio for a water fountain.

Sea shells that hold memories from special places. ~ Just another way to add the element of water to your sacred space.

When creating sacred space outdoors you can add potted plants, stones, herbs, wind chimes, color and anything else that you love. Sacred space is all about surrounding yourself with things you love and what makes you feel centered, peaceful and balanced.

“Your sacred space is where you can find yourself over and over again.” ~ Joseph Campbell

“Everyday Goddessing  is about sharing magical techniques and sacred wisdom with other beautiful Goddess women. I believe that within every woman there is a goddess, a wise woman, beautiful, creative, powerful, with a deep soul, and that everything we need and are looking for is already inside  each of us.” – Rose Arizmendi

Autumn Leaves

Fall is in the air!  Sigh, how quickly it all changes, the sun sets a little earlier, the mornings are cooler and time slides by second by second tick, tick, tick….

I love this time of the year, the brisk morning air and the sound of leaves rustling by, but I always feel a little pensive when the leaves begin to fall from the trees and the nights begin to grow cooler.

I find myself turning inward , closing our blinds earlier, gathering books to read, stockpiling candles and planning ahead  for those colder days and nights ahead.  Autumn is definitely nipping at the heels of summer.

Sitting quietly,  looking out my window observing how the changing of the seasons are reflected in my work. The colors of Autumn:  ochre, rust, red, orange, moss green and sienna.

Fall slowly ever so softly draping itself around me . . . The Wheel of life turns . . . A time of reflection, of nesting and of gathering  those we love closer.

I found this big guy on our bedroom window screen yesterday and he is still there. Beautiful!

Aunt Leaf

Needing one, I invented her –
the great-great-aunt dark as hickory
called Shining-Leaf, or Drifting-Cloud
or The-Beauty-of-the-Night.

Dear aunt, I’d call into the leaves,
and she’d rise up, like an old log in a pool,
and whisper in a language only the two of us knew
the word that meant follow,

and we’d travel
cheerful as birds
out of the dusty town and into the trees
where she would change us both into something quicker –
two foxes with black feet,
two snakes green as ribbons,
two shimmering fish – and all day we’d travel.

At day’s end she’d leave me back at my own door
with the rest of my family,
who were kind, but solid as wood
and rarely wandered. While she,
old twist of feathers and birch bark,
would walk in circles wide as rain and then
float back scattering the rags of twilight
on fluttering moth wings;

or she’d slouch from the barn like a gray opossum;
or she’d hang in the milky moonlight
burning like a medallion,

this bone dream, this friend I had to have,
this old woman made out of leaves.  – Mary Oliver

Everyday Goddessing  is about sharing magical techniques and sacred wisdom with other beautiful Goddess women. I believe that within every woman there is a goddess, a wise woman, beautiful, creative, powerful, with a deep soul, and that everything we need and are looking for is already inside  each of us. – Rose Arizmendi

Healing Altar

This morning I noticed our Healing Altar needed a little tender loving care so I cleared off the tabletop, smudged the altar, washed the crystals with white sage water, and proceeded to wipe down the Kuan Yin statue with rose water.

Next, I added  fresh lavender to a pretty bag and placed the vogel crystal and Amethyst crystal on it, along with a small piece of Kyanite which helps clear the crystals after a session. The crystal singing bowl, Tibetan bowl and the painting hanging above the Altar were also cleaned.

Healing Touch Mandala by Gina Rose Halpern Original Acrylic 13″ x 13″ Copyright 1983.   Click here to see more of her work.

Here is where I do most of my Distant Reiki work for our families, friends and anyone in need. I place Reiki Prayer Packets  in the pyramid and send Reiki twice a day for those who have requested it, and keep the names in the Reiki pyramid or Reiki Box for a period of two weeks to a month.

Giving Reiki to others is what I love to do. For me Reiki is about unconditional love, healing and acceptance on all levels, and a beautiful gift we can share with everyone.

Everyday Goddessing is about sharing magical techniques and sacred wisdom with other beautiful Goddess women. I believe that within every woman there is a goddess, a wise woman, beautiful, creative, powerful, with a deep soul, and that everything we need and are looking for is already inside  each of us. – Rose Arizmendi

A Living Guide

The  Collage above was created using Painter IX and Photoshop.The photograph is of one of my favorite Kuan Yin statues,  I decided to make it the focal point of my digital collage.

“Many say that Kuan Yin, as the goddess of compassion, evokes the softer side of human nature–the innate softness and unconditional love that counterbalances the drive for competition and dominance.” – Colleen O’Connor.

Today I found this wonderful Living Guide tucked away in my file cabinet and wanted to share it with you.

A Living Guide

• Complement three people every day.
• Watch a sunrise at least once a year.
• Be the first to say, “Hello.”
• Live beneath your means.
• Treat everyone like you want to be treated.
• Never give up on anybody. Miracles happen.
• Forget the Joneses.
• Never deprive someone of hope. It may be all he has.
• Pray not for things, but for wisdom and courage.
• Be tough-minded but tenderhearted.
• Be kinder than necessary.
• Don’t forget, a person’s greatest emotional need is to feel appreciated.
• Keep your promises.
• Learn to show cheerfulness, even when you don’t feel like it.
• Remember that overnight success usually takes about fifteen years.
• Leave everything better than you found it.
• Remember that winners do what losers don’t want to do.
• When you arrive at your job in the morning, let the first thing you say brighten everyone’s day.
• Don’t rain on other people’s parades.
• Never waste an opportunity to tell someone you love him or her.

– Author Unknown