Altar Making

An Active Meditation
for Healing Your
Heart and for
Deepening Spiritual
Meaning in Your Life
By William Wittm ann and Friends
Alex andra Gay ek
Char Sundust
Joelle Ly ons Ev erett
Kim berly Gallagher
Morris Rones
Suzanne Wittm ann
Copy right William Wittm ann 2012 All Rights
Reserv ed

William Wittmann
4227 E. Madison, 2-C
Seattle, WA 981 1 2
206.328.207 3

Table of
Contents
T IP: To jump to a chapter, click the chapter name.
Thank Y ou
Free Goodies
Other Books Y oull Like from William
My Amazon Bestsellers
Books I Constantly Recommend To Clients
My Amazon Authors Page
Poem
Why Altar Making?
How This Book Came to Be
What Do I Mean When I Say This Is Second
Nature
What Benefits Do Y ou Get When Y ou Make Y our
Own Altar?

Y ou Receiv e These Benefits When Y ou Build an

Altar
When Y ou Use An Altar
What Can Y ou Do to Honor the Flows of the
Univ erse?
What Is an Altar?
What is a Shrine?
Why Y ou Want to Make an Altar or a Shrine?
How Do Y ou Build an Altar
Or a Shrine?
First What Is Y our Intention?
Clarity of Heart and Presence
Second Where Do Y ou Want Y our Altar?
Third What Elements Do Y ou Want To Include
In Y our Altar?
The Best Part,
Making Y our Altar
First, Get Present
What Does It Mean To Do Something In A Sacred
Way ?

This Morning
Who Makes the Altar?
How Can Y ou Stay in Alignment with the Sacred?
How Can Y ou Suspend Y our Critical Mind?
Inspiration from Two Mov ies
Sanctify Y our Altar
What Are Way s to Use Y our Altar?
Use Altars for Connecting to the Sacred
and for Worship
Use Altars for Pray er & Serv ice
How Y ou Can Make a Profound Difference in the
World without Leav ing Home World Work
Ex ercise
Use Altars for Rituals
Use Altars for Attracting Blessings
Use Altars for Giv ing Thanks
Jacks Shadow Altar
The Pray er Stick A Special Altar Form
A Little Help from My Friends

Altar Making as V ibrant Spiritual Practice

by Kimberly Gallagher
Contribution
Making, Sanctify ing,
Using Altars
By Morris Rones
Steps to Make an Altar
Sanctify ing an Altar
Contribution
How to Make an Altar
A Conv ersation in my Head between William and Me
By Suzanne Wittmann
Irrev erent Altars
By Alex andra Gay ek
Contribution
The Sage on the Dashboard
By Char Sundust
Pondering Altars
By Joelle Ly ons Ev erett

Strange And Wonderful Things

Contribution
Heres How to Rev iew Y our Book on Amazon
Friendly Resources
Williams Playful & Sacred Art
Williams Resources
Work with Me
Books by Others
Places to Contribute Money Flow and
Partnerships
Contact Information for Co-Authors
About the Author

Thank You
Thanks for getting this book. Please be kind and
REV IEW this book on Amazon. I need y our
feedback to make the nex t v ersion better.
Obv iously , y our rev iew helps others to decide to get
the book or not.
If y ou dont know how to submit a rev iew to
Amazon. Y ou can read the steps at the end of the
book. Its easy , and its fast.

Thank you so much.

Free Goodies
As a way to say thanks for getting my book, y ou can
go to my Free Goodies Page to find more things
that work for y ou.
=>
http://www.body andsoulmentor.com/index .php?
page=freegoodies
Consider sharing the book with y our friends.

Other Books
Youll Like from
William
People hav e reported that all my books help them to
liv e a life they lov e wholeheartedly body and
soul. Obv iously , y ou can browse the list below to
see which ones might serv e y ou nex t. Read the
books description on Amazon to find out all y ou
need to decide to get the book or not.

My Amazon Bestsellers
Do More of What Works: A Practical
Prescription for Figuring Out Y our Life This
book contains reliable ideas y ou can apply to y our
life so that y ou can liv e a life y ou lov e body and
soul.
Drawing the Sacred: Com m uning with the
Sacred through Drawing An Illustrated
Journey (Kindle Version) Y oull lov e the T rade
Paperback Edition. It makes a lov ely gift.
Sim ply Serene: How to Calm Down, Reduce
Stress, Deal with Stress, and Be Instantly
Alert and at Peace - I packed this book with
effectiv e strategies I want all my clients to know.

Books I Constantly
Recommend To Clients
Foolproof Relax ation: How to Relax Y our
Mind Any tim e, Any where. I could hav e named
this: T he Really Short and Easy Get Back to
Sleep Book. Note: Sim ply Serene includes a
v ersion of this.
T he Eight Fundam ental Secrets to Liv ing
Well: How to Liv e a Happy Life and Liv e Life
to the Fullest Clients lov e this book.

My Amazon Authors Page

Because I keep adding books, y ou can go straight to
my Am azon Authors Page and choose from the
rest of my books. (http://amzn.to/v XKNbC)

Poem
Altar,
holy space
place of honor
place of honoring ritual

Altar
ev okes energies,
offers a reminder
sy mbolic inv ocation
Altar
touches into quiet,
meaningful way s
of remembrance
Altar
rekindles mind
and heart

to
reawaken (soul)

From an Anony mous Friend

Why Altar
Making?

How This Book Came to Be

Why the book, Altar Making? Why make altars?
If y oure like me, altars belong to the priest class.
Not to folks like y ou and me. But listen...
I make Sacred Landscape Altarpieces. As y ou can
see abov e, they re beautiful and people lov e them.
While I was promoting my altarpieces for people to
buy , it dawned on me,
William , not ev ery one knows
how to m ake an altarpiece.
Shoot, they m ay not ev en know
they can. Som e m ight ev en
think its against the rules.
The thoughts in this inner dialog continued to
tumble out...
Som e people m ight not know
how to sanctify one. T hey
m ight not know what the
benefits are. Wow! And, Holy

Moly , they m ight nev er ev en

hav e thought about it at all.

To remedy this I decided to write this book of ideas

for y ou.
Heres the big idea:
Y ou can utilize altar m aking as
a spiritual practice to deepen
y our connection to the Sacred.

As the idea for the book grew, I thought it would be

wonderful to hav e some of my friends who build
altars add their ideas to the book. They thought it
was great too, and y ou can find their contributions
in the book starting with the foreword.

What Do I Mean When I

Say This Is Second Nature
I build altars and shrines frequently , sometimes
daily in parks, my office and my home. Many
people from all ov er the world do as well. It seems
second nature to them and to me.
Would y ou like to know why people create altars?
Well just listen to what happens to y ou and for y ou
when y ou build an altar

What Benefits
Do You Get
When You Make
Your Own Altar?

You Receive These Benefits

When You Build an Altar
First, because creating an altar puts y ou in a
state where time stops, y ou feel blissful, y ou
feel fully alert, and y ou may feel connected to
all that is. In other words, y ou hav e fun
building an altar.
When y ou make an altar, y ou get to be in the
present. The present is where y ou find the
kingdom of heav en. Therefore, when y ou
make an altar, y ou get to be in heav en.
Y ou connect to the Sacred.
Y ou align with Spirit, and y ou can bring these
numinous qualities into y our daily life where
they belong.
Y ou get to add beauty to the world.
When y ou make an altar or a shrine, y ou
stimulate y our creativ e juices. These juices
and the sanctity y ou inv oke and ev oke flows

into ev ery corner of y our life. Y ou can

bootstrap any project y ou want to begin by
first building an altar and listening to the
guidance and intuitions y ou get while y ou
build it.

When You Use An Altar

The altar or shrine acts like an anchor. It
reminds y ou of y our ex perience of
connection that y ou had when y ou created
the altar.
The altar, once created, can bring y ou back
into Presence. This can happen for y ou
casually when y ou walk by it. It can ev en
transpire when y ou think about it.
Finally , y ou can activ ely harness this
principle by consciously going to an altar or
a shrine for specific reasons.
Y ou can use the altar as a place for pray er
and inv ocation. Y ou can change the world by
using it as a focus for env isioning a blessed
world.
Y ou can use altars for healing y ourself,
others, and the world.
Y ou can use it to attract things to y ourself
that y ou desire such as true wealth, lov e,

happiness, relationships, material goods, and

ev en money .
The altar acts as a model for others. When
y ou build altars and shrines, others will see
them and be inspired.
Pretty cool, y es?
Before we get started with the details about altars
and shrines and how to make them, I hav e a fav or to
ask

What Can You

Do to Honor the
Flows of the
Universe?
Bey ond pay ing a price for this manual, I ask y ou to
consider doing something more in ex change for all
the benefits y ou will certainly receiv e from reading
and apply ing the knowledge in this wonderful
manual.
It is a way for y ou to honor the Sacred and a way to
show gratitude for the gifts y ou receiv e.
Heres what I would like. Its easy .
One: If y ou find the ideas in this book
v aluable, pass the book on to ev ery one who
might benefit. Send them to my website page
or to my Amazon Authors page.

T wo: Make a contribution of time and/or

money to y our fav orite sacred place or to
people who are doing work y ou appreciate
and admire. If y ou make a contribution, let
me know to whom y ou gav e y our gift. I
would lov e to hear y our story .
I lov e flowing money to these two places, y ou may
too

The Heifer Project

The Heifer Project focuses on making micro loans to
people. They started with the idea of supply ing
heifers to people in need of food. They hav e
ex panded in many wondrous way s.
As one of the guiding principles of the program, the
Heifer Project trains the recipient of the heifer to
take care of the animal and its products. As part of
the gift, the recipient then passes the gift on to
someone else in the v illage. That means passing on
a breeding pair of animals or a pregnant animal and
training the nex t person. Whole v illages transform
themselv es this way . They hav e gone from people

who needed gifts of food, etc, to people ex porting

riches to others. It is marv elous.
More: http://www.heifer.org/index .htm

The Trust for Public Land

TPL started by purchasing tracts of special land
before the dev elopers grabbed them up. Their focus
is to preserv e these tracts for future generations to
enjoy . Y ou probably know; parks and beautiful
places nourish the body and the soul. Y ou may not
know there is now scientific research to support this
obv ious insight. V isionaries in the past set aside
ev ery park y ou and I hav e ev er enjoy ed. Now, its
our turn to be the v isionary genius.
The mission has ex panded from sav ing large rural
parcels to dev eloping urban parks in collaboration
with those communities. This work is v ery ex citing.
More: http://www.tpl.org/
I encourage y ou to add y our flow to mine and help
make this a world that works for ev ery one.

My co-authors list their suggestions at the

end of their chapters. Y ou can find the whole list
of wonderful places in the resource section under
Money Flow and Partnerships at the end of the
manual.

What Is an
Altar?
What is a
Shrine?
What is an altar or a shrine? Any structure designed
for sacred use can be a shrine or an altar. Thats it.
I will not make detailed distinctions here between
altars and shrines and will use the terms
interchangeably . Shrines hold the possibility of
walking around inside of them, though this is not
required, and shrines can contain an altar. The
conv erse does not apply .
As with St. Peters in Rome (left), they can be fancy
bey ond belief.
Or

Altars can be quite

simple as is the one at
the beginning of the
chapter and to the left.
Although the circle

formed of sticks is quite simple, it serv es me well in

holding my pray ers for patients and others lov ed

ones in the basket encircled by consecrated rocks
and limbs.
I include the altar on the front cov er of the book
because it is so simple. It liv es on the windowsill in
my therapy office. Although the altar contains
sy mbols, balance for one, it is lov ely and centering
in its own right.
A shrine possesses much the same power as an altar,
but we can glean an additional insight from the root
definition of the word. The word shrine comes
from old English and from Latin meaning a box or
container.
Both altars and shrines are containers. But
containers for what? What do they hold?
Traditionally , they hold sacred objects such as the
bones or other relics of saints. But lets look
deeper
Altars and shrines hold and
uphold our highest and best
selv es. T hey hold the place for

our m ost sacred connections to

the Div ine.
I think of them both as containers and as doorway s
to the Sacred.
Can y ou remember a time when y ou knew Spirit
flowed ev ery where and magic was in the air?
This is what altars can do for y ou. They remind y ou
of the fundamental truth.
Spirit Flows Ev ery where. Ev ery thing Is
Sacred.

Why You Want

to Make an Altar
or a Shrine?
In my y outh, I serv ed as an altar boy at St. Michaels
in the Hills. I lov ed to participate in the ritual. I
throv e on the direct connection to the Sacred that
the religious serv ices made apparent. It got so that
I would only attend church when I was an altar boy .
My participation in the ritual fed me deeply .
When y ou make y our own altars and/or y our own
shrines, y ou will benefit, too.
When y ou m ake an altar, y our
heart will fill with the Sacred.

While y ou're sitting there reading this, y oull

discov er that an altar y ou create, possesses at its

heart the ability to transform y our life.

The altar will do nothing in and of itself, of course,
until y ou imbue it with energy and faith. The v ery
act of creating the altar inv ests the inanimate
objects with meaning and power. Or it honors them
for their inherent meaning or power. Y ou gain y our
power and the benefits from the process itself of
creating the altar. I will show y ou how later on.
Y ou can also benefit by using the altar as a sacred
space in which to perform rites and ceremonies.
Y ou can employ an altar or a shrine to heal or
otherwise support y ourself and others. Y ou can
employ it to attract circumstances and things to y ou
that y ou feel will mov e y ou forward on y our path.
Hav e y ou noticed that y oure ready to find out more
and see some ex amples of peoples altars? Well, lets
mov e on now to building an altar.

How Do You
Build an Altar
Or a Shrine?
The power of an altar and a shrine lies in the making
and the heartfelt attention and intention y ou bring
to the task.
The nature of its construction matters not. It
doesnt matter if its big or small, fancy or simple.
Y our heartfelt attention matters the most.
Read Suzannes process for building an altar, it giv es
y ou the feel of it quite well.

First What Is Your

Intention?
What do y ou want the altar to do? How do y ou want
to use it? What do y ou want to make easier in y our
life? How do y ou want to deepen y our heart life?
Do y ou want to use the altar or shrine

to be more present?
to feel the presence of God, of the
Sacred?
for healing?
for attracting wealth?
for connecting with the Sacred? My
fav orite.
for supporting y our family ?
for ex panding y our career?
for finding y our true lov e?
for strengthening y our marriage?

Whatev er y ou choose, if it comes from the heart, it

will serv e the right purpose and carry the most

potent intention.
Most commonly , y ou will know what y oure aiming
at. Y ou will feel a calling towards something. Y ou
will feel drawn towards something. Often we are
drawn to just connect with the Sacred more deeply .
We feel out of touch. Making something with our
hands literally puts us back in touch.
Sometimes I feel it is time to build a shrine and I
dont know what its for. In the making, I sometimes
discov er what underlies the hunger.
If y ou are uncertain as to what y ou want, y ou can
alway s consult y our heart.

Clarity of Heart and

Presence
How do y ou find this clarity in y our heart? Well y ou
could create an altar to help support y ou in finding
the intention in y our life. Mostly , it requires y ou to
be still, quiet and centered. (My manuals, Looking
Deeply into Presence and Sim ply Serene
Four Am azingly Powerful Way s to Be
Instantly Alert and at Peace show y ou way s in
depth to find that clarity .
Here is a shorter v ersion

T urn Off T he Greedy Fearful Y am m ering In

Y our Head
Insure y ou hav e a quiet space undisturbed for a few
moments and then sit or stand quietly .
Breathe slowly and deeply in y our belly . Ey es open,
let y our ey es be soft. Gently gaze at something in
the distance. Then let y ourself ex pand y our v ision
to take in as wide an angle as y ou can. Leav ing y our

ey es focusing forward gently , note y our peripheral

v ision to the left and to the right. Then up and
down. Hold all of this at the same time.
Did y ou notice? Y our mind quiets down
completely . Y ou hav e just tasted enlightenment.
Do all the ex ercises and build the altars and shrines
from this place. Whenev er y our chatty v oice in the
head comes back with words of worry , doubt, greed,
or distraction, return to wide-angle peripheral
v ision.
When y ou look in this way and the mind quiets, y ou
hav e arriv ed in Heav en. Build y our altar from this
place. Pray from this place. Y ou hav e found the
most sacred place, this place of stillness, this place
of presence.
Now, from here ask this question, What is calling
me that will make my heart smile. Then drop the
question into y our heart.
Imagine it leav ing y our head and serenely dropping
peacefully down into y our heart. Y ou can assist the
process by crossing y our hands ov er y our heart and
imagine breathing through y our heart.

Dont think about the question in y our head. Rather

let an answer bubble up from y our deepest heart.
Be like the prov erbial cat sitting at the mouse hole,
sitting fully alert and completely relax ed waiting for
the mouse to emerge. Wait in this calm alert way for
y our heart to respond with a lov ely clear answer.

Second Where Do You

Want Your Altar?
Where do y ou want this altar to be?
Do y ou want it indoors or outdoors?
Most of my altars liv e outdoors and only last for a
brief time. My fav orites often last only until the
nex t tide comes in or the nex t gust of wind puffs.
These short-liv ed ones are cousins to the candle.
People light candles to focus their pray ers. The
candle burns and then disappears. Beach shrines
act the same way .
Sacred Space
What is sacred space? One of the neat things about
the Muslim faith is that Muslims create sacred space
whenev er and wherev er one places his pray er rug.
Y ou can make sacred space as simply and as easily .
Where would y ou like it to be?

Indoors

Can y ou think of what the adv antages to an indoor

altar would be for y ou?
Do y ou need to think about children or pets that
might disrupt the altar or whom y ou might inv ite to
contribute?
The Christmas ritual of a family decorating a tree
represents a fine ex ample of temporary community
altar making.

Third What Elements Do

You Want To Include In
Your Altar?
Ev ery thing in nature contains
all the power of nature.
Ev ery thing is m ade of one
hidden stuff.
Ralph Waldo Em erson

What sy mbols feed y our heart? Which sy mbols

stimulate y our creativ ity ? Which remind y ou of
those things y ou want to hold close?
Photos are good. Historically , people all ov er the
world use icons of some sort. Most religions fav or
statues of saints in their altars and shrines. Not all,
of course, some prohibit the use of icons altogether.
Some swim in icons. Y ou choose what works for
y ou.
I like to build stuff, so I recurrently hav e stacked

rocks as a component of my altars.

In the stick circle on page 1 3, y ou see a pine needle
basket in the center. I made it specifically for use in
this altar.
Those objects that just come to y ou carry the most
power. Some come to y ou while y ou walk in a park
or down an ally . Y ou stop and pick up a crow
feather, a shiny coin, or a rock. I once found a rusty
silv er watch with the queen of diamonds on the
face.
Sometimes these artifacts come to y ou as gifts from
friends.
People often employ circles and spheres as well as
v erticals, standing or stacked objects. If nothing
else, they represent respectiv ely the female and the
male principles. Y ou can see an ex ample of both on
the cov er.
And dont forget Williams Play ful and Sacred Art
;)

Hot Rod Dev il Duckies And Rubber Buddhas

In my office desktop altar, seen on page 1 2, y ou will
notice a Zen Buddhist monk drinking coffee and
talking on a cordless phone. At first glance this may
appear to be sacrilegious mockery of the Buddha,
but from a Zen point of v iew one could not mock the
Buddha any more than they hav e already done for
y ears. For instance:
If y ou m eet the Buddha on the road, kill
him !
For me the coffee sipping monk reminds me to be as
centered as I can be in my work and in the world at
the same time. Jesus inv ited us to be in the world
but not of it. This little guy does this well for me. It
also pokes fun at my pretensions to holiness. Did I
mention that he is a squeak toy ? He squeaks out of
his fundamental orifice.
Archie McPhee has a wide range of wonderful silly
stuff. This is where I get the little rubber Buddhas
y ou see in the photo of my altarpiece on page 6.
And they hav e the Dev il Duckies I so cherish. I hav e

the Hot Rod Dev il Duckie.

Good. Now, lets mov e on to the good part making
the altar.

The Best Part,

Making Your
Altar
When we make an altar we come into the present
especially when we make it in a sacred way .
T he Power Is in the Making.

First, Get Present

I start by breathing in my belly slowly , feeling the
slow rise and fall of my belly . Nex t, I take in all my
surroundings. What do I see, hear, and feel? Use
the wide-angle v ision, I told y ou about abov e in the
section T urn Off the Greedy Fearful
Y am m ering in Y our Head. This will bring y ou
into the present quite nicely . For more details and
strategies y ou can read my book Sim ply Serene
Four Am azingly Powerful Way s to Be
Instantly Alert and at Peace.
For me, using these strategies brings me into the
present enough to start the process and to operate
in a sacred way .
Others find that this is a good time to inv oke the
Sacred to help in the process. Y ou can offer an
opening pray er of y our choice. Awareness becomes
a silent pray er for me a pray er of silence.
Y ou can light incense or a candle. Ex periment.
Find what works for y ou.

What Does It Mean To Do

Something In A Sacred
Way?
By doing things in a sacred way , I mean being
respectful to the way s of y our spiritual path. If
y oure Buddhist, y ou bow. If y ou are a Catholic, y ou
genuflect. If y ou are a Muslim, y ou bathe and
purify .
What acts, for y ou, show respect for y ou to God or
Univ erse?

This Morning
While walking to my tai chi beach, I spied a bright
y ellow willow twig on the bright green grass. I
spontaneously made an altar this morning using this
twig as the seed.
I had no plans to make an altar. I only wanted
connection with God before I worked with my first
priv ate client of the day .
The twig triggered the process. Whats nex t?
Elsewhere on the lawn was a bigger stick for drawing
a circle in the sand and may be for placing in the
sand.
I ex plored the waters edge today where y esterday s
big wav es had scoured the sand smooth
uncommon for this beach. There I found a set of
three stones simply arranged on the v irgin beach. I
drew a two-foot circle around them with my newly
acquired drawing stick.
I then planted my two bright y ellow willow twigs
inside the circle. I placed the taller one closer to the

center and the shorter halfway between it and the

outside of the circle. They pointed to the west. In
the medicine wheel archety pe, the Teacher makes
his home in the west.
I stepped back and felt a much deeper connection to
the lake and to the Sacred.
So, thats an ex ample of the process. Y ou can do
that, cant y ou? Sure y ou can.

Who Makes the Altar?

In a v ery real sense, I didnt plant the twigs or
draw the circle. I listened and heeded the requests
of the altar-in-making. When y ou shut down the
noisy mind, y ou disappear. And all there is, is all
there is.
When I make an altar, it feels like a collaborativ e
effort between the location, the items, and me. In
the process, we all become one with the Sacred.
More accurately , I remember I am one with all
liv ing things and Life itself.
T he landscape and the twigs
already know who they are.
T hey alway s rem em ber.

The altar told me where it wanted to liv e. It told me

to draw the circle. The twigs came to me and asked
to be placed, just so, in the west. The connection
with the sacred, with Life, y ou can see, occurs in the
process.
The product, the result has no special meaning to

me. Ex cept that it grew out of the connection and

therefore holds meaning and holds the connection
to the Sacred.
I do appreciate it as a work of art in much the same
way I can be mov ed by the beauty of a fallen leaf on
the ground or the joy ous flight of a crow

How Can You Stay in

Alignment with the Sacred?
To insure that I stay in alignment with the Sacred
and to honor the spirit of the objects I am
collaborating with, I continually ask questions
internally .
Here are the questions I pose my self. Y ou can make
up y our own

Who wants to come to the altar? Meaning

what objects, but since ev ery thing is aliv e
it really is a who. Sticks, rocks, flowers,
pictures, icons, etc.

Where do they want to be?

Whats still needed, whats missing?

Is it complete, now? Most of us want to

add too much. Note y ou can alway s
remov e something if y ou go ov erboard.

In the my th of Coco Chanel, the Celestial Empress of

taste adv ises, Just before y ou go out, stand in front
of y our mirror and remov e one piece of jewelry .
Her guidance works.

How Can You Suspend Your

Critical Mind?
Incidentally , I dont know what the images mean in
my altars. While y ou are making y our altar suspend
judgment. Dont second-guess y ourself with try ing
to figure it out. Just let y ourself hear the call. Feel
y our instincts, feel y our urges, sense y our intuitiv e
flashes.
Afterwards y ou can figure it out if y ou wish. Often
y ou will receiv e useful hints on how to liv e y our
life. The altar making process can act much like an
oracle for y ou.

Inspiration from Two

Movies
Y ou can watch these two films on DV D to get ideas
on how to build the altars. As y ou watch these films
closely , y ou cant help but notice the spirit and the
engagement display ed in the building of their altars.
Riv ers and T ides documents Andy Goldsworthy s
art. Goldsworthy takes found objects in nature and
creates a work of art on site using only the tools and
materials he finds at the site. For instance, he uses
thorns to poke holes in things he wants to thread
together. Y oull see that he works much as I
described abov e.
Although Goldsworthy might not say he constructs
altars, they share the same qualities as we hav e been
talking about. His process and his heart bespeak
worship. His art ev okes the Sacred. Watch and see.
Still Breathing stars one of my fav orite actors,
Brendan Fraser. In this story , Frasers character
builds cairns altars. For generations his family has
been building cairns to attract their mates and to

mov e the earth. The story rev olv es around his

listening to his intuition to find his wife.
Celeste Holm play s his grandmother, Ida, with
strength and sweetness. She also play s the tuba
while floating down a lov ely willow lined stream in a
small highly polished wooden rowboat.
Y ou can find out more about both from
Netflix .com . If y ou arent already a member, y ou
can sign up. Y oull be glad y ou did. (Y ou dont need
to sign up to get information.)

Sanctify Your Altar

What does sanctify mean? Sanctify means to set
something apart for sacred use. Y ou get to decide
what setting it apart means and what sacred use
means.
To me set apart means out of the way a bit.
Perhaps, out of the way of possible disapprov al of
friends, disruption by cats, dogs, ferrets, husbands,
wiv es, or children. Note y ou can inv ite children
or any of the others to participate, y our choice.
Many parents hav e the kids help in decorating for
holiday s. Y ou know what works best.
Dedicating the altar to some purpose or honoring
some purpose sanctifies it. Y ou want to make it
worthy of y our respect and that of others.
OK, now lets mov e on to way s to use y our altar.

What Are Ways

to Use Your
Altar?

Use Altars for Connecting to

the Sacred
and for Worship
Worship means coming into relationship with the
Sacred. Worship connects y ou to the Sacred.
Worship means to honor and lov e. And to come full
circle, to honor and lov e presupposes a
relationship.
For me, the best use of the altar lies in the process of
making it. I dont ev er need to see it again. My
friend, Jack Blackburn, finds the same holds true for
him.
Y ou can read how my co-authors benefit in their
chapters. Ev ery one gets different things from the
altars.
Morris Rones uses it to hold space. I v alue
cathedrals for just this reason. They hold a space
for connection with the Sacred. I can count on them

to do that. Whenev er I go to one of them, I know I

can settle and connect. The cathedral will hold me.
Likewise sitting with an altar can hold y ou. In times
of need, this holding can gently support and nurture
y ou well.
An altar can remind y ou of Presence. This
remembrance serv es me by helping me to stay in
touch with the source. I recall what matters. To
support this, I hav e altars around me. (Recall Coco
Chanels warning about too much of a good thing.)
As others will say later on and I agree, Keep
changing them to insure their freshness.

Use Altars for Prayer &

Service
WORLD WORK
The World Work exercise from the
Lorian Association models a
w onderful form of prayer and
service. It introduces some
w onderful w ays to align w ith the
sacred for you to consider.

How You Can Make a

Profound Difference in the
World without Leaving
Home World Work
Exercise
We offer the following ex ercise as a gift. It is one
possible way a person can use inner forces to
respond to the call of the world for blessing and aid.
If it feels right to y ou, please use it as y ou see fit.
This ex ercise has three major steps
Attunement, World Work, and Returneach of
which has stages within it.
Attunem ent
We begin by attuning to Self, Place, the
Sacred, and Allies
Honor Y ourself

As an inhabitant of this world, y ou hav e the

power to affect it phy sically , mentally , emotionally ,
energetically , and spiritually . Y ou can and do make
a difference ev ery day . Feel y ourself as a source of
spirit in this world, a unique presence. No one else
can contribute what y ou can. Y ou are inv aluable as
an ex pression of indiv iduated sacredness. Y ou hav e
the power to giv e the blessings of y our spirit to the
world. Feel this power within y ou, the power to be a
source of lov e. Honor y ourself.

Honor Y our Place

We all know that our phy sical env ironment can
affect our v itality , mood, thinking and creativ ity .
How often do we not arrange the space in which we
find ourselv es to better accommodate ourselv es
within it? In the shamanic worldv iew, all of the
things in our space are aliv e and ex ude a subtle
presence and influence in our liv es. They can be
allies in our work like a comfortable chair or
beautiful work of art.
The soul of the world breathes through
ev ery thing in y our env ironment. In lov e,
acknowledge this presence in all that surrounds y ou

and inv ite the assistance of the spirit of y our place

in the work of healing, blessing and v ision. Honor
y our place.

Honor the Sacred

Each of us has ex periences of awe, wonder and
joy . We each hav e known the sacredness of being
aliv e and the holiness of a moment. We can
recapture this knowing with the swiftness of
imagination and stand in the presence of the sacred,
the generativ e my stery within all things in which we
mov e and hav e our being. All World Work is to
further the presence of the sacred on earth. Honor
the Sacred.

Honor Y our Allies

We nev er act alone but are aided and supported
by the sacred and by spiritual intelligences of the
earth and cosmos. Y ou may hav e a special
relationship with an inner guide, helper, teacher, or
some other spiritual power who assists and protects
y ou. Or perhaps y ou can imagine hav ing such an
ally , like an angel. If so, then at this time attune to
and in y our own way call upon y our ally , lov ingly

inv iting its participation in y our work. It brings its

own unique perspectiv e, v ision, and energy to
complement y our own in a partnership of resonance
that giv es breadth and strength to y our World
Work. Honor y our Allies.
The four attunements y ou hav e just completed
come together to create a field of energy for serv ice;
this field is a foundation for y our World Work

World Work
Now call to mind a situation to which y ou wish
to
bring
healing,
wholeness,
blessing,
empowerment, and v ision. Imagine the particulars
of the situation. Step into the situation holding
about y ou the field of serv ice y ou hav e created
through y our attunements. Y ou do not need to
project any action or change into the situation. Y ou
stand as one who deliv ers cool water on a hot day ,
allowing the people and forces within the situation
to draw what they will from the field y ou present.
Without personal agenda but with compassion y ou
stand and create a larger, more spacious place for
pressure to subside, for negativ e energies to be

buffered and transmuted, and for the sacred to hav e

room to act for the good of all.
Be sensitiv e to any impressions or suggestions
that may come that may lead y ou to take a
particular action. Be aware of y ou own desires for
the situation. If y ou wish for a particular outcome,
state it clearly , and then let it go. The sacred
intelligence seeking to unfold within the situation
will respond to it or not. Y ou are there in spirit
standing as a radiant agent for the highest and best
dev elopment for the whole situation, for all of the
play ers, for ev ery being inv olv ed; human and non
human alike.

Return
When y ou feel complete, take a neutral position
towards the energies with which y ou hav e been
working so that nothing attaches to y ou. Ask y our
allies and the sacred for y our own cleansing and
protection. Then direct y our attention back to the
place y ou are sitting. Thank the ones y ou hav e
called upon who may hav e helped in y our work and
those who may hav e come to help unbidden. Let

them go. Giv e thanks to y our env ironment that has

held y ou while y ou did y our work. Appreciate
y ourself and y our willingness and ability to do this
work.
To close and ground the energy , touch
something in the place where y ou are, such as y our
chair, and let the blessing of the moment flow into
y our immediate env ironment. Mov e around,
stretch and do whatev er y ou need to connect fully
with y our ev ery day life, knowing that the work y ou
hav e done will be a blessing.

BLESSING
When y ou bless, y ou prov ide one of the most potent
serv ices y ou can. Blessing fits in with pray er.
At times when y ou feel impotent or helpless to
prov ide comfort or a serv ice that will help restore
someone or a situation to wholeness, I recommend
y ou bless.
Dav id Spanglers book, Blessing: T he Art and
the Practice http://tiny url.com/ctbhz draws

many useful distinctions and can show y ou the way .

Heres what the Amazon rev iew say s
Blessing, a tender book by
internationally recognized spiritual
leader Dav id Spangler, teaches the
art of inv oking and receiv ing
blessings. Y es, it sounds
straightforward. But div ing into the
core of this book, we discov er how
blessings represent the crux of
spiritual dev elopment--the ability to
hold the world (and oneself) in the
palm of lov ing kindness, and to
dev elop a practice that sheds good
intentions upon the world.
I couldnt say it better so I didnt.

Use Altars for Rituals

Ev ery morning, my friend, Kathy Rossol steeps a
cup of green tea and steps outside her sliding glass
doors out onto her deck. In the rainy season, there
is enough of an ov erhang that she can stay dry .
Kathy rises early due to a long commute into
Seattle, so many day s she steps out into the
predawn darkness of a northwest winter. Still she
finds her dy ing father, her angry husband, and
teenage daughter all being at peace while she is out
there. Ev en though the circumstances hav e not
changed, life is in balance.
Kathy describes what she does:
When I first started doing this, it was
the dead of winter - cold, dark, often
rainy . I would shut the door behind
me and stand under the eav es,
cradling the cup of tea in my hands.
I started by breathing deeply , as if
getting ready to meditate. I would
sip my tea and wait for the world to

sink into me - the sounds, the odors,

the feel of the air, the pattern of
darkness and light.
It's odd how I became attuned to
just that cup of tea and those
impressions. With each sip, with
each breath, I felt more peaceful,
more serene. It was easy not to
think about my problems.
Now that it's so light out (at 6 am),
the world seems a different place
and I initially found that unsettling.
Sipping my tea, I remind my self that
the same world is out there, just
clothed differently . The green belt
behind my house contains an
immense fir tree that creaked and
groaned during the winter but now is
silent. Raucous bird song now
greets me when I walk out on my
deck. Were those birds there before,
sleeping in the dark hours of the
morning or were they in some warm
clime down south?

The paper printed a Taoist poem; it

caught my spirit. On the deck with
my tea these mornings epitomizes
that poem, calming me, steady ing
me.
All things pass
A sunrise does not last all
morning
All things pass
A cloudburst does not last all day
All things pass
Nor a sunset all night
All things pass
What alway s changes?
Earth...sky ...thunder...
mountain...water
wind...fire...lake...
These change
And if these do not last
Do man's v isions last?
Do man's illusions?
Take things as they come
All things pass.

My friend Cristie tells a similar story about her

rituals in Sim ply Serene.

Use Altars for Attracting

Blessings
Many use prosperity altars to attract the best of life
to themselv es or for lov ed ones.
Y ou can follow the basic guidelines of any altar and
add sy mbols and pray ers for what y ou want to
attract. Careful ask for what y ou want; not what
y ou dont want.
No more debt may be something y ou think y ou
want. When y ou create a mental picture of no
more debt though, the picture necessarily contains
debt.
Better to make a picture of easily pay ing all y our
bills with bundles of money left ov er.
See the difference? Ask for any thing and ev ery thing
y ou want. (See Sim ply Serene for more details.)

Use Altars for Giving

Thanks
Giv ing thanks naturally follows after attracting
wonderful things. When y ou feel poor or the
goodness of life seems scarce, pay attention to all
the blessings y ou hav e right now. When y ou focus
on whats missing, y ou can easily ov erlook all y our
blessings.
Count y our blessings. Populate an altar with what
y ou treasure about what y ou are, do, and hav e right
now.

Jacks Shadow Altar

Jack Blackburn places images of his shadow self as
an offering to God. His shadow contains the
elements where he carries shame, hurt, anger, or
embarrassment. He places these shadow elements
on the altar for healing and as a way to honor the
wholeness that humans are. He places them there to
become humble.
We hav e egos that when under duress go into
defensiv e or attack modes. We act in unhealthy
div isiv e way s. We control and we bluster. We make
people wrong and ourselv es right.
What would it be like to offer up all y our shameful
parts to God? Would it heal y ou to admit y our flaws
before the Belov ed? Is there freedom in humility ?
Ex periment with y our shadow.
For more on the shadow read Robert Bly s gem A
Little Book on the Hum an Shadow.

The Prayer Stick

A Special Altar
Form
Some Christian churches, most notably , the Catholic
and Orthodox Christian churches utilize the lighting
of candles as a way to energize their pray ers. As
long as the candle burns, the pray ers waft to
heav en.
The Tibetan Buddhists hang pray er flags and spin
pray er wheels.
The Lakota people of the Great Plains create a
pray er stick to achiev e the same result.
The adorned stick is planted upright in the sacred
ground. Near the top of the stick a simple face is
carv ed and a v ariety of objects, such as ribbons and
flowers, tied to the pray er stick so that when the
wind blows as it alway s does on the plains, the

objects will mov e and the wind will faithfully carry

the pray er to the Great Spirit.
Suzanne and I hav e used pray er sticks for important
passages in our liv es the birth of children, the
death of parents. I helped my y oungest construct a
grandfather pray er stick when her grandfather died.
We placed it up in the woods with some of her
deceased pets.

Enough from me, now. Lets hear from my coauthors.

Read on...

A Little Help
from My Friends
This section contains the genius of some friends. I
inv ited these folks to add their v iews about altar
creation so y ou could hav e a broader perspectiv e
than I could prov ide on my own.
I thought it would be inspirational and fun for y ou.
Enjoy .

Altar, at the beginning of the book, a

Poem from an Anony mous Friend.

Altar Making as Vibrant Spiritual

Practice by Kimberly Gallagher

Making, Sanctify ing, Using Altars by

Morris Rones

How to Make an Altar A

Conv ersation in m y Head between

William and Me by Suzanne Wittmann

Irrev erent Altars by Alex andra Gay ek

Sage on the Dashboard by Char Sundust

Pondering Altars by Joelle Ly ons

Ev erett

Altar Making as
Vibrant
Spiritual
Practice
by Kimberly Gallagher
I met Kimberly w hen she taught at
my daughters school. Kimberly
plays many roles these days. Her
husband, John Gallagher, made a
valuable contribution to my book
Sim ply Serene. Y ou may visit
Johns Learning Herbs HERE. Y ou
may contact Kimberly at
kimberly@grammamoon.net

In the last sev eral y ears, altars hav e become a

common aspect of my life. Before I had children, I

usually created them on low tables where I could sit

in front of them and light a candle and pray or
meditate. Now, I find a higher surface a shelf on a
bookshelf or the top of a dresser so my special
altar items will be safe from curious little hands.
To me, all of life is sacred, and I choose things for
my altar that remind me of the sacred nature of the
univ erse. In this simple choosing, my altar is
sanctified, and I hav e created a v isual reminder for
my self of the beauty and sacredness of the earth and
of the importance of spirit in my life.

Right now, I hav e a practice of completely changing

my altar with the seasons, choosing beautiful things
from nature as altar items. My personal winter altar
has ev ergreen boughs and holly berries and a
pinecone shaped like a flower winter beauty !
I add candles, stones people hav e gifted to me or
that I hav e found, and other small beautiful objects
that embody the spirit of the season.
A small dark rock, here, reminds me of the darkness

at this time of y ear.

I also hav e some nuts and a candle with the words
ex traordinary , ordinary relationship nex t to it.
These represent the golden seed, the little light that
I am carry ing inside my self through the dark times.
It is this seed that will sprout for me in the spring
and flower in the summer.
Changing the altar each season
keeps it alway s beautiful, fresh
and aliv e.
Changing the altar for me is a simple ritual
celebrating the changing seasons. My candle with
my intention and the nuts form part of another
simple ritual. This ritual inv olv es choosing these
items and setting them on my altar to remind me of
the little light I am tending through the dark times
(my intention of creating ex traordinary , ordinary
relationship in my life). Each time I light that
candle, I remember my intention and keep it aliv e
within my self.
The concept of simple ritual has just come into my
life in the last y ear and comes to me through Sally

King at Rav enCroft Garden. It is about doing

something simple like the altar ex amples abov e,
or putting on a special red necklace during my
moon time, or sitting quietly with a cup of miso
soup in the morning to nourish my self so I am ready
to be with my children in a good way to celebrate,
enliv en, or mark something important in our liv es.

Our family altar for this time of y ear is also part of a

simple ritual of honoring the fiv e elements. My
husband, John, is study ing to become a fiv eelement acupuncturist and so we hav e wov en this
important aspect of our liv es into our holiday

celebrations.
Each day from solstice until Christmas, the wood
elv es bring a gift from nature for our children that
they add to the altar. The gifts are representativ e of
water, wood, fire, earth, and metal, the fiv e
elements of Chinese medicine. So, by Christmas,
our altar has become a celebration of all of the
elements.
One other simple altar that I hav e recently added to
my practices is this stov e-top altar. Each new
moon, I light a candle and offer flowers to
remember our intention for our home. The stov e is
sy mbolic of our hearth, the central warmth and light
of our home. So, I hav e written our pray er on a
beautiful piece of paper: May this be a place of
abundance of health, happiness and prosperity .
May there be an easy flow of money and resources
so that we can be generous and also sav e for our
future. May this home be a welcoming and
nourishing space for family and friends. Each
month this pray er is placed with the candle and
flowers on the stov e and so each month these
intentions are once again enliv ened for all of us.

I leav e some things on my personal altar

throughout the y ear, like my candle in the shape of a
female body and a goddess figurine to root me in the
goddess, wise woman tradition. I also keep my little
story teller grandmother figure present throughout
the y ear, to remind my self about my lov e of
story telling and my desire to carry the stories for
my family and community . Howev er, these are the
only constant items on my altar these day s.
What Iv e found is that changing my altars with the
season and ty ing them to simple ritual is what has
truly brought the practice of altar making to life for
me.

Contribution
If this article inspires y ou to make a donation, I
encourage y ou to gift some money to Rav en Croft
Garden. They are not a 501 C3 so y our donation will
not be tax deductible, but it will support the work of
this amazing learning center complete with a
permacultural garden and herbal apprenticeship
programs.
They are doing the work of helping people learn the
art of cultiv ating life, an essential skill in these
changing times.

Making,
Sanctifying,
Using Altars
By Morris Rones
Morris practices as a coach and
educator in Seattle. Weve shared
an office for over 1 8 years. Y ou
may reach him at 206.328.207 3
and at morrisrones@frontier.com.
Making altars is a way of life.
What I mean is that almost ev ery thing I do is
creating sacred spaces, i.e. an altar. Whether we are
talking about how I arrange things in my home, my
office, or ev en my car.
When I was a teenager, I went to liv e on a kibbutz in
Israel. I was assigned a room with two other

people. I had a cot to sleep on and a cupboard to

store my stuff. The first thing I did after hanging up
my clothes and putting away my gear was to create
an altar. I did this by putting a world map on the
wall along with a couple of other personal objects. I
arranged them in a way that was pleasing and
comforting to me. This then became my altar. I
could look to this space any time I wanted. It gav e
me a sense of sacred space.

Steps to Make an Altar

There are only a couple of steps required to make an
altar.

One is to be conscious of what y ou are

doing.

Two is to create a space that giv es y ou a

sense of connection and comfort.

To be conscious in this case means to be aware of

y our self in relationship to the world. Be aware of
y our self as a phy sically embodied spirit in the
present moment.
It helps to be aware of y our breathing, y our body ,
y our mind and heart without thinking about these
things. It also helps to hav e y our mind quiet or at
least not affected by the noise.
There are many different way s to create an altar. I
sometimes place objects that hav e meaning to me
on my desk in a particular area. I place them in a
way that feels right to me.

I m ust literally feel

com fortable with the
placem ent and not just pleased
with the aesthetic com position
of m y little creation.
T his is perhaps the difference
between creating sacred spaces
and decorating.
As I create the altar from this conscious and
centered place, the altar becomes a place that holds
consciousness and centering. I do not need to hav e
the altar be obv ious to others but it needs to be
obv ious to me.
It does not need to be the center of my room or my
desk or of any thing. It does need to be in a place I
do not forget.
An altar does not necessarily hav e to hav e objects
in it. In fact, an empty space can sometimes
become an altar more easily without objects. The
objects need to connect with me, not distract me.
Sometimes, I hav e gotten focused on the object and
lost sight of the space it belongs to and the energy

the space holds for me.

I also like to create obv iously transient altars.
William and I share an office with a couple of
common areas, one of these being our kitchen. In
this space, we hav e a Zen sand garden. I lov e
creating an altar knowing that no matter how
beautiful I think it is or how meaningful it becomes
to me, it can, and probably will, be destroy ed or
changed. It reminds me not to attach to things -ev en sacred spaces.

Sanctifying an Altar
Sanctify ing an altar is something I do without a
formal ritual. While that is a useful approach, I like
to sit with the altar for a period of time (usually
day s) until it feels natural to me. Sometimes this
happens as I am creating it, but usually it is a
process of being with and connecting with the altar
and my self. Ov er a period of time, the altar
becomes capable of holding a space for me much as
I try to hold space for others. To be specific, it
holds a space free of judgment in which I can just
be. This fits with my belief of healing and liv ing.
The way that a sacred space works is that it becomes
a phy sical, emotional, and spiritual holder of
unconditional lov e. If y ou hav e had a person in
y our life who lov es y ou unconditionally , y ou know
the incredible v alue of being held in this space.
When this space holds us, ev olution happens for us.
T he steps that happen are:
1 . Awareness we become conscious of some
pattern or behav ior in ourselv es.

2. Acceptance we learn to see ourselv es

without negativ e or positiv e judgment and
come to a place where we do not need to
change ourselv es in order to consider
ourselv es acceptable. This seems to be one of
the most difficult positions to hold for
ourselv es.
3. Honor we recognize how our behav iors and
patterns hav e serv ed us in v ery meaningful
way s. Not, of course, in a way we would
necessarily deem as positiv e. For ex ample, if
I had a deep seated belief that I was a failure,
I would be able to see how a particular
pattern kept bringing me back to this
position. As is obv ious, these patterns and
behav iors are mostly or completely
unconscious.
4. Ev olution this happens not when we are
able to eliminate behav iors and patterns but
when we become aware enough of them so as
to be conscious or at choice. Often the
pattern becomes a tool we can use in a
conscious way to serv e us.

I use my altars to help hold this space for me to

ev olv e. I get to be my authentic self within this
space. There is little as freeing and rewarding as
being accepted and lov ed for who y ou truly are as
opposed to who y ou or others think y ou should be.
Most of us hav e spent a lot of time defending
ourselv es against the inv alidation we hav e felt and
lose our connection with what is true to ourselv es.
Sitting with or ev en near the altar starts to giv e us a
sense of being held in unconditional acceptance.
Life is about liv ing, lov ing, and growing and my
altars keep me close to this.

Contribution
I support with time and money two of my fav orite
organizations, Crisis Clinic and Three Cedars
School.
The Crisis Clinic is a non-profit organization
dedicated to being a support line for people in crisis
and as dissemination point with ov er twenty four
hundred local resources.
I support the Seattle Crisis Clinic and would highly
recommend others do the same as they hav e well
trained v olunteers that are able to talk to people in
need of friendly and wise counsel and also able to
locate tremendous number of av ailable resources
such as shelters, food banks, emergency mental
health support and much more. 206 461 -321 0
My other fav orite place to support is a school in
Bellev ue, Washington named Three Cedars. They
are a Waldorf school dedicated to bringing a lev el of
education to children that far surpasses others I
hav e found. (425 401 -987 4)
They teach children to recognize that they are a part

of this planet and all life. At the same time, they are
bringing education to children in a way that instills a
lov e of learning and curiosity . Helping children in
these way s may be the best way for us to support a
healthier life for future generations.

How to Make an
Altar
A Conversation
in my Head
between William
and Me
By Suzanne Wittmann
Suzanne edits everything I w rite
and has know n me for over forty
years, so it is easy for her to
imagine w hat I w ill say to her in a
conversation. She also has a touch
of theater background, hence the
script format. NB: the WW in this
script is an imaginary William

Wittmann. Y ou may reach Suzanne

at
smoothw ater2000@comcast.net.
WW: When do y ou make an altar?
Me: When y ou know y ou want to make an altar ... (is
when y ou make one)
WW: How do y ou know?
ME: I dont know; y ou just feel it in y our bones, and
there is a smile in y our being. So, when y ou know,
y ou start noticing what pops up when y ou think
about the altar and ...
WW: How do y ou notice?
Me: I dont know. Images, feelings, smells, sounds,
song ly rics are in y our head and there is no other
ex planation (for their being there).
So, y ou start noticing and y ou ask people who hav e
done it before how they do theirs. Y ou may not use
all their ideas, but their ideas can spark y our own.

Now y ou find y our place.

WW: How do y ou find y our place?
Me (With slight frustration): I dont know. If its an
altar with artwork, y ou find a place in y our home or
office where y ou want to be reminded, where its
flat, where y ou feel comfortable.
OK, y ou hav e y our place, and y ou put y our things
out.
Wait, wait, Im getting to it.
I like groups of three. Three objects, three corners,
three tex tures.
I also like to include as many senses as possible.
Sight is a giv en unless y ou are blind. Smell can be
scented candles or incense. Sound can be wind
chimes or rain if y ou are by a window.
Touch can be ev oked by using different tex tures;
smooth rock, cool glass, rough paper, feathers,
fuzzy plant leav es.

Taste is hard. I like to include things from nature as

y ou may hav e guessed pine cones, feathers, fall
leav es, shells, rocks, flowers.
There y ou go!
WW (smiling): Thank y ou, Suzanne.

Irreverent
Altars
By Alexandra Gayek
Alexandra heals folks at many
levels. Her w ork w ith the Science
of Being Well w eb site inspires
and heals w ith gentle
encouragement and playful
kindness. Y ou may reach her
through her site.
Y oure in for a treat. What follow s
is poetic in its feel and presentation.
To tell y ou the truth, my first thought of an "altar"
giv es me the creeps. What floods into my mind are
thoughts of resistance.
Plenty of times along my colorful lifelong spiritual
journey I felt confused, guilty , a fraud, or not-goodenough when I tried to take on somebody else's

ideas of what "should" be meaningful to me (candles,

tobacco, cornmeal, little bowls of water, salt,
pictures of this or that spiritual teacher, cry stals,
little statues of Jesus or Kali or Kwan Y in,)
somebody else's ideas of the rituals or pray ers or
meditations I "should" do on a daily basis,
somebody 's idea that I "should" hav e a special spot
in my house dedicated to some sort of spiritual
practice or focus. I'm ev en reminded of my
resistance as a child to the baby sitter who insisted I
get on my knees and pray before getting into bed.
William inv ites me to contribute to this ebook, and
in the asking, all my resistance melts.
Suddenly I realize I hav e altars all ov er the place.
There's the little display on my desk with Annie and
Peter's wedding photo, the little wooden turtle that
made me laugh so hard as its head bounced in that
windy morning with Catherine in the open market in
Cabo San Lucas, a postcard photo of red poppies
that wrap up an incredible couple of weeks in
Prov ence, France, a bright paper sculpture Ly nnie
sent me for my birthday , the hand-drawn sign of my
name that one of my friends made to sav e my seat at

a life-changing seminar, the list of qualities I pasted

on the wall to remind me of my focus, the Frida
Kahlo card Eileen gav e me just after our trip to
Costa Rica.
Across the room is the colored pencil drawing of
cardinals I bought from the artist in Y ellow Springs
one day when I was feeling so grateful to hav e the
means to buy art, the orange doily my cousin Tracy
made for me, the photo of a bird on the sand my
photographer friend Todd took on his trip to Alaska,
nex t to the lop-sided basket I was so proud to make
with my v ery own hands.
On top of my stereo in the kitchen is a plant that I
like to think thriv es on the words and music I play ,
nex t to a bright Spanish grammar book I imagine is
imparting silent fluency to my brain.
What is an altar but something that makes me smile
or laugh, drop my shoulders, remember
spontaneous joy and surprises and lightness and
friends and gratitude and lov e and my own power.
It's all those feelings that sanctify it.
If y ou were to follow my solo wanderings in the

wilderness, y ou'd find me making another kind of

altar.
It all started last summer when William groaned
with longing as I told him I was taking off for a
weeklong wander in the mountains. We decided I
should make little cairns here and there for him to
v icariously ex perience being there.
It was such fun, finding each spot I imagined he
would lov e, and building a little rock figure to take
in the v iew for him. Those rock people stand
witness in Goat Rocks Wilderness in the Cascades of
Washington, the Grand Cany on, Big Bend National
Park. Better than photos of the v iew, they capture
the full essence of those wonderful, delicious
moments of play fully thinking of my belov ed friend.
They also pull me back into those beautiful places
like little windows through which I can watch the
clouds float past, the goats and rabbits and elk and
deer walking by , the cy cles of day and night and
moon, stars, and seasons. It's as if a part of me is still
quietly present in all those places, feeding me a
constant stream of peace and deep energy to do
what needs doing in the city .

As I think about what I'v e written here, I realize

these little touches I'v e created are what bring me
back to Truth when I get distracted by the crowd of
unquestioned negativ e thoughts that seem to gather
so readily as I interact with the world. It's not so
different, I suppose, from setting up any other
collection of objects that represents Truth for Y OU.

Contribution
I contribute to and lov e both of Williams fav orite
causes, and would add these:
The National Park Foundation
(www.nationalparks.org) which I learned from a
long-time park employ ee was the best way to
support the parks. I'm so grateful to those who had
the v ision and donated the land and funds to set
aside places of such profound beauty and make
them safely accessible to people from all ov er the
world, and especially , to ME.
Another of my fav orites is FINCA International
(www.v illagebanking.org). It prov ides financial
serv ices to people (primarily women, who represent
the poorest segment of the population with the
largest responsibility for supporting families) in
Africa, Eurasia, and Central America, allowing them
to create successful small businesses, av oid
dependence on v illage money lenders (who often
contribute to v iolence and drug culture).
FINCA also prov ides a safe means for family

members to send money home from work abroad -v ery important in Mex ico and Central America.
If y ou'v e trav eled to these places, y ou will
understand the unsurpassed empowerment that
results from people using their own skills, talents,
and ideas to create businesses that will support their
families and prov ide the means for health,
education, and phy sical safety .

The Sage on the

Dashboard
By Char Sundust
I have been friends w ith Char for
over a dozen years. She practices
and teaches as a shaman in the
Seattle area and the w orld at w ide.
She can be reached at
206.440.8886. Sundust Oracle
Institute w w w .charsundust.com.

Since I got my first car there has alway s been a

perpetual altar in my life.
The turquoise blue 1 97 8 Datsun naturally became a
sacred space. My intuition led me to put beachfound shells in the key tray nex t to the steering
wheel, and multicolored collections of feathers that
I had picked up on road trips, peeking out at an

angle from my v isor. Howev er, they would

sometimes return to their source when I drov e on
warmer day s with the windows down.
My Datsun had a flat tray under the radio, for tapes
and sunglasses. It soon ov erflowed with small
stones of unequaled beauty . They would speak to
me in their smooth v oices, asking to go with me as
companions for a while. Once inside the car they
would find their way to the nooks and crannies
around the seats. On the dashboard, there were
stones ev ery where and I lov ed them all. As sacred
things do, they would fan out to accompany me on
all my journey s. The final addition was what my
mother calls Nativ e American insurance: a long
sprig of sage sliding back and forth across the
dashboard.
I hav e alway s noticed that people intuitiv ely place
things of meaning around their rear-v iew mirrors.
On any road trip, the observ ant ey e can notice this
delightful commonality . These include (but are not
limited to) fuzzy dice, cardboard ev ergreen trees in
assorted primary colors, dangles, feathers, beads,
dream-catchers, bells, cords, and the occasional,
but alway s ey ebrow-raising, leather strap.

My car was unique, a force of nature inside and out;

a lean, green shamanic machine, able to leap entire
realities from 0-80 in six ty seconds -- or at least I
believ ed it was so. I truly lov ed that car, not
because it was a 1 97 8 Datsun, but because my own
form of wild safety was contained in its sacred blue
body . It was and is now essential to my well-being
to hav e spirited reminders ev ery where in my life,
both v isually as well as energetically .
A teacher of mine once told me that cars had the
worst feng shui possible. Perhaps my organic way of
making my cars into trav eling altars is a way to
transform that sha (bad energy ) into chi (good
energy ). This was ev en before I ev er took a feng
shui class or ev en had so much as a conscious clue
about good and bad.
For me that is what altars do. They transform
energy and stabilize benefic energies that are alway s
present and av ailable. I can also take whatev er is in
my heart, and create a sacred site outside of me.
This acts as a gentle reminder of all that is good in
my life. It is a tangible, authentic pray er; a way that
I can pray ev en when sleeping. Each one is a

reminder of my deep rev erence for life and daily

relationship to God. The altars I co-create with
Spirit are a sustainable, practical way to walk this
my stical path with activ e participation, intention,
and responsibility .
In my counseling practice, I ask that people place
money for my fee on the altar in my office.
Abov e this altar is a framed Japanese picture of the
floating world, a my thical community where
ev ery one works together for the highest good. On
the altar are images of Serenity , a rav en, and a
statue of a Buddha from Thailand. There are stones
giv en or gathered on journey s around the world,
candles to ask that my work be of light, and the ev er
present sage for purification. There are often letters
of gratitude. I also ask that all energy that comes to
me from the Source be used for the greatest good of
all. My altars are organized and clarified
rigorously . They are meticulously cared for with
pray ers in the forms of sy mbols that are meaningful
and authentic to me and my relationship with
Spirit. Although my altars are usually tidy , the
debris -- if any -- is a flurry of pray ers.

I cried the day that old Datsun died on the West

Seattle Freeway . In the way of things, it was
ev entually replaced with my v ery first new car
ev er. She is my trav eling altar, and is named Luna.
She is silv er like the moon, but she is, by no stretch
of the imagination, what one could call tidy ! All of
her is an altar.
Willingly , she preserv es memories in each foil and
paper wrapping, in each stray ticket stub, in each
twig, and in each feather. It was a much needed
sacred addition to my life.
On our first road trip together, after settling into the
driv er's seat, I was looking for room to place some
stones I had gathered from my walk. To my great
surprise, I discov ered that there wasn't enough
room to place all fiv e of them where they wouldn't
become v ictims to sliding into the great chasm
underneath my seat. I balanced the small stones on
my emergency brake until I could get them home.
I am driv en by life as ceremony as though it were a
belov ed poem or song. My car, for ex ample, is like
slam poetry : a cacophony of my teaching,
mentoring, learning, and liv ing life. I was

disappointed to find that Luna had so selfishly

afforded me only a small shelf; too small and
rounded to hold ev en two stones for an altar on the
dash. Now don't get me wrong. I lov e my car. It
sy mbolizes freedom; and I treat my freedom with
the same respect that I treat any my stical form of
transportation.
The dilemma of where to put the altar in a new and
somewhat pristine car haunted me until about three
day s ago.
My intuition guided me to a small leather box that
had once held a wallet; the perfect size to perch on
the little shelf in my car. Thusly would the v arious
stones, feathers and saints from different traditions
all be housed safely . All I needed was a little
double-sided tape on the bottom of said box to
insure its perfect placement. I could also protect
my feathers from the wild winds of summer driv ing
and still hav e a constant, v isual pray er to remind
me of serenity and gratitude when in traffic. This
would serv e to assist my meditations in the still
times that I hav e before blessing a home or
business.

In that little brown box is tremendous serenity and

connectedness with Spirit. No matter where I am -in downtown Seattle for a business blessing or in the
middle of Detroit for a wedding blessing -- I hav e
authentic elements and reminders of Spirit, my self,
and Nature to support whatev er I am called to do.
This includes any ceremony , teaching, or medicine
that would like to flow through me in that moment.
Because, y ou see, these bring me that essential
reminder to be still. After all, ev ery thing is already
in motion-especially my Nativ e American insurance
that glides from one end of the dash to another,
ev ery time I turn a corner.

Pondering
Altars
By Joelle Lyons
Everett
Joelle is a consultant to organizations, a
facilitator of w orkshops, and the author of
Strange and Wonderful Things, a book
of original poems. The focus of her w ork is
more on healing than on teaching. Y ou can
learn more about her consulting and
w orkshops at
www.SoundResources.org and contact her
at jleshelton@aol.com

I walked around my house, looking at the sacred

spaces I hav e created there, and asked my self, So,
what do y ou think y ou are doing? What is the

meaning, what is the purpose of these spaces?

William asks, Can y ou remember a time when y ou
knew Spirit flowed ev ery where and magic was in the
air?
I can see that one important purpose of my altars is
to help me remember those Spirit-filled times. I
created an altar after a soul retriev al, to help me
remember my wholeness.
Two pictures remind me of a time when I did not y et
feel separated from the worldone shows me,
may be age two, happily chest-deep in leav es.
The other, at age six , is the last photo I hav e where I
did not look self-conscious. A tiny bronze Scottie
dog that used to be on my grandfathers desk
reminds me of the unconditional lov e I ex perienced
from all my grandparents.
I added a Russian doll, a gift from an amazing v isit to
Russia. My sister added a bronze owl, a reminder of
the owl I encountered on a shamanic journey .
Theres a bowl filled with featherscrow and seagull
feathers found in my y ard, white goose down found
a riv erbank in my hometown after my fathers

funeral, and feathers from a flicker that I found dead

on my doorstep on New Y ears Day , 2000.
There are amethy st cry stals Iv e used for healing
after surgery , and a few small pieces of black basalt
from the island of MauiI fell in lov e with the
powerful energy of the island, which is geologically
one of the newest places on earth.
Another altar also celebrates magical times and
places. The drum I made for my self liv es here when
the weather is warm, but in the damp of winter I
leav e it near the fire. A shamans rattle is here, and
a bright blue silk shawl that was a welcome gift to
Bury atia, one of the ethnic areas of Siberia.
A friend from another state told me she had found
swan feathers near her summer home. When I told
her that swan was one of my power animals, she
promised to find feathers for me. A few weeks later,
a mailing tube arriv ed, with two large wing feathers,
a foot and a half long, and a couple of y ears later, a
package arriv ed on my birthday , filled with swans
down, wrapped in sunset-colored silk.
Iv e added a whistle and a small statue, carv ed from

antler by a woman I met in the Altai region of

Siberia, and a wheat stalk that was tied around the
program for a wonderful meeting in Denmark.
A changing array of seasonal shrines and altars
show up all around the housea handful of fresh
chestnuts in a small bowl, new crow feathers, robins
egg shell, amazing twisted and rolled strips of
madrona bark, a thick chunk of white lichen. At
Christmas, I put cups and v ases of fresh holly all
around the house, and primroses at V alentines
Day .
This y ear, at the winter solstice, I picked holly ,
cedar, and Oregon grape, and piled them between
two clumps of small white birch trees we planted
last summer. The intention here is not decorating
so much as it is ritualhonoring the changing
seasons and the wonder of the natural world.
I was pleased to see Christmas trees in Williams list
of altars. I recently found a picture of my first
Christmas tree, an old photo tucked into my baby
book, right along with my first pictures and a
priceless photo of me, probably a month old, with
both sets of grandparents.

Decorating a tree was alway s a family ritual, and it is

one my husband and I hav e continued. Trimming
the tree brings back a host of memories, with
ornaments from my parents and grandparents
trees, toy s and folk art wev e brought back from
trips, things we made to trim our first tree, and
ornaments made by family and friends. When we
turn on the Christmas lights, I feel like the Season of
Light has arriv ed.
Its v ery easy for me to get caught up in ev ery day
routines. Hav ing these informal house shrines and
altars helps me keep in mind that Spirit and magic
are alway s nearby , if only I giv e them my attention.
In my pondering, I realize that the process of
making an altar is v ery much the same process as
writing a poemI bring together things that beckon
to my attention, mov ing them around until
something within me is satisfied. Most often, the
intention emerges from the finished poem, not the
other way around.
Heres a poem that is partly about making altars
the title poem from my book:

Strange And Wonderful

Things
I'm a scav enger of stories -I will remember what y ou tell me,
Offer it on outstretched palm
To someone down the road who needs
Absolution, adv ice, a good laugh.
I'm a scav enger of stones,
V acant shells, fallen leav es,
And black feathers, strangely silent.
I drop them, strangers, on the sill at sunset By dawn some alchemy is working.
I'm a scav enger of dreams,
Hauling from the far side of midnight
A kind and handsome friend,
A sinister man who stalks me,
A priestess, and a child.
In an old house, in an old land,
This cast will perform

Y our story , my story , the story of

Stone and feather, whose shadows by
moonlight
Point the way home.
The best fresh bread does not fill
All my hollows. A good pay check
Still leav es places in my soul
That hunger for stories and thirst for dreams
And would do magic with stone, seashell,
feather, and a leaf as red as flame.

-- Joelle
Ly ons Ev erett
Black
Crow Press, 2000

Contribution
To the great suggestions made by others, Id like to
add Bey ond Borders, formed to support literacy
programs in Haiti, with Americans prov iding
funding and support serv ices to Limy Lav e, the
Haitian organization.
Serv ices include prov iding children and adults with
fundamental reading, writing and math skills,
teacher training and dev elopment of Haitian Creole
materials, encouraging participatory learning and
leadership by teaching and using Reflection Circles
in schools and churches, and Open Space meetings
within Limy Lav e and in their work with teachers
and the community . They are also leading a
campaign to end child slav ery in Haiti.
This is a Christian organization that focuses on
serv ice, not ev angelism. I know both American and
Haitian members of these programs, and I v ery
much like what I see.
Bey ond Borders, P.O. Box 21 32, Norristown, PA
1 9404 www.bey ondborders.net

Heres How to
Review Your
Book on
Amazon
Go to the books page on Amazon.com. Scroll down
to the last rev iew and click the Write a custom er
review button. If y oure not logged in, Amazon will
ask y ou to login now.
Giv e it a star rating. (Certainly , I like 5 stars.) Then
compose a title for y our rev iew. Finally enter y our
rev iew. It only needs to be 20 words. Y ou can do a
written or v ideo rev iew.
T ip: I alway s ty pe my rev iew in MS Word so the
spelling and ty pos get checked and then I copy and
paste that into Amazon.
Thanks, again.

Walk in beauty ,
William

Friendly
Resources

Williams Playful & Sacred

Art
Well, this is where we started, of course. Y ou will
find just the images of the artwork here, not in their
altarpiece format. Any image can be framed or
mounted as a sacred altarpiece for y ou. Y ou can
request paper colors and ev en color of ink for the
etching.

Williams Resources
All of these resources help y ou build strength and
ease in y our body and soul.
The Body and Soul Mentor web site
www.Body AndSoulMentor.com
T he Body and Soul Mentor
priv ate m em ber web site offers
inspiring, effectiv e life
coaching and potent
inform ation at an easily
affordable price that em powers
y ou to liv e a life y ou
wholeheartedly lov e -- body
and soul.
Free Goodies
http://body andsoulmentor.com/index .php?
page=freegoodies

Work with Me
Many people benefit from one-on-one work with
me. Talk to me about personal Life Coaching for y ou
or a lov ed one. Y ou can work with me any where
y ou hav e phone serv ice or in person in Seattle. I
answer my own phone at 206.328.207 3. Or reach
me by e-mail at William@Body andSoulMentor.com.
See my web site for more details on Life Coaching.
http://v italarts.net/therapy /

Books by Others
Altars of Power and Grace: Create the Life
Y ou Desire--Achiev e Harm ony , Health,
Fulfillm ent and Prosperity with Personal
Altars Based on Vastu Shastra (a mouthful,
y es?) by Robin and Michael Mastro
If y ou want more ideas on altars and y ou want
specific strategies. This book will prov ide them.
Although the book can restrict y our thinking by
telling y ou v ery specific formulas way s to create the
altar, I offer it as an option.
I prefer to operate intuitiv ely , choosing from my
heart what to add and where to position it. The
authors base their teaching on V astu Shastra, an
ancient sy stem that claims to be the antecedent of
Feng Shui.
It contains attractiv e illustrations to inspire y our
own ideas.
***
Earth Pray ers From around the World: 365

Pray ers, Poem s, and Inv ocations for

Honoring the Earth. Just what it sounds like.
Lov ely .
***
Marianne Williamsons #1 Best Seller Illum inata
: T houghts, Pray ers, Rites of Passage
This book came to me while I was writing Altar
Making. I pass this taste of sy nchronicity on to
y ou. Hardcov er
Paperback
***
Eckhart Tolles book A New Earth etc. is the best
book on the v alue of presence in our liv es.
Y ou can get the book here. Book on CD here.

Places to Contribute
Money Flow and
Partnerships
Here are the places m y co-authors & I fav or:

Bey ond Borders -www.bey ondborders.net

Crisis Clinic www.crisisclinic.org/
FINCA International
www.v illagebanking.org
Heifer Project www.heifer.org
National Park Foundation
www.nationalparks.org
Nature Conserv ancy www.Nature.org
Rav en Croft Garden
www.rav encroftgarden.com
T hree Cedars -- www.threecedars.org
T he T rust for Public Land
www.tpl.org

Contact Information for CoAuthors

Alex andra Gay ek

Science of Being Well -tiny url.com /92hjg

Joelle Ev erett
www.SoundResources.org
jleshelton@aol.com

Kim berly Gallagher

Learning Herbs www.tiny url.com/bd7 ck
kimberly @grammamoon.net
Morris Rones

206.328.207 3
morrisrones@frontier.com
Char Sundust
Sundust Oracle Institute
www.charsundust.com.
206.440.8886

Suzanne Wittm ann

Smoothwater2000@comcast.net
William Wittm ann
Body and Soul Mentor
www.Body AndSoulMentor.com
William@body andsoulmentor.com
206.328.207 3

About the
Author

William Wittmann liv es in Seattle at the edge of a

one hundred y ear old, eight hundred acre urban
park sy stem with his belov ed wife.

He has written too many articles, reports, and books

to count. William has been practicing as a
CranioSacral Therapist, Life Coach, and teacher
from the beginning of time.
Blessings on Y our Journey