I received some great altar pics from Roxie, a Catholic woman who incorporates a lots of wonderful nature-connected practices into her spirituality. She has a number of blogs, including one that I found most interesting called The Natural Catholic, which has a lot of content about natural living. Make sure to check out the post Natural Blends, Teas, and Smudges, where she shows how she makes herbal mixtures from (either mostly or all) hand-picked sources.
Indigo had a lot to say about her altars, so instead of putting her description in a quote block, I'm going to put it in a normal format:
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I have to say I am indeed a tad obcessed with the home altar. This has been a passion of mine since childhood. I believe having such a diverse cultural background and most influenced by my Lebanese & aboriginal (native american) side. I always was raised with the world around us. I try and teach our children as I was taught mother earth is our ultimate altar . Some of my first altars were made using sticks leaves and little bowls of food I thought that God would be well pleaseed with. I am a curandera , wisewoman , medicine woman , intercessor so the altar is a big part of my life revolving around prayer. I am also a very visual person so I just cannot resist adding to our altars . Recently it has been pine branches and cones which is because I have been working much on protection lately .
I have to say I am indeed a tad obcessed with the home altar. This has been a passion of mine since childhood. I believe having such a diverse cultural background and most influenced by my Lebanese & aboriginal (native american) side. I always was raised with the world around us. I try and teach our children as I was taught mother earth is our ultimate altar . Some of my first altars were made using sticks leaves and little bowls of food I thought that God would be well pleaseed with. I am a curandera , wisewoman , medicine woman , intercessor so the altar is a big part of my life revolving around prayer. I am also a very visual person so I just cannot resist adding to our altars . Recently it has been pine branches and cones which is because I have been working much on protection lately .
I have my main personal altar in the living room , then a kitchen altar where I do much of my prayer work for other people . We then have the children's seasonal nature altar in our sunroom. One of my fav altars though is my very simple outdoor one once again in my personal outdoor prayer space. I have now begun helping others with thier at home altars ( for free of charge ) collecting items via the thrift or while out doing our wild crafting . I feel even my morning fire is my altar which I place my offerings on for that day.
On my personal altar I also have ietms I never remove, some that are very old which have very much importance and signifigance like a stone from my grandmother and my great grandmother from Lebanon's rosary. Another example is a jaw bone of a coyote (teeth intact). I spent hours digging out of the ground when I was 4yo one summer, only taking a break for lunch. This represents for me how I am to continue to have great preseverence in life. Other items like my eagle feather are very precious but I cannot leave out because the risk of damage is to great so I only bring out for special prayers etc.
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Thanks for the pics, Roxie!