The act of deciding what to include in an altar and the physical act of assembling it can be very powerful and positive activities.
In choosing appropriate objects and symbols think about what's most important to you. This may be goals related to your personal life, and may also include your visions for the planet and all of its inhabitants.
An altar can be an area on a coffee table, dresser, or night table. What gives it meaning and power is your intention in creating it and using it.
You can use an altar as a focal area for meditation and distant healing. You can also place on it crystals which you've programmed for particular intentions. It can also be a place for displaying your favorite and most meaningful crystals and other objects. The number of altars you have in your home is limited only by the number of unoccupied horizontal surfaces. (I do recommend that an area which out of reach of cats [if such areas exist] and children be used.)
This is the most challenging way to arrange the elements of a fountain; it may also be the most rewarding. To use this method choose the crystals, power animals or stones, and any other objects you want to use to put your altar together.
Keep your particular intention strongly in mind. If, for example, you are creating an altar for the purpose of healing (yourself and/or others) you might want to imagine healing symbols as you arrange your crystals. You could visualize the new green grass of springtime, flowers, the trees in full leaf, If you have special people in mind for healing, see them being well and happy. You may also find it helpful to play relaxing classical music in the background as you go about your altar creating. Arrange and rearrange your crystals until you are happy with what you see/feel.
For those who prefer more structured methods of organization, who want to begin with structure until they feel comfortable with the intuitive method, or who want to combine intuition and structure, I've listed below three (out of many) methods. In any of these, though there are general formats, your intuition will still be involved.
One way I use is to arrange crystals by chakras. In this method I would begin with first chakra stones, followed by stones of each succeeding chakra, arranged in a circle. You can use from one to however many crystals you have free for thus purpose.
I also place crystal animals, power stones, and pocket totems in appropriate locations. For me, appropriate relates to the meaning the particular animal may have for me. Seal, for example, means to me freedom in one's body, so my crystal seal is grouped with the first-chakra stones. I relate dolphin to communication (fifth chakra), bear to healing (fourth chakra), although it could as easily represent the sixth chakra (dreams, sleep, inner wisdom).
I pay special attention to what I place in the center of the altar. For the chakra arrangement I like to have a quartz cluster or clear quartz sphere, as I feel that this radiates out energy to all of the other stones. With the cluster or sphere in the center, I find that the arrangement seems to create a continuous flow of balancing energy.
Another arrangement is to work with the four directions/four elements, as used in Celtic and Native Americans systems. In this arrangement, North is Earth, South is Fire, East is Air, and West is Water.
Intuition and imagination help in assigning crystals to these values. Hematite, to me, is clearly an Earth stone; while Ruby is Fire. Aquamarine is logical for the Water area, and amethyst and lapis seem to me to signify Air.
Other stones call for more subtle and subjective interpretations. Rose quartz, being related to the heart and to emotions, might belong in the Water area. Perhaps, though, the color pink can be interpreted as soft or quiet fire. Green stones are especially interesting in terms of placement. To me, green calcite is very much a Water stone; while malachite feels earthy.
I find that what works best when I am using this method of arrangement is to experiment, moving the less obviously-related stones around until it feels that they are in the right place. With this arrangement I particularly like to place the turkey, hawk, finch, and eagle feathers I find in the air section, and nonprecious stones (i.e. stones I have found on lake shores or by the sea) in the Earth area.
In using this method you treat the area which will be the surface for your fountain as if it were a room or house. Please see the article on feng shui for more details.
In feng shui what is placed in the center of the room or house is the most important element. I noted in the description of the chakra method that I like to put a quartz crystal or sphere in the center.
If I'm using a crystal sphere or statue as the center I often like to place four single-terminated points, with points facing outward, around the centerpiece. I feel that this radiates energy to the entire arrangement.
An altar may be devoted to a particular purpose, such as healing, manifestation of abundance, or love (as in relationships, family harmony, etc.) In such cases you will probably choose to focus on crystals specifically related to these purposes.
Green stones are always helpful for healing, and special center pieces might be a statue of Kwan Yin, or a green calcite or aventurine sphere.
Frogs and bears, both of which symbolize healing, are appropriate for this kind of altar.
For abundance (which can also use the color green as well as yellow), an appropriate centerpiece might be a pyrite cluster.
For love we generally focus on the pink stones, and if improved communication is part of the state you wish to create you might choose to add aquamarine, chrysocolla, blue lace agate, larimar, turquoise, or amazonite. Helpful power animals include wolf and otter (they mate for life), and hummingbird, for the transcendent aspects of love.
Some people like to create angel altars for angelic guidance. Angelite is the most obvious stone to use, as is amethyst for its transitional quality (this stone is the color of twilight), and rose quartz, to symbolize the unconditional love which angels have for us. Any symbols of angels work well as centerpieces.
For any of the above special altars I also like to use quartz points to direct and enhance the energy, and grounding stones (hematite, obsidian, black tourmaline, tiger's eye, or smoky quartz) to also ground the energy.
Many people like to either vary the elements of their altars or have particular ones related to the seasons.
A winter altar might include pine cones, evergreen tree branches, and a focus on clear crystals such as quartz, calcite, danburite, and selenite. Red and green accents often brighten up a winter altar. Owl can represent the inner wisdom associated with winter; while Bear symbolizes hibernation and going within.
A spring altar would have a focus on green. A vase containing spring flowers could make a meaningful centerpiece. Green stones and green candles help to celebrate the season of renewal. The singing of spring peepers at this time makes Frog, a symbol of healing and rebirth, appropriate for this season.
For a summer altar I think most easily of the golden stones to symbolize the sun. I like to contrast these with blue stones, representing the sky and the sea. I am also drawn to the symbol of Deer, as this is the time when fawns begin to appear.
An autumn altar may include red, orange, and yellow stones. A cornucopia in which a crystal programmed for abundance is placed can make an appropriate centerpiece. The squirrel, gatherer of nuts for the coming winter, is a helpful symbol.
Enjoy creating your altar(s). You will find it to be a peaceful, meditational activity. For some ideas about how to combine Reiki energy with altars/crystal layouts please see an article on the subject.
In my counseling experience I've learned that one of the biggest issues people have is in the area of being grounded. Some people tell me they're earthbound; they can't seem to lift off to explore other dimensions. Others say they have wonderful visions, but experience difficulty in translating them into material terms.
The ability to be grounded is very important to people who want to develop their spirituality, explore the many
dimensions of existence, and make their dreams come true in physical reality. The essence of grounding isn't a simple
matter of being organized, functioning well in the mundane areas of life, or a question of how close one's feet are to
the earth. To be grounded entails drawing on the energies of both the material and the spiritual dimensions.
| Home | To Order |
| Angels | Feng Shui | Goddesses | Power Animals |