The World Health Organization (WHO) describes health as “the condition of perfect bodily, spiritual, and social well-being and not solely the absence of illness and injury.” As described by the WHO, how many of us feel emotionally, mentally, physically, and spiritually healthy on a daily basis? We work in structures called ‘sick-buildings;’ we go home to care for families so tired we are almost unable to function; and we increasingly lose our connection with any sense of our place in the universe. How do we reclaim our life and start to think that our life matters and that we are important in the overall scheme of things? One way of doing this is to create our own sanctuary/sacred space.
Creating our own sacred space restores our peace of mind and enables us to stand back from the turmoil in our lives in order to provide a place where we can reconnect with our sense of self and reclaim our power. Exploration of sanctuary is to create a link to the Divine as our soul asks us to love, accept, and provide hospitality to ourselves when we are spiritually hungry. Spirituality is more than a psychological and emotional need: it is an inherent biological need as our energy, our spirit, and our personal power is all one and the same force. We need daily sanctuary as our heart and soul depends on it. When we give ourselves the gift of sacred time in a special place, we are feeding our spirit. Theodore Roszak writes, “We can now recognise that the fate of the soul is the fate of the social order; that if the spirit within us withers, so too will all the world we build about us.”
Creating Sacred Space in your Home, Workplace, and Garden
The first consideration in creating a sacred space in your home, workplace, or garden is defining the purpose in doing so. Some of the questions for consideration include:
1. What is it that you want your sacred space to provide for you?
2. Where will your sanctuary be located?
3. What feelings do you want?
4. What attracts you to your sanctuary?
5. What features do you want?
6. What colours do you want?
7. What sounds do you want?
Ideas and Options for Creating Sacred Space in your Home, Workplace, and Garden
In your place of sanctuary, some of the items you could include are: