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Chapter 2

© Laurey Simmons (centre)

A Sacred Space Is a Gift to Your Soul

‘A sacred space is where you can find yourself over and over again.’

Joseph Campbell

A sacred space is simply one corner of our home environment where we keep beautiful objects that are special or sacred to us. Keeping a sacred space is a precious gift to our soul, a mirror reflecting back to us our Inner Beauty. Whenever I feel off-track, the sacred beauty of this space helps to refocus my mind and heart, a lovely reminder of how I want to be in the world.

You don’t need to be religious or spiritual to have a sacred space. All you need is a desire in your heart to be the best person you can be. One of the greatest challenges in life is to remember how we want to be in the world. I know for myself that, even with my best intentions to be calm, centred and beautiful on the inside, life can at times be overwhelming and I simply forget, finding myself worrying about the growing inbox I need to respond to, the to-do list that never gets any smaller. Jonathan Z. Smith describes a sacred space as being like a ‘focussing lens’. The nice thing about a sacred space is that, once you’ve set it up in a way that feels right for you, it will support you for as long as it remains there and it will make your heart sing with joy, so you will be magnetically drawn to it every day.

Setting up Your Sacred Space

‘Some people look for a beautiful place, others make a place beautiful.’

Hazrat Inayat Khan (Sufi Master)

FINDING THE SPACE

To make a sacred space, you first need to decide on one place in your home where you can regularly spend time without too much distraction. You might want to consider finding a place that you will naturally see on a daily basis. Even if you just walk past it and get a glimpse of the beautiful reminders there, sometimes that’s all you need. But it does need to be out of the way enough, so that the objects you lay down won’t need to be moved.

To find the right spot for your sacred space, set aside some time to walk around your house and get a sense from both a practical level and a heartfelt level of where you feel the space needs to be. It helps to choose your sacred space if you can do this at a time when you feel relatively calm. Remember, a sacred space is one of the greatest gifts you can give to yourself, so, as you move through this process, allow your heart to open with a sense of loving tenderness towards yourself.

Before you walk around your space, take a moment to stand in one place and imagine that tree-like roots are connecting your body to the earth and that you are being supported, grounded and nourished. When you feel ready, simply take your time to walk around and identify the one place you’ll be able to hang out in whenever you need that Inner Beauty boost.

Once you’ve found your perfect spot, the next step is to cleanse the unwanted energy that may be in this place. Have you ever walked into a room and felt an uncomfortable sensation even though nobody was there? Emotional and spiritual energies can be left in a place; they can reside in material objects like floorboards and furniture and can even linger in the air. This is why many ancient traditions use cleansing to purify the energy in spaces. Some tools with which you can cleanse your sacred space include sound, herbs, oils and certain woods. We’ll look in more detail at energy cleansing tools a little later.

CHOOSING OBJECTS FOR YOUR SACRED SPACE

Once you’ve found and cleansed this place, the next step is to choose the objects that will come together to make your space truly sacred. The best objects to use are those that have a special meaning for you, those that help to remind you of your highest qualities – like compassion, creativity, peace and love. Before buying anything, I recommend taking a mindful look around your home or garden, just to see what things you already have. It’s important that you’re in a peaceful headspace and connected to your heart before you walk around, as it’s only from this place that sacred objects will call out to you clearly. Maybe you have some objects that you brought back from a special day or a special trip, like pretty shells from a beach or a souvenir from a special moment? As you walk around on your sacred treasure hunt, keep these questions in mind when you consider objects: what feelings, thoughts or sensations does this object evoke for me? Are these feelings, thoughts or sensations something I want to have more of in my life? If the answer to the second question is a definite ‘YES’, then this object could be a perfect companion for your sacred space. Don’t worry if you can’t find anything obvious in your home, as you look through the different Inner Beauty tools in this chapter, you’ll get more of a sense of what kind of things might work best for you. You can definitely find lots of inspiration online too, or on my ©thecolourfuldot Instagram page.

CREATING AND NURTURING YOUR SACRED SPACE

Creating your sacred space is a meditation in itself. When I arrange the objects in my own sacred space, it’s a form of sacred art. And making my sacred space look beautiful always makes me feel more beautiful on the inside. When you’re happy with your own sacred art-piece, it’s a good idea to set a general intention for the space. What one single quality would you most like to be reminded of every time you check in with this space? It might be that you want this space to remind you to be peaceful or loving or forgiving. Whatever it is for you, you can write down your general intention on a small piece of paper and leave this on display in your sacred space.

But, creating the sacred space is really just the beginning. Once it’s created, I find it really helps to nurture this space on a regular basis. Remember, your sacred space is a garden for growing your inner goddess. For some tips on how to nurture your sacred space, tap here.

Sacred Space Meditation

I love spending time in my sacred space. The great thing about hanging out in a beautiful sacred space is that it makes meditation easy: sometimes I just leave my eyes open and let the beauty before me cheer up my soul. Sometimes, I’ll take in hand one of the objects from my sacred space and use that as the focus of my meditation. So if I’m feeling the need to nurture my heart, I’ll take a Rose Quartz crystal in my hand (Rose Quartz is associated with love), close my eyes and gently bring my attention to follow my breath. As I breathe in, I bring the word ‘love’ to mind and feel my heart expanding and I visualize my body filling out from the centre with a soft pink light. As I breathe out, I imagine breathing out unwanted energy.

If you are the sort of person who finds the idea of formal meditation a bit too full-on, then no need to fear. The very act of creating and regularly nurturing your sacred space is honestly an amazing meditation in itself. The most important thing about sacred spaces is that they’re a window to your Highest Self, your inner goddess. As long as you keep polishing these windows, you will be able to find yourself over and over again.

Tools to Use in Your Sacred Space

CRYSTALS

A Brief History of Crystals

Although the idea of crystals for some might conjure up visions of long-haired, flower-powered hippies getting their woo-woo on, crystals have actually been celebrated in many different civilizations and cultures for thousands of years. This is not surprising. When you hold a crystal in your hand for the first time, you cannot help but be touched by the magical beauty of these gifts from Mother Earth. Even as far back as biblical times, we see the beauty of crystals celebrated. In the Old Testament Book of Ezekiel we’re told:

You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering: the ruby, the topaz and the diamond; the beryl, the onyx and the jasper; the lapis lazuli, the turquoise and the emerald … on the day that you were created, they were prepared.

I just love the idea that crystals have been our steady companions throughout the whole of human history. They were collected not just for their rarity but also for their healing properties, as we can see in this quote from an ancient mystical Jewish text, called the Baba Batra:

Abraham had a precious stone hung round his neck which brought immediate healing to any sick person who looked on it, and when Abraham our father left this world, the Blessed Holy One hung it from the wheel of the sun.

The word ‘crystal’ actually derives from the Greek word ‘krustallos’ meaning ice. The story goes that when the Greeks came across Quartz in the mountains they believed it to be eternal ice sent from the heavens. Greek soldiers would rub crushed Haematite all over their bodies in preparation for battle, believing that this would make them invincible.

Whilst the ancient Greek warriors were using these minerals for protection in battle, the royal ladies of ancient Egypt, such as Cleopatra, were crushing Lapis Lazuli and Malachite to use as eye make-up, believing it would bring them physical beauty and spiritual insight. In fact, use of crystals filtered into many aspects of Egyptian life, such as the practice of placing a Quartz on the brow area of a deceased person, in preparation for their burial. This was thought to help guide the deceased gently into the after-life. Another famous example of crystal use in Egyptian times can be found in the Libyan gold tektite in Tutankhamun’s scarab Wadjet pendant. The Ancient Egyptians called it ‘the rock of god’ and believe it invoked the power of the sun to give psychic protection to the wearer.

In some Native American traditions, crystals are referred to as the ‘bones of Mother Earth’ and are considered to be very powerful medicine that must be handled with love and respect. Turquoise is one stone held in the highest regard by many Native Americans. There’s a beautiful myth that once upon a time after a bad drought, the Native Americans danced and wept with joy to welcome the rainfall. The rain, mixed with their tears, seeped into Mother Earth to become Turquoise. Turquoise has often been used in these indigenous cultures as jewellery and talismans, to bring protection to the wearer. If anyone ever noticed that the Turquoise they were carrying had a crack, it was understood to be a sign that the stone had protected them against some negative energies.

Science of Crystals

OK, you might be thinking, ‘hang on a minute this still has woo-woo vibes all over it!’ Let me give you some of the science behind crystals to help you understand the very real power of these Inner Beauty tools. Crystals are a particular form of mineral (in the same family as pebbles, pumice, marble) with a very precise pattern in their molecular structure. The molecules of a crystal are arranged in a fixed, regularly repeating geometric pattern. Because they’re fixed in such a perfect way, crystals tend to remain stable over millions of years. In fact, crystals are the most ordered and stable matter in the universe and because of this they easily maintain their vibrational frequency. We know from physics that everything in the universe vibrates when observed on the molecular level. Even the ultimate brainiac Albert Einstein said, ‘everything in life is a vibration.’ Just because the naked human eye can’t detect these vibrations doesn’t mean they don’t occur.

As crystals are able to maintain their vibrational frequency, they’re better than any other substance in the known physical universe at transmitting energy forms in a specific direction. This is why Quartz crystal is the standard material used to ensure watches keep time, and why silicon chips (silicon is a crystal) are used in computers. We can best understand the importance of crystals and their stability if we consider how unstable the human body is, which is changing all the time. It’s known that every seven years, most cells in your body are replaced. Even in our own experience, we can see how quickly physical attributes like our skin, and invisible attributes like our thoughts and feelings, change from moment to moment.

So it’s really amazing that we have these beautiful objects from Mother Earth that, because they’re so stable, can help us very changeable humans to do amazing things like keep time and communicate vast amounts of information via our computers.

‘Crystals are better than any other substance in the known physical universe at transmitting energy forms in a specific direction.’

How Crystals Heal

‘Crystals are the eyes, the ears, the nose and the mouth of the Earth, which uses them to see, to hear, to smell and to taste. It is also through them that it communicates with its other brothers and sisters, with the planets in the solar system. Each crystal taken from the earth maintains its contact with the heart of the earth.’

Luc Bourgault

Beauty is itself a powerful form of healing. When I’m feeling out of sorts or a little run down, I’ll often go and treat myself to a bunch of sweet-smelling flowers like hyacinths, roses or freesias. I place them in my view and just let their beauty uplift me throughout the day. And crystals are, in my mind, some of the most beautiful objects in the world.

But beyond their natural beauty, crystals have been known and used for their magical healing powers for thousands of years. So how do crystals heal? Well, like so many healing tools and medicines, we’re not 100 per cent sure. There are, however, some explanations that make a lot of sense to me. Remember that crystals have a consistent molecular structure which makes them really good at keeping time? When we humans are in harmony, all parts of us (thoughts, feelings, cells, organs) are working together to support each other: our inner world is like one big happy family. On one level, crystals heal because, through their highly consistent molecular structure, they bring inconsistent energies back into harmony. When you come into contact with a crystal, you become synchronized with that crystal’s specific signature frequency. This bringing back into harmony is known as ‘entrainment’.

To understand entrainment, I like to think about walking down a very busy street: there are car horns honking, machines drilling, people shouting, the air is full of pollution. My heart starts beating faster, and my system gets tense as it ‘entrains’ to this chaotic scene. On the other hand, if I go home from this scene, light some candles, play some relaxing music and create a nice bath ritual for myself, then my heart slows down and my body relaxes, as my system entrains to the different vibrations. We actually entrain to rhythms all the time, although we’re usually not aware of this process. There are many examples of entrainment in nature, such as fireflies that entrain to each other so that their flashes of light happen in a perfect harmony. And it’s usually the weaker, more chaotic, less stable vibration that will entrain to the stronger, more consistent, more stable vibration. This is why crystals are so amazing: because they’re so consistent, their vibration so stable, we naturally entrain to them. Alongside this, crystals support our intentions. Once we have used a particular crystal in a ritual or even if we’ve just been sitting with it, it then serves as an energetically charged and beautiful reminder of the intention we have set.

During my time spent with Native and South American wisdom-keepers, my eyes were opened to a deeper understanding of how crystals heal us. My teachers shared with me that the stones they worked with contained the spiritual energy of the place they came from. In Andean wisdom, some of the most powerful energies or spirits are associated with the sacred mountains (apus). When a person is on pilgrimage around one of their sacred mountains, a stone or crystal might call out to them. This stone (khuya) will contain the highly charged energy of that particular mountain’s spirit. This energy can then be taken with a person in the form of the stone, and that stone will be used for healing.

So, how can you incorporate the healing energies of crystals into your home and everyday life in a way that will help your Inner Beauty unfold? A good way to start is by adding a few crystals to your sacred space. Overleaf, you’ll find an overview of some of the main crystals. As you continue to read through this book, you’ll find different rituals that use crystals in different ways. For example, here is a ritual related to sleep, which involves placing certain crystals in your bedroom. Another great way of connecting with the healing energy of crystals in your everyday life is wearing crystals in jewellery. I have a collection of different crystal necklaces that I choose depending on which energies I want to connect with that day. You can also carry crystals around with you in your pocket or close to your body. In the Andean tradition, people carry their crystals and stones in a special cloth along with other sacred items, and this whole bundle is called a mesa. (More on this here.)

People often ask me, ‘How do I know what is the best crystal for me?’ The best advice I can give is to trust your intuition. Go with what speaks to your heart, what feels right. When you’re looking at crystals you might be attracted to a specific one visually. When you hold a crystal, you might feel a certain connection. Pay close attention when holding a crystal to whether it gives you a certain positive feeling on the inside. I often think that crystals pick us rather than us picking them.

Overview of Some of the Main Crystals

Rose Quartz

Rose Quartz is a beautiful pink stone belonging to the Quartz family. It’s known as the stone of love and is associated with the heart, radiating calming energies of compassion and nurture. Rose Quartz is like the soft pink rose, opening its petals to reveal its heart and true beauty. In ancient Egypt, women would add powdered Rose Quartz to their beauty creams, believing it would bring them eternal beauty and youthfulness. Later in this book, I’ll share some beauty tips with you that include Rose Quartz to spice up your normal beauty routine. I love what Joy Gardner says of Rose Quartz, ‘For those who have been hurt in love, Rose Quartz is the Divine Mother who rocks you in her arms whilst she exudes unconditional love.’