Creating Your Sacred Space

[Aunt Clair]

Creating an altar , a temple or sacred space
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Designate a sacred space for your meditation and energy work . A room can become your temple. If you do not have an entire room to use for this purpose you could dedicate sacred space for an altar .

I suggest backing your space up to a window . If you have to share a part of a space material and bookcases can be used to conceal occult items and to store paraphernalia . Ideally shift any clutter out of the room or at least to one side ie opposite the window and then drape it witih inexpensive coloured materials like the sheer curtain materials gypsy like and jeweltoned .

Then paint the room a colour that is healing and strong and special to you ..

Choose a small round table and place your circle around it . The table becomes a manifestation focus point your nexus or nouse ,also an altar or prayer space .

One book shelf is necessary for candles , incense , crystals , statues etc. but four small ones are better . These can be used to place your quarters and store materials and books . The bookshelves can be placed backside to the altar for a clean fresh look .These should be end table heighth . This way each top is flat and clear for a candle or a small statue or crystal

A comfortable armchair and a small rug for your bare feet will be good for meditative trance this should be in a corner for strength of protection .It would be best if it can be in a corner with the window at one side of you and the hidden clutter at the other . Better still if the clutter is out of room or behind you out of sight .

Those are the basics, but now you can own the room and make it very special . A pyramid of poles can be built around your quarters and a circle inscribed on the floor with paint . The pyramid will greatly increase your healing and manifestation power . You can paint the back of the book shelves with hermetic colours and elemental signs

You can choose deitiy statues to anchor each quarter leaving room for candles . You can make the top of each book shelve canterlevered to provide more table space .

An electric outlet should be convenient to your chair so you might turn off lights or turn on music or revolving mirror displays . The small revolving mirrors with crystals or statues on them make light cascade on the ceiling hypnotically and beautifully at night for ease of trance .

Hermetically speaking , North ideally should be a window for AIR and south ideally a tree or a big potted plant for Earth . East and West are fire and water.The right hand is always fire, the left hand water. If you face north then you put the left hand water at west and the right hand fire at east but it is also correct to be the opposite . The Goddess orientation is to place fire at West as she lies on her back . The God orientation is to place fire at East

In other paths the corners may be called differently . For example , common Wiccan perspective is to use the same elements but with different colours and different orientation .

wiccan W red=fire , S yellow=air,E blue=water,N green=earth.
Hermetic E orW orange=fire,N green=air, E or w indigo=water,S red=earth.

You must look at self and room and choose that manner which suits and modify accordingly .

fire ;a fireplace ideally or a candle
air: use incense or a window and chimes
water: a fountain or a bowl of water
earth : potted tree

Now for the dagger you may purchase an athame , make one , use a stylised letter opener, a knife or hands.I use hands I was given a ceremonial dagger but i do not choose to use it, i use prayer hands instead.I fold the two hands at prayer then open them so the tips and heels of hands are touching and this makes a spade or prayer spade.This points the energy , allowing the extension and focus and it also opens the energy centres in the hands making them stronger in time .

Now we need a table , ideally round ,an end table or coffe table will do though . even a small bookcase will work . You can paint the back and face it towards you at circle and against the wall otherwise . I place mine in the centre and draw the pillar through it . The table is bare except what you put on it that day .It is not for eating ,drinking and ashtrays.This is your altar.On it you put incense or candles or tiny fountains, small statues, flowers , a bible ,or what you choose for the lesson or circle.

Basically, the temple is the place where you do all energy work at home.It is a small part of your room or a room of your home..It can be your entire home with a chakra in the centre of each room and a pillar of energy from the floor to the ceiling running through each chakra .

The stronger the home , the healthier and stonger you and the other residents will be . So give light and energy to your home from Mother Earth to the Ceiling to cleanse , strengthen and protect each energy centre of your sacred space and your sleeping space and throughout the home .

I use a round table in the center of my parlour . It has a Lazy Susan upon it . The altar and the parlour are balanced hermetically .. I use crystals , stained glass , antiques , angels art and statues and jeweltone colours to own my space .

I have borrowed some ideas and links below from Wiccan sites . The material is more generic than one might think . When you create or update your space you will want to suit your own magick.

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Creating an Altar

http://www.geocities.com/fullmoon_magic/images/altar.jpg

An altar is part of the space between the worlds that you create, and where you do magical works. It is apart from the mundane, every day life of your household. Even if you must use your dining room table or an old coffee table in the spare bedroom, visualize it as sacred space.

In a perfect world we would all have permanent altar space that could be set up as magical space all the time, but that may not be possible for you. Don't think you can't do magic because of that, you can if you want to. If you live alone and can do as you like in your home, fabulous, if not then you must deal with the situation that you have.

There are certain considerations that you must take into account when deciding where to place your altar. If possible it should be in a space where it can remain undisturbed. If you leave your altar set up all the time, and you do not live alone, you must let your housemates know that the items on your altar are not objects of curiosity or stage props, and should not be handled. Ideally, no one should touch your ritual tools except you.

If your altar is going to be just another coffee table filled with wierd looking stuff to paw over, you should consider either placing it in your private portion of the premises, or not leaving it set up between workings.

If you have more understanding housemates, or none at all, setting up the altar in either a private or public position in the home depends upon your lifestyle.

Are you 'out'( as a magician )to your friends and family? If so, it's presence won't bring about difficult questions when your parents, who "never come over", decide to stop by.

Some of the acoutrements of an altar are easy to explain, a vase of flowers and some candles are home decor, but the athame and that great copper wand with the huge quartz crystal you found at that funky shop aren't. Of course alot depends on how theatrical a witch you are. If you love the atmosphere created by massive candlesticks, linen altar cloths, loads of crystals, images of the Goddess and all the trappings, it's going to be harder to hide than if your more minimalist.

Now that you have decided on public, livingroom, vs. private, bedroom, and whether to leave it up or put things away each time, it's time to decide what sort of altar you want. This is in part based on what sort of (magician) you are, theatrical, minimalist, or somewhere in between. How much stage dressing do you like?

If the decorations are useful in helping you get into the right frame of mind for magic then by all means, go for the props. You're carving out a spot for your magic from the mundane world around you, there are distractions in that world and if it helps your concentration to have a temple that looks like a Hollywood set, there's nothing wrong with that. If on the other hand, your body is your altar and your mind control is complete you really don't need much more than a flat surface to put some candles on once in a while.

Earlier I mentioned a coffee table as a potential altar, and in fact they make great ones. Most are large enough to put your ritual tools and a few candles on easily, and they are fairly cheap at garage sales or the Goodwill. With a coffee table altar you work seated before it after casting the circle.

If you prefer to work standing, look for a taller table such as an old dinette table or large end table. It's rather nice if the table has a drawer to put your things in, but it's not required. If you, or a friend, are handy with tools you can easily build a simple altar for yourself, to your own design. Whatever table, or crate, you end up with, it's nice to consecrate it to it's new purpose, and purify it. Smudging with sage, ritual purification, exposing it to the sun or moon, all will work.

Now you have your altar, and some idea of where you want to put it, you must orient it to the correct cardinal point for your tradition. In mine this is North, altars always face North, but in others it is East. Use a compass if you are not already familiar with the directions where you live. Also, depending upon the tradition, the altar may be at the edge of the circle or in the center. In mine it is at the edge. Take this into consideration since if it is to be in the center, you will need enough space to pass on all sides of the altar. If it is to be at the edge, you can place it against a wall facing in the correct direction. When working as a solitaire you do not need to cast as large a circle as you must when working with a coven. This must be considered as well, is this your personal altar or will your coven be gathering at your home and using it for group work? This will determine how much room you need surrounding the altar.

Once you have the altar physically set up and oriented it is time to consider what will be on it. This may vary somewhat depending upon the sort of magical working being performed, but in general, the usual items include the ritual tools you work with, altar candles, a censer, (etc)

http://www.geocities.com/fullmoon_magic/images/Symbolism.jpg

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also from ;
http://www.geocities.com/fullmoon_magic/altar.html

Additions to this may include additional candles if doing a candle spell, a colored altar cloth to bring in a color correspondence, crystals that are appropriate to the type of work being done, a Goddess image of some kind, flowers-either to decorate or bring in an herbal correspondence, tools for divination such as tarot cards or I ching coins, or other items that simply add to the ambiance. Some working will require special materials be added to the usual altar arrangement, herbs that are being blended into a sachet for example, but for most things the basic layout will work.

It is important that you put together an altar you like the look and feel of. It should please you, not your best friend, not your High Priestess, not your coven members, you. You have to work with it, not them. This is a place for individual expression. If you love Maxfield Parrish, and want to use "Ecstasy" as a Goddess image, do it. If you want to make altar cloths in each of the planetary colors, do so. Also, don't forget music. Some people insist on complete silence, but others love Celtic music or Yanni (yuck!) in the background. Suit yourself. A CD player can be a sort of ritual tool if you want it to!

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http://www.dancingdownthemoon.com/archi ... space.html (http://www.dancingdownthemoon.com/archive/sacredspace.html)

[Moonchild]

Thanks for posting this Aunt Clair. I was just starting to look for such an article, and yours seems to contain everything I would want to know about a home altar. :)

[Aunt Clair]

http://members.iinet.net.au/~curran/smiles_files/image178.gif
for the encouraging words .

Sacred Space

What makes space sacred? Is it stained glass, icons, or pews? Grave markers and floral arrangements? Candles at the four Quarters and a ten-gallon tote of tools? A crusty old man in a robe, a froofy young woman in a robe?

If you've been doing your homework, you'll have already said, "None of those. Duh." Why did you say that? If it's not the trappings and merchandise that makes a space sacred, then what exactly is it?

The answer is encoded in that strand of our DNA that makes you get all shivery when you walk into Circle, that makes your hair stand on end at Stonehenge, that makes you speak quietly in a cathedral even if the last time you talked to Jesus was that time you thought you were pregnant your senior year. It's a feeling, a certain something in us that recognizes a place where magic happens, where the presence of deity is accepted fact.

Sacred space is any space where knowledge, faith, and desire have coalesced into reality. Anyone can create sacred space, regardless of religion or creed, and there are myriad ways to go about it.

The way Wiccans usually get at it is through casting a Circle, which delineates an area as our portable, private temple. It's a wonderful concept--we take our church everywhere, and in a few minutes and with a bit of attention a backyard, living room, bathroom, or bench in a bus station can become holy ground.

The idea does, however, lead to some questions. Wicca is a religion that reveres nature; ideally we recognize all space as sacred because it is all a part of the divine, as are we. So why bother with Circles at all? Why not just fling our magic to the four winds and be done with it, and trust the Powers that Be?

Well, the fact is that the Wiccan concept of the sacred Circle is a fairly modern one. While the circle has been considered a holy shape for millennia, and often used as a way to gather people for religious observances, there is no real proof that our early Pagan ancestors cast Circles at all. It's reasonable to assume that back then, when people were more intimately connected with the natural world, there was no need to construct a separate place to worship and do magic. Sacred space simply was.

(This is all conjecture, of course, as is any attempt to figure out exactly what our forebearers' religious practices were. I'm going on logic, for the most part. I'm not one of those people who claims Wicca descended in an unbroken chain of Witches from primitive fertility cults; Wicca is a modern child, created from as much of the old traditions as anyone could find with a lot of ingenuity thrown in, and I see no problem with that.

At some point in history every religion has been new; there was a time when people walked around saying, "Dig that weirdass Buddha guy. How long has he been sitting under that tree, anyway?")

Unfortunately in this century the sacred groves have been paved, and the monoliths knocked over to make way for Starbucks. We have to put forth quite a bit of effort to find natural spaces anymore, and any we find are likely to have traffic noise not far away. Our lives are no longer in rhythm with the seasons and the cycles of the Moon, and our world operates in opposition to many natural laws. As a result, the modern Witch is faced with the need to create something out of almost nothing--to bring the sacred back home.

My feelings on sacred space are a little different from many other Wiccans. I don't typically cast Circles in my home, because I have done a lot of magical work to set up my apartment as a permanent Circle. When I do rituals I call on the Elements and invoke the Lord and Lady, but I don't bring energy up from the Earth or anywhere else to form a Circle. The Circle is already there. Unless I'm doing something particularly dangerous, which almost never happens, I don't bother using up extra energy. I renew my "fortifications" every month or so, or whenever they feel weak, such as after a period of intense magical activity

Why do I do this? It all goes back to my basic spiritual philosophy: make each action an act of worship. Cooking, cleaning, sleeping, bathing--they're all rituals. The only difference is that formalized spells and rituals are a concentrated effort for a specific result. Think of it this way: if you're a good Christian, you go to church every Sunday and say your prayers every night (well, there are a lot of other things that play into it, but bear with me on the analogy). That doesn't mean you can't pray at other times when you are in need.

In addition, living in a city surrounded by strangers I feel the need to make my home a haven for magic, beauty, and peace. When I am in my apartment I feel insulated from all my neighbors' emotional and psychic baggage. I feel safe. Before I started working with permanent sacred space, that was not the case. I was acutely aware of everything that went on outside my door, and afraid of most of it. Living in fear is a terrible thing, and nobody should have to do it, even though most of us do.

Now, that doesn't mean I never cast Circles. I do so most of the time when I am involved in a magical action away from home. I even carry a "portable instant Circle" with me on trips to help strange places seem more like home.

How do you go about setting up permanent sacred space in your home? There are as many ways to do that as there are Circle castings, but there are a few things you may want to try and incorporate. Afterward I'll outline an example of a ritual to set up the permanent Circle, then maintain it. Then I'll add a ritual to create a portable Circle for travel and emergency purposes.

Ways to Help Make Your Home Sacred Space
1 -- Have a permanent altar. A lot of Pagans like to set up and strike their altars for each ritual, but if you have the space and live alone, or if your housemates are okay with it, I advise keeping an altar up all the time. Change the altar cloth and other decorations with the seasons--in fact, do this with your entire house. I also have small altars in the bedroom, kitchen, and bathroom, but the idea is to treat your whole dwelling as one big altar.

2 -- Keep your house clean. A space doesn't feel very sacred if there's crap everywhere. Try to clean with natural cleansers like vinegar and baking soda and minimize the number of chemicals you bring into the house. Reducing the level of toxicity in your sacred space will raise the level of spiritual vibration, for lack of a less flaky word.

3 -- At each Quarter in your main ritual area, or treating the whole house as one big area (one may work better than the other if you have roommates), set up either an altar, a piece of artwork, or just an object to represent each element. Don't move these; they are the anchors for your sacred space. I'll explain that later.

4 -- Create a variety of protective charms for your house. These will reinforce the magic you do to set up the house as a permanent Circle, and they'll cut down on the frequency of your "recharge" rituals.

5 -- When you perform magic and raise power, ground it into the permanent Circle. If this becomes a habit, you'll find the Circle will stay stronger longer.

6 -- Arrange and decorate your home in a way that brings out your spiritual side. There's a wealth of Goddess art out there (though not nearly enough God art), and you can find posters and prints of totem animals, places you've been that you deemed holy, and the like. Have a lot of candles, and burn incense whenever you're home to help keep the air clear of negative energy. In my own home I have wall sconces with candles, Goddess posters, baskets of shells and stones, colored bottles, natural wreaths and seasonal stuff, and candles everywhere. Whatever makes you feel like you've entered a sanctuary of divine nurture, whatever makes you calm and centered and happy, is sacred.

A Ritual to Create a Permanent Circle
You will need:An object to represent each Element (I recommend a candle, as lighting them will become part of your regular activation ritual, but if space is a problem, try a stone painted or inscribed with something that reminds you of that Element, or whatever you can think of that would work)Your typical altar setupSalt and water and something to use as an aspirator (a small branch of oak or pine, a rosemary sprig, a carnation, your fingers)Incense (sandalwood, frankincense, or myrrh would be good, though I like a smudging stick of sage or other herbs)A red candle

Before You Begin:
Now is the time to decide where in the Circle you want to keep your altar. I prefer to have mine in the North (although in my current apartment that wasn't possible), as I feel it grounds the Circle's energies, but the traditional Wiccan way is to have it in the East. I think it has to do with the rising Sun, but since I've never done it that way I can't be sure. Anyway, however you want to do it (or have to do it) is fine, but give it some thought.

I recommend doing this ritual on a Full Moon, but a Waxing Moon would also be appropriate as this is the beginning of a new magical venture. That's as complicated as my timing usually gets, but if you're being picky you could time it in phase with the Moon's sign or the day of the week.

The Procedure:

1 -- Take a purification bath or shower. Add herbal stuff to the bath if you like, or light a stick of sandalwood incense.

2 -- Set up your altar and place each Elemental object at its appropriate location around your home or the
ritual area. Start up music if you use it.

3 -- Cast a Circle in your usual way, making sure to point out that the purpose of this ritual is to create a permanent Circle in your home. Be sure you invite your patron deities to join in, as well as any totem animals, spirits, or ancestors you work with. You'll want their energies to be part of your Circle. When you cast, push the boundaries of the Circle out to the walls of your home.

4 -- Hopefully you'll have made an effort to get the house clean before now; ask for a blessing on the salt and water, then add three pinches of salt to the water and stir clockwise. Visualize the water glowing with divine radiance and purity. Then, moving clockwise throughout your entire house, sprinkle the water using the aspirator, visualizing all the negative energy and day-to-day psychic crap built up in the rooms dispersing. You may want to chant something while doing this to aid your concentration.

5 -- Repeat this procedure with the lighted red candle, then the incense. Basically you've just cleansed and blessed your house with the powers of all four Elements,the same way you'd do for a typical house blessing ritual. Now comes the interesting part.

6 --Taking your athame or wand (and a lighter if you're using candles), go to the first Quarter (whichever you start with when you cast a Circle) and draw down energy into the Elemental object, empowering it to stand as a guardian and representative of that Element's energies in your sacred space. Visualize that every time you call upon its power and light the candle, that Element will "awaken" and lend its power to your rituals. That means that all you have to do to activate your permanent Circle is light the candles. (You might also want to create a set of standard incantations to go with the candle-lighting, or just do it silently. Silence is its own incantation.)

7 -- When you've reached your altar again, perform an evocation to your patron deities, asking them basically the same thing--that they will lend their protective strength and aid to your Circle and keep your sacred space safe from all intrustions, natural or otherwise.

8 -- Now, raise a whole lot of energy in any way you like (dancing, chanting, drumming, whatever will annoy the neighbors) and earth that power into your Circle. If you're a joiner, you could have a bunch of friends help you out with thise whole ritual, in which case try toning together to raise the energy. Visualize the Circle forming a translucent wall that merges with the walls of your home; you can see the energy in whatever way you prefer, but keep in mind that if you visualize a whole lot of thorns or iron bars, your home will feel more like a cage than a house. I recommend visualizing tree branches, a web of starlight, the great wings of a Goddess or astral bird, or something nice like that. That way whenever you feel threatened in your home all you have to do is call up the image of branches, and you'll reinforce the Circle and its protective barrier.

9 -- Instead of opening the Circle you cast earlier, visualize its energy melding into the permanent Circle's. Do that every time you have to cast a Circle in your sacred space, and you'll strengthen your home Circle even further.

10 -- Whenever you perform a magical act, you need only "activate" your Elemental candles or objects, evoke or invoke your deities, and get to it. (If you chose objects rather than candles, you can activate them by picking up the object, concentrating on it, and speaking a short incantation calling up its power) You never have to take down this Circle unless you move out, in which case you basically reverse the process, asking the Elements and whatever other entities you've called around to disperse and rejoin you at your new home. The objects you've used should be either replaced or thoroughly cleansed each time you move, to give you a fresh start in the new place.

Ways to Maintain your Permanent Circle

1 -- Every month or so, (maybe pick a Moon phase) repeat the above procedure, except concentrate on the cleansing/blessing part of the ritual. You'll find that your regular magical practice will keep the Circle charged up fairly well, and you'll know when it needs more effort; when the noises outside get louder, when you get edgier, when it "feels" dirty no matter how much baking soda you've slopped around, are all signs it's time to raise more energy for your Circle. Yes, this all takes effort, but it's well worth it.

2 -- Be sure you cleanse the place if there's an argument, a break-in (which there shouldn't be), or any other kind of serious stress event. Even exam week will do it. A good way to make sure negative energies are kept at bay is to burn incense on a regular basis. Incense does its job with little participation on your part once it's lit.

A Portable Circle
The modern Witch-on-the-go often finds her/himself in a situation where they'd really like to do a quick ritual, but naturally don't have their whole retinue of tools and assorted Pagan regalia handy. It's all well and good to say an experienced Witch can cast without any tools at all (I did it for two years, I know it's possible), but when you're in a hospital waiting room or a hotel room or the bathroom before a job interview (don't laugh), it's damned hard to concentrate without any kind of focal objects. That's why we have tools, after all--to facilitate communication between our waking selves, our inner selves, and the Divine. Plus, they're fun.So, what's new-millennium Witch to do? Easy. Take a Circle with you.

You Will Need:
something small to represent each Element, and a fifth for Spirit/Deity
(stones, small painted wooden circles, drawings, whatever mows your lawn)
a small white candle in a jar with a lid, for safety's sake (the candle is optional)
a lighter
a drawstring bag
some of those miniature incense sticks and a miniature incense burner (or a lump of Sculpey with a hole in it)
(the incense is also optional)
a half-ounce bottle of salt water

The Procedure:
Purify and charge all these items before you start using them, in whatever way you typically consecrate new ritual tools. Keep everything in the drawstring bag (if you're worried about stuff breaking, wrap it all in a handkerchief or fabric square that can serve as a tiny little altar cloth). When you need to cast a Circle on the road, sprinkle the salt water about to purify the area, then set things up and empower the candle with whatever your magical need is. (Use white, since it's all-purpose) You can get really creative with the Elemental objects, or use plain stones with symbols painted on them, or just a colored stone for each.

The objects by themselves are quite effective as an instant Circle, with no fire or smoke involved to cause alarm. You'll use this a lot more than you might anticipate. You may even keep a set of written invocations and such folded up in the bag for when you're stressed and your imagination fails you.

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Sacred altars help us center and remind us to take time to connect and listen to Spirit. '
http://www.womenwithinsight.com/herstory.html
More :
http://www.spiralgoddess.com/WallArt.html
http://www.spiralgoddess.com/
Using feng shui to create your sacred space
http://www.luckymojo.com/calendricalhome.html
http://www.astralsociety.com/as/Forum/i ... #msg250328 (http://www.astralsociety.com/as/Forum/index.php/topic,23547.msg250328.html#msg250328)

[iadnon]

Don't know why but my sub rejects to look for a sacred space. Even when I've looked for one, I've ended up doing everything but what I was supposed to do.

So, we don't must forget the inner sacred spaces. I realized this when I dreamed with a temple-mountain. I knew it was to be inside of myself rather than outside.

The best way to do so it is just to enter in a meditation-state and ask your sub for a good imagery to build up the place. Whatever will happen. Try it.

[blacktiger057]

Great article!

My sacred space looks almost normal at a glance. It's on a little shelf thing above my bed. It has alot of different things with special meanings to me, and my magick tools in the back. After three years my parents still haven't figured out what it was, only that it was 'pretty' :lol: .

[Aunt Clair]

Don't know why but my sub rejects to look for a sacred space. Even when I've looked for one, I've ended up doing everything but what I was supposed to do.

So, we don't must forget the inner sacred spaces. I realized this when I dreamed with a temple-mountain. I knew it was to be inside of myself rather than outside.

The best way to do so it is just to enter in a meditation-state and ask your sub for a good imagery to build up the place. Whatever will happen. Try it.

When you begin to work daily you will find that creating a sacred space to work within has many advantages . It extends your field of protection , it clears the space so that you are able to communicate , heal , project and manifest without negative influence . It becomes an extension of your energy body . We are taught methods to increase the energy flow within the sacred space comensurate with out own development . I have faith that immortals do not waist our time teaching us pretty props and methods to make the space seem more powerful . It becomes more powerful , truly . Certainly one with the least sensitivity would note the difference of energy flow within a fast paced office and the energy flow at a church , temple or meditation centre .


A hierarchy of energy structures within the sacred space for example ;
1* 4 corners square on floor under altar circle above the altar on the ceiling

2* a merkabah of 8 loops of energy around the temple and the above also

3* a vortex of energy of two opposing cones wider at ceiling and floor narrowest at the altar and the above also

4* a pillar of energy within 4 corners

5* as 4 with a mirror between the altar and the floor and cleansing of the subetheric and surrounding rooms with a vortex

6 * as 5 with a pillar around the altar forming an inner circle within a sacred wheel of life at 8 points

7* a manifested pillar on the wheel of life ,causes another to form within above the room and below it also .

8 * a sphere round the table splitting the central band to cause a band of energy to pass thru the brow centre thru each member of circle , energy on the feet to ease projection separation also within the 8 corners

et cetera et cetera

[Aunt Clair]

Edit I must have spellchecked the original post and inadvertently auto corrected aspirator so that it now reads asperger in two places. Bizarre.

[CFTraveler]

I attempted to correct it, and the forum wouldn't let me because the post was too long. (new template, &^%) So I split it and spliced the second part of you initial post to your reply, so it's in order. Please check it out and see if it makes sense.