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How to Create Water Shrines and Altars, by Lilith Dorsey

(Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal.)

Some of us are fortunate enough to live near special bodies of water that are used as sacred sites for water magick and ritual. Even if we do, we may still see the need to create our own water altars and shrines in our homes or outdoor spaces. This way we will always be able to access the sacred power of water wherever we are.

In my new book Water Magic I talk about some of the amazing sacred water sites throughout the globe. From Niagara Falls to Snoqualmie Falls, or Lake Manasarovar to Lake Ponchartrain, each have their own special unique power and sacred energy. Even if you are unable to travel to sites like these you don't need to worry. Hopefully the water altar or shrine you will create will be a place where your own magick will flow freely.

Even though you will be creating a Water Shrine, you will make sure to include items from each one of the elements—earth, air, fire, water, and spirit. This will help it be balanced and able to assist your workings in every possible way.

In the hopes of representing the element of earth you may wish to include a crystal that is ruled by the element of water. Some of these look watery, or are actually formed in water. Probably because of its color, Turquoise is one of the crystals associated with water. It is said to grant luck, healing, and protection from harm. If you would like to take a different tactic you may wish to include a small amount of actual dirt from a riverside, swamp, beach, or somewhere similar.

If you're like me, you will want to include some flowers and other botanicals. Some of these grow in water or swampy conditions. You might wish to include:

• Sea Holly: This pretty and prickly plant grows at the seaside and is used for love and safety.
• Coconut: Technically this isn't a fruit or even a nut, but instead a drupe. Whatever you call them, coconuts contain their own water, and can be used in your incense or directly on your water altar as an elemental offering.
• Eucalyptus: This watery herb is said to grant health, focus, and psychic ability.
• Gardenia: This delicate white bloom is one of my favorite flowers. Gardenia is used in magickal workings for love, devotion, and spiritual connection.

The most common way to represent the element of Air on an altar or shrine is to use incense. You can choose a blend crafted for one of the astrological water signs (Pisces, Scorpio, or Cancer). Or you might choose to use any of the botanicals mentioned above in your own combination, which will then be burned on charcoal.

The fire element can be welcomed onto your altar in the form of a candle. This could be a blue candle blessed with oils or incense dedicated to the water element. Alternatively, it could be a candle dedicated to one of the water Gods or Goddesses, such as Tiamat, The Morrigan, or Neptune. Each one of these has their own special likes and dislikes, so please do your research to ensure maximum effectiveness.

Water is the most essential component for your altar or shrine. Every different type of water carries its own special blessing. Depending on your intent you may choose to include:

• Spring water for new beginnings
• Storm water for powerful change
• River water to help with twists, turns, and obstacles you may be facing
• Ocean water for deep and meaningful work
• Any other water you see fit

You can choose to place the water in a bowl, glass, bottle, or even something more traditional like a chalice. You may even want to include a fountain, since moving water is seen to have special benefits across many different cultures.

To represent the element of spirit you could incorporate one of the Water Gods or Goddesses, or you can add a special item that represents your own connection to water. Shells, sand, or actual water you may have collected may also be used here. It can even be something as simple as tap water to represent the spirit of place that is your home. While it is often overlooked, tap water is the water that we drink most often, bathe in, and very often comes from a local body of water. It is powerful in its proximity, so try not to ignore it. You may even wish to add items from water animals that hold a powerful significance for you. This could be a statue or piece of artwork, or even a responsibly harvested bone or feather. The only limits are dictated by your own imagination.

When you have all your elemental items gathered together you can then begin to put together your altar or shrine. An altar is a space that will be set up temporarily and will be used to bring about a specific result. For example, you may wish to capitalize on water's ability to help with emotions, and setting up an altar like this during a difficult emotional time can be a glorious undertaking. Shrines, however, are set up as permanent spaces where one goes on a regular basis to leave offerings or perform rites and rituals. No matter which type of magickal space you are creating, you will need to put it in a space that is easily accessed but also away from pets, children, haters, or anything that might distract from your workings there. Many people like to prepare their water altar or shrine space by laying down a blue cloth. You can then place each of the elemental items on top. Traditionally Water goes in the West, Earth in the North, Air in the East, and Fire in the South. Spirit can be placed in the center.

This article is full of a lot of suggestions and instructions, but remember that making your own altar or shrine is a powerful experience that should be fun. It allows you to use your creativity to craft a space for magic.

Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal. Copyright Llewellyn Worldwide, 2020. All rights reserved.

Do you believe that good deeds like kindness, love, compassion, and good thoughts are rewarded? I believe in showing love and kindness to others, and I pray for peace and other blessings for family, friends and mankind. It seems like people who may have wicked ways prosper while people who try to practice righteuosness struggle more. What are your thoughts? I practice loving others and being kind, yet I have been struggling financially and with achieving career and business success for about two years. Thank you for your insights.

Sharon

Susyn:

Living a spiritual life does not always afford us an easy path. Further, while the challenges we face related to financial and career matters are designed with a higher purpose in mind, they are not necessarily connected with lessons related to how we treat others.

I believe that good deeds are a reward in and of themselves. I also believe that practicing love and kindness will bring us spiritual blessings if not material blessings. Doing the right thing is what generates inner peace and enables us to live in the world with integrity and self-esteem.

One thing to keep in mind is that comparing ourselves to others will always result in inner turmoil. Though you see others appearing to win at the game of life despite their wicked ways, you are not looking at the bigger picture. True happiness comes from living as you describe yourself doing, while those who live through their egos experience fleeting moments of joy instead of long-term contentment.

It's easy to look around and see people who seem to have all you desire whether they deserve it or not. If you look for them, you will also find people who are having an even harder time than you are who don't seem to deserve to suffer either. Your perception is clouded because others' karma or destiny is different from yours and because you are only looking at the superficial aspects of others' lives.

When we focus on others too much, we waste time, power and energy we could use to improve our own lives. The best way to change this situation is to stop comparing yourself to others and look within for answers. With more time spent in meditation and self-examination, you can access spiritual direction on how to change your own circumstances.

As a Gemini, you tend to process your world from an intellectual perspective. This can sometimes be a liability, for it can keep you from aligning with emotional and spiritual well-being. Though you may not be successful in terms of society's values, you are clearly successful at expressing your emotions and treating others with spiritual kindness. If you were to stop being a loving person in the world, your heart and spirit would suffer, which in the long run would cause you much greater strife than not having an ideal career or lots of money in the bank.

A powerful way to shift your focus and gain more balance in your life is to make a daily gratitude list. Writing down and acknowledging all the ways you are blessed will make you less likely to focus on what you lack. Further, because an attitude of gratitude generates more abundance, this is an ideal way to manifest both the spiritual and worldly blessings you desire.

*****

Oceania:

Kindness, love, compassion and good thoughts are their own reward, for we are so much happier when we choose to embody those qualities than when we choose to be mean, hateful or intolerant. Praying for blessings for others is its own reward as well, because positive thoughts create peace within. Being jealous, envious and hateful only leads to bitterness and unhappiness.

There may be some with wicked ways who prosper, but prosperity is a fleeting pleasure. To make sure righteousness doesn't turn into self-righteousness, focus on yourself instead of judging others. Perhaps the greatest source of fulfillment is having a solid sense of self and living according to your own higher values. Integrity lasts a lifetime, whereas things like money and successful careers are transitory.

There's a play called You Can't Take It With You about a three-generation family and their adopted band of misfits who all live together in a big old house. Their needs are few and they spend their days pursuing whatever makes them happy. Included among them are a ballet dancer, a writer of plays, a portrait painter, xylophone player, fireworks designer and candy maker. They're not necessarily accomplished at what they do, but they love doing it.

They cross paths with a proper upstanding banking family who are at first appalled by the lifestyle of the free spirits. As I'm sure you can guess, by the end of the play, the bankers have let down their hair and joined in the fun, for they've discovered that joy is priceless and worth more than status or success. Like the bankers, I encourage you to expand your notion of success to include lightheartedness, humor and the ability to laugh at yourself.

You say you've been struggling with career and financial worries for two years. You seem to carry the belief that this should not be happening due to your goodness. You may want to expand your notion of goodness to include humbleness, for it's arrogant to presume that life should always go our way. There are powers greater than ourselves that know best, and lessons to be learned in every circumstance.

As struggle is experienced by many, it has little to do with righteousness; instead, it's tied to outlook and attitude. Imagine being carried by a river. You can choose to enjoy the ride and appreciate the view or you can try swimming upstream, which is only an illusion because the river still carries you downstream! Attempting to swim against the current causes struggle. When you release your agenda, let go and let God, and choose to trust in the inherent wisdom of the big flow, your struggles will fade and be replayed by peace and adventure.

Astrea:

Many times in life we hear, "You will always have what you NEED, but not necessarily what you WANT." Your spirit must have needed to experience the feeling of leaving your human body, and the suggestion in the next chapter of Sylvia Brown's book was all it took to get you there.

Even though you hadn't read it yet, your SOUL recognized the title of that chapter as something it had been seeking, and your soul, knowing that you had that reference to read after your experience, got with it and out you went!

While I don't usually recommend her books, Sylvia Brown has a wide reaching and powerful effect on lots of people. A Gemini like you would be able to relate easily to her writing and put it to good use. Synchronicity - you gotta love it!

I like your description of "getting caught." That's exactly what it feels like, isn't it? One minute you're free and hovering above the room, and the next minute, ZAP! back down into your corporeal form you go!

As a little kid, I loved that "feeling of return." With practice, most of the time we can control that event, but sometimes, when our physical ears hear a distracting noise or something else occurs to knock us back into reality, back we go. With practice you will be able to control your return better.

I find it interesting that you were visiting your mother-in-law and not someone in your own genetic family. Evidently, you and your husband got married for reasons that are even deeper than love. His family's interest in "psychic stuff" will nurture your children in such matters and help them to grow into their own abilities.

You'll never have to be concerned that when your daughter visits them, she'll be discouraged from exploring her own psychic life and power. My parents encouraged me to develop my psychic senses in a time when it wasn't nice to even discuss such things in public. Heck, it's STILL not considered a great topic at the dinner table in some families!

Your kids will get to talk about it ALL and ask questions and read and study. This is going to give them such an edge in life! Talk with your husband about how you want to present this to your kiddos, so that you are united in your approach and ready to tell them their experiences are all natural and okay.

A word or two of warning: Geminis often have difficulty staying grounded in REAL LIFE. Don't get so strung out on your ASTRAL life that you neglect what you're doing here on Earth.

You are at the beginning of a long journey to learn where your power really lies. Try to be patient with this process and take your time.