View Full Version : Sacred space in the home
Does anyone here have space set aside in their home as a prayer or meditation space? I'd love to hear about it. Where do you have your space? Is it a room, a closet, a chair, a corner? What do you have there to help you in your prayer or meditation? How often do you use it?
I have been thinking of doing this. In fact I feel a really strong pull to do this. I have always loved the concept but for some reason never really put it into practice. I have a corner picked out in the living room that is accessible to everyone, but separated a bit from the main space. I am thinking of setting the space aside with a rug and getting a kneeler. Maybe not a traditional kneeler because of the great height differences in our family (ranging from babies to 6ft tall) but something like this (http://www.monasterygreetings.com/prod_detail_list/Meditation) that could be used by anyone in the family. I might get two of them. I like the floor cushions on the same page a little farther down, but I'm afraid it would become a magnet for cat hair and I don't need more things to launder. A little aside, my patron saint, Veronica, is the patron saint of laundresses. :)
On the wall I will have a little holy water fount, a cross and a bulletin board. The bulletin board will be for things we want to remind ourselves of, prayer cards, verses we want to share with the family, notes of encouragement, etc. There will also be a little notebook and pen hanging on a tack that people, family members and visitors, can use to write their prayer requests in. I am going to call it The Chapel because I love to name things. :)
In college I shared the upstairs of an old house with one other girl. Really neat apartment, we joked about how the bathroom could sleep 8 with the floor to ceiling built in cabinets along one wall. The apartment had an extra closet between the bedrooms that was a cozy 8'x8' space that we turned into our prayer closet. Warm candles, lots of pillows and we covered the walls with Saris and photos and items from friends all over the world on mission trips. It was a good room to keep prayers focused.
I've never had a whole room to do that since and miss it. I've thougth about bringing in a small garden shed to add to the woods behind my house - that would make a wonderful retreat area.
In our house, we have a second bedroom, which is too small to use for much of anything, so we're going to turn it into a meditation/quiet room. (It will double as a guest room, so it won't be available all the time, but mostly it will). I don't pray, but I meditate...the furnishings may be a little different, but the idea is the same. I want it to be a quiet retreat, away from tv, internet, phone, etc. etc...
goldensmom
7-28-11, 2:19pm
I have seen big, old houses with ‘prayer closets’ built specifically for the purpose of prayer. They were approximately 5’ x 7’, the size of a small bathroom, usually with a window and a comfortable chair. Looked so cool - I want one someday. In the meantime, I prefer outside on the deck weather permitting. Your thread has sparked my interest again in finding a specific place in the house for quiet times.
A friend of mine had a spot next to the furnace in his basement as it was the only place his kids wouldn’t bother him.
Yes, I do. It's traditional for Orthodox to have an "icon corner" in their homes, usually in the main room. In pre-Revolutionary Russia, this was known as the "beautiful corner," and guests would bow to the icon(s) upon entering, before greeting the host. It's ideally to be on an eastern wall, as our churches are oriented with the altar on the east end, as we pray facing east. But that's not always practical given the odd designs in some homes and apartments. Mine is on a small bit of wall in my living room, not good for putting much else there.
Some people use a shelf on the wall, but since I rent and putting multiple large holes in walls are rather frowned upon, I have a small bookcase as the base of my icon corner, with my icons on top, and my books below, along with prayer rope (similar in purpose to Catholic rosary), prayer list, holy water, etc.
It's used for daily prayers.
Gardenarian
7-28-11, 2:40pm
I have a small altar set up on my bedroom dresser. Just a small figurine, a couple of candles, and flowers.
We also have a sacred space in a corner of the backyard; it is a small platform for meditating, set under a tree. It was there when we moved in - I wonder what it's previous use was? We buried our much beloved dog next to the platform.
My daughter has her own sit spot, which is under a carob tree. The branches reach right down to the ground, like a mulberry, so it a little leafy room.
I love the Jewish tradition of the mezuzah, a blessing that is kissed with the fingertips on entering the house. http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/256915/jewish/What-Is-a-Mezuzah.htm I would love to have something similar to honor my own faith.
(Hey, i found one! http://www.fernsgarden.com/house/room-blessings-522/doorpost-prayers-606/peace-to-this-house-1240.aspx Though the frugal in me is saying I could make something myself.)
Beautiful ideas everyone! And Tradd, that icon corner is gorgeous! I did look up Grand Duchess Elizabeth Fydororovna and you are right. That is a really interesting story.
I'd love to have a built in prayer closet like the houses you mentioned goldensmom, or a spare room like yours perplexa. I thought about putting the prayer space in mine and my husband's room because it is the most secluded, but I decided I don't want my kids in my room unsupervised. Too much craft stuff they could get into.
I have heard of the mezuza before but hadn't thought about it in a while. Beautiful tradition!
I like the idea of having an outdoor prayer or meditation place too, either in a shed or under a tree. Gardenarian the space under the carob tree sounds just lovely. Float on, you have me thinking about getting a shed for outdoors in the future.
A prayer garden would be another fun thing to think about. I love the gardens at the missions in California and at various retreat centers.
I so admire you guys for having your sacred spaces. I need this so bad, if only for some peace and quiet so I can read. My house is so small that I can't even figure out where to put our dirty clothes :( I have lots of organizing and decluttering to do even tho we don't have that much junk in the house. (don't ask me about the basement and the shop...............I just don't want to go there!) Sorry I think I am doing a rantlet and don't mean to mess with the OP.
Anyway, I feel inspired to find a corner somewhere..............
thanks for bringing the subject up. Sherry
rodeosweetheart
7-28-11, 9:58pm
I have have a shelf with photos of my kids and their wives and our dogs and a Blessed Mother statue from a Christmas creche. Most of the dogs are actually gone now, and I have a few candles, and I surround all of it with love--well, someone surrounds it with love, I guess. It wasn't intentional, it just kind of evolved.
Would like to make an outside meditation herb garden.
Goldensmom, your post about the basement made me think of our basement when I was a little girl., For some reason, I felt safe up on top of the water heate--it was huge and round and on its side, battleship grey. I remember hiding down there in the Cuban Missile Crisis.
I have an under the window bookshelf in the guest room/2nd bedroom that I use for an altar. As we don't have a lot of overnight guests, this room is my meditation and yoga room, and the place where I regroup where I need to just sit and think. I don't allow any electronics in there (TV, radio or computer) to keep it a serene space. I also don't use fragrances much at all in the rest of the house, but this is where I'll use essential oils or incense. Its funny, I'm not there much in the summer, but as soon as the weather is darker, and thoughts turn inward, its my sanctuary. I have lots of philosophy and craft books in there, its my idea space.
I really want an outdoor space though, whether that be a platform or a shed to retreat to.
goldensmom
7-28-11, 10:51pm
Okay everyone, I'm on board with the outdoor meditation area. I never even considered an outside area (other than the deck) but am now excited to start looking and planning.
radiosweetheart - you remember the Cuban Missile Crisis? I remember drills in elementary school where we hid under our desks. I really didn't know why we were doing it but it was a fun thing to do.
Sad Eyed Lady
7-28-11, 11:36pm
Okay everyone, I'm on board with the outdoor meditation area. I never even considered an outside area (other than the deck) but am now excited to start looking and planning.
radiosweetheart - you remember the Cuban Missile Crisis? I remember drills in elementary school where we hid under our desks. I really didn't know why we were doing it but it was a fun thing to do.
Not meaning to hi-jack the thread, but the mention of the Cuban missile crisis brought back some memories. I was terrified! We had civil defense meetings at our school at night, some people had bomb shelters and every time I heard a plane going over I was so scared it was going to bomb us! When you're a child and are exposed to the news like that, it is so scary.
I think my neighbor across the road has the best outdoor sacred space. She is on the cliff side of the road and she has an old stone picnic table right up at the edge of the cliff under some trees. She is out there on top of the picnic table getting 'centered' most early mornings. The beautiful view doesn't hurt either.
rodeosweetheart
7-29-11, 9:30am
I was terrified too during the Cuban Missile Crisis, Shalom. I remember the desk drills too!. I remember walking home from school looking for ditches because they told us to jump into ditches in case of nuclear attack.
Oh well, I guess it left me with the lasting realization that we do need sacred space--gosh, I just wrote that "scared space"--hmm and we all need to be working for peace. I have always wanted to start a rose garden with a rose bush planted for Holocaust survivors, each rose bearing a name.
This outside garden space has me excited, too. Goldensmom,where we lived in upstate new York someone mowed a labyrinth into their hayfield, for walking meditation. That might be one thing you could do.
madgeylou
7-29-11, 10:46am
our house is small -- 5 rooms plus a bathroom -- and there's not a really good space for a permanent sacred space. but i have a meditation cushion and a beautiful meditation shawl that i got at the retreat i went to last summer, and i just set up shop on our dining room floor facing the sunny bay window in there.
we are taking over the vacant lot next door and fencing in the yard either this fall or next spring, so i may be able to make something happen out there ... that would be lovely! i would adore a platform under a tree, or in the middle of stand of bamboo or something...
This thread is really motivating me to get my space set up. I think I will work on it this weekend. The garden space will have to wait until next year, but I am excited to plan it!
I like the rosebush idea rodeosweetheart.
I just started reading "40 Days and 40 Nights".....would be a good book to work thru while starting a new sacred space!
We also have a small house. Rather than having a permanent, dedicated meditation corner, I try to make our home life peaceful, with time out daily for everyone to have some quiet space. I can meditate anywhere in the house given some quiet time.
We have a small shade garden set up as a memorial garden to honor our family members, friends and pets who have died and are buried in various places, far away from where we live. It is a circular flower bed bordered by stones, a St. Francis statue on one side, a kneeling angel on another side and I am still looking for a small pagoda to put towards the front. It is at the base of a large sugar pine, over a hundred years old. The plantings I use are all shade plants appropriate for a memorial garden: bleeding heart (sorrow), Easter lilies (resurrection), hostas (Heavenly Hosts), Lenten rose (repentance); blue flowers (color of peace) like bell flowers, Monks Hood, violas, and ferns for ethereal beauty. I still have to get some Forget-me-nots, but I am not sure how they will do in the shade. I tend the garden on a daily basis, praying while weeding and watering and sitting in silence. I have a hurricane lamp with a candle, which I light on various birthdays and holidays; it is centered in the middle of the flower bed.
Our cabin is small, no sacred space inside the house per se. I do my daily meditations in the living room, usually in the middle of the night, when everything is quiet.
Thanks, Stella, for starting this thread.
Rosemary, that sounds lovely! Our house is peaceful in the sense that we all get along, but not usually quiet. I'm trying to enourage more of that.
Heidi that sounds absolutely lovely! I wish I could see it. What a beautiful way to honour your family members!
I bought the rug today for the prayer corner. The kneelers will come out of Zach's next paycheck. I have an old bulletin board I had covered with fabric that I will use for the bulletin board and a crucifix I got for confirmation and a holy water fount that I will put in the space. I also got a notebook for the prayer requests and some push pins. I will get everything but the kneelers set up this week.
We set up the prayer corner. We have named it The Chapel. We might come up with a saint to name it after. Maybe not. We'll see. The girls have already said a prayer in it. It's really small, but very nice.
The kneeler isn't in yet, but here's the space as it exists so far, complete with cat. :) It's pretty simple, but I like that. The black wall on the right side is the side of a bookshelf. When I'm done with the organization one cube will have prayer books and holy water.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y60/cheyennesmommy/chapel.jpg
Lovely, Stella! The cat knows it is a place for quiet contemplation.
Lovely, Stella! The cat knows it is a place for quiet contemplation.
LOL. Yes, that is something cats are very good at. Shadow is much better than I am at meditation. :) This morning when I went in there to pray he sat next to me purring and wanting to be petted. I did pet him because there's really no denying him if he wants some loving. It was actually kind of helpful, the sound of his purring, in blocking out other thoughts. Kind of a white noise I guess.
While my dog probably isn't much of a meditator, he does sometimes take the role of my teacher. It is quite wonderful to see how he holds no grudges, has no drama, is happy to be present to whatever is going on at the moment, and when nothing seems to be going on, he can sleep. I sometimes aspire to that level of serenity!
But I wouldn't invite him upstairs for my morning practice...a cat would be much better. One can be mindful of the sacred in the feline presence, too, I suspect.
This outside garden space has me excited, too. Goldensmom,where we lived in upstate new York someone mowed a labyrinth into their hayfield, for walking meditation. That might be one thing you could do.
Thanks for the suggestion ‘rodeosweetheart’. I never considered a labyrinth. Got hayfields, got mowers but the labyrinth would disappear three times a year when the haybines come in. I’ve been walking around in the apple orchard scouting out places to make an outdoor meditation area but those darn birds, beautiful to watch and listen to but we must have very well fed birds because their droppings are something to contend with when planning an outdoor sitting area.
it's funny, but for years i wanted such a space, right? and I had one all set up. and then -- for whatever reason -- we rarely used it.
now, we find that the WHOLE space can be sacred, and we really work from that space. like, as soon as you do the rituals, you've entered the "space." Perhaps it's more "head space" than anything else.
but we have lots of it in our place, and I love that.
LOL. Yes, that is something cats are very good at. Shadow is much better than I am at meditation. :) This morning when I went in there to pray he sat next to me purring and wanting to be petted. I did pet him because there's really no denying him if he wants some loving. It was actually kind of helpful, the sound of his purring, in blocking out other thoughts. Kind of a white noise I guess.
I think cats should be a regular part of a meditation space. After a bad day at work, my cats’ warm, undemanding presence and rhythmic purring would calm and soothe my stressful soul. Yes, definitely, put cats on the list.
Who is the author of 40 days and 40 nights?
There are a couple of books by that name, but I'm guessing the one discussed was the one by Ilene Segalove (subtitle "Taking Time for Self Discovery" I think)
No "sacred space" for me. I'm truly of the mind that I want to be able to pray/meditate anywhere. I agree that some places are more conducive to concentration that others, but some of my best spiritual moments have occurred stopped at a traffic light and seeing a glorious sunset display or at the kitchen sink looking out the window while finishing up the dishes.:)
Stella - What a wonderful idea. I am going to set up a sacred space of my own.
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