Wild Shrine
“One of the main casualties of the recent Western ‘development’ has not just been the ecology in the outer world, but the ecological imagination within.” – Peter BishopLet me share with you a pet peeve of mine. I truly dislike the term “domestic shrine.” This is a common descriptor for shrines that are in the personal places of our lives, the ones outside the temple. The term “domestic” carries a story within that does not apply to spiritual seeking and contact with the Divine. Think about it, what is the life experience of domesticated any thing? Penned, prodded, tamed, castrated, saddled, leashed –do you see where this story leads?
Soul Yoga is quite contrary to that experience. Soul Yoga through Shrine-tending is a path to the Wild where you commune with the godhead in a carnal and intimate way. I will also say that I intentionally do not use the term “nature” here either. The word “nature” is scientific and carries the story of Western mind trying to control whatever is not human. It is about measuring, staring at, and dissecting the things around us. Science wants information so it can control.
The Wild follows its own rhythms separate from to human conveneince. The Wild froths, swirls, gallops, licks, sucks, prances, flames, pours, crushes, births, spawns, devours, sings, and echoes. Generative shrines, those sourced from Old Mind (a.k.a. the Collective Unconscious, the Akashic Records, the Ancestors etc), with transformative energy (a.k.a. prana, chi, life force) follow the ways of the Wild not the domesticated. That which does not change dies. The gods are on the move, always. Psyche, the bringer of the gods’ news for us, is always a spiraling.
I am on the hunt for new language. I need words that carry the story of the Wild to name the experience of shrines birthed from Old Mind. Any Ideas?
If I were to build an Ancestor Shrine to forgive you, I would buy you a piece of carrot cake from Helen Bernhard’s Bakery on 16th Street. They are still so busy that customers stand in line with tapered tickets in hand. I’d have to wait in line. I’d have to wait for you again.
A cluttered shrine can be a signal that it is time to say “Thank you” and let go. Shrines do have lifetimes. Totems ripen into spiritual guides, and then they will begin to fade. It may be years (Kwan Yin and I go back over 10 years) or it may be moments and days. I once had a pair of Ruby Slippers (“She-Who-Launches”) on a shrine for only two weeks and then it was time to take them off. I realized I was firmly on my new path and quite organically the icon slippers “evaporated”. I replaced them with a stone stamped with
Saying Thank You. Object-icons that have lived in a shrine have given sacred service. They have been dependable spirit bridges transporting prayers and ushering in prana. Here are 5 ritual thank yous. Let your intuition guide you.
1. An easy way to remove wax from a candleholder is to place it in the freezer for an hour. This allows the wax to shrink and easily pop out with the handle of a spoon.
Fire is one of the oldest shrine offerings. Indeed Fire is life force itself. Archeologists tell us the first hearths appeared 400,000 years ago. Ever since fire has lengthened the days, cooked food, provided heat, and forged tools. It is no wonder all spiritual cultures associate light and fire with the gods – flaming heart of Jesus, the plenum, chi, prana, Chanukah candles.