Do-It-Yourself Sacred Grove

[tarotbear]

Milfoil started the great thread on 'Your Altar' but I wasn't able to find any pix of my altar/space because I may not have taken any! But rather than splinter that thread I started this one.

Who has their own Sacred Grove?

This no longer exists since I moved out of that house 15 years ago (and always wondered what the new people thought of the energies in that area? LOL!). Once upon some time in this little patch of ground next to the house someone had an above-ground pool, long gone before I moved there. My partner at the time, Mario, (R.I.P.) helped me turn the area into a 'Sacred Grove.' We had an archway for the entrance, and planted each of the four corners to represent an element. I did have a dedication ceremony on my private ceremonial space! It had a park bench or two in it for reading, but we did set up an altar there every now and then.

We also encircled the perimeter with white lights! And they went on when we turned on the outside lights! Since we are in a pathway to a small airplort we know the pilots could see this white circle of light and always wondered what they were thinking about it.

NOTE: In Pic #3 - the 'atmosphereics' appeared on the film after developing - we did not do any smoke or other effects.

More pix in the next post.

 

[tarotbear]

Here TB does his best to emulate the Magician in the Rider-Waite.

I remember submitting the picture of the Magician to be put on a credit card - and the bank declined it saying 'Too Religious in Nature!'

So, what kinds of Sacred Groves or spaces did you create? Please post a picture!

 

[Disa]

I love your sacred grove!

I don't have any pics, but I have been working on an outdoor altar of sorts for the past couple of years. We have a tree in the far right corner of our backyard that has grown into 3 separate trunks-when I first saw it I thought of the maiden, mother, crone aspect of things. We cleared out a lot of bamboo to make a space for a portable fire pit and a couple of chairs. To the left of this tree we have tons of bamboo through which my dear departed lab/retriever mix had made a sort of path which is hidden from view when facing it, but you can find it near the 3 trunked tree. Along the right side of that tree near the wooden fence we put a concrete block "altar" which is very small and shaped like a little table. Above the table hanging on the wooden fence is a Wheel of the year plaque along with a small mother,maiden, crone plaque and a lord of the dance plaque...In front of the altar, on the ground is a black shiny "tile" of sorts that I can stand on or use for scrying... I did put a few things back there as representations of the elements. Sometimes, when the moon is full if you go back there at just the right time and look up while standing in front of the altar, the moon shines brightly between the trees.

I would go take a pic but it's sooo hot and there are mosquitos . I will have to wait until it's a little cooler(and not dark outside)

 

[Bhavana]

I have one, there is an old garden pond at the back of the property, surrounded by landscaping and trees on three sides. The pond is sunk into the ground, with a little slate "patio" at one end. There is a pump, but it hasn't run in years, so basically it's water level just goes up and down depending on the rain, or if it gets really low, i put the hose in it for a few hours. Lots of frogs live in it. The sit along the sides and make interesting sounds, and when I get to close they do this cute little "eek!" sound and jump into the water. It would be awesome to grow water plants in, but the trees shade it over, and most of those types of plants need sunlight for at least a few hours a day.

On the slate platform is a cement Virgin Mary statue, and in front of that a big round plant saucer that I fill up every day with fresh water for the birds. Chipmunks live under the slate platform, and they often can be seen sitting on Mary's head. It's night time now, maybe tomorrow I will take a photo.

 

[tarotbear]

They sound lovely, Disa & Bhavana !

15 years ago most garden centers had these slate or granite slabs that had a birdbath scooped into one end; I always wanted to get two uprights, and let people think it was just a birdbath but I knew I'd be using it for an altar!

 

[Eyebright]

They all sound beautiful, and I love the pics TB

You have all inspired me to look at my own garden and see if anything could be done with it. It's not huge, but I'm sure sonething could be done if I thought about it for long enough. I will try and come back with a pic of my garden, so anyone can make some suggestions if they have any!

 

[Bhavana]

They all sound beautiful, and I love the pics TB

You have all inspired me to look at my own garden and see if anything could be done with it. It's not huge, but I'm sure sonething could be done if I thought about it for long enough. I will try and come back with a pic of my garden, so anyone can make some suggestions if they have any!

Space isn't a requirement, just a little creativity. I'd love to get a buddha for another area in my garden.

 

[Disa]

Well, this isn't the entire area I consider the "Sacred Grove", but here are pics of the little area I created. My little "stone" Altar and the wall hangings above it of the Wheel of the Year in the center and the Goddess/God plaque representations on either side of the wheel. In front of the stone table on the ground is the black "scrying tile" which is a place to stand, as well- seems horrible, but it's an outdoor altar so things should be able to be used outdoors. (I have other scrying tools which are not walked upon )

Since the air was cooler I decided to go out and take pics, but we haven't really cleaned up the back yard yet because it was still 85 degrees yesterday ugg. So this is all I did: