To help end 2014, The Institute for the Shamanic Arts recently hosted an Altar Creation Workshop called Private Shrines.
A Shrine is a sacred place, which is dedicated to a specific deity, ancestor, animal or miracle where one shows respect and honor. Generally they are stationary places where people visit and pray. In this workshop people created a shrine that is movable. They can be shared, and closed, and carried away.
How? This workshop focused on creating a shrine in a box or container that can be carried and closed, ready to be opened again when needed. Quynn Red Mountain gathered many unique boxes and containers of varying shapes and sizes for participants in this workshop. After asking in a shamanic journey for our guides to show what they wanted (which may have been different than what each person thought they wanted) to honor for the Private Shrine, each participant had the opportunity to create a place of specialness for what was needed at the time. Many were surprised about how their shrine looked or for what purpose it was created. All shrines were well loved by their creators. Photos below are of the shrines created.
Here is what a participant said about this workshop “Awesome sacred creative FUN! Quynn is amazingly generous with her treasures for art projects like this, and a lovely shamanic midwife who prepares the space and is available if we need technological assistance for us to birth our personal creations. I loved what every attendee created, each a unique and magical shrine. And my own shrine is awesomely beautiful! I will visit it often, and carry it with me as I travel.”
A special thank you to Stephanie for prompting this workshop idea years ago. :)