"...this
should be welcome reading for neo-pagans seeking to spice
up their spirituality with something a little off-beat."
~Publisher's Weekly |
|
"Kynes
has quite obviously put a lot of work, time, and love into
this book. It is an excellent guide to the layout of your
altar-–not necessarily the specific tools and their
uses, but the actual altar itself.... Kynes' writing style
is excellent, inviting and easy to read, yet informative."
~FacingNorth.Net
|
About
Your Altar
Slowing
down and taking time for meditation can be a life-changing experience,
but getting from here to there may seem too difficult unless you
use the right tool. That tool is simply an altar. While it is standard
practice to use an altar for focus, Your Altar presents
a new way to utilize it as an integral meditation technique.
Your
Altar is a guide for using a meditation altar as a tool for
self-exploration and growth. Like a labyrinth, an altar can serve
as a map that leads the mind through a pre-determined flow for a
unique form of meditative practice. Dividing the altar top into
multiple sections and using them to focus a flow of thoughts allows
the altar to function as a powerful and symbolic tool not unlike
a Buddhist mandala (sacred circles), classical Christian icons and
Hindu yantras.
Creating
an altar using the power of numbers allows you to achieve spiritual
stillness in a personally meaningful way. The numbers one through
nine carry profound symbolic history and significance. By dividiing
your altar into a certain number of parts, you can harness a powerful
energy and apply it to your life.
The
purpose of this book is to introduce different altar setups/matrices
that call on the power of numerical patterns to help the reader
explore inner and outer (beyond one’s self) space. However,
it’s not so much about what and how you place things on an
altar, but how you use the energy.
Because
of the energies that converge, an altar is not a passive space—there
is constant interaction that leads from the psyche to the soul.
This meeting point of spiritual and mundane energies can provide
an orientation or anchor in the world—a place to hold onto
and come back to for personal strength and exploration.
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Reviews
Publisher's
Weekly
October 15, 2007
Readers
interested in this volume from Kynes (Year of Ritual, etc.) would
do well to pay attention to the subtitle, as the title is somewhat
misleading. The book is not a comprehensive overview of home altars,
but a guide to using an altar space for meditation. The thrust of
the book is that an altar is like "a game board"—through
different arrangements of objects, practitioners can prepare themselves
for varying states of reflection. For example, Kynes describes how
an altar space can be divided into three parts, with each part representing
one of the divine triplets from an ancient spiritual tradition (e.g.
Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva from Hinduism or Fotla, Erin, and Banba
from the Irish Celtic tradition). She then suggests what to place
on the altar for different effects. A three-part arrangement can
be used to rebalance energies or as an aid for decision-making.
In all, Kynes outlines nine basic altar compositions and gives hints
for alternatives in each main category. While some may be annoyed
by Kynes's use of the second person throughout the book, this should
be welcome reading for neo-pagans seeking to spice up their spirituality
with something a little off-beat.
~
FacingNorth.net
I sometimes
imagine an alternate world where there are huge libraries dedicated
to magical tomes of all sorts. Not only will you find general texts,
but you'll find thorough books on very specific topics.
It's
sort of like walking into Hogwarts or a similar fantasy-based setting,
and finding books on the care of magical creatures, entire expositions
on the best use of the wand, and histories of incredibly obscure
sects.
While
I am firmly planted in this reality, I have been delighted to see
a rising number of books that go into detail about specific practical
pagan topics, rather than "a chapter on this, a chapter on
that" generalities. "Your Altar" is a superb, innovative
guide to a rather deceptively simple idea: how to set up your altar.
Kynes
has quite obviously put a lot of work, time, and love into this
book. It is an excellent guide to the layout of your altar--not
necessarily the specific tools and their uses, but the actual altar
itself. She explains the theory and practice behind altar setups
involving anywhere from one to nine sections. It's a wonderfully
cosmopolitan book as well, drawing from neopagan, Buddhist, Christian
and other religious traditions to give examples of how the individual
practitioner may set up hir sacred working space. Rather than simply
giving us a bunch of correspondences, Kynes explains why each layout
is important, and what its appeal is. It's truly thorough, yet streamlined.
Kynes'
writing style is excellent, inviting and easy to read, yet informative.
And I was incredibly pleased to see a nice selection of footnote
citations showing exactly where she got certain pieces of information
from her research, rather than just leaving us with a bibliography
and a pile of questions. She's done her work, and it shows.
Overall,
I found this to be an excellent read--and I admit, I'm a tough one
to impress! Whether you're a newbie just getting started, or a seasoned
witch or mage looking for new ideas for your altar space, give this
book a try.
~review
by Lupa
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