A Shrine Unto Myself

Made for the 2021 PanACEa Conference: https://www.asexualityasia.org/

Finding objects to put in your personal shrine can be confuddling. Do you need it to be blessed by a priest? Activated by crystals? Do you need to have an authentic icon or relic? In this guided process, objects from your own home will be used as objects of contemplation and prayer. Prayers are essentially acts of communication - be it to the divine, to spirits, to other living beings, or even to ourselves. By writing our stories about and with these objects, we are finding the language to articulate our own prayers - and that is enough for any object to become a restful space for our thoughts.

If you have time to be with yourself for a bit, the following steps will offer a space for you to contemplate an object that comes from your home.

Perhaps you'll find that this object is worthy of its own shrine.

Maybe you'll be able to reclaim that old saying of how "your body is a temple".

The Object as Worthy of Contemplation

Step 1: Find one to three objects in your room that you want to focus on.

Step 2: Select one object that you want to focus on. Consider why you have chosen it. What story does it have for you? Why are you finding yourself resonating with it here and now?

Step 3: Free-write for four minutes about this object. Choose a soundtrack that you love or bask in the quietude of your own room.

Writing a Prayer

Step 4: Take a few moments to write down a prayer. Use the words and feelings that have surfaced in your free-writing.

Some Possible Options:

Use a prayer, chant, mantra or creed that you are familiar with and rewrite the words for yourself.
Write a letter to the universe, a deity, a spirit, a presence, someone who has left your life, a friend, yourself, or to the object itself.

Send Your Prayer into the World

Step 5 (optional): With a gathering of objects like these, you might want to consider setting up a personal shrine for yourself. It can be a temporary spot on your desk. Perhaps a ritual of lighting a candle and putting the object next to it.
Anything goes – so long as it works for you.

Step 6: If you like, you can share your objects and prayers on this Padlet (https://padlet.com/onniscient/na6qiwbqacaq86ob).

To send something in private, you can email onniscient@gmail.com or get in touch on Instagram: @annaonni

Some Resources and Musings

Some prayers that surfaced through the making process:

Some Places to Start as You Make Your Own Shrine

• For a simple no-nonsense guide: https://www.consciousarttherapy.com/single-post/2018/10/09/creating-working-with-personal-shrines

• https://abbeyofthearts.com/blog/2009/07/14/creating-personal-altars-2/ by the Holy Disorder of Dancing Monks (I fell in love with this name, and the image of glorious dervishes and freewheeling energy).

• An extract from Altars: Bringing Sacred Shrines into Your Everyday Life by Denise Linn
https://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/book-reviews/excerpts/view/11743

• An extract from Altars Made Easy: A Complete Guide to Creating Your Own Sacred Space by Peg Streep https://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/book-reviews/excerpts/view/25089/altars-made-easy

Some Resources for Considering How Rituals and Spiritual Practices
can be Adapted for Our Personal Use:

https://sacred.design/insights for a starting point in considering why and how spirituality matters to us in this messy world.

Strange Rites: New Religions for a Godless World by Tara Isabella Burton
- A good introduction to how secular activities have managed to become a kind of spiritual space and refuge for people.

Postcolonial Astrology: Reading the Planets through Capital, Power, and Labour by Alice Sparkly Kat

https://enfleshed.com/liturgy-library/ spiritual resources for Christian-adjacent communities learning and unlearning dominance in belief and practice. I found myself able to begin connecting sincerely again with the religion I grew up in after encountering this space.

Rev. angel Kyodo williams and Krista Tippett “The World Is Our Field of Practice” – an interview conducted in 2018 https://onbeing.org/programs/angel-kyodo-williams-the-world-is-our-field-of-practice/

Harry Potter and the Sacred Text – A Podcast where these books become read like a religious gospel narrative. Absolutely wholesome.
https://www.harrypottersacredtext.com/series-1

The Real Question – A Podcast by Vanessa Zoltan and Casper ter Kuile (people who have learned this stuff) https://www.realquestionpod.com/listen

Fool’s Journey Into Light – A Podcast by Erika Teo, for a low-key and gently affirming space.
https://open.spotify.com/show/7jK61WkVo69mmud1d4XiyN?si=e15503d1ce024741

Small Triumph Big Speech – A Podcast by Dylan Marron where an epic graduation style speech is written to celebrate those small everyday triumphs that mean so much. This helped me smile and laugh and cry a little.
https://open.spotify.com/show/56hknEwsR6Mr23ThAF24cz?si=0c5ae06163974a4e

Sounds to Listen to as You Rest in Your Shrine:

For a neutral kind of atmosphere
Brian Eno - Ambient 1: Music for Airports
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNwYtllyt3Q

For something more vibrant
Julius Eastman: Stay on It
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9X3j_76VBvI

For something more earnestly contemplative
Arvo Pärt - Tabula Rasa
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HON4AswPVk

For some lightness
Lullatone - Thinking About Thursdays
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lP2qp59J5Jc

For when you need a guide for wandering
Takashi Kokubo (小久保隆) - Barcelona ～ Gaudi’s Dream https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acJ6qw0k6FA

For a comforting lo-fi space
Aesthetic song ~ A Room for Ghost ~ Lo-fi for Witches
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Br7bSwp2zsY&t=398s