Shrines, Shrines, and More Shrines

This weekend, I made some adjustments to my shrine. I made it so it's dedicated solely to Brighid. And I put all the other pictures in separate shrines.

The first Bridghid version is here. First, obviously, is a wonderful image of Brighid in a frame. I flanked her with two red primroses. (Primroses were often found on my altar years ago when I first got into Paganism.) Underneath Brighid are three candles, which represent the three circles at the top of the symbol for Awen. Then, I have three more candles extending downward to represent the three rays in the Awen symbol. Then, next to the center ray, I have little metal cups with earth, water, and incense. To the left and right, is my Wild Wood Tarot deck, with my Daily Tarot Card, and my copy of A Book of Pagan Prayer. 

But the next day, this is the setup I came up with. First, I had added three more candles to make the three rays more distinct and removed the cups. Then, I put the Tarot card leaned up on the left. But then the whole thing was off balance. So I thought the right needed something. I looked around the room and spotted my wedding picture. Of course. The thing I love most belongs on my altar. So I added it on the right, along with one of the hand-made sachets that my wife had made as wedding favors. 

But then I thought about the three rays. To me, the ray in front of my wife and stepdaughter, should represent love. And love for all of humanity. Then, what do the others represent? 

I saw a pattern. The right represents love, which in my mind, correlates with the element water. So are the other elements there? Where's earth? Of course, not only should I love people, I should love the Earth. So maybe I put something that represents the earth. I wanted to put a type of statue, but don't have one at the moment. So I found a wonderful image of Gaia and framed it. I wanted to add some other earth-representative objects as well. And after a look around the house, my yard, and even a short stroll around the neighborhood, I came up with a stone, a seashell, and a mandarin orange.

So the middle ray? Well, element-wise, it represents both fire and air, which to me is the interaction between the the Great Mystery (Brighid as Awen) and myself. Sprit outside myself. And Spirit within. Thus, a perfect place to put the day's Tarot card.

Above and behid (not seen) is a Hanuman wall hanging. I'm going to try and make a hand-made hanging with the Awen symbol in the middle. Higher above is this cheap, little hand-made pentagram made of woven twigs that I picked up at a craft store. And above, to the side is a cheap, little hand-made broom made of some kind of stiff straw or reeds. I occasionally use it to spiritually clear the space. (But I usually forget.)

And this one I just made this today as a whim. It started as two azaleas I picked up today at the supermarket. Then I wanted put put a small bowl of fresh fruit in my office, and it seemed to fit in front of the flowers. Then, for some reason, I added a scented candle. I think I wanted to add a pleasant scent to the room without firing up some incense. Then found a very beautiful painting of Awen online. I printed it out, framed it, and looked for a place to put it. It seemed to fit well with the others. Except the two flowers were now too much. So I moved one of them elsewhere in the room.

I find it quite beautiful. And since it's sitting right next to my computer, it helps to balance out the tech. And I think I'm going to make another one like it at work.

And here is where all my Hindu pictures went. It was hastily-built, so I still need to get some more frames. From left to right: Krishna; Ganesh (figurine in front); Kali; the Holy Mother Sarada Devi; one picture with Rama, Sita, Laskshmana and Hanuman; Hanuman (figure in front); Sri Ramakrishna; Lakshmi (figure in front); Swami Vivekananda; and my late Gurudev, Swami Swahananda.

There's also a stuffed and embroidered Hanuman hanging above, which was hand made by a talented friend in Brazil that makes all sorts of deities and other objects. You can find samples of her work here.

And here are my Christian images, St Francis, Jesus, and Mary with the infant Jesus.

Now, any time I'm in my office, I light the single candles in my Hindu and Christian shrines, and the three top candles in my Brighid shrine. I usually only light the rest of the candles when I'm praying at it.

Any feedback is appreciated!