Creating Sacred Space

A few days ago I attended a celebration of the winter solstice. Being a Latter-day Saint, I am used to events being opened with a word of prayer but for some reason I had not expected to find that here. Only they did not call it prayer. Instead they referred to it as ‘opening sacred space.’ A woman, versed in the traditional rituals of several North American Indian tribes, invoked the spirits of mother earth and our ancestors to be present throughout the celebration. It was an interesting ceremony, but what has had me thinking most since that night was the term ‘opening sacred space.’

Shamans believe that opening sacred space entails us leaving our busy worlds behind and preparing to meet the divine. It is a time when we can enter our quiet inner-world where healing can take place, protected from the world around us. A time when our burdens become lighter and we can be touched by the spirit.

Whatever our religious beliefs might be, I think we can all benefit from this concept of opening sacred space in our lives. Even those who are active in their religious or spiritual observance often simple go through the motions. For many prayer is something that happens before you eat, or on your way out the door, or accompanies brushing your teeth before you jump into bed. It is just another thing to tick off our list of ‘to do’ items in our busy schedules, if indeed it even does get ticked off.

One of my favorite scriptures is Psalms 46:10 which reads: “Be still, and know that I am God.” Gaining spiritual perspective in our lives takes time. It takes stepping out from the hustle and bustle of our daily activities, and stopping. That is right, stopping. It does not really matter what time of day you do it, but you have to be prepared to put everything else aside for a period. In effect you have to ‘open sacred space.’ That space or time is sacred not just because it is dealing with the spiritual, but because it needs to be dedicated to the purpose at hand and to nothing else. It needs to be a time when we can connect with the spiritual around us, when can contemplate what matters most and when we can listen for the answers we need.

This concept of opening sacred space does not just relate to the spiritual. Having a business background I have read a number of books on what makes successful CEOs and senior managers. And each of them seems to have outlined having a time without interruption to concentrate on what matters most. It is the same with literature on creativity. Ideas seem to come best when we take time out and close everything else off, when we create our ‘sacred space.’

I have often found in the past that when things trouble me, or I am under stress and life seems overwhelming, that taking a little time out and heading into the mountains, or somewhere alone and quiet, dramatically changes my perspective, brings new insights and renews my vigor.

Creating sacred space in our lives may not necessitate some elaborate ceremony as happened at the Winter Solstice, but if we will truly take the opportunity to lay the world aside for a time and stop to listen, then as the shamans say we can find healing, our burdens can be lifted and we can find enlightenment in our spiritual, emotional, mental and physical realms.

As we move into the new year, I would encourage each of you to set a goal to regularly create sacred space in your life. I know I will be and I look forward to it.