Symbols of Divine White Light



      While rummaging through the Christmas decorations in our attic, deciding what to display this holiday season, the white glass angel inspired me to create an altar for the White Light of Christ consciousness, purity, and wholeness. White light contains the frequency of all the colors in the rainbow - thus its symbolism of wholeness. 

    People who report near-death experiences describe a brilliant white light that emanates unconditional love. Those who have the ability to see chakras tell us that the crown chakra, our gateway to divine love and spiritual wisdom, is white. Jesus, Mary, and the saints are pictured with halos around their heads, because their crown chakras are so brilliant. 

    I placed a white scarf on my altar table before arranging on it the white symbols. There was so little contrast between the white crystals and shells, and the white cloth, that the objects were barely noticeable. I switched the white scarf for a gray one. These symbols of divine connection are more prominent now that they are resting on a dark background. 

    Without intending to, I just demonstrated for myself why we have to experience darkness before we can appreciate the light. I know that I appreciate the coming of spring all the more after enduring a long, cold winter.  When I recover from an illness I appreciate my health more than I do when I've been well for a long time. When the leaf blowers and lawn mowers finally shut down, I enjoy the peace and quiet more than I did before the noise started. 

    What if we have to experience evil, violence, disasters and disease so that we will have a deeper desire for God's will to be done, and for heaven to come to earth? If we had never been given free will, if we had always remained connected to divine love, peace, and wholeness, we might have taken it for granted. Now that we have known evil, we can decide that we've had enough of the darkness and choose to live in the light, just as Jesus did. 

    This altar is my way of saying to the universe: I am ready to leave the darkness behind and step into the light of peace and love.

Comments

  1. JoAnneNovember 30, 2022 at 9:02 PM

    I love this! I absolutely agree with you about the darkness and light.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular Posts

Healing Altar

Image
     I am going to have a hip replacement on February 13th. I am not worried, but I've never had major surgery before so I am anticipating it just as I would any major life event. Preparations for this event have included multiple medical and dental appointments, transforming the dining room into a temporary bedroom, and creating this healing altar that I hope will energize my recuperation.      The color green is healing for me, and yellow reminds me of the healing sun. The yellow bird brings joyful energy to my life, and the spiral goddess reminds me that I am a work in progress, both spiritually and physically.      The photograph behind the yellow bird is of me at the top of a flight of stairs in Praiano on the Amalfi Coast of Italy in 2019. Mark and I climbed hundreds of stairs up and down the cliffside town in May of that year. The picture reminds me of what I have been capable of doing and what I will be able to do after my recovery.      The yellow-framed photograph is of m
Read more

Gift from the Sun

Image
     When I created this arrangement in our living room it was not intended to be an altar, and yet it does include three of the elements necessary for a sacred nature space. The earth is represented by the fruit and bare twigs which are replaced by pussy willow in the Spring.  On the wall a partridge in a pear tree represents the element of air. Above that is my father's wood representation of the Great South Bay, the body of water near my childhood home.      The only element missing in this arrangement is fire. But one morning the sun hit the nearby piano lamp in such a way that it created a halo of light over this scene, transforming it into a sacred space. My husband recognized the beauty of this fleeting gift, and took the picture.      Homemade altars often include connections to and reminders of family members and ancestors. The music cabinet on which this arrangement sits belonged to my mother, and the doily was tatted by my paternal grandmother. The halo blesses all three
Read more

The 12-12 Feast Day of Our Lady of Guadeloupe

Image
          Today is the Feast Day of Our Lady of Guadeloupe.   According to tradition, Mother Mary appeared to Juan Diego, who was an Aztec convert to Christianity, on December 9th and again on December 12th, 1531.  According to the traditional account,   the name of Guadalupe, as the name was heard or understood by Spaniards, was chosen by the Virgin herself when she appeared on the hill outside Mexico City.      I have created an altar to commemorate this feast day (even though I'm not Catholic!) and to emphasize the significance of this occurring on the twelfth day of the twelfth month of the year. The figurine represents Our Lady of Guadeloupe, the Divine Feminine, who is flooding the earth with Her blessings and love - to restore the balance of masculine and feminine energies to humanity and our world.      The twelve tea lights symbolize the significance of the number twelve,  a symbol of balance, as it is made up of two perfect numbers (six and three). Twelve also symbolizes
Read more

Winter Solstice Altar

Image
     Today, December 21st, we honor the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year, which heralds the return of the sun. This day has been celebrated in many cultures throughout history, but was largely forgotten as the celebration of Christmas grew more popular. Growing up, I never heard anything about the solstice, but judging by the numerous Facebook posts about the winter solstice today, I believe it has regained popularity in the world.      This is the first time I have added a winter solstice altar to my Christmas decor. Instead of red, I'm displaying a yellow bird and lemons to honor the rebirth of the sun. Of course the candle flames are another reminder of the sunlight we will celebrate as it increases every day after today.      I will close with one of the odes to the solstice I found on Facebook today: May you find peace in the promise of the solstice night, that each day forward is blessed with more light. That the cycle of nature, unbroken and true, brings faith t
Read more

The Spirit Altar

Image
          A good friend of mine just gave me Denise Linn's book: Altars: Bringing Sacred Shrines into Your Everyday Life. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in creating a home altar of any kind. Many of her words echo my own thoughts about altars. Linn says: "The urge to create sacred spaces is so deep in the human psyche that we often create them unconsciously. A gathering of photos on a piano, an arrangement of personal objects on a desk or fireplace mantel, are perhaps outer manifestations of an inner desire to establish hallowed and holy spaces in our environment."     When an altar is considered a sacred space where we can deepen our connection with the Divine, Linn calls it a spirit altar. I like to make spirit altars in different parts of my home, and I frequently rearrange them, so their energy is never stagnant.      The backdrop for this altar is a mandala surrounded by symbols of the world's major religions. Over the mandala are the wor
Read more