HOME ALTARS

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 Home Altars

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Home altars are ancient - every home in ancient Rome
had one - both to protect the house and serve as a focal
point for worship.
Today, home altars can be found in the
dwellings of Buddhists, Hindus, Christians, Sikhs,
and people from numerous other paths of religious belief.
In Mexico home altars can be found everywhere.
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Altars are as varied and unique as their makers -
no two are alike.  Each has its own distinctive look.
Altars bring the idea of sacred space into the home,
and transform the material, the mundane, into
something special, something with a spiritual
symbolism that transcends poverty or wealth,
or the material trappings of a house.
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The elements that make up an altar can include:
a cloth with a special weave, coloring, or texture;
statues and pictures of divine/holy personalities;
symbolic representation of the four elements -
 air, earth, fire, and water;
 photos of friends and/or relatives (living and deacesed),
political figures, cultural heroes and heroines;
items of special significance to the resident or home;
and whatever else may come to the imagination.
Altars can be simple and stark, 
or elaborate affairs with numerous items displayed.

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Altars are very personal.
Some people find creating them to be a
highly enjoyable act, on many levels.  And of course,
they can be changed, as the seasons or particular
religious days/events pass through their cycles.
This is personal religion - without the priests,
without the crowds, without the building
called a church, or temple.
You create the space; you decide on what
prayers, meditations, or just silent slices of time
will go on here; you arrange and conduct your "services."
It can be as meaningful as you want it to be.
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