On Our Mantel

Yep, that's my shriveled blue starfish...a little sad for me but I had to keep her.

At the center of my home, the center of my being, is a tranquil, holy and sacred place. Deep blue skies. Deep on land. Deep within the earth. Deep in the ocean.

Everything on my hearth and mantel are a gift or a lucky find. I even love it when I get to dust because it means carefully handling and arranging these special pieces, rotating things in, rotating things out.

Yes, I love all things water. Lots of blues, coral, pearls (in one of the tiny jars) and the tortoise shell cover the ocean deep.

The short fat Raku vase Cody hand built in high school has a MARI symbol on it! It's the fan, or self in motion.The tiny blue pots hold pearls and driftwood and polished fish scales (Australia) and jade (China) and lavender petals.

I love air. My daughter's air has breathed so much life into my lungs. I used to call Chloe "Birdie" (& "Dolly"). Feathers and my blue starfish remind me of her. All of the feathers on my mantel were either found by me, Mason or my aunt Korrene. Feathers remind me of Psalm 91. And also of a vintage Dayspring poster my aunt Lena gave me which hung above my childhood bed on Cherry Hills Drive: A closeup photo of a yellow chick in someone's blue pocket with the phrase "Lord protect me and keep me close to your heart." Insulation is good. Flight is good. Birds are a theme in many of my dreams.

 

I have placed a photo of my husband as an infant inside one of Mason's little dishes. I have added some deep sea elements, as well as my precious found Great Horned Owl feathers (the oh-so-soft semi-plume feather which I found on my day of ecstatic rest is off to the left). The fiery red songbird feather in the pale celadon pot to the right reminds me of my babe. I will have to move all of my feathers this winter when the fireplace actually burns. I should probably do that now, as I have noticed some deterioration (mites) anyway. But it's so nice to have them out!

Fire is also represented in each of the ceramics and rocks as well as with the sage bundle which I burn with intention for demarcation and clarity. Because smell (unlike the other senses which route through logical parts of the brain) goes directly into Olfactory nerves without needing to be processed by the cerebral cortex, this practice offers an instant knowing in the body! In other words, I have trained my body to equate clarification and boundaries with the smell of burning sage. I don't even have to think about it, which is nice when I feel like I can't think straight. (This is a practice I started at my office. When the sage comes out....)

The large iron stained rock is from our family trip to Co this summer. The lavender twigs and dried greenery (in the hand built vase by Cody) smell great tossed on the fire. That's a polished wand of spotted jasper in the little pot, something that reminds me of our sweet Penny. And of course my apple and tiger coral beads spilling out of the larger blue pot.

I also love earth, because the dear boy entrusted to me is pure salt of the earth. It is only natural Mason makes art from deep inside the earth. He has been throwing on the wheel for a few years now. Recently he made a break through and his tiny vessels are growing in height and their walls are thinning out. I especially love to run my finger over the grooves carefully plied by his own growing fingers. The taller, larger pieces were made by Cody. The vase front and center with all the feathers in it was made by him and given to me when he was 17. It has the most amazing textures which I also love to run my hands over.

  

The other two photos on the mantle are found. The photo on the left is stacks of beehives tucked in an autumnal landscape. Bees are an important reminder of intelligent design to me. Keeper of the Bees is one of my favorite books, a multigenerational story. The one on the right is very old, and I believe a photo of the Mediterranean Sea. I luckily picked it up four years ago. It reminds me of Frederick Judd Waugh's work. 

I might have been afraid to do this years ago---for fear of worshiping objects, looking like a witch, causing others to question my spirituality, etc. (Plus, I really liked the imported tchotchkes at Tuesday Morning.) On a micro level, this altar reminds me of how the four of us integrate and play a role in each others' healing. On a macro level, these things remind me to integrate the Kingdom now and to practice heaven on earth with others, not just in my family. Perhaps it is like a shrine or my home is my own temple---but these items themselves are not too precious or magical. The only power they hold is that they point me back to my creator. And isn't that kind of the point of everything?