My sanctum is a small square table with a mirror on the wall, 2 candles with long holders, white table cloth, incense burner and holder, candle snuffer, R+C incense, an extra candle with holder, the wall has a picture of RC cross,I have Isis and a rosicross that I just bought also miscellaneous little things like crystals, pen, and the current monograph with my apron.
The sanctum should be kept private as to "not show it" to everyone, it holds the best energies and you want to keep it SACRED at all times. It is the best place to recharge your energy and to study. The consecration ritual is important when you just get a new place or if you move it from one area to another.
The chair and the glass for water should be part of the sanctum and not be use for other purpose. Actually I have a very small place on the guest bedroom by a corner where the closet is, no more then 3x4 feet with a divider screen that makes it looks like is a changing area.
My sanctum is my pitch black basement where the skeletons used to hang out.
I close all the doors to shut out the light.
The blackness feels good on the eyes and is calming.
I feel the comfort of the furnace kicking in,
the creaking of the house,
and the muted sounds of the outside world funneling through the furnace vent.
There is only I and the darkness.
I have used a small table with candles and a mirror, with some incense burning.
Nowadays, the incense has been replaced with aromatic essential oils that I prefer.
After several years of regular practice with a home sanctum, it is easy to enter the same state of mind, wherever you are at, whether it is outdoors or at another residence other than home. I , stress that it is the regular practice that makes this possible. Too often, many of us, get more involved in intellectualizing what we learn , instead of listening to the small still voice within and feeling things from the heart. Regular home santum use can help balance us.
Gary
I started out with nothing more then a mirror mounted on my bedroom door with a large wooden candle holder for the "flame experiments". I could shut the door and lay down and have some privacy although I was pretty cramped for room back then.
Later I just sat at my computer - well ONE of my computers (not the one I played games on like MIGHT & MAGIC) - and tried to meditate or concentrate or agonize before giving up on that entirely.
What I did was reflective of what I was trying to accomplish: experimenting and then to research and knowledge and then hopefully eventually to altered states of personallity.
Now I have practically unlimeted space but sanity is elusive. I have been told to wait a year and be patient and see if it all comes back. In the meantime all I can do carry on and keep things clean and neat. I do think that is the main point: it is all in your head. Once the hurt goes away I am leaning towards a sort of Egyptian - pyramid motiff that is geometrically perfect and soothing. But that is a stage yet to come ....
My outlook on Life is getting consistently more positive!
I have a portable secret altar in the livingroom.
It quickly transforms into a coffee table before my Mother enters the house
(She thinks occult ritual is a manifestation of my schizo~affective disorder.)
It consists of a plastic black crate box as a base.
It is filled with incoming and outgoing mail
to my AWESOME 7 year old Boy I just sponsered,
Telesphore Maniragena!
I also throw in ideas such as balloons,
glow stars and a moon, and things I would like to send Him.
The altar top is a square piece of beveled coffee table glass.
I light a single black floating candle in a clear goblet of pure water.
The ambience of these elements is very calming.
I include Telesphore's and other special People's pictures on the altar.
They seem to glow and become living three dimensional in the candlelight.
It is almost like Voodoo magic.
I kick off my shoes and assume brief seiza (my ankles are not quite stretched), siddhasana, or just sit on the couch and focus on my pictures and breathe.