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.