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The Office Altar
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The Office Altar
By Lacrima Like many Pagans, I'm in love with the magick of ritual. The smell of the incense, the glow of the candles, the blessing, the anointing, the invoking, the community…all of these combine to produce the well-known tingle at the back of my neck that tells me I am entering Sacred Space. Sometimes it seems like forever between rituals and I can hardly wait until the next one. Unfortunately real life is what usually intrudes into that time between rituals and a large part of my "real life" is spent either in the field or in my cubicle. As a social worker my time in the field is spent visiting clients at home in various parts of Sonoma County. This morning found me in the west county driving down an oak-lined country lane admiring the green and gold of the encircling orchards and savoring the crisp, apple-scented air. In such beautiful surroundings the presence and bountiful blessings of the Goddess and God are readily perceived. I half-expect an apple dryad to come bouncing across the orchard with a basket of fruit for me. Back at the office it's a different story. I work in a large, modern office building where the only natural light (and view) enters from the windows in the outer ring of managers' offices. The rest of us have to be content with the light of overhead florescent fixtures and the view of our cubicle walls. Most of us have decorated our cubicles with pictures, plants and even the occasional water fountain. I have one shelf in my cubicle decorated as an altar. On it I have a gold-framed mirror as a backdrop with a carved wooden box in front. Inside the box are a small jar of salt, some candles, and a bottle of anointing oil. On top of the box are a silk rose, a candle shaped like the Goddess, and a carved stone turtle. Placed around the sides are a color postcard of Susan Seddon-Boulet's "Spirit of the New Times", a picture of Isis, a purple candle in a Goddess shaped holder, a small basket of feathers, stones, water-worn glass and an apple. On my desk is a "Dieffenbachia Maculata" in a plastic pot. True, the articles on my altar and the green plant on my desk are no different than you'd find in hundreds of similar workplaces. More than just a collection of objects, I view my altar as a place where I have asked the Goddess to reside with me. Although I cannot perform an actual ritual in my cube, I will sprinkle a little salt and water around and envision the candles being lit as I repeat a silent blessing. I take care to see that the altar is kept up - dusted once a week, the items rearranged in a pleasing manner, the altar anointed with oil once a month. I feed and water my plant regularly, and she has rewarded me with beautiful branching shoots and the joy of new green growth. Co-workers have commented on the peaceful atmosphere of my cubicle, and it has become a welcoming refuge for me. The Lord and Lady are with us always and they will be as involved in our daily lives as we ask them to be. Try inviting them to your workplace and see what happens! |
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