Spiritual Practice - Preparing A Sacred Space for Celtic Advent

Welcome to Celtic Advent! Today is the beginning of a 40 day journey towards the manger and the birth of Christ. This extended Advent time seems particularly important this year as many of us feel the need to draw away from the chaotic world in which we find ourselves, to rest, relax and refocus.

Yesterday I spent a lot of time getting my sacred space ready for this journey. At this point it is composed of stable elements that will remain throughout the 6 weeks and other moveable elements that help me to focus on the theme of the first week - holy wanderings. I adorned my garden with a print of St Brendan the Voyager sent to me by Kreg Yingst and added a painting of the M/V Anastasis, the mercy ship that I lived on for 12 years. Talk about holy wanderings! A good place to start my journey and with the flexibility to add or change elements each week.

Here is a sneak preview of what the space looks like and the sharp of eye may notice that this corner looks slightly different in the video.

In these 2 days of preparation before Celtic Advent , I sat in silence for about an hour each day, asking myself “what do I hope to gain from this Advent season? How could my sacred space contribute to that? More than anything I need to refocus. It has been a busy few months, finishing my book, going to Australia, coping with medical challenges. All of these easily distract me and Advent is a good time to regain my equilibrium. I hope you will set aside time to create or revisit your own sacred space for Advent. There are some simple suggestions in Celtic Advent: Following An Unfamiliar Path but here are some other possibilities to help shape your own sacred space to prayerfully consider as you enter this waiting season.