Building An Altar to Your New Self

A soul retrieval ceremony brings back a piece of your soul that has been separated from you. When this piece of your soul returns, there are many attributes and qualities that are restored back to you that are useful and helpful for living a life of satisfaction. (For a basic rundown of how/why soul loss happens listen here Soul Loss: A Brief Overview | Apothic Energy on Patreon)
After a soul retrieval ceremony, it is a good practice to spend time getting to know this part of you that has returned. This helps to keep the energy of the ceremony alive, and it helps with integrating this piece of you that may have been missing since childhood. Below is one way to do this. Be sure to read through the whole document before beginning. 
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Create an altar to your new self

• Go into nature and find items that represent the shifts you have made. Find items that represent who you are now. Are you solid like a rock? Are you flexible like a reed? Are you full of potential like a seed? Ex: Stone, rock, moss, stick, plant, dirt, leaves, bark, acorn, pinecone, sand etc. You do not have to have a specific idea of what you are looking for. These are just examples of what may come to you. Nature will be a reflection of who you are. 
• The items you are looking for will stand out from the rest of nature. As you begin your walk, hold in your heart that you are looking for something that represents the changes/healings that have happened. When something pops out or if it seems like there is something that is a match for your intention, ask the object in your heart if it wants to come with you. You will feel in your body yes or no. Yes will feel like ease and joy - you might find yourself smiling. No will feel uncomfortable. When you both decide the item is going with you, say thank you to the forest or the land where it was found for providing you with an item that supports your wellbeing. 

 

• Create items that represent the healings that you have had. Even if you do not think of yourself as an artist, creating an item that represents something carries a lot of power. As you are making the item, you are holding the energy of your healing in your body and it is being imbued into that object. Regardless of what it ends up looking like, how it feels is what is most important. Paint, draw, collage, mosaic, sculpt, coloring a picture you find, ceramics, etc. 

 

• Write down the story of your healing. Sometimes listening to the healing and transcribing it is a good way to do this. Sometimes it is better to write down what you remember. Often the sensation of the healing and how it unfolds after is a little different than how it was originally spoken. It is the energy/essence of the healing that you want to capture. Both ways are great. Feel into what feels right for you. You might end up doing both. 
• Create a book about you that includes this healing. Write down how you were before and how you are now. Make the story of who you are now bigger and lengthier than who you were before. 

 

• If any spirits or guides came in as support for you in this work, find or create images that represent them. Remember their role in your healing.

Find a space in your home that feels like the right spot for an altar to be created. You might ask your house where the altar should go. Let the house know you want to be able to see it on a regular basis. This altar is a daily reminder of who you are and how you are growing. You want to be reminded of it often. 
Once you have found the spot, clean the area and let that space know it is becoming an altar. Let the space know an altar that represents how you are changing and growing is going to be set there. 
Every altar is different. There is usually a candle, but not always. A representation of light is important (twinkle lights, fake candle, salt lamp, or something else that glows). How you arrange all of your items is up to you. This space is a container that both honors and supports your healing. Where do the items go that represent who you are now? Where do the spirit guides go? This can be very elaborate or very simple. However your healing and the new version of you wishes to express itself is perfect. Some altars have tiers and levels. Some look like mandalas. Others are simply a candle with all the items in a circle around it. 
How the altar makes you feel is what is most important. 
When creating sacred space, it is a good practice to state that only those energies that are as great as self or greater and that have your most compassionate benevolent outcome in mind and heart are allowed in the space you are creating. 

Tending an altar 
Tending an altar is just as important as setting it. Altars are meant to be paid attention to. This altar contains the energy of your healing. It will help to support what has already been accomplished, and it will conjure more energy that will support the continuation of the process. 

How to tend an altar
Let this altar know before or as you are putting it together that you would like to engage with it regularly. You might find that you put something living on the altar that needs to be watered. You may be placing items in a box with a cover that can be woken up each morning (take the cover off) and put to bed at night (put the cover on). There may be an arrangement of items on the altar that want to be rearranged every day. At the very least, say good morning and good night to the altar daily, thanking it for supporting your process. 

When to dismantle the altar
As you move forward in your healing, there may come a time when the altar feels like it has served its purpose and it is ready to be dismantled. Do this in a way that is just as loving and intentional as its creation. Acknowledge each item, thanking it for how it has served you. Some items may wish to go back to nature. Other items may wish to be burned, buried, or placed in a river (always make sure what you are burning, burying, or placing in a water source is not toxic). Some items may be repurposed for other altars or as sacred items. Some items may be stored as keepsakes. When the space has been cleared, say out loud, “I am grateful to this space for maintaining the intentions of my altar. I now release the energy of this altar and return this space to what it is without my altar.” That space may ask for something else to be placed there or it may be content with being left open.