I attended a New Moon ceremony last week. A sweet group of souls, from backgrounds gathered together in harmonious reverence to light emerging out of darkness. (...at least symbolically and spiritually this is what the New Moon is to me). Like most ceremonies where everyone is standing together in a circle, whether it's formal or informal their usual seems to come a time where everyone goes around and says a word aloud. Stating intention or wishes or prayer for the upcoming ______ (fill in the blank)... Being a New Moon celebration the task was to state intention for the new cycle. I think LOVE predominated. Originally I thought LOVE, and then instead when it was my turn to speak, the word Sanctuary arose out of me.
I LOVE moments like that. Pure spontaneous upheaval. This delightful randomness gave rise to careful contemplation. What did this mean? What exactly was my soul searching for? And so, I've spent the last week examining this very sacred word.
Sanctuary: a holy place. (place: a particular position or point in space).
I want every part of the universe, my internal existence as well as what I create and reflect outward (the "external"), to be a holy place. I want to live in Sanctuary. Desire is an integral aspect of the spiritual endeavor, and I've been taught that desire should lead towards freedom.This begs a reverent word.