To Make Sacred

It went a little something like this:
"I need a new sacred cup because my last one broke." I say.
"Well, just take a cup and write 'sacred' on it." He says.
"It doesn't work like that." I say.
"Why?" He asks.
I didn't wait until my time-released blog post got around to answering the questions, but I only really gave him the sort version (which is what he prefers) so that he could come here and read this at his leisure.

A sacred thing is something that is set aside in service of the gods or is in itself worthy of devotion. Either way, it needs to be pretty. The object needs to inspire the one that holds it as sacred. The use of special materials and gifted craftsmanship go a long way to helping with this.

In Contemporary Paganism, this is a tricky business. As our Goddess is eminent and everything is of Her, everything is divine. How does one set aside something as sacred above the rest of divine creation? Just as we have "special china" from weddings or for fancy dinner parties, so to do Pagans have tools and items that are special in their use for devotion and ritual. It isn't that the things on my shrine are better than other things around the house, but some of them hold specific purposes that goes beyond normal items they may be related and are generally difficult to replace because that bond has to be built all over again.

This ritual generally consists of cleansing the item of any previous associations so that it my serve it's new purpose fully without the consideration of others. This cleansing is done with Water and Earth in the form of salt. These are considered the feminine elements, imply that the Mother is the source of compassion that cleanses us of the things we no longer want, making us purely and perfectly ourselves once more. After this is done then there is a consecration to this new and specific purpose. This consecration is done with Fire and Air in for form of incense smoke. These two elements are considered masculine and help us see the God as the divine aspect of Doing and Purpose.
~ A. Fox