Building your alter and seeking inspiration
By reflecting on our lower consciousness, and through Rituals, the mirror of Higher Divinity emerges. Rituals to the Gods and Goddess are universal.
Our traditions are similar to the cultures in the East. Find a tradition that connects to you. It can be an image of God, an affirmation, mantra, or prayer.
Our altars offer similar ingredients, and the platform of devotion is the same.
We all use imagery, invocation, ritual, song, and dance to celebrate the highest form of Divinity within.
It is essential not to forget the inner work while preparing for your healing service by doing personal yoga, meditation, or prayer practice.
Having an alter set up that can reflect the essence of our soul and the connection to our higher power can be very supportive to you and your guest.
The essences that boost our immune system, faith, truth, trust, courage, strength, love, hope, forgiveness, gratitude, are important to connect with during your sessions and personal practices.
Finding Symbols for your alter
Having a symbol of each essence on your alter will connect you to those virtues and qualities, lifting your vibration and supporting the flow of your Prana, as well as your guest.
When your vibration is high, it will support and stimulate their life force energy.
When your vibration is low due to pain, stress, anxiety, worries, insecurity, or any other negative emotion, your life force energy will be weak. It will make you susceptible to catching the flu, colds, getting headaches, or experiencing other aches and pains in your body. Unfortunately, this can also transfer into the energy field of your guest or those around you.
It is part of your set-up and preparation time to take a few minutes before you begin your session to tap into your Higher Power, your Prana, and boost your immunity.
Having an alter for you to look at will continue this practical meditation and continue to keep your life force energy high.
Your guest and those around you will feel this positive vibration, and a sense of peace and harmony will be present in the atmosphere.
This is Sattva, the atmosphere of Goodness, Serenity Love, and Peace.
The Deity is a mirror reflection of our Divine self.
The goal is to move out of our inner darkness, the lower self, and direct that inner saboteur or demonic nature within us toward the light of truth, the light of being, and the light of love.
Our true self is Divinity. The stories of the Gods and Goddesses are to show us the path towards freedom from suffering.
We are meant to walk in our Divine nature, but life can present crises, traumas, and situations that provoke our lower consciousness to act out.
“Behaviour is everything,” my teacher used to say. “Watch the behaviour, and you will know all about the person.”
To select your true inner expression of Divinity, one needs to take inventory of one’s nature and behaviours when acting in the light of consciousness, or when dominated by the shadow.
Indians call true inner expression of Divinity your ishtadevata, the Santeria call it your Orisha, and the Christians call it your Guardian Angel, which mirrors your higher attainment.
The good and evil of our nature, the characteristics, and the qualities of our nature all reflect the truth of our soul.
There are several ways by which you may find the mirror of yourself in this universe, which Deity, Orisha, or Guardian Angel reflects your true higher self. Some options are divination, Jyotisha (Vedic astrology), or deep introspection.
Step One
Select the form of divination that supports your spiritual beliefs.
Take time to consult with a Jyotisha (Vedic astrologer) with whom you resonate and have a strong connection. Ask her to reveal to you the ruling deities in your astrological chart. Or, consult a High Priest or Priestess in the traditions that resonate with you. Ask him or her, after a deep assessment of your nature and behaviour, to reveal the image of the God or Goddess that supports your truth.
Step Two
Build your relationship with your ruling Deity. Select an image of Divinity to be the central point of your altar.
When we wish to commune with the Divine, selecting an image, icon, or murti (form) of that Deity can help to channel an intimate relationship.
Different deities represent different aspects of the Supreme Personality of Universal Consciousness, also known as Ultimate Reality. Some call that the Great Spirit, or God.
The qualities and characteristics of these deities can be symbols of our own Divine Nature.
Research a deity who inspires you, making you feel safe and protected, or one that mirrors all the characteristics and qualities that you wish to attain.
Step Three
Understanding the complexities and specific characteristics of the nature of your chosen Deity, reflect on your nature and behaviour.
Step Four
Create an altar for your Deity.
Learn about all that they love: the colours that represent them, the aromatics that are offered to them, the foods, and all of their personal paraphernalia (candles, bells, feathers, seashells, garments).
Step Five
Prepare their invocation song or mantra.
Step Six
Sit gazing at the image on the altar, see the mirrors, heal the reflections and insights. When we have issues with others, these issues are usually mirrors to our own issues, of the pains and struggles that we have in common.
When we sit and reflect on why we are so triggered by the person who has hurt us, we will see that there is something like a tuning fork principle: the same note rings back. In these mirrors, we have insights into our own nature. They give an opportunity to decide anew and see if there is a benefit in keeping the pain or sorrow. The mirroring allows a chance for us to break out of the behaviour pattern. Once we see it, it can shatter like the glass in a mirror, breaking the illusions that keep us bound to our suffering.
Step Seven
Be aware of the inner saboteur who tries to withhold this highest reflection of your Greatest self. Watch the patterns of self-sabotage and feed your Divinity by offering your senses. Sit within your own being, your own self, and enjoy entering into your higher self.
Ritual is a personal form of external meditation. Keeping an altar allows you to focus your thoughts and energy into building a wonderfully strong immunity. Leave behind thoughts of self that are not life-enhancing.
Select your Ritual of Scent Divinity in a Bottle
Enhance your rituals with 7 scents hand crafted by Andrea Olivera.
Devi-The Goddess
May the experience of the fragrance Devi invoke your inner Goddess. The Devi is the divine feminine energy in the form of the Mother, the Divine Partner, the Moon, the flower, the womb and the ability to love and nourish yourself and others. This Ritual scent soothes the Pitta dosha and inspires change in the Kapha dosha. It balances Chakra #2 , Swadisthana, the abode of the sensual self and promotes the free flow of creative expression. The aphrodisiatic scent, Devi is formulated using the sacred attar of Pink Lotus representing the Goddess of Abdundance, Arabian, Vintage Indian and Bulgarian rose oils representing the Divine Mother and Bergamot, Persian Lilac blended with a bouquet of floral waters in a base of Andrea Olivera’s Ritual Blend.
As you breathe in the Ritual Scent of Devi connect with your vital creative energies and rebirth your authentic self. Click here to visit our store.
Dharma-Righteous Duty
May the experience of the Ritual scent Dharma invoke the awareness of your Divine Truth and duty. Dharma is said to be that which leads us to the path of perfection and glory, performing one’s dharma brings happiness, wealth, beauty, longevity. The Ritual scent of Dharma balances the Vata dosha by grounding and centering energy, creating clarity and enabling you to connect with your soul’s purpose to follow your dharma. The Ritual Scent Dharma purifies Chakra #5 Visuddhi , located in the throat region to promote the expression of one’s truth. Essential oils such as jasmine, bergamot and magnolia promote mental clarity and enhance meditation. As you imbibe in the fragrance of Dharma allow the Ritual blend to take you into a deeper state of connection with your higher self so that you may come to know your righteous duty. The Ritual Scent of Dharma has been crafted from organic India Jasmine Sambac, Bergamot, Magnolia, and Vanilla with a bouquet of floral waters in a base of Andrea Olivera’s Ritual Blend.
As you breathe in the Ritual Scent of Dharma may you breathe in inner clarity to guide you toward your divine truth. Click here to visit our store.
Ganesha
May the energy of the Ritual scent of Ganesha invite the experience of freedom and release. This Ritual scent calms and centers the Vata dosha and stabilizes the first or Muladhara chakra. The Ritual scent of Ganesha is crafted with a fresh blend of sweet citrus and chocolate attar essences to first increase our mental clarity which will enable us to calm and ground our energy to ultimately release any blockages. Ganesha is a combination of Carnation and Sweet Orange essential oils blended with a bouquet of floral waters in a base of Andrea Olivera’s Ritual blend. Caution: Avoid eye contact and if pregnant or epileptic.
As you breathe in the Ritual scent of Ganesha charge your body with prana, increase your vitality and harness and unleash your energy like the free flowing mountain river. Click here to visit our store.
Krishna-The Ideal Lover
May the experience of Krishna invoke profound romantic union with your Beloved. The name Krishna means all-attractive aspect of the Divine. Radha, his Divine lover and consort, symbolizes the Supreme union of the self with another. When the heart energy is disturbed, feelings of pain and separation from the Other arise. This Ritual scent balances Chakra #7, Sahasara, the 1,000 petalled lotus in all the Dosha’s in order to invoke the transcendental experience of love. Krishna is blended with aphrodisiac essential oils to intoxicate the earthbound senses and mind and allow you to attract love and intimacy into your life. Krishna perfume was realized through the divine mingling of Arabian and Egyptian sandalwood attars, Wild Jasmine Sambac, Indian Rose Gulab, Persian Shafayat attar blended with a bouquet of floral waters in a base of Andrea Olivera’s ritual blend.
As you breathe in the Ritual scent of Krishna may you attract your Other and may your’ earthly and celestial energies become entwined like lovers locked in an eternal amorous embrace. Click here to visit our store.
Rumi-The Poet
May the Ritual Scent of Rumi invoke intimate connection with the Divine. Rumi, a Sufi Poet devoted his life to writing about the Divine after an ecstatic awakening. This Ritual scent targets Chakra #4, Anahata- the heart chakra, to calm and balance anxieties of the heart and contains a collection of aromatic aphrodisiac flowers, herbs and romantic essences that have been culled from the pages of Rumi’s ecstatic mystical poetry. The Rose bouquet will transport you into a trance of stillness and calm. Rumi is a whirling dance of exotic essential oils; Persian rose, Jannat Al Ferdous attar, Vintage Turkish Rose, Wild Magnolia, Persian Lily and Indian Rose are blended with a bouquet of floral waters in a base of Andrea Olivera’s Ritual Blend.
As you breathe in the intoxicating Ritual scent of Rumi may this erotic whirling dance of scent drench your heart with divine ecstatic love. Click here to visit our store.
Shiva-The Yogi
May the experience of the Ritual scent of Shiva invoke the transformation of your being for the purposes of self-realization. Invoke your inner MahaYogi (Great Yogi) elevate your consciousness and let your energy flow. This Ritual scent cools the Pitta dosha and balances Chakra #3, Manipura to unblock dull or stagnant energy at the navel centre, and Chakra #6 Ajna, Third eye chakra, the seat of intuition to promote deep states of meditation, clairvoyance and clairaudience. Shiva is crafted using a combination of cooling essences; Sandalwood, Sudanese Black Coconut attar, Sudanese Black Rose, and Kush attar blended with a global bouquet of floral waters in a base of Andrea Olivera’s Ritual Blend. The sacred coconut symbolizes the mind. Its healing essence tames and cools the inner fire, and helps to encourage the transmutation of lower energies into higher states of awareness.
As you breathe in the Ritual Scent of Shiva breathe in yogic transformation, harness your shakti energy and transcend into bliss… Click here to visit our store.
Magdalena-The Bhakta
May the experience of the Ritual scent of Magdalena invite you to surrender to love. Inspired by the love and bhakti(devotion) of Mary Magdalene, this ritual blend balances Chakra #4-Anahata, heart chakra and is good for kapha dosha’s. It inspires the heart to the experience of love which makes self-less devotion and service possible. The sacred concoction of precious resins of Frankincense and Myrrah are used to ward off negative and blocked energies and to rid one of evil spirits. Magdelana is composed of ancient Frankicense attar, precious Myrrah attar, Fig leaf, Olive leaf, Morrocan Cypress, Indian Majmua attar, Neroli Absolute, Rose Absolute blended with a bouquet of floral waters in a base of Andrea Olivera’s Ritual Blend.
As you breathe in the Ritual scent of Magdalena allow yourself to surrender to devotion so that you may come to know the experience of divine love. Click here to visit our store.
Andrea is a pioneering figure in the field of Ayurveda beauty, and has dedicated her life to the study of Ayurveda, Jyotish, Yoga and the Vedic Sciences. Over 30 years ago, Andrea began her career as a make-up artist and aesthetician, and was one of the first Canadians in her field to incorporate Ayurveda, Yoga, Vedic Astrology and Eastern wellness practices into her spa treatments and services. Today, she is one of Canada’s leading Ayurveda beauty and wellness specialists and educators.