With full respect to each and everyone's own decisions and lifestyles, I do not speak of an altar in this series in a religious way. Throughout religion, an altar was a place where sacrifices were carried out and religious rites performed.
Here, I speak of an altar as a table or space where one can honour, celebrate, and connect to the magic and beauty in conception, pregnancy, and birth.
We live in a very fast-paced society, where the chance to slow down and enjoy the processes of beginning a family is harder to attain. Taking the menstrual cycle and our fertility as an example, how many of us truly slow down and embrace each phase of the cycle, and understand how to support our fertility?
I truly believe that by building a strong foundation, from as early as you can, you can aid in a successful conception, a healthy pregnancy, uncomplicated birth, and a nourishing postpartum. Not to mention, by being aware and partaking in the spiritual side of conception, you begin to truly take all this experience can offer.
Creating an altar is one of the best ways you can begin to connect to your inner self, build confidence and begin to trust the timing of your conception. I recommend beginning a fertility altar a few months before you plan to start trying to conceive. It creates an incredible bond with your womb, your cycle, and your spirit baby.
How do you create a fertility altar?
Well, each person will be entirely different, and that is what is so cool about this. You create the space that resonates best with you and includes rituals or practices that feel aligned to your beliefs. I will note some recommendations or options, but please feel free to add in or take away what you desire to create a space of safety, connection, and warmth for you.
Start by finding a small table, shelf, or area in your home that feels calm and nourishing.
Some things you can set up on your altar:
- Crystals you connect to. Some fertility power crystals include Carnelian, Moonstone, Chrysoprase, Green jade, Rose quartz, to name a few
- Sage or Palo Santo for energy cleansing
- Choose a ceramic bowl that represents your womb
- Candles or incense
- Any pictures, artworks, or colours that represent fertility and conception to you
- Poems that induce feelings of conception, family, fertility
- Statues or Goddesses that represent fertility (Aphrodite, Gaia, Freya etc)
- Natural elements
- Mementos or pictures of ancestors, this brings in your maternal line and helps heal any ancestral trauma
Begin by energy cleansing your area of choice. Hold the ceramic bowl, and create a link between your womb and this bowl. Visualise your womb space, draw a cord from this space, and into the bowl. Use your breath as you connect the two.
Ways to connect to your fertility, womb, and spirit baby through your altar:
Visualisation
This is a beautiful place to visualise the fertility running through your body, the nourishing blood to your womb, and the fertile ability of this space. As you journey through your menstrual cycle phases, you can visualise the womb creating a safe space for a baby to enter, you can visualise the implantation of a baby, and you can visualise what it would feel and look like to grow a baby in this space.
Meditation and Breathwork
Two of the best things you can do before conceiving is to get acquainted with these two practices. We are often operating outside of our bodies, and this is a chance to drop back in and connect with ourselves. Put on a meditation track, or breathwork exercise. I find belly breathing particularly helpful as I send my breath and nourishment to the womb space, releasing tension and creating calm.
Spirit Baby Communication
A very powerful practice is to communicate with your baby before conception. This can take some time to get used to, and a beautiful way to start is by using any of the above 3 practices. If you can release control, and trust in your ability to communicate with your spirit baby, you can gain a lot of knowledge and understanding from them. You will also be able to connect deeper throughout the conception process and as they implant. Calling in your spirit baby can be done any way that feels best to you; ask them a question, ask for guidance, or simply visualise what they look like. They may take you on a journey, a walk, may have a conversation with you, or simply sit beside you.
Call on the guidance of fertility Goddesses
Particularly if you're well on your conception journey and finding patience hard to come by, a great exercise is to request guidance from the fertility goddesses. Use an image or statue of the Goddess of choice and ask for guidance.
Write to your spirit baby, womb space, fertility
As you can see in the first photo of my fertility altar, I have placed a few notes in the bowl. You can write notes to your baby, communicate with your womb, ask the guidance of the Goddesses or any other words of affirmation, poems, or anything you want to get out there. I found this particularly helpful in my healing of womb trauma and pain.
If you would like to learn more about this, I strongly recommend these books:
Spirit Babies by Walter Makichen
Spiritual Fertility by Dr Julie Von
The Pregnant Goddess by Arin Murphy-Hiscock
With a special interest in natural fertility, conscious conception and conscious relating through starting a family, I offer Birth Doula and related services to encourage more depth and awareness in your journey. I educate on the menstrual cycle and encourage women to reawaken their confidence and trust in their bodies, and show an understanding of how all of these experiences are interrelated and must be considered on your journey to starting a family.
To get in touch, email me at:
hello@caraburns.com.au or visit my social pages:
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