Intention Setting For Your Space
Intention Setting
by Kenniese S. Franklin
In our modern society we rarely have anything to do with the construction of the buildings we live in. Unless we build our own homes, location scouting and foundation laying often occur long before we move in. We likely won’t know the builders personally, so it’s nearly impossible to know what they have on their minds while building. The nature of their thoughts may very well impact the underlying mood of the home after its completion. We the dwellers, the people living in these homes, owe it to ourselves to impress upon them our own intentions.
“...with many primitive and traditional peoples the act of construction is a serious business that calls for ceremonial rites and perhaps sacrifice. To build is a religious act, the establishment of a world in the midst of primeval disorder.”
Yi-Fu Tuan, Space and Place, 1977
There was a time when deep thought went into deciding where and how to build a house. The land, the four cardinal directions, the positioning of the stars and the mood of the atmosphere were considered before a building was constructed. This is true across many cultures. Ancient Egyptians for instance, practiced foundation rituals, including the stretching of the cord (pedj-shes) ceremony. During this ritual, Thoth and the Goddess Seshat marked the four corners of temples and other significant structures-to-be. Ceremonial items, described as foundation deposits, were placed into the trenches where foundations would be poured. Thus the foundation of a building symbolized the culture’s values and beliefs. After construction, the finished temples were purified before they could be occupied.
Foundation deposits included things like pottery, inscribed bricks, plaques, model tools, beads and other offerings. The plaques pictured above were displayed at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston. Photo by Elizabeth Minor.
Your house is not only your mirror, it’s also an extension of your energy field. It houses the wave patterns that make up your thoughts, your habits and your emotions. It is these very wave patterns that form together to create your reality. By setting intentions, you cause these wave patterns to reorganize themselves, dancing in the direction of your desires.
When moving into a new space, there’s an opportunity to engage with the house or apartment as if it’s a friend or business partner. Those working on a project together must identify their objectives early on and regularly provide updates about progress, delays and everyone’s satisfaction with the overall flow of the project. By setting intentions for your space, you can outline your needs, desires and expectations in your relationship with your home. The house, itself a container of living vibrations, responds to your intention whether spoken aloud, written down or simply thought. Even the mere thought has an influence on the wave patterns around you.
Setting My Own Intention
After five years of living in my last apartment, it became clear what my higher self and my ancestors wanted for me while there. The objective was to transcend illusion and step into my higher power. I didn't know any of this in 2016 when I first moved in. My higher intelligence, however, did. I later became an active participant in the conversation and added my own list of intentions. If you have trouble defining an intention, hand it off to your higher self. As you deepen the relationship with this aspect of self, the intention becomes more clear.
Whether you’ve lived in your home for three days or thirty years, you can set an intention at any time. You can set multiple intentions; you can clear intentions; you can update intentions; or you can layer intentions. What do you see for yourself while living in this space? How do you want to feel? What do you want to achieve? What do you want to heal?
Do try to craft a concise statement that summarizes the intention in detail. I suggest embedding a statement of sovereignty into your intention so that your freedom will be at the base, the foundation of what you’re building. For instance, by intending to transcend illusion, I’ve stated that any falsehoods I’ve been fed by my own self or by others will dissolve so that I may see myself and the world with a clear vision. If you can’t find the words to describe your intention, is there a scent, a color or a song that represents how you want to feel? Each time you walk into your house, your energy field re-calibrates to these intentions - especially if the rest of your home is curated with objects that symbolize or support your desired state of being.
Intention Setting Ceremony
If you choose to set the intention in ceremony, the “launch” of this objective into space will be amplified, notifying the universe to get to work. Bring your own foundation deposits to the ceremony. These are objects that symbolize your desired state of being or help you tell your story. The ceremony can be a simple five minute conversation between you, your higher intelligence and your guides or it could be something more elaborate that features meditation, meditation music, candles, flowers, water, the setting of a crystal grid, etc. You can purchase or create something that represents the intention such as a sculpture, a plant, a painting or an altar. There’s no one-size-fits-all way to do this, so trust your inner guidance. The cover photo above showcases a selection of dried leaves and flowers used to adorn an altar I built a few months back to anchor my own intentions.
Your house will effortlessly hold the frequency of this intention so it's important to refine the statement until it’s clean and concise. Check in with yourself often and identify if your needs are still the same as they were the last time you sent an intention. If not, remember that you can change, update, clear or add on to your intentions at any time.