Sanctuary of the Inner Compass
Sanctuary of the Inner Compass is a spiritually centered organization 508 (c)(1)(a) existing in partnership with Everland, generating the space for the greater ethos and mission of Everland to thrive. The Sanctuary will host and book retreats that focus on health & wellness, mindfulness, nature therapy, skill-sharing, and growth via personal and educational development.
The Sanctuary of the Inner Compass serves as the heart of this project and community that honors the intrinsic voice of each individual, encouraging them to follow its guidance. The Sanctuary provides a safe container for exploration in the spirit of love, accountability, and collective evolution.
The Sanctuary represents an invitation to all who seek enhanced access to and expression of their truest self. We seek to provide a variety of empowering opportunities and reflections for each individual as they travel their particular path towards wholeness and authenticity.
Please head to our retreats page to inquire about booking our retreat facility or attending our day retreats.
Announcements
ANNOUNCING our design for the Altar of the Inner Compass by artist Tigre Bailando. This design and proposal has been accepted to submit a final proposal for a Burning Man Honorarium Grant. We are excited about the outreach component of this design to activate our community and share the spiritual practice of creating with other populations. The Altar is the centerpiece for Sanctuary of the Inner Compass. This project will collaboratively create the soul of the sanctuary where many will gather for ritual, meditation and release. The location is likely just beyond the Aspen Grove in the area designated for healing on the Everland property.
Please join the Sanctuary of the Inner Compass Facebook Page for more updates.
The Altar of the Inner Compass is oriented to the four Cardinal directions, with sculpted wooden arms spiraling around out of a sturdy cob base conveying movement. This spiraling pattern continues up into the sky, where the spiraling ‘arms’ surround a kinetic metal sculpture that moves with the wind as well as by participation through turnable knobs or wheels placed along each directional ‘arm’ the viewer will experiment with collaboratively. There will be a prayer tying station with fabric and pens which the participant attaches to lines that extend from the spiraling vortex of the altar to the ground. There are niches, nooks, mini-altars and crannies where the community places sacred objects and sentimental offerings.
There are four internally illuminated (solar powered) faces featured in the middle of each direction representing ancestors/lineage/personifying spiritual energies. A reflection of our different masks as we follow the directions of our lives.
There is a perimeter created by posts, collaboratively collected mandalas or mobiles, or upcycled items. The wood will be treated timber for the internal structure, locally sourced natural wood, and salvaged boards for the geometric designs. The mobile will be metal along with the knobs and wheels that affect it. Additionally, intricate CNC cut patterning will be added to bring a cohesive feeling to the altar.
As one approaches the Altar of the Inner Compass, they will have the option to offer a sacred object or written letter, or write out their own personal prayer on strip of fabric and tie it to one of the four lines that extend to the top of the Altar, conveying relationship between earth and sky. Next, the viewer can physically spin a prayer wheel to send their prayer up to the pinnacle of the altarpiece, moving the central mobile, representing the transformative nature of energy and creating a kinetic cause and effect through participation, intrinsic in life as well as the altar. These will not have a specific lineage associated with them but reference a number of cultural practices ranging from North America to Asia to Europe and will be a part of sealing the viewers intention or offering within the altar.
The base of the structure will be cob mixed and bricked by the community in a skillshare workshop led by the artist, Tigre Bailando. The perimeter of the structure will include decorative elements, mandalas, and posts that are assembled and designed during Collaboration Meetups and “Art Church” services Inner Compass is hosting. These elements will be symbolic of the world at large supporting the prayers and intentions, almost like a community holding hands and creating a safe space to let go and connect. We will collect garments with personal significance to incorporate in the art and use for the prayer ties, anchoring the altar in the histories of the community. The altar will also have a some musical elements such as bells, chimes, and hanging gongs along the perimeter as well as meditation nooks and artwork. It has been discussed that perhaps there would be some sort of ceremony every 3 years to release the prayer ties that have collected, either through burning or burying.
Similar to the Temple at Burning Man, the Altar of the Inner Compass will be an inclusive place for our community to release, reinvigorate, and find support. This altar will be a gathering place for rituals, rest, reunions, cleansing, ceremony, and celebration. Whether someone is suffering in silence, or overjoyed at the possibilities in life, the Altar of the Inner Compass will serve as a foundational, available gathering place for real people to come together in a safe space and feel.
We enthusiastically invite your participation and collaboration as this vision comes together.
You can see more work by the artist Tigre Bailando from across the world below or go to his website.
