The creative, devotional, (sometimes accidental) act of altar making is a tool I would like to acknowledge.
In this practice, I find a safe-cozy-spacious-invitation to meet myself where I am, honor how I got here, and feel into the work that is integrating life lessons while dissolving pain of the past and letting go of what no longer serves me.
In this space, I am emboldened to be a friendly host to any and all sensations and emotions. Every part of me (and the collective) is invited to the surface. In this space, I can be extra AF. I can allow the fullest expressions of sadness, sexiness, silliness, scaries, scarcity, shame, and any single sensation to be nothing short of sacred. and before my altar, I can shed this sacredness like snakeskin.
Invitation for you:
A practice you might like to try next time you feel a good, big cry coming up & out (no altar required):
Put your hands in the soil of some house plants while you breathe, cry, laugh, pray, moan, feel. The earth and soil are equipped to carry the heaviness for you/with you. After the emotional release, you might find a leaf or two turns brown. Either way, if the leaf heals itself or withers up, drops its leaf body and dies— you will be gifted a visual reminder of the transference of pain and healing work at play.
Examples of "accidental" altars: