Let Your Altar Find You

Did you grow up believing that altars, like God, were outside of yourself? Beyond your realm of authority? That they were divinely inspired shrines that someone "up there" (a male priest, pastor, rabbi, etc.) bestowed with holy authority that imbued those sacred spaces with their power.

In this window of Samhain, when we shed old stories and untrue beliefs, can we shed this one forever—once and for all—together?

I am very clear that an altar—like a ritual or any sacred ceremony—is not holy because you do it right or according to this or that religion, tradition or lineage. It is holy because of the holiness you recognize all around you and that you bring to your altar or to your ritual.

You, my friend, are the holy. 

My best inspiration comes from Mother Gaia. Nature creates marvelous altars. They seemed to be at every turn of my walk to town last week—holy crevices, nooks, crannies and boulders, benches and logs—all filled with or covered with a dazzling array of flaming leaves—red, yellow, orange and gold—deposited as a gift from Gaia who hopes we will stop our busyness  to notice.

Is an altar even an altar if no one notices its sacred splendor?

When something in nature catches your eye, but not just your eye—when it reaches your heart and causes you to smile spontaneously or to suck in a sudden delighted breath, your altar has found you. No asking if it's right when this happens. This is your holy. You can make an altar right there, you can take a bit home with you, always choosing items nature has already released rather than a living part of the biome.

Remember, there is no right way of honoring the symbols speaking to you of wisdom forgotten. It is yours to remember.

Our offerings in this community are all created to help us remember together. Each one is an altar of sorts. In the coming weeks we will descend into a cave ritual with Molly Remer and will unfold together with author and poet Arielle Estoria, in conversation about her book The Unfolding: An Invitation to Come Home to Yourself.

The best way to get plugged in is to join our Sovereign Sisterhood, which gives you access to every online event, circle and conversation we host. It also gives you priority access to very intimate sacred travel experiences we are launching in 2024. 

Hold onto your spiritual sovereignty as you move through the world collecting symbols that will fill your altars and begin weaving your own sacred mythology. 

Beginning in 2024, our Sovereign Sisterhood will gather quarterly for Myth & Symbol circles to support you in recognizing your unique sacred language, as well as for monthly rest rituals—because rest is an unrecognized portal to the wisdom we need to live into the sovereign we all seek. 

Here's to trusting our intuitive knowing that recognizes holy when we see it.