Seekers of the Sacred have been creating altars to mark experiences of Sacred Encounter and symbolize their Sacred Search for millennia. The word altar literally means “high place,” and it is these high places that we as pilgrims journey toward, whether we’re walking the storied road to the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela or journeying to new places of awareness right at home.
For the pilgrim at home, altars are representations of the Sacred stirrings that are happening within. Just as the altars or Ebenezers created in Biblical times were expressions that “something Sacred happened here,” the altars we create today remind us that “something Sacred is happening here”—both in our travels and in our everyday lives.
Creating a mini-altar will help remind you of the theme we’re exploring and its invitations for your own journey, holding your intention and curiosities on your behalf as you go about your day. The practice of altar-making is central to the Seekers Circle community and one you will be invited to continue to cultivate through the monthly itinerary and during Circle Gatherings. It is a practice that is not meant to be static, but instead to shift and be refined as your journey unfolds.
HOW TO CREATE YOUR HOME ALTAR
1. find a place
There’s no need to make your home altar grand—unless, of course, you feel so inspired! A simple shelf will do or the top of a corner table. There’s something intimate, too, about creating a home altar inside of a cabinet, like stepping into your inner world when you open its doors.
2. add objects
When first setting up your altar, start with items that you know will usher you into the presence of the Sacred Guide, such as candles, images, words, or objects of personal significance. Though these items might shift from time to time, they will serve as the foundation of your altar and will remain in place throughout your Seekers Circle journey.
Another foundational object for your altar is a place to leave the questions, prayers, and gratitudes that arise as you seek to walk the Path of the Pilgrim. To make space for this practice, select a small container or tray in which to put your thoughts and have strips of paper and a writing utensil nearby.
Then, while the foundation of your altar will remain the same, each month as a new pilgrim theme is introduced you’ll be invited to refresh your altar with items that represent the month’s theme and its invitations for your everyday life. The cards available on the monthly itinerary offer a great place to start and can be cut apart and displayed throughout your altar either on its surface or propped upright. Making a Front Door Pilgrimage also provides an excellent opportunity to gather objects for your altar that speak to you along the way.
Then, as the month unfolds and your journey with the theme deepens, build on your altar by adding additional objects that draw you in or items that you want to spend further time with. Some of these items might already represent an intention, such as a pen symbolizing a writing practice or seeds encouraging new growth. Other objects might appeal to you and yet take a while to reveal their meaning. What you can trust, though, is that there’s a reason they call to you; knowing this, follow the invitation to spend more time with them in order to learn more. As you add objects, consider this process a practice of prayer—an outer representation of what is stirring within.
3. visit your altar
Like a pilgrim journeying to a Sacred Site, visit your altar regularly—whether during a brief pause in the middle of your day or for an extended period of reflection and prayer. As you spend time with your altar and its elements, begin to wonder where the Sacred Guide is leading. If a thread begins to emerge, continue to develop your altar to reflect that thread as a way to keep vigil with the journey as it unfolds.
4. begin again
As the Benedictine saying goes, “Always we begin again,” and this is certainly true of the practice of pilgrimage, with the ending of each journey paving the way for what is to come. When a new theme is introduced, return to your altar and consider which objects need to remain, which items are ready to be put away, and what needs to be added as you lean into this next stage of your pilgrim journey.