Little Altars Everywhere
An invitation to assemble the sacred and activate the good
A Spectrum of Activism
When Melissa and I scheduled the first day of our Altars & Amulets workshop for this coming Saturday, April 5th, we didn’t know that it would be a national day of activism and protest.
Had we known, we would likely have picked a different date, yet the making of sacred objects also has an important role to play in the forging of a better world, even on a day of citizen uprising.
The beautiful concept of “subtle activism” suggests that there are many ways to work toward the caring, respectful, and humane society that we need and crave.
“Subtle Activism is an activity of consciousness or spirit, such as prayer, meditation, or ecstatic dance, intended to support collective healing and social change. Subtle Activism grows from the idea that there are many effective ways – some newly emerging, many as old as humanity – to positively influence social change other than overt political action.”
(https://gaiafield.net/what-is-subtle-activism/)
Endowing an object that you’ve scrapped together from the fragments of everyday life with sacred meaning, imbuing it with a deep prayer for sanity, for remembrance, for beauty, for peace, or for whatever you hold dear, is a powerful way to reinforce your resilience and embody your freedom.
Whether your shrine, spirit doll, or talisman is earnest or irreverent, adheres to a single cultural tradition or represents a hodge-podge of global styles, it can serve the essential task that author Jean McMann suggests is common to all such spirit-filled objects, “returning our thoughts, over and over, to something we choose to recall.”
In the context of a regime that would like very much for us to forget our history and renounce our humanity, choosing to remember is a potent act of rebellion.
We ground ourselves in hope and activate the magic of focused intention when we surround ourselves with objects that reflect who we are, remind us of the biological and cultural ancestors who made our lives possible and meaningful, and symbolize the people, non-human beings, and values we hold most dear.
In her book Altars and Icons: Sacred Spaces in Everyday Life, Jean McMann traces the evidence that objects like petals and stones have been used in sacred rituals for thousands of years. She suggests that our habits of creating assemblages of objects that hold meaning and significance for us - whether on windowsills and bookshelves or in shadow boxes and Altoid tins - are “residual practices” from ancient times when everything, including the tools and objects of everyday life, held sacred spirits.
“Like singing, praying, swearing, and whistling, to assemble and arrange things we care for is a human urge…The priceless, tarnished relics of personal and family histories… represent our triumphs, our epiphanies, our tragic losses; we cherish them, display them, and endow them with magic.”
It occurs to me that whether you spend your Saturday participating in the ritual of citizen protest this weekend, or join us in the Altars & Amulets workshop, or do the activities of your everyday life while holding an intention for collective healing and sanity, any choice you make can be an opportunity to participate in the process of influencing a better trajectory for our world. Any action - from overt to subtle, from noisily collective to silently internal - can be a living prayer for a world of meaning and caring, communion and respect, beauty and joy.
Any action - from overt to subtle, from noisily collective to silently internal - can be a living prayer for a world of meaning and caring, communion and respect,
beauty and joy.
Walking a Holy Walk
Political protest is a form of pilgrimage. In protests, we walk, stand, talk, and sing together in public spaces, at the feet of statues and doorsteps of power. As we collect and move together, we layer our actions over all those who have risen up before us to speak against injustice and for the good of the people, and our messages are given added weight by their association with that history. Our citizen-power is amplified by the centuries-deep rituals of protest in which we participate.
Making altars and amulets is also a form of pilgrimage in which we trace the footsteps of our ancient ancestors, layering our intentions for healing, protection, love, remembrance, and grace over all those who have prayed those prayers for thousands of years before us. Our human-power is amplified by our participation in the ancient rituals of making objects in a spirit of reverence and intention for good.
An Invitation for the Week
Last week, in a gathering of the Keeping Our Lights On workshop, I scribbled down these words, spoken by a member of the group: “Beauty is a process that we choose to participate in.”
Isn’t that gorgeous?
“Beauty is a process that we choose to participate in.”
Your invitation this week is to choose to participate in the process of beauty. Make beauty in the form of an arrangement of sacred objects in your home. Bring in a talisman of Spring to honor the spirit of new life. Take the time to notice all the altars you may already have assembled around you - on your windowsills or dresser-tops or garden - consciously exploring what they call you to know and remember.
If you are walking in an April 5th protest, choose to see that as an act of collective beauty-making.
If you want to join us for Altars & Amulets, know that this, too, is an act of beauty-making with deep, world-moving energy.
And, if you are eager to explore more subtle forms of activism on your own, you might make somewhere in your home or garden, a new arrangement of images and objects that symbolizes your prayers for the United States of America - some combination of elements that returns your thoughts to a sacred vision of our collective history and future. If you do, and you’d like to share them in this space, please send me a photograph and a note about the elements in your assemblage and I’ll post them here to inspire us all.
Sara Saltee is an artist, writer, and creativity coach living on Whidbey Island, Washington. Through her writing, coaching, and workshops, she provisions complex humans for joyful creative adventures. In the studio, she conjures enchanting little worlds in shrines and shadow boxes.
Upcoming Events:
Saturday, April 5th and 12th: The Altars and Amulets workshop. Grounded in a deep history of women who know how to scrap together the stuff of life and make a way out of no way, this is a workshop about how to infuse meaning and intention into objects that protect, heal, and guide us. Melissa West and I will lead a process for focusing your intention and coach you through the basics of two different fun and easy-to-make projects: amulets and small travel altars. Both sessions will be recorded and all who register will get the replays.
Learn more and register.
I once made a spirit doll as a project in a grad school class with two classmates. It was a deep experience for each of us. I make small pieces of art fora company that sells them in refurbished cigarette machines. Now I can intentionally make these things as tiny altars and amulets. 🧚
Wow, Sara....such a beautifully thoughtful and well articulated conversation about our need to be out in the world, and our need to go into our depths....Thank you so much!