A Little Retreat Altar: A Grounding Activity

At a recent Leadership Team retreat that I facilitated, I opened our time together by inviting us to collectively create a little altar to bring the energy, metaphors and inspirations into our work together.

Altars are used in many cultural and spiritual traditions, particularly in Mexico and Latin America, as sacred spiritual spaces to honor ancestors and traditions. Altars of often composed of a mix of objects with a spiritual or emotional significance, and purposefully placed for inviting reflection and reverence.

This particularly retreat was with an organization works with and is of the Latinx community, so creating an altar felt like a fitting way to connect together at the beginning of a long day.

We began building our Altar by each pulling a card from poet Gary Philip’s “Plant Ally Cards” based on Aurora Levins Morales’ “Remedios: stories of Earth and Iron from the History of Puertorriqueñas”, reading and reflecting on the card with the group. The cards were placed flat across the altar.

Each participant was also invited to bring an offering for our Altar, and to share the story of the offering and why they brought it to the day’s retreat.  

One participant brought a crocheted turtle, made by a beloved coworker. She shared she’s always wanted a hobby beyond work, and crochet has always appealed to her. She’s tried a few times, buying little crotchet project packets, but never seems to finish the project. Her co-worker said it’s because she doesn’t have enough patience. So instead, the co-worker crotched her a little turtle, this participant’s favorite animal.

This participant invited in patience and the beloved co-worker’s deep wisdoms.

The next participant brought in a multi-colored wool alpaca that she got on a trip to Peru two summers ago, to remind of the diversity of nuestra cultura. She also brought in two Patitios, which I learned is the word they use to describe kids – and this participant works with youth. One was a crotched teeny-tiny patito, and the other was a mini-painting of a patito made by one of her youth.

This participant brought in nuestra cultura and youth – both feeling inspired by them and their spirit of playfulness.

The organization’s director brought in all sorts of good energy – a large quartz crystal that comes from our region and a non-burning candle to bring some warmth (but no fire hazard). She brought a picture of her maternal grandfather in an intricate metal frame, sharing that he was a man of few words but persistent presence, and, finally, a rock from the Jewish cemetery in her hometown in Brazil.

She brought in clarity, warmth, and quiet.

I brought in a dried okra pod from last summer’s garden, because Okra seeds are the seeds I can reliably plant straight into the soil, and something will grow – often a tall plant with delicately crunch pods, and their fleeting cream and purple flowers. I also brought the beaded evil eye that a friend made me while I was deeply-ill during my pregnancy, to keep me safe – like her grandmother had made for her as a child.

I brought in the belief that we can trust that seeds we plant will grow, and protection through hard things.

Together, these cards and offerings, grounded us in our stories, experiences, and lineages as we prepare for a full day of big and complex conversations

An altar isn’t the right fit for every group or every gathering; but, if it might be the right fit for your next group/gathering, I hope you’ll give it a try!

“TRY IT” INSTRUCTIONS:

BEFORE:

Inform people before your gathering that the group will be creating a small group altar to ground ourselves for the retreat. Invite participants to bring 1-2 items for our altar (such as an item, a photograph, a poem, a song, etc.)  that they hope will invite the inspiration and energy to support our work/time together.

Make sure to select a location for the Altar before the gathering, ideally in a location that is easily visible for everyone in the group but wont’ distract the group. It can be a nice touch to add a piece of fabric to cover the altar as a warm and soft landing spot for everyone’s offering.

DURING:

At the gathering, invite everyone to introduce their offering, including:

• What the object is
• What is the story behind the object
• Why did you decide to add it to today’s altar?
• What inspiration or energy to you hope it will offer to the group?

After each person shares, ask them to locate the item on the Altar.

You can also choose to pull a card from an Oracle deck. I like to offer participants the opportunity to share the parts of the card that resonates with them.