First, find a space for an altar/tribute that feels right and accessible to you. It could be a shelf, bedside table, window ledge, nook, or any other space. You can set the base with a cloth, fabric, or scarf or continue without one.
Next, gather items that bring you a sense of calm, connectedness, and safety. This can be anything including pictures, flowers, plants, books, poems, affirmation cards, drawings, crystals, sand, candles, written prayers/spells/rituals, statues, and journals. The possibilities are endless.
Whatever you choose should feel authentic and intentional to you. It can take time to build an altar space. You will likely add or replace items as you become more connected to yourself and your healing journey. Remember to tend to it by cleaning, dusting, loving, and speaking life into it. May your altar reflect your dreams, wonder, healing, and evolve alongside you.
Even when the world is cruel and unrelenting, remember, as Toni Morrison says, “You are your best thing.”
Recommended Reading
| The Altar Within by Juliet Diaz |
| Where Silence Ends: A Memoir by Mexican-American Mother-Daughter duo Angela Ruiz & Mary Ruiz |
| Sabrina & Corina by Kali Fajardo-Anstine |
| Know My Name by Chanel Miller |
| Written on the Body: Letters from Trans and Non-Binary Survivors of Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence Edited by Lexie Bean |
| Furia by Yamile Saied Mendez |
| All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson |
| Ordinary Girls by Jacquira Diaz |
| Somebody’s Daughter by Ashley C. Ford |
| Pleasure Activism by Adrienne Maree Brown |
| Miss America by Day: Lessons Learned from Ultimate Betrayals and Unconditional Love by Marilyn Van Derbur (recommended by Maria Ortiz) |
| Beyond Survival by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna Samarasinha |
| Prisons Make Us Safe and 20 Other Myths About Mass Incarceration by Victoria Law |
| Captive Genders by Eric Stanley |
| Pet by Akwaeke Emezi |
| The Politics of Healing by Staci Haines |
| Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley |
| Of Women and Salt by Gabriela Garcia |
| Playing the Whore by Melissa Gira Grant |
| We Do This til We Free Us by Mariame Kaba |
| The Color Purple by Alice Walker |
| Arrested Justice by Beth E Richie |
| Buttons’ Journey by LaResse Harvey |
| Color of Violence by The INCITE Women of Color |
| Stone Butch Blues by Leslie Feinberg |
| The Body is Not An Apology by Sonya Renee Taylor |
| Love With Accountability by Aishah Shahidah Simmons |
| If They Come For Us: Poems by Fatimah Asghar |
| Not Here by Hieu Minh Nguyen |
| Chronicle the Body by M. Mick Powell |