EARTH ALTARS
FOR BELOVED ANIMAL FRIENDS
A simple ritual honoring the places unconditional love takes us.
Some places become part of a relationship: the bend in the trail you’ve walked a hundred times where your dog stops to smell the sage, the tree they always catch the zoomies around, the patch of sun where they lie down on their bellies with their legs stretched straight out behind them. Our lives with our best furry friends are full of these places.
Sometimes a place holds the memory of a pal we have lost. Sometimes we return with a new pup beside us. And sometimes this new pup leads us somewhere entirely new—a place that, without our knowing it yet, will become part of your story together.
Creating an Earth Altar is one way to mark these times and places as special and yours. You can make one with the new puppy love of your life to ground their arrival. And/or you can make one in remembrance of a beloved pet who has moved on in body but not in spirit. Altars are sacred spaces that can hold both—a threshold bridging what was, what is, and what is coming into being.
Earth Altars are simple to make, while being a powerfully creative way to tap into your intuition and express your unconscious. They provide new ways to learn about yourself, while leaving your precious mark on our world.
MAKING YOUR ALTAR
1. PICKING
Let a place become special. You may already know exactly where to go—a favorite trail, tree, overlook, garden, beach, or quiet corner of the yard. Or take your new pup somewhere and let the place reveal itself. Notice where they linger, what they smell, and where they naturally stop.
2. PAUSING
Take it all in. Follow your dog while they explore. Sit with them when they rest. Feel the fragrant air. Listen for unexpected sounds. Stand on solid ground. Notice the shapes, colors, textures, and tiny things that draw your attention. If this place holds memories of an animal who passed, notice what it feels like to be here now. There is no expectation to feel any way other than the way you do.
3. COLLECTING
Harvest with thoughtfulness. As you wander, notice what catches your attention and let curiosity be your guide. Gather fallen leaves, petals, grasses, stones, twigs, seedpods, shells, or other natural materials. If you take living material, take modestly and with care. And, because puppies are puppies, don't select anything they may decide belongs in their mouth.
4. CLEARING
Prepare your space. Clear a small patch of ground. Make the space as large or as small as feels right. You might begin by forming a circle with part of your harvest, creating a boundary for whatever wants to take shape inside it.
5. ACKNOWLEDGING
Honor how you got here. Look through your harvest and select items to represent who or what came before: something lost, changed, or carried forward. Maybe it is
a beloved animal who died. Maybe another kind of loss helped bring you to this new beginning. Arrange these pieces in whatever way feels expressive. You can keep it very simple.
6. EXPANDING
Honor where you are. Next choose and add items to represent the sweet and rowdy pup right in front of you, undoubtedly bringing new energy and fresh curiosity. Arrange your items without over thinking. Maybe the previous selections and new pieces are placed together to create one altar. Maybe they sit beside one as two.
7. NOTICING
Slow down to take it in. When you feel finished, notice what you notice—about the altar, your heart space, your place, your pup. Do you notice anything different from before you made your altar? Journaling or sharing with someone later may help you discover understanding.
8. LEAVING
Honor the temporary. Earth Altars are not intended to be preserved. Deepening our relationship with impermanence is part of the experience. It may disappear tomorrow, it may be kept alive by strangers.
9. RETURNING
Circles and cycles. Come back tomorrow, next month, on an anniversary, or just because your dog pulls you down that path again. Notice what remains. Add something. Rebuild. Simply walk past or sit and remember.
• • •
If this place could hold one thing for you and your pup, what would you leave? What would be sure to carry home?
Inspired by the work of Day Schildkret