Small Altars: Arranging Found Things on a Shelf

A shell, a stub of beeswax candle, a photograph of someone you miss — this is how a shelf becomes a small altar.

Not religion, exactly

A small altar is just a shelf, or a corner of a dresser, where you put the things that mean something. Nobody else needs to understand it.

What goes on it

A pebble from a beach you walked with your mother. A pressed flower. A brass key that does not open anything anymore. None of these objects are worth much. All of them are worth keeping.

Arranging

Put the tallest thing at the back. Let one thing be the centre. Leave a little space. Dust it more often than you think you need to.

A candle helps

A small candle, lit for a few minutes in the evening, turns any shelf into something a bit more sacred.