Morning Altars: Natural Mandalas as Meditation
Day Schildkret is an earth artist and educator known for his “morning altars,” incredible mandalas crafted from natural materials found in the wild. His 2018 book Morning Altars: A 7-Step Practice to Nourish Your Spirit Through Nature, Art, and Ritual (available locally at Salt Spring Books) shares this meditative practice.
After creating altars on morning walks helped him to process the grief of a break-up, Day discovered that this daily practice was nourishing his soul and connecting him to earth and community. “Morning Altars started out as my own way of responding to the challenges of my life. Being outside and making shapes with the Earth calmed my mind and opened my heart,” he shares in the book. Day follows in the footsteps of cultures all around the world who share this devotional practice, such as Indian rangolis, First Nations medicine wheels, and Tibetan sand mandalas.
Morning Altars started out as my own way of responding to the challenges of my life. Being outside and making shapes with the Earth calmed my mind and opened my heart.
Morning Altars guides you through an earth art ritual to help express gratitude for nature, practice mindfulness, and add meaning to your daily life. There are seven steps in the process (Wander and Wonder, Place, Clear, Create, Gift, Share, Let Go), each explored in their own chapter with personal stories from Day’s adventures. One of my favourite stories recalls a wedding on Salt Spring where all of the guests worked together to create an altar on the beach while snow was falling; pieces of this design still exist there today.
Beauty-making with the earth has enlivened my day-to-day life.
-Day Schildkret
Since this artwork is impermanent by nature, the act of creating while letting go of the need to be in control is very therapeutic. Documenting and sharing the work are also key parts of Day’s process: “I photograph these creations as a memory that evokes that day’s encounter and my conversation with the natural world. Because none of my art lasts — the leaves crumble, the plums shrivel, and the flowers wither — the photograph remembers the life cycle of the art.” Some of the most powerful photos in the book are spreads showing a pattern artfully arranged on one page, and decaying on the next.
Above images from Morning Altars site.
Day is currently residing on Salt Spring while working on his next book project, and is sharing his island-crafted altars on Instagram @morningaltars. Keep your eyes to the ground as you wander your favourite trails; maybe you’ll discover one of Day’s creations, and be inspired to make one of your own.
