MiAltar and the Healing Process

By Guest Blogger: Ana Antonio

Having a place where we can honour our ancestors, our animals or our departed friends is deeply healing. It is not just about remembering, but about healing inner wounds and releasing family patterns that we so often carry without awareness.

We often repeat attitudes we saw in our mothers or grandmothers — behaviours that were imprinted on us when we were children. These attitudes do not always correspond to what really makes sense for our lives, but they are the references we know and, therefore, we follow them without question. And so, little by little, we move away from our essence.

Having a place, even if virtual, where we can look at, honour and thank our departed family members is an opportunity for reconciliation. It is as if, in this gesture, we make peace with ourselves and make room to let go of the burden of “having to be the same”. This act of homage gives us back the freedom to be who we really are.

The process of building an altar is, in itself, a silent therapy. Every detail chosen invites reflection:

• ‘Who was this person really?’

• ‘What did they like or dislike?’

• ‘And me... do I like this for myself or just because I grew up believing that's how it should be?’