Day Schildkret

Day Schildkret is a California artist and ritual teacher who began Morning Altars as a personal daily habit: walking out early, gathering fallen leaves, petals, stones and seeds, and arranging them on the ground into short-lived mandala-like altars that the weather then takes apart. Over time the habit became a teachable method, a seven-step practice that moves from wandering and choosing a place to creating, offering and finally letting go. He came to this after an earlier career in theatre, and much of his teaching keeps that sense of craft and gathering people together.

His work centres on marking change: endings, beginnings and the in-between times that most of us pass through without ceremony. He leads weekend retreats, online series and workshops for communities and organisations, and runs a seven-month online certification for people who want to bring nature-based ritual into their own work. He has written two books, Morning Altars, which sets out the seven steps, and Hello, Goodbye, a collection of 75 rituals for transitions of many kinds. His installations have appeared in museums, cemeteries and public gardens, and his art practice and teaching continue side by side.