In contemporary society, the altar no longer belongs to temples. It survives—quietly and precariously—in the leftover hours of the day, in kitchens, in bedrooms, in the body itself. Where prayer once lived, now lives exhaustion. And yet, the need for meaning remains.
This essay argues that the modern subject, shaped by late capitalism, must reclaim the concept of the altar not as religious symbol, but as a mode of survival—a gesture of refusal in a system that demands visibility, output, and exhaustion.