Travelling Altar

This hand-sewn travel altar has been one of our favourite Mexican religious lucky charms for years. The best thing is that this is not a tourist novelty but a utensil that is actually often used in Mexico and that you can see being used live before domestic flights or on intercity buses - before setting off, the pocket altar, which is usually carried in the wallet, is unfolded and carefully stowed away again after devoutly consulting the national saint. 

The travelling altar consists of an outer vinyl cover with a press stud. As you can easily see from the pictures, the whole thing is not a standardised factory product but highly charming handwork. This means that folding it into a space-saving boat for the first time can be a bit of a challenge and requires a little dexterity until the button finally fits into its counterpart without too much pressure. 

Inside, the altars are lined with soft, shiny fabric and decorated with images of saints and a miniature rosary. You can select the exterior colour of your pocket altar here, but unfortunately the interior colour cannot be changed. The images of saints may also differ from the photos shown here - each travelling altar is unique and the only fixed constants that each altar has are the Sacred Heart of Jesus framed in transparent plastic on the far left and the Virgen de Guadalupe image next to the rosary. As always, you will receive hand-picked quality from the manufactory of two sweet old ladies who have been making these and other holy gems for decades just a stone's throw from the holy pilgrimage site of the Basilica de Guadalupe in Mexico City.