A Book of Pagan Prayer

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They’re small pieces of jewelry that represent prayers. When you pray, you hold them in your hands and say certain words over them, using the beads to count the number of times you pray. This creates vibrations that allow you to connect with the divine.

Initiated Wiccans, for example, may choose to have their High Priestess or High Priest as celebrant, or even non-initiates with a strong connection to a High Priestess or Priest. Chief Druid But if you look at my prayers, you'll find ones that don't seem to have a sacred audience. These are divided into two types. The first is to things that don't seem to be numinous—a bowl of water, for example. However, anything can be seen as sacred in some way or to some extent. This is like the Shinto idea of a kami; a numinous presence that is possessed by anything special. Not just the sun, not just a mountain like Mt. Fuji, but even a well-made knife or teacup can have (or be, the distinction is not necessary) a kami. This connection may be immediately perceived. But it may be created, especially in the West, by acting as if the kami existed, by talking oneself into belief in its existence. In this way, the entire universe can be made sacred, which is something that many Pagans believe already. Throughout your day, pay attention to any nature signs or omens. This could be anything – a praying mantis on the windshielf, a blue jay that seems to repetitively visit you, a cloud in the shape of a heart, a snail that’s entered the house, etc. The gods and ancestors often use nature to communicate with us. This is one of the most enriching daily pagan rituals in my practice. 10. Light Incense Clean up your altar on a daily basis. This means dump those ashes off your incense burner. Dust off any dirt or debris. Refresh your offerings. Make your altar a place worthy of the gods and ancestors. 27. Gaze at the MoonHail Mother, full of grace Thy Gifts to us are abundant! Holy Earth, Mother of Life! Our beloved, living home! Help us to care for and heal You and others as we would Care for and heal ourselves. So mote it be. You will usually be expected to present an offering of sorts to the deceased. This may be a small token to represent them, money or a libation of food and drink. But do not approach or interact with any kind of altar set-up unless invited to. Wiccan Funerals Those who belong to an oathbound Wiccan tradition, such as Gardnerian or Alexandrian Wicca, may well choose a private funeral with just their coven as guests. In this case, readings and poems would be made up of oathbound material from their Book of Shadows.

Though I read books on neo-Paganism, I also read books by and about ancient Paganism even more, and one thing I encountered over and over was prayer. All of the Indian Vedas were prayers. Characters in Greek tragedies prayed at the drop of a corpse. Cato provided texts of Roman prayers. And this was just in the Indo-European cultures. Spreading my net wider, I found prayers in the Americas, Africa, the South Pacific, China, Japan—everywhere people held to religions. And not only in the Abrahamic religions, as seem to be believed by many neo-Pagans. Heathens have many halls of the dead depending on what occurred during the person’s life, the most obvious being Valhalla, ruled by Odin, and Folkvangr, ruled by Freyja. Otherworld Ancient Ones, bend down your ears to hear my prayer. The world is quiet and resting. So to bring peace to my soul, and to the spirit(s) of ________, [insert any names of people who have passed over] who await reincarnation. Take any restlessness, any worry, and cover it in a healing blanket of snow.

2. Deepen your meditation

Edred Thorsson talks about runic stadhas in his book on the Elder Futhark. Stadhas are similar to yoga positions. So whether you enjoy yoga or feel a connection to the runes, try physical positions like the runic stadhas or yoga on a daily basis. Even if you only do one or two in the morning to get your day started or in the evening to relax and connect. 6. Go for a Walk The biggest benefit of using prayer beads as a pagan is the way they center your life around a regular devotional practice. Natural burials are becoming increasingly popular – at least where laws allow for such practices – as well as natural grave markers. Instead of a headstone, a tree may be planted and, in the case of Druids, a mound of stones known as a cairn may be built. Soul release As I move into fall, teach me balance. Let me know the wonders of both sounds and silences, rest and action, the temporal and spiritual. As I walk the Path of Beauty, keep my eyes on the horizon, but my feet grounded in truth. So be it.” Pagan Prayer for the Season of Winter Lord of the Sun, thank you for warming the soil to bring forth earth’s bounty. As the flowers and fruits grow to fullness around me, likewise mature the fruits of my spirit. As you burn brightly in the summer sky, so, too, burn in my heart and soul.

And may light shine out of the two eyes of you, like a candle set in the window of a house, bidding the wanderer come in out of the storm. As a witch practicing folk witchcraft, I found much of this book unrelateable. It is a well-written book and the author has done a fine job of creating this work. It’s detailed, well researched, and carefully organized. It’s got a wealth of prayers to call upon depending on the need. And if my path was the same as those whom the book was written for - Wiccans, Pagans, and polytheists - this book would be a great reference to have in any personal library. Most times, things feel weird because they’re unfamiliar. This is especially true when you’re talking about practices from a different culture – and while we may all be Americans (or Irish or English or whatever you happen to be) different religions are absolutely separate subcultures. So if you grew up in an environment where you didn’t hear prayer and probably heard prayer denigrated as useless words, of course it’s going to feel odd.

My daughter is, of course, equally amazing. As well as being beautiful (not just my and my wife’s opinion, by the way), she is brilliant. She speaks Spanish fluently, and shows an interest in languages in general that makes me very happy. Like her mother, she has a big heart, but like her father she still can accept some of the hard facts of the world without blinking. I hope this will come in handy in her chosen field of social work. She's a truly amazing combination of the best of both of us, with her own mysterious nature added.

Make brewing tea a daily ritual. Enjoy choosing your own loose leaf herbs, hearing the tea kettle whistle on the stove, and then pouring the hot water over the herbs. Sit down, be quiet, and sip your tea while waiting for the Divine to speak to you. 22. Smoke-Cleanse Your House A vital part of Germanic culture, it soon spread northward and developed into what scholars have called "Norse Paganism" or the "Old Norse religion" from the first few centuries CE. This northern branch saw a religion that was polytheistic with a belief in a pantheon of gods and goddesses.

The Traditions of Ancestor Veneration

As Pagans have no public buildings specifically set aside for worship, and most believe that religious ceremonies are best conducted out of doors, rituals often take place in woods or caves, on hilltops, or along the seashore. To Pagans the finest places of worship are those not built by human hands - as well as at stone circles, in parks, and private homes and gardens. Women and men almost always worship together and Paganism generally emphasises equality of the sexes. In certain paths, however, women may take the leading role as representative of the pre-eminence of the female principle. My intention with this book had been to use the section on writing one’s own prayers to craft my own prayers for spiritworking and for my ancestors. But as many of the prayers assume the reader worships gods - which I do not - I didn’t find the book terribly useful for my purposes. I thought perhaps I could even modify some of the suggested prayers for my own uses. But the focus on the Wiccan Lord and the Lady or gods from various European pantheons makes modifying the prayers for my folk witchcraft purposes mostly useless. This synthesis of Christianity and paganism can best be exemplified in Lund. Where once the city housed a great pagan temple following the Christianization of Sweden, it would become the ecclesiastical center of the country. Homage to thee, O thou heart of Osiris--khent--Amentet! Homage to you, O my reins! Homage to you, O ye gods who dwell in the divine clouds, and who are exalted [or holy] by reason of your sceptres!