There may follow, according to the purpose of the rite, any or all of meditation, chanting, music, prayer, dance, the pouring of libations, recitations of poetry and/or the performance of sacred drama, and the sharing of food and drink. Lastly the circle will be formally unmade, the directions, elements, and all the forms of divinity that have been called upon thanked, as the rite ends. Prayer beads offer a way to embrace your mystical practice on a regular basis. You can use them to connect with the spirits and gods. And when you do so, you’ll find that they have a positive impact on your spiritual growth. 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. Whether you have a dog, horse, or a hamster, set aside some time every day to love on your pets. This doesn’t seem like a pagan ritual, but anything done with intention and in a routine can be a ritual. And what’s more pagan than loving on animals? 13. Light a Red Candle in the Kitchen

Some scholars have argued that the Christianization of Scandinavia, from the 8th to 12th centuries CE, was the driving force between a few separate and spare rural Viking communities transforming into the medieval kingdoms of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. May the blessed sunlight shine on you like a great peat fire, so that stranger and friend may come and warm himself at it. I guess one needs to have a belief that the prayers have an ear, so to speak. Sometimes it's enough to just voice concerns in an open space but others one needs to feel like the information is being processed and you're empathized with. This book didn't do that but it didn't set out to do that. It was my secret hope. These are special prayer beads that are designed to appeal to pagans. Pagans believe in the existence of spirits and gods who live among us. They worship these spirits and gods through rituals and ceremonies.

Prayers, Meditations, & Visualizations

May naught stand up to oppose me in judgment; may there be no opposition to me in the presence of the sovereign princes; may no evil be wrought against me in the presence of the gods; may there be no parting of thee from me in the presence of the great god, the lord of Amentet. 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 Is it ethical to pray for others? When you pray for others, you are remembering them at times when they are not able to help themselves: but that doesn’t mean that you prescribe, judge or curse them with your words or intentions. US physician, Larry Dossey, wrote a book on prayer and after its reception by certain unboundaried readers, he was forced to write another one, entitled ‘Be Careful What You Pray For.’ If you are uncertain about permission, then you can do the following: ask your spirits to show you what someone is feeling or fearing. Hold them in your heart and asking for what they most need. Then, get out of the way and let the help come. It’s only when we interfere and interpose our own hopes and fears upon people and situations that things get ethically tangled. If someone is dying, praying for their recovery may be a curse, not a blessing. 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. First, there is the universal desire to pray. I believe that many Pagans had a hunger that eventually burst forth in the practice of prayer.

Wherever ice dams the flow of love between me and another, let it melt beneath the sun. Wherever snow hides a problem, reveal, and resolve it. Where there has been illness, replace it with health. Where dark clouds linger, bring hope. Help my heart and soul blossom anew like a fresh blade of grass, reaching ever toward the light. So be it.“ Pagan Prayer for the Season of Summer 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 A beautiful and inspiring collection of prayers. A Book of Pagan Prayer is like a breath of fresh air, breathing life into the spiritual aspect of pagan practice.”—Mat Auryn, Patheos

Cookies on the BBC website

As Paganism is a very diverse religion with many distinct though related traditions, the forms of Pagan worship vary widely. It may be collective or solitary. It may consist of informal prayer or meditation, or of formal, structured rituals through which the participants affirm their deep spiritual connection with nature, honour their Gods and Goddesses, and celebrate the seasonal festivals of the turning year and the rites of passage of human life. Cremation is a popular choice, particularly for Druids and Heathens, but crematoriums contribute to greenhouse gas emissions and aren’t necessarily the best for the environment. However, since 2010 it has been legal to hold open air cremations with old-style funeral pyres. If you are invited to an open air cremation, you should be prepared that while it is an emotional and powerful process, it is one that many find distressing to witness. Natural burial Aside from the growing influence of the Christian faith throughout the Viking Age, many peoples in Viking societies clung to their pagan beliefs. Scholars have pointed out that Norse pagans did not try and speak with prayers of repetition like those that practiced Christianity.

But there is value in simply being thankful, even if you aren’t offering thanks to anyone in particular. There’s value in expressing the desires of your heart, even if you aren’t sure who’s listening. 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. This version of the Prayer Beads is more Druid in content, honoring the Three Kindreds: The Ancestors, spirits of the ancient dead; The Earth Spirits who share this world with us; and the Gods, or the Shining Ones. Those of us who call ourselves Pagans owe a debt to all those who came before us. Before trying to define our own, modern Paganism, therefore, we should find out as much as we can about what the ancient Pagans did. To do that, we'll look at their prayers. Then we can either follow their lead, or, if we choose to be different, we can at least choose from knowledge rather than from ignorance. Ancient Pagan Prayers Further south, Christian missionaries had been flooding to Scandinavia from, at least, the very early 8th century CE.May the World be led to the Truth and the Light, through the King and Queen of Peace, Justice, Mercy and Love. May we be shown the Divine Purpose of the Earth, and receive Her brightest blessings! If you’re an early riser, this should be a simple one – rising to greet the sun. Sit outside with your coffee and watch the sun rise. Bask in the glory of the star that gives life to this planet. Bonus: getting out into the sunlight within one hour of waking aids in regulating our circadian rhythms. Which means, you’ll sleep better at night! 5. Runic Stadhas or Yoga As the so-called "Viking Age" progressed, the Christianization of Scandinavia became a driving force for religious and spiritual activity in Northern Europe. In the Baltic region and Eastern Europe, where many Slav peoples lived, they also had their own form of paganism separate and different from Norse paganism. Not all pagans are Wiccan, but he certainly seems to think that we're all Wiccans who want to follow his rather narrow-minded viewpoint.