To Walk a Pagan Path: Practical Spirituality for Every Day (11 page)

in the evening my house elves receive their offering.

Or, if you feel that you have a close personal relation-

ship with a god or goddess, you might want to give a daily

offering to that deity. The appropriate offering and how it is

presented will vary from one deity to another and from one

cultural practice to the next, but in general the rules for a

daily offering hold true here as well. If you approach it as a lengthy, complex ritual, you simply will not do it every day.

You might for a week or so, perhaps for a month, but even-

tually life’s incessant demands will interfere. You are much

more likely to remain consistent with daily offerings if these

take only a few moments of your time. If you have the lux-

ury of being able to linger at your altar for an extra twenty

minutes, that is great, but the additional time should not be

scheduled into a daily ritual.

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Consider, too, how many of these small rituals you can

reasonably and consistently fit into your routine. If you pack

in too much, these will cease to be special moments in your

day and begin to seem more like arduous chores. I do not

advise giving separate daily offerings to your house elves,

your ancestors and a deity. Pick one of these or, at the most,

two. Do not take on more than you can handle in an enjoy-

able and meaningful way.

WHAT THIS DAY HOLDS FOR YOU

Another thing I like to do each morning is see what the day

has in store for me. Whether or not you would benefit from

this depends on how you feel about divination, and how pro-

ficient you are with it. I like to know what to expect of the

coming day. At times I have changed my day’s plans because

of something I saw in my morning divination.

Because of my spiritual path I use runes for divination,

and specifically the runes of the Anglo-Saxon Futhorc. The

study of runes is an extensive subject and far beyond the

scope of this book. If you are interested in rune lore for

either divination or magic, I recommend my book
Wyrdwork-

ing: The Path of a Saxon Sorcerer
.

If there is one thing you have learned from this chapter, it

is that anything you hope to do on a daily basis must be sim-

ple and brief. This is equally true for a daily divination. When seeking an omen for the day I do not lay out a complex Seven

Worlds reading, and I certainly do not cast all twenty nine

runes on a cloth. These are techniques to use when look-

ing for a detailed vision of how the future is unfolding. For

my daily divination I simply draw a single rune. It gives me a

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general idea of what the coming day will be like, and that is

all I am looking for.

This morning, for example, I drew the rune
os
, which

looks like this:

The rune poem describes the mystery of the rune; “The

god is the creator of all language, wisdom’s foundation and

consolation of sages, and every man’s joy and trust.”

As you can see, this mystery is open to interpretation,

which is what the study of rune lore is all about. (The word

rune,
rún
in Old English, means mystery or counsel.) These symbols do not have easy, finite meanings.
Os
is a rune of communication. Exactly what that means depends on who

is reading the runes, and who he or she is reading them for.

Whenever I draw
os
in a daily divination I know it is a good day, for me, to sit down at the word processor and get some

work done. That is what I did, and my day has been amazing-

ly productive.

On days when I draw the rune
ethel
, for example, I am

going to get more done if I focus on household chores rather

than writing. I do not always have the luxury of adjusting my

schedule in this way, but over the years I have learned to heed the advice of the runes when I can.

Runes, of course, are only one of many symbol sets used

for divination, and these may not be appropriate if you fol-

low a non-Germanic path. I have Celtic Pagan friends who

prefer to use the symbols of the Beith-luis-nin, because these

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are directly related to their spirituality. A Slavic friend of

mine uses a completely different set of symbols that reflect

his own spiritual focus. The symbols are called Znaki (a word

that simply means “symbols”), and are derived from the

designs used on Ukranian Easter Eggs (Pysanki).

The Tarot originated in northern Italy in the 15th centu-

ry, but many Pagans enjoy using these cards, and if you have

studied the symbolism then there is no reason you could not

utilize a deck for your daily divination. You should still keep this very simple. Instead of placing cards in a Celtic Cross or some other Tarot arrangement, simply draw a single card to

see what the day holds for you. You can either use the entire

deck for this, or just the twenty two trump cards (sometimes

called the cards of the “major arcana”).

*

In the first chapter of this book I advised against setting a

goal of meditating every day simply because you are not

going to do it. Yes, I realize that somebody out there is going to prove me wrong, meditating every single day for years on

end, but the overwhelming majority of people who read this

book will not be able to maintain such a goal no matter how

sincere their intentions. Some interruption will intrude in

your life, which can be frustrating and discouraging if you

have a stated goal of meditating daily.

That said, I do think every Pagan can benefit from medi-

tating as often as reasonably possible. If that is no more often than once a month or so, then once a month is what is “reaf 77 2

daily devotions

sonably possible” for you. Set a schedule that you can keep

up with.

To meditate, find a time when you can be undisturbed.

Sit before your altar. If you find it helps, offer some incense to the spirits. Quiet your mind as well as you are able. Most

people find that this is easiest if they focus on their breathing. Inhale to a slow count of four, hold the breath for an

equal count, then exhale for an equal count. Continue with

this until you are fully relaxed. Be aware of any sensations

or impressions you may receive. Fifteen minutes is a good

length of time to invest in this, but there is no set rule.

During your meditation you may receive mental impres-

sions, or even have visions or hear voices. Simply accept what

comes to you. After the meditation you may want to record

these perceptions in a journal.

Or maybe nothing at all will happen. That is perfect-

ly all right. Not everyone is exceptionally psychic and, even

if you are, there will be times when the spirits just do not

have much to say. In fact if you are receiving profound psy-

chic impressions during every meditation, you might want

to step back and make sure your imagination is not working

excessively. I am not unreasonably skeptical, but I also do not believe any of us are so important that spirits and deities are hovering nearby at every moment of the day, eagerly waiting

to impart tidbits of wisdom. No matter who you are, there

are times—more often than not—when your meditation will

be nothing more than a brief respite from the pressures of

the world.

*

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Your daily devotions will be much more meaningful if your

entire household is involved. Sadly, this is not always possi-

ble, and if others in your household follow a path different

from your own then that must be accepted. Ideally, though,

the whole family will join together at a sacred hearth, sharing in their spirituality.

I have heard quite a few Pagan parents express concern

about “forcing” their beliefs and practices on their children.

This sentiment inevitably originates with their own child-

hood experiences. I would never suggest forcing anyone to

believe as I believe, or to practice as I practice, but there is a world of difference between sharing something and forcing it

on another person.

I love broiled lobster tails with a side of melted butter. As

crazy as it seems to me, I know there are people out there

who do not care for lobster, and I would never try to force

anyone to eat it. But given the opportunity, I will almost

always try to share this epicurean delicacy with friends who

are unfamiliar with it just because, in my opinion, it is incredibly delicious. Why would I do anything less with my spiritu-

ality? If your child gags on lobster, do not make him finish it but, for gods’ sakes, at least let him try it!

It is true that children can suffer prejudice and bigotry if

others learn of their family’s Pagan beliefs, but this is usu-

ally not a problem if you avoid, around younger children,

the “hot” words likely to inflame the ignorant. It is very

easy to be fully and devoutly Pagan without actually saying

the word Pagan in front of your children. Definitely avoid

the word witch, even if someone in your family practices

magic. (It seems odd to me that I should even need to men-

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tion this, but you would be surprised at how many people

openly announce that they are witches and are then amazed

when small-minded coworkers or neighbors react with fear

and anger.) Children have their own code of behavior, and

nobody understands the importance of conformity more

than a ten year old. By the time your child is old enough to

coherently discuss your family’s beliefs and practices, he or

she will most likely comprehend the potential repercussions

of doing so. If you are worried nevertheless, then talk with

your child, but do not hide your beliefs and practices as if

they are something to be ashamed of.

By the same token, I do not think it is a good idea to

shield children from Christianity. Every Pagan child should

be given a book of children’s Bible stories. Whatever path

you and your family may follow, the Bible has shaped our

language and expressions, and your child should understand

what is meant when somebody references Adam and Eve,

the Flood and Noah’s Ark, or the Tower of Babel.

You should never force your beliefs on your children (or

anyone else, for that matter). Pagans are polytheists, believ-

ing in many different deities and, by extension, respecting

many different spiritual paths. To demand that a child con-

form to one specific path is as un-Pagan as a demand can pos-

sibly be. But if you love your gods and find beauty in your

spiritual path, then these are things you should share with

your children to whatever extent they would like to join in

with your own daily devotions.

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In the confessions obtained from medieval heresy trials we

can find repeated descriptions of the witch’s familiar spirit.

According to those confessions, the familiar could take the

form of a human being, but more often it took the form of a

beast, such as a dog, cat, bird, rat or toad. Even today a black cat is as much a part of the “witch” stereotype as a broom-stick or a cauldron.

Margaret Murray (whose scholarship is admittedly ques-

tionable) divided familiars into two categories: Divining

Familiars and Domestic Familiars. The former were simply

animals that were observed in the hope of perceiving omens.

Murray tells of a 16th century woman named Agnes Samp-

son watching a large black dog to determine the eventu-

al outcome of another woman’s illness (p. 82). Whether the

term “familiar” is descriptive for this category of beast at all is debatable, for there was nothing especially familiar about

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familiar spirits

the animals. According to Murray, the Divining Familiar was

not a specific animal that belonged to the witch; any animal

of a given species could be used for divining the future. This

was completely different from the Domestic Familiar, a (usu-