It seems like anytime I hear something about practicing any form of Paganism, I hear about rituals. Rituals for the holidays, rituals for marriage, rituals for the phases of the moon, etc
All of these seem to be things that you do with a large group of people, or at a festival with other pagans. What about at home? Are there little rituals? Rituals to do yourself if you're a solitary? Is there a book on rituals and I just don’t know where to find it? Or am I supposed to just know how to make one because I am pagan? All of these questions are ones I’ve had for a long time, and I never really got any answers. but one of my favorite things about being pagan is that it is an everyday religion. This got me thinking that maybe its time to pay more attention to the little rituals that everyone naturally creates. Probably the best ones to use are bedtime rituals. Everyone has one (especially once you have kids). For us there are some variations (depends on who is home, day of the week that type of thing). But its all very standard: 1. Brush your teeth and get ready for bed. This ritual changing from day clothes to night clothes is so similar to changing into ritual clothes. It grounds us, we know this is the time to release the last energy of the day so we can sleep. 2. Choose your book (or if you don’t read books at night) a tickle fight, story, hugs etc. Building on that grounding in the first step. Also expressing thankfulness, for our day, each other and those powers that helped us through another day. 3. Goodnight kiss and turn out the lights. This is the end of your ritual, you kiss your little one or spouse and say your special words (lately mine have been some days you drive me nuts, but I love you so much. Yes, you do need to stay in bed...no, you already picked your clothes for tomorrow... no, your little stuffed monkey doesn’t need to go to your brother's room right this minute. Yes, the cat will be in later. Yes, I still love you very much... yes, daddy will be up in a moment.) With those words (however many there are) and the turning off of the light, you’ve closed the ritual and released the energy. You are calmer, you hope your children are as well and there is a wonderful peace within you. (For at least a second or two) well there is a reason we do it everyday. Another of my other favorites is the kids' morning ritual: From good mornings called across the house, to the great scramble for the bathroom in the morning, this ritual is not specific to our house. The pattern of who is in first and who is woken by getting tickled, and who lies in bed listening to the alarm clock. There is sometimes morning yoga (which consists of my rolling out mats, shooing cats off them then trying to convince my son that yes, he can touch his toes if he is willing to actually bend his waist) and usually ends in a wrestling match. There is breakfast and getting ready for the day. This bustle and building up of energy is what gets the day really going for us (sometimes with lots of annoyance, so I focus on the energy build). What about the ritual of making lunch or eating a meal together? Even sitting down to watch a t.v. show or movie. I’ve discovered that we have a little ritual for bicycle riding. What are your favorite little rituals? -T.S.
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I have always believed more in nature and balance than any particular deity. This means that the four elements are often represented in any rituals I use. Being a person who used the elements and nature as the basis for my beliefs helps my practice take on the form of a conversation.
This makes it difficult to really get across my form of paganism to kids who are all about fancy tea parties and Percy Jackson style heroes. Some days there just isn’t enough pomp and ritual for them. Then there is Gardening. There is something about a garden that makes it okay to be less formal. Perhaps it is simply that you must have physical contact, you must BE involved for a garden to grow. Well, whatever the reason, we have had a wonderful time learning, celebrating, and worshiping together in our gardens. “How does this inspire a love of gardening?” you might ask. Some kids are lucky, they dive right in, their hands are dirty and in and feeling and getting familiar right away. Some kids are shy of the earth. My son is one of those, he REALLY doesn’t like to get his hands dirty. However... he does like apples and blueberries and strawberries. So I gave my daughter and my son each their own little garden in the backyard. I had some iris that needed to be divided so I gave each of them some bulbs and showed them how to dig a hole and plant the bulb and at each step... I introduced them to the elements around them. “Good morning Earth.” I would say, “S and I are so thankful that you are letting us dig in you today. I have this lovely iris that we’d like to plant here. We’re going to clear away some of these weeds too, if you don’t mind.” To the weeds, we would also talk, “Hello Mr. Dandelion, I’m sorry we have to pull you out, we are planting this Iris here. You have tended the soil so nicely here, but now it’s time to come out.” We are lucky that we have a little composter in our backyard so we are able to start those weeds on another journey, one that will create a nutritious soil for their gardens. As I talked with the plants and the watering can and the wind and even the little bugs, eventually the kids started talking to them too. Soon I was able to step back a little and just answer their questions or help pull some weeds. Each year they have started caring a little more. They don’t really do much weeding or planting still, but they will go check on the vegetables and pull a weed now and then when they go by and I am always catching them saying a little something to those wonderful patches of soil. -T.S. Can you believe it? Litha is almost here. The year is nearly halfway over already. As usual, our family will be taking things easy for this holiday, but our day will be filled with fun, food, and family. I've compiled some ideas for us this year and wanted to share them with you: Why not add some fairy wonder to your garden? You can find the instructions for these adorable fairy doors here. Incorporate delicious seasonal vegetables into your meal. Recipe here. Bring even more seasonal decadence to the table with this amazing Fruit Salad recipe. Let your bare feet connect with the earth while you create some Dandelion Garlands. And these... these just look delicious!
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July 2015
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