This page contains some notes and suggestions (and eventually I hope links) regarding regular spiritual practice for Contemporary Pagans of all sorts. Creating it was originally inspired by an excellent essay on Witches Voice by H. Byron Ballard on the topic of Daily Spiritual Practice. That fine piece of writing stirred me to add this page because my haphazard approach to regular spiritual practice is one piece of the puzzle of a lot of the messes I have landed into over the years!
I can honestly say that part of the reason I have had to renew my spiritual journey and relearn so much over the last couple of years is because I made the mistake of thinking that “I had already learned all that…” regarding some of the simplest aspects of being a Witch and then sort of lost my spiritual way for a few years there. I am now in a place where I am diving back into regular spiritual practice, and into myself, as I do the work of renewal and engage in the Great Work of Magic and of seeking my Work for this lifetime.
I am aiming to make this page the sort of resource I wish I could have found as a Solitary Seeker years ago.
This page discusses (or will discuss as I edit and add to it) prayer, meditation, centering, grounding, shielding, the “cleansing” and blessing of objects, establishing sacred space, and offerings and libations. All of these are preliminary and important parts of any sort of regular Pagan spiritual practice and form the framework upon which we Pagans may hang all of our prayer, ritual, and (for those that do it beyond theurgy) magick.
And remember, if we don’t practice how will we make it to Carnegie Hall?
Everything begins with breath….
Breath Inspiration
By Pax / Geoffrey Stewart © 2009
Breathe Inspiration, Exhale Doubt,
Return to the Beginning,
In through the nose,
Out through the mouth.
Take a slow deep breath. Feel the air filling your lungs. Exhale, slowly.
Repeat, drawing in the life giving air through which we fan the fires of life force and magic within ourselves. Breathe in and draw the air down into the very bottom of your lungs, feeling first your belly and then your chest expand and perhaps your shoulders raise a bit. Exhale, letting the air out from the top you your lungs down, relaxing the shoulders and chest and then the belly. Take a few of these deep full breaths.
In through the nose, out through the mouth; or simply slow deep controlled conscious breaths. Breathing in and imagining it filling your body from the base of your spine to the top of your skull. Sending the air and energy you are inhaling through the energy centers of your body; breathing in the Breath of Life, breathing out your connection to the world and to all living things, to every blessed atom and cell in the universe.
Repeat as necessary.
Note: The poem above reads “Breathe Inspiration, Exhale Doubt”, but lately I’ve come to some new understandings of how I can relate to the energies (and the matter and emotions) of the world around me. Why simply send my own energies, even if they are wrapped in fear and doubt, out into the universe when I have the capacity to change them into just energy? (Or even better into strength and life and love.)
Meditation
One of the great definitions I’ve heard over the years was to the effect that prayer is a form of speaking to the Divine, and meditation is listening to Them. Meditation is, I truly believe, an important tool in any Pagans spiritual toolbox.
Meditation is not always, or usually, about listening too/for the Deities, BUT, it can sometimes be a darn useful skill to develop as we seek our relationships with Them. Meditation can help us learn deep truths about ourselves. Meditation can also help us to set aside the everyday matters of our world and give us the clarity and focus that is right and respectful for when we are engaging in our relationships with our Gods and Goddesses.
I can’t meditate, I’ve tried
Anyone can meditate, and a lot of us do it without even knowing it. In studying meditation one will regularly run across the concept of mindfulness.
Being. Being fully present. Being fully present in the moment. Not concerned with the past or the future.
This is where, in some of my writings on meditation, ( here for example) I have said to myself “thinking” to acknowledge that my mind is wandering away from being and being present and is getting caught up by the many shiny things of my interior world. So I return to focusing on my out-breath and let go of whatever shiny idea or thought my mind has snatched up for the moment.
Now I have this idea that in their everyday lives all of our Pagan ancestors had a LOT of opportunities to engage in mindfulness, whether or not they lived in a place or culture that recognized formal meditation. For most of them life involved a lot more physical labor than our own modern lives; there was also not the pressure of a consumer over-culture pressing into you all sorts of manipulative messages, but for right now lets focus on the labor and mindfulness….
There is a Zen proverb, often credited to the Buddha, that goes something like…
“Before enlightenment, chop wood and carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood and carry water.”
Think about it, have you ever mowed the lawn, or scrubbed a floor, de-boned a chicken, or shoveled snow?
You can do these things while thinking about some fight you had with your brother, or what you want to do after your done, or that really nice meal you had the other day, or that cool tv show or…or… or… BUT you will often end up doing a poor job because of distraction and you will have just done your chore and moved on to the next thing rather routinely and robotly.
BUT, if you focus on the process and simply do it… let’s say shoveling snow, an example that as a former Alaskan I have some familiarity with…
If you shovel the snow, focusing on each shovelful of snow and picking it up carefully yet efficiently, and placing it to the side of the walk or drive, either far off into the yard or by the side of the walk and drive to form a wind break. If you do this shovelful by shovelful, paying attention to how you are moving and breathing and to what you are doing; not only do you do a better job but the job seems to get done quicker and your feel really good about the whole thing. At the end you not only feel physically but mentally and spiritually invigorated.
That’s mindfulness, that’s meditation.
Chop wood, carry water.
Our Pagan ancestors had many, many opportunities to go into a mindful place and their world lacked a lot of the mental and physical distractions of our own modern life. So in learning to meditate we can actually put ourselves in a much better framework for worshiping and relating to whatever of the Holy Powers we honor in our particular Pagan path.
Like a lot of spiritual and magickal tools you can use meditation for a number of different purposes or goals, depending upon your imagination and spiritual tradition and inclination. With meditation we are sometimes simply trying to clear the mind, accepting thoughts as they come but releasing them and returning to a silence and focusing on our breathing. Sometimes we are seeking to follow these thoughts and inspirations and will allow ourselves to pursue them, or at least notice them for a bit before returning to the silence and our breathing. Sometimes we are meditating upon an image or idea or an emotion to see what comes up within us about them. Sometimes meditation is a guided affair with someone leading us in a visualization or pathworking; or perhaps we have found a meditation in a book that speaks to the truest parts of ourselves and we record ourselves and play it back.
For this page, I have focused on solitary and basic meditation techniques.
Breath Awareness & Sitting in Stillness and Silence
Breathe properly. Breathe slowly and deeply. Breathe in and out, savoring the act and the nourishment that the air provides. Focus your attention on your breath and focus only on that, emptying your mind of thoughts. Thoughts may come, but you will simply acknowledge them as thoughts and then let them go and return to your breathing.
Breathe as silently as you are able. Silencing the speech and the mind. Embrace the silence. If you need to clear your throat, or sniffle, do so, but return to silence.
Sit still. If you become uncomfortable you can mindfully and gently and quietly reposition yourself, and then return to stillness.
Sit in Stillness and Silence. Breathe in and out, in through the nose and out through the mouth if you are able, or establish an even and slow in out rhythm. If you feel the need to focus on something then gently and lightly focus on your out-breath and touch your tongue to the roof of your mouth.
You can set an alarm, or simply note the time before you start and when you end. Try for 10 to 20 minutes, then go for 30. Time spent in meditation is important, but not as important as continuing to engage this practice. It may seem like an eternity and only 5 minutes will have passed, or you will be sitting there in silence and it will feel as if your throat muscles are spasming with the desire to SPEAK!!… or is this just me?
Thoughts may come. No, thoughts WILL come. Our brains are kind of wired for them and we live in a society and contemporary world that really doesn’t encourage silence or stillness or being and peace or simply being. When you recognize that you are not mentally silent but are caught up in thoughts or distractions then you can simply think or even say “thinking” to yourself and return to gently focusing on your out-breath.
Confession #1 ~ I have a LOT of difficulty with Sitting in Stillness and Silence. I am happy if I can last 10 minutes, although just short of 20 is my average… IF I APPLY MYSELF! I am, as of this writing (12/14/09), wrestling with this tendency to want to do ANYTHING but Sit in Stillness and Silence… but since I have experienced its benefits I keep trying and that is the best advice I can give you if you have trouble with it, or with any of these practices is to continue to explore and engage with them.
NOTE: 02/20/2010 ~ I am getting better about this…
When you are in a situation of stress, You can take a moment and simple breathe, aware of the process of my breathing and fully conscious of the sensation and act of breathing, and gain a measure of peace to continue dealing with whatever must be dealt with. If you find Centering useful, you can breathe those conscious breaths into your Center.
I can’t meditate, I’ve tried
Did you, how long, how many times, and what were you expecting? Meditation is a practice. We have to do it and do it regularly and repeatedly before we begin to experience it”s benefits.
Sometimes we feel invigorated and energized by meditation, we slip into silence and timelessness and a moment of bliss. We focus on our out breath and suddenly the timer is going off and we are surprised at how quickly things went
Sometimes we are sitting there our back is sore we can’t seem to stop our thoughts, our nose itches and we are thirsty and it’s just not happening, BUT, we still at least TRY to sit for the 5 or 10 or 15 or whatever minutes. Even if we only sit for a portion of our chosen time we have at least tried to engage in the practice and we can return and sit again later that day or the next day…
Sometimes we wrestle with meditation. We keep finding our selves thinking and returning to our out breath, back and forth back and forth and by the end of our time we feel a measure of peace and calm and stillness and silence.
Sometimes we sit in the hands of the Gods.
Yet for any of the above to happen, we must commit, we must choose, we must return to the practice.
Candle Gazing
You sit before a lit candle, and (I’m sure you can see this coming)… breathe, properly… I hope your getting the theme here?
Anyway, you sit before your lit candle, breathing properly and focusing yourself on the candle’s flame. There is only your breath and the candle flame, thoughts may come and you may breathe them out into the universe, or send them into the candle’s flame, or simply set them mentally aside to return to later, and return to Silence and Stillness.
This is a good practice in that it engages multiple senses, but your are simply allowing the perception, not trying to think thoughts ABOUT the perception. Especially handy if you have trouble with Stillness and Silence because so many of us who grew up watching T.V. can actually have an easier time sitting vacantly if there is something to watch!
(I know, sad, but also true and so we should darn well acknowledge it!!)
Moving Meditation
Now perhaps you are thinking I am about to go on about Yoga or Tai Chi or some other formal discipline/exercises; and while I would like to explore some of them in the future, but the most experience I have had with moving meditation is taking a nice long walk. Nature walks are good but walking in the city is also just as fabulous for this exercise!
You establish proper breath awareness and you try to calm your thoughts so that you are open and aware of things, and go for your walk! You will see things that may spark thoughts or ideas in your mind, and this is ok. Tell yourself you will think about them later, and just let yourself walk and be in awareness.
A Few Meditation Podcasts…
Druidic Craft of the Wise Meditations Podcast
Centering and Grounding and Shielding
Centering, grounding, and shielding, are conscious techniques of taking charge of our energies and emotions. When we are facing stressful or unpleasant situations, or people, we can Center and Ground and/0r Shield and it helps us to deal with it.
And before some of you get too worked up over the fact that YOUR form of Paganism doesn’t deal with that magic stuff, thank you very much! I would point out that I have friends who first encountered the ideas of Centering and Grounding while in Therapy for some serious stuff.
Some of the same techniques and visualizations are used by some psychotherapists, BECAUSE THEY WORK AND ARE USEFUL! So at least learn a little about them before poo-pooing them as so much magical piffle!
Centering
Centering is taking a moment to find your innermost calm, your most stable, and truest self; the “center” of your energies, your own personal eye in the daily storm of life, your wisdom, your spiritual strength, some would say your connection to the divine in all of creation.
Some writers and traditions will suggest you direct your breath and energy to your center of gravity, or into each of your chakra’s in turn, or into your heart, or… well there are a lot of variations I’ve found and you should use whichever book/energetic system/technique you are most familiar with 0r that makes the most sense to you. Let your own current practice and possibly your Pagan Tradition lead you.
I tend to start simple breath awareness, taking a moment to focus on my breathing and how I am doing it, I just focus on breathing in through my nose, and out through my mouth. Lately I have been directing the breath and life energy I am inhaling into my center of gravity between my stomach and my pelvis, my Center. Then I will breath into each of my Chakra’s in turn and end with a prayer or two.
Grounding
Having found an inner balance, we now need somewhere to stand. (metaphorically speaking) Grounding is seeking and establishing a strong and stable connection to the world around us.
Some folks will do this my simply imagining two lines extending from their body, a blue one up into the sky connecting them to the Universe or the Divine, and the other a green line going down into the ground and connecting them to the Earth; with the two lines intertwining within them.
Some folks will stand, with their feet shoulder width apart and knees bent, and gently push out with your feet as if you were trying to separate or move a couple of carpets on a floor. Stand like that a moment and imagine connecting to the earth with your body and with the energy of your body.
One of the most common visualizations for both centering and grounding I have run into is The Tree Meditation, as outlined in Starhawk’s book Spiral Dance. My own version of this widely used exercise follows.
The Tree Meditation (Pax’s version)
Breathe deeply. Establish an even rhythm and focus on your breathing. Feel the air entering your lungs. Know that you are taking in life-giving air, life energy, with each inhalation. Feel the life energy of these breaths flowing into your body as you breathe. Feel the energy and oxygen flowing through every part of your body.
Let your air, your energy, and your awareness fill you with each inhalation. Feel them flowing throughout your body, breathing in, feel them rising up into your shoulder’s, your neck, and into your head.
Breathe in the same life giving air that nourishes and transforms all life on earth, breath out your connection to all living things.
Follow your air, energy, and awareness as it flows out from your lungs and your chest out into your shoulders again and throughout your upper torso, and flows down. Follow it flowing down, down into your arms, your elbows, down into your wrists and fingertips. Down into your belly and hips and groin. Feel it flowing down into your legs, your knees, your ankles, heels and the tips of your toes.
Take a few moments to simple be, to experience and enjoy and remember this awareness of your body and your personal energies.
Now imagine extending some of your energies down into the earth below you, reaching down and outward like the roots of some great tree. If you are standing send these roots out through the soul of your feet, and if sitting then out through the base of your spine and those parts of your legs that touch the earth. Feel these roots shifting their way through the soils and sands of the earth bellow you down deep into the earth. Feel yourself connecting, more directly with the energies of the earth bellow you.
Feel these energies flowing into the roots you’ve extended, up into your feet, and ankles, and knees, and legs, and the base of your spine. Feel these energies flowing up into your belly, and torso, and chest. Feel the earth energy flowing into your shoulders and out into your arms. Follow it as it climbs up into your neck and your head to the top of your skull.
Feel it flow up further out the top of you and branching your like the sheltering branches of some great tree. Know that these ‘limbs’ connect out into the sky and the energies of the universe around you. Feel some of the light and air and energy of the universe around you flowing into the leaves and limbs you have extended upwards.
Feel the balancing of the energies of earth and sky, feel your own energies overflowing and interconnected to the world around you.
This is a more complex meditation/visualization for grounding. Sometimes it can be as simple as taking a deep and proper breath and either sending your excess energy into the earth, or reaching out to both the earth and the sky for the energy you need.
For some wonderful readings and musings on the theme of grounding, go check out what ( Writer, Witch, & Gardener, not the Greek Goddess) Hecate has to say about it!
Sheilding
Shielding is a technique that we can use to insulate ourselves from the outside influence of other peoples emotions, or if these other people are simply creeping us out for whatever reason. For some Pagans, those whose beliefs don’t truck much with magic; Shielding might cross the line into being a little too magicky…. let your own Reason and Tradition be your guide here.
When we are in a disagreement that is becoming an argument, when we are dealing with wildly angry or mentally imbalanced people, these are some of the times when we can use shielding to help us keep our own emotional and energetic equilibrium. When we are in an empty parking lot late at night and feeling frightened, centering and grounding and shielding can help us to not only be more aware of the environment around us, but to also walk with greater confidence. When we are performing our rites, or walking somewhere and getting a sense of hostility or unwanted interest/mischief from the spirits/nymphs/wights/fey/what-have-you we can sheild ourselves.
How you visualize shields is up to you. I know that for myself it has changed over the years. For a long time I would picture a sort of amber colored ‘egg’ of light surrounding me. Other times I have played off of the Tree imagery above and imagined the limbs of the Tree bowing down to the ground and touching the Earth and interweaving with one another into thick thorny brambles all around me. I’ve even known folks to visualize a suit of medieval armor, or a sci-fi style force-field.
Breathe properly, visualize you shielding as you will, and will some of your energy into the form you have chosen for your shield. Pour your breath, and energy, and though into your shields. Practice raising and keeping them up during your meditation and practice time. When you need them use them.
Prayer
Prayer is the relatively simple act of taking a moment to speak with, and open oneself up to and listening to, the Divine.
You can pray to one or several Gods at once, although in most cases we end up praying to one Deity or to a small select circle of Deities. Prayer is, by its nature, relatively informal; you can pray silently, or aloud, anytime and anywhere. The nature of your prayers to the Deities can be as formal or as spontaneous as you desire, with an eye towards Whom you are praying to/with, of course!
Prayer is one of the simplest and most personal ways of opening up a relationship with a God or Goddess, strangely enough it is also one of the least written about in either books or online. I think that there are two reasons for this.
First, prayers are a particularly personal way of relating to the Divine, and I think that a lot of times folks have trouble discussing such an intimate part of their relationship with the Divine. Secondly, a lot of folks who’ve come to Paganism from other faiths associate the idea of prayer with those other faiths and have yet to sort out some of their feelings about prayer and relating to the Divine.
Ceisiwr Serith’s excellent A Book of Pagan Prayer, is an excellent resource for those looking to learn more about a Pagan perspective on Prayer, and it is featured on the ‘Suggested Reading!’ page.
I will often use the Orens position while praying, as was done throughout the ancient world. I stand, raising my arms so that the upper arm is roughly parallel to the ground and my forearms are upright, my hands are open and palms upward – roughly parallel to my upper arms and the ground.
When I stand in this ancient posture or prayer there is a part of me that thrills to the knowledge that I am trying to speak with and honor my Deities in the same way that They were honored in the ancient world. On the mental level, I know that repeating this position will help signal to the Universe and the Gods, of my intention. On the physical level I can almost feel the atoms and cells of my body tingle; the subtle parts of me that are also part of the Divine recognizing that I am trying to reach out and up and within to Them.
My own daily prayers…
Pax’s Daily Prayer
Mother Celestial and Father Divine,
Let me walk in Beauty and Strength,
Let me exercise both Power and Compassion,
With both Honor and Humility,
Let me always remember Mirth, as well as Reverence,
That I may be worthy of Thy Perfect Love and Perfect Trust,
And that of those in whose hearts you dwell,
Blessed Be,
So Mote It Be.
This prayer serves to remind me of the 8 Virtues listed in Doreen Valiente’s Charge of the Goddess. It also helps me as a daily grounding and centering. My other regular/daily prayer comes from the Feri Tradition of Witchcraft and is found in the writings of T. Thorn Coyle, whose book Kissing The Limitless is a particular goldmine for those interested in exploring and deepening their spiritual practices as Pagans whether or not you are interested in the Great Work as presented in her book. For those open to magic, I would also suggest her Evolutionary Witchcraft.
“Who is this flower above me?
And what is the work of this God?
I would know myself in all my parts”
This prayer, relates to striving to get in better touch with ones Higher Self or God Soul, and seeking after one Work for this lifetime… which is a lot more Magical than some Pagans go in for, but its a part of what I do so there it is.
Offerings: The Gift of Giving
I regularly make an offering of incense, and pour libations, to the Divinities.
Offering water or wine, or burning some incense as a gift to the Gods is a simple way to build your relationship with the Goddesses and Gods of your heart. It is a way of remembering Them, and thanking Them for the blessings They have given you and for Their love and presence in your life. It also has the benefit of letting Them know just how welcome They are in your life and heart!
They respond to this welcoming, this loving, and courteous act; and that is what I mean when I talk about The Gifts of Giving to the Gods…
Offerings of incense to the Gods…
I regularly make an offering of incense… I have a special dish where I will place my cone or stick of incense, I will also keep a special lighter nearby.
First, I breathe. In through my nose, and out through my mouth. A moment spent concentrating on my breath, on the rhythm of it, focusing inward. Centering myself, and then shifting my position so I am in the Oren’s position, thus telling myself and the universe, that I am doing something special. When that subtle shift in …something… lets me know that I have gotten Their attention, I speak.
“I make an offering of incense to the Gods,
and the Guardian Spirits, of this Home.
Blessed Be, So Mote It Be.”
Then I bring my hands down and together, to my face, where I kiss them at the point where my thumbs meet my palms; sort of a physical ‘blessed be’ and a small gesture of my love for the Divinities, and our Guardian Spirits. Then I bring them to touch my chest above my heart; this is sort of a physical ’so mote it be’ and ‘thank you’, and a physical reminder that They are a part of me. Then I lower my hands, pick up the lighter, and light the incense.
…This basic offering is one that I adjust if I am making an offering to a specific Goddess or God.
I will usually take a moment to stand there soaking in a small moment of peacefulness and Presence. Then I will go about my day.
(I prefer to use Lavender incense, as it relates to remembrance, but for everyday use any sweet smelling incense I can find at the store works for me ~ I figure if the Gods want something specific then they will lead me to it… They are Gods after all! On the Esbats and Sabbats, then I will find something special)
Libations
A libation is a liquid offering to a God or Gods. It is often poured out onto the ground or into a libation bowl to be poured into the earth or a fire at a later point.
Depending on your spiritual tradition there are a number of different ways to pour a libation or to make offerings unto the Gods. (here, here, here and there…)
For myself I will use a libation mug on my altar, or I will be pouring at a couple of appropriate places in the yard; it depends when and to whom I am pouring my Libation.
Whatever I am pouring (most often filtered water and wine/alcohol) I will take a moment to bless the container and the liquid. I will center myself, and ground. I will take the cup or chalice or pitcher and raise it high in offering to the Gods. I will say something along the lines of…
“I pour this libation of _____,
for the Gods and Guardian Spirits of this home,
Blessed be, so mote it be.”
…What I say depends on what and to whom I am pouring.
Blessing
Even though the blessing of items is often done before prayer and offerings, I have placed it last here because it provides a nice wrap up for this essay and because it is through meditation, and awareness, and our connection to the world around us and our open and loving relationship with the Divine, that blessings and our ability to facilitate blessings flows.
You can bless, or facilitate the blessing of, altar cloths, statues, candles for meditation, liquids for libating, the water you drink and the food you eat.
Now perhaps you’ve noticed I have you can bless or facilitate the blessing of…stuff. The difference come in both in how your particular Tradition views Magic, and whether you are active in Theurgy or Priestcraft within your Tradition or are you doing all this blessing for yourself as a part of your domestic work?
If your Tradition, or you yourself, are open to magic, then you can bring your own energies to bear as well as asking your Gods for help in the matter. In working within a Tradition where magic isn’t a common factor, it would be more a matter of engaging in a specific prayer to the Deity or Deities in question and specifically asking Their blessing.
For Example…
In working within the Tradition of Witchcraft one would…
Breathe, deeply, slowly, in and out. Feel your energy and your interconnectedness with the earth and the universe and the divine. Breathe in these connections and energies. Take the object to be blessed up in your hands and say the words appropriate to your present work and spiritual path…
Then say, for example…
“I cleanse thee, and charge thee, and consecrate thee,
Oh, creature of water,
And cast out of thee all impurities,
That with thee I might work wonders,
Of worship and magick and love,
In the name of the Lady and Lord,
Blessed be, so mote it me!”
And as you spoke you would be breathing out, not only into your connection with the Lady and Lord, but also breathing out some of your own energies and the energies of the earth and the Divine that you had called upon a moment before. Breathing these energies out and into that which you are blessing.
On the other hand…
As a part of your budding practice and worship as a Hellenic Polytheist, having gotten a statue of Zeus or a statue to use as a representation of Zeus in an altar for your worship of the Household Gods one would…
Breathe, deeply, slowly, in and out. Center yourself and clear your mind for a moment. Enter into Stillness and Silence until you are ready to proceed with your prayer and to show Zeus His proper respect and the rightful hospitality. Take the statue up in your hands and really look at it and feel it and engage your senses of it as a statue for a moment, as a thing of stone (or epoxy these days…) and know it as an every day material object for a moment. Then close your eyes and think of Zeus, not only as King of the Gods, but as Protector of the House and as The Good God and as The Protector of the Courtyard and as the Lord of Order and The Giver of Good and The Counselor and The Turner of Pollution and all those things that Zeus is concerned with as a God and as The Chief of the Household Gods.
Open your eyes and look upon the statue and know in your mind and heart that as your were empty of thoughts and feelings a moment before, so is this statue and say…
“Majestic Zeus, King of the Gods and Chief of the Household Gods,
Gracious and Merciful, Lord Who Gives Good Counsel,
Hospitable One, Lord of Strangers,
I dedicate this humble statue to You oh Kindly One,
That Your Blessings may fall upon it!
That I might open my home and heart and works to You Great and Kingly One!”
Hold the Statue aloft, and know that as you have filled your mind and heart with thoughts and feelings towards Zeus, know that as He has heard you, and let Him fill it with His Blessings. Whether you, yourself, feel much of anything happening, give Him some time to work. Then set the statue upon your household altar and proceed with prayers and appropriate offerings treating the Statue as Blessed, and as a window through which you might gain Zeus’ attention and ear and through which you might make offerings unto Him.
If need be, repeat this ritual regularly until you do feel something, but continue treating it as blessed and holy. Simply because the Gods do not always choose to show us Their workings plainly does not mean that they are not doing them or listening.
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I hope that these words and ideas will be as useful to my fellow Pagans as they follow the paths of their own spiritual journeys, as they have been to me.
~Like some of the other pages, this one is a work in progress~
