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A Book of Pagan Rituals
There are many reference books on elaborate pagan rituals but never until now a guide to the most basic of practices: prayers and offerings. A Book of Pagan Prayer provides the pagan community a comprehensive and thoughtful selection of prayers and shows readers how they too can create their own. After an introduction on why to pray, author Ceisiwr Serith explores how to pray through words, posture, dance, and music. He explains how to prepare for and compose prayers, how to address and honor the deities, and how to conclude a prayer. Serith also answers important questions, such as: Why should pagans pray? Should prayers be spontaneous? What are offerings about? Is all this just trying to buy the gods off? Gathered from many traditions including Celtic, Germanic, Egyptian, Greek, and Zoroastrian this guide includes nearly 500 sample prayers organized by purpose: for the family and household/ times of the day, month, and year/ life passages/ thanksgiving, grace, and petition/ as well as litanies and mantras. Whether offering a blessing, celebrating new life, safeguarding travel, or honoring the seasons, readers will discover timeless pagan prayers for worship, spiritual connection, and personal relationship with the gods.
160 pages, Paperback
First published January 15, 1978
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
June 3, 2020
An American classic of modern Paganism. In the late 1960s, a small group came together to compose a set of new rituals and training materials, largely as a response to Susan Roberts' book, Witches U.S.A. They named it The Pagan Way.
As Aidan Kelly recounts in his Patheos blog, "
In creating the Pagan Way, Joe Wilson, Ed Fitch, John Hansen, and the other members of the Committee of Correspondence created a form of Witchcraft that was Gardnerian in all but a few oath-bound details. They hoped it would allow more people to become Witches than could possibly be accommodated by the extant Gardnerian covens, with their fairly strict rules on how long candidates for admission had to remain in training. The founders combined knowledge from their various traditions and created new rituals to replace those that were oath-bound." (https://www.patheos.com/blogs/aidanke...)
The original material was distributed free of charge through the mail, and eventually collected and published as a booklet by Herman Slater, owner of the Warlock Shop and later The Magickal Childe. A second volume, containing materials from Donna Cole Smith and Herman Enderle's Chicago Temple of the Pagan Way, was published shortly after the first.
The present volume collects both of these. Slater sold his publishing rights (such as they were) to Weiser to meet expenses from his business.
Although Slater did not claim authorship, he was listed as "editor" for both volumes, causing much distress over his perceived theft of what was formerly free materials. The were hard feelings among some of the contributors towards him as well, which furthered the adoption of the nickname of "Horrible Herman".
Nonetheless, Slater's publication and sale of the books helped further the goal of getting this information into more hands than the mail request ever had.
I recommend this book. (It should be noted also that a third volume of A Book of Pagan Rituals was also published by Slater, which consisted of the training material for the New York Coven of Welsh Traditionalist Witches, crafted by Slater's former business partner, Edmund Buczynski.)
As Aidan Kelly recounts in his Patheos blog, "
In creating the Pagan Way, Joe Wilson, Ed Fitch, John Hansen, and the other members of the Committee of Correspondence created a form of Witchcraft that was Gardnerian in all but a few oath-bound details. They hoped it would allow more people to become Witches than could possibly be accommodated by the extant Gardnerian covens, with their fairly strict rules on how long candidates for admission had to remain in training. The founders combined knowledge from their various traditions and created new rituals to replace those that were oath-bound." (https://www.patheos.com/blogs/aidanke...)
The original material was distributed free of charge through the mail, and eventually collected and published as a booklet by Herman Slater, owner of the Warlock Shop and later The Magickal Childe. A second volume, containing materials from Donna Cole Smith and Herman Enderle's Chicago Temple of the Pagan Way, was published shortly after the first.
The present volume collects both of these. Slater sold his publishing rights (such as they were) to Weiser to meet expenses from his business.
Although Slater did not claim authorship, he was listed as "editor" for both volumes, causing much distress over his perceived theft of what was formerly free materials. The were hard feelings among some of the contributors towards him as well, which furthered the adoption of the nickname of "Horrible Herman".
Nonetheless, Slater's publication and sale of the books helped further the goal of getting this information into more hands than the mail request ever had.
I recommend this book. (It should be noted also that a third volume of A Book of Pagan Rituals was also published by Slater, which consisted of the training material for the New York Coven of Welsh Traditionalist Witches, crafted by Slater's former business partner, Edmund Buczynski.)
January 26, 2018
This book was invaluable to me as a new Neopagan. It is simple and accessible and I relied on it for inspiration in planning rituals well into college. I somewhat regret selling it off... but I haven't needed it in a long time. I still have chunks of it memorized! I will probably invest in a digital copy someday.
January 12, 2009
This was my first real treatment of Pagan rituals. There's not a lot of background nor histories here...just straightforward, barebones rituals. A great introduction to this aspect of Paganism that doesn't aspire nor pretend to be something it's not...
September 6, 2008
Essential classic for those following a Wiccan or Witchcraft-oriented path.
December 10, 2012
Wiccan. This was okay.
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October 26, 2017There are many reference books on elaborate pagan rituals but never - until now - a guide to the most basic of practices: prayers and offerings. A Book of Pagan Prayer provides the pagan community a comprehensive and thoughtful selection of prayers - and shows readers how they too can create their own. After an introduction on why to pray, author Ceisiwr Serith explores how to pray through words, posture, dance, and music. He explains how to prepare for and compose prayers, how to address and honor the deities, and how to conclude a prayer. Serith also answers important questions, such as: Why should pagans pray? Should prayers be spontaneous? What are offerings about? Is all this just trying to buy the gods off? Gathered from many traditions - including Celtic, Germanic, Egyptian, Greek, and Zoroastrian - this guide includes nearly 500 sample prayers organized by purpose: for the family and household; times of the day, month, and year; life passages; thanksgiving, grace, and petition; as well as litanies and mantras. Whether offering a blessing, celebrating new life, safeguarding travel, or honoring the seasons, readers will discover timeless pagan prayers for worship, spiritual connection, and personal relationship with the gods.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews