A Samhain Devotional Practice

 The following introduction is edited from a longer text that will appear in ADF's 'Oak Leaves' magazine in the Winter issue. That issue will contain a Yule Devotional script, but I wanted to make the Samhain thing available in a timely way.

Pagan Devotional Worship

Modern Paganism, at least as I’ve known it, is primarily expressed through ritual performance. Our Paganisms are not, generally, contained in texts. Study of the words of a founder or of seers or spiritual teachers is not a significant part of Pagan practice, rather our ideas, understandings and inspirations are often translated into ritual acts and speech. This is as true for the Wiccan-styled segments of Paganism as for more traditional styles. Elements of Wiccan ritual speech, such as the ‘Charge of the Goddess’ come as close to scripture as Neopagan ways get. 

In ADF our rites have enshrined elements of our cosmologies, attitudes toward the gods and spirits, and toward one-another. Very little of that is overt and very little recitation or teaching usually accompanies those works. Rather we depend on group energy and the use of more grand ritual work to generate spiritual experiences for participants. Those working alone at home, or perhaps in a micro-group of family or friends, may need a different style of spiritual practice. It is certainly possible to mount the full production of a High Day sacrifice in living-room or backyard, but there are other methods that may serve better. 

The following text draws on elements of both the Indic ‘Pooja’, and the Roman Catholic ‘Novena’ The latter is a tradition of undertaking nine consecutive days of dedicated prayer focused on a particular spirit (i.e. saint or person of the Trinity) or on an intention. Authors compose formal novena-prayer texts for such things. I fell upon the text of modern RCC Novena prayers, and immediately saw what might be a useful model.

Taking what might be the easy road, I am beginning by creating Devotionals for the eight High Days of Neopagan tradition. For those who attend liturgical celebrations of the Days such a home-rite can serve as preparation, focus and personal work. For those working solitary a Devotional can serve as one’s primary celebration of the spirit of the Day. While these practices don’t follow our OoR closely, they do generally use the traditional formula of offering and blessing.

Practice Notes

The Order

The basic order under which I am writing these is thus:

1: - Opening Charm: The Blessing of Fire and Water, and acknowledgement of start

2: - Water and Smoke Cleansing: As usual – always a valuable ritual moment

3: - Hymn of Intention – a versified statement that both clarifies intention and inspires the proper feelings.

4: - The Vision - simple text to induce the vision of the target principles. This rather replaces the scripture-reading in the RCC texts.

5: - Prayer of the Vision – Affirmation of the vision-contents. A reflective reading followed by affirmational prayer is a sequence I like.

6: - Invocation of the Powers – calling and offering to the gods and spirits of the intention

7: - Litany of Blessing – reception of the Power

8: - Final Prayer of Thanks or Petition

The Shrine

This practice requires the usual Fire & Water, along with the means to make offerings – a censer and a plate or bowl for food offerings. Unlike liturgical rites offerings can be small, or token amounts of the lists called-for. If no offerings are specified in the text then an incense-offering is always proper.

As always, images of the gods and decorative symbols of the season are proper. Those who enjoy decorating seasonal altars and displays in their homes may find this worship-form useful.

                Allow me to give a serious (if pro forma) warning about the single greatest ‘danger of occult ritual’ – burning down your house! Treat live fire as a tricky guest – do not trust your luck to leaving live fire unattended.

Offerings

Some of these practices call for food offerings that will spoil if left sitting unattended. Offerings made in ritual should be disposed of respectfully no later than the next morning. The best is to leave perishable or edible offerings at the foot of a tree. Those with minimal tree-access need not hesitate to dispose of offerings at home. I, personally, find flushing to be a more respectful and direct disposal than the house garbage-bag. If you find your censer with a dozen sticks in it, a window-sill or balcony may be in order.

The Work

The text is meant to be read-through, making offerings as you go, as called for. Each begins with an informative reading, which can be read silently before beginning the formal ritual sections. I have not included detailed trance-involvement instructions, but I encourage you to find your center and your basic trance before beginning, and return to that position as needed. The work includes a ‘vision’ – a ‘guided meditation’ segment in which you are asked to imagine or envision specific patterns relevant to the holiday’s themes. Visualization while reading need be no more complex than the internal visuals which accompany fiction for many of us.

                ‘Novenas’ in the RCC, may be done at home, or be led in church for group work, often leading up to a major calendrical feast. They use the ‘litany’ form, in which a reader recites the various lines of prayer, and the group responds with an affirmation. I have retained the form in just one place; it can be read through alone, or used as a responsive reading if the work is done in a small group.

                Another such trope is the ‘antiphon’ a framing mechanism used to begin and end sections of the work. These will probably remain consistent from text to text for my eight High Day devotionals.

Hallowing the Shrine

The Fire, the Well, the Sacred Tree

Flow and flame and Grow in me.

In Land, Sea and Sky,

Below and on-high

Let the Water be Blessed and the Fire be Hallowed,

And let my voice be heard by the Holy Ones!

Now may the Powers of Underworld and Heaven bring their cleansing blessing.

Anoint and cense the hands, and any items proper to the work, saying:

By the might of the Water and the light of the Fire, 

this (place/thing/work etc) is made whole and holy.

And/or, slightly more detailed:

Fire and Water, earth and Sky

Rooted deep and crowned High

Ill be gone and good draw nigh

Fire and water, Earth and Sky

 Hymn
The year begins, the year must end
The road of life to death must bend
As mortals we go on our way
Our fate is but our course to stay

In elder days the year was broke

In two by poetry bespoke

On Hallowed night, the ancient time

The spell was rightly made by rhyme

To gather on the high place bright

The folk would come on Samhain night

To light the sacrificial flame

And feast the Dead of ancient fame

Remembered, still, at this, my shrine

Where this small spirit-fire does shine

In Samhain-tide the cup I raise

And give the Holy Ones due praise.

Antiphon  of the Vision

Let the Inner Eye be open, let the spirit eye be clear

Wisdom speaks in spirit-vision, let the truth be on me here.

Sitting in your meditation seat, breathe and seek your peace in silence.

Let your bone uphold you

Let your blood beat in you

Let your breath flow through you

For a moment, in silence…

And let the Gate of the Season be open, and let the Fall of the Fall flow into your mind…

The Edge of Winter…

Where in such latitudes the trees go bare, and beasts burrow deep…

And mortal folk look toward the barren season.

Let the feel of the land’s season be over you

As you contemplate three doors.

Let the first door be in the Halls of the Dead,

Where the Great Feast is served, and the Hosts sit enthroned

Yet in season a door is open, and the Dead go forth into mist

Toward the Fires lit for them.

And let the second door be at the end of the long hall of cold stone…

Deep in the mound on the Edge of Beneath

An arch of giant stones, one upon the other… 

that opens into the Samhain season night

Upon green Earth.

To walk in the living Green… with wind and stars…

Toward the Fires lit for them,

Brings your vision to the Third Door – the homely Threshold

Of a family…

Warm fire light…

Scent of the boiling pot

Where kin welcome kin

And love welcomes love

At the feast of Samhain-tide.

Abide for a time in the Vision, and conclude with the antiphon.

Antiphon  of the Vision

Let the Inner Eye be open, let the spirit eye be clear

Wisdom speaks in spirit-vision, let the truth be on me here.

Prayer of the Vision

So I open my heart to the Holy Ones, in this season of the gates. May I walk in harmony with the tide, and gain the season’s blessing. Holy Ones in the Deep, who keep by right the Throne of the Hall of the Dead, hear my prayer in this season. Most Ancient Dead, hear me, Wise Dead, hear me, Beloved Dead, especially you my kin, hear me please.

Oh Mighty Ones, as you loved life so bless me with life; as you loved your kin let me know the love of kinship; as you endured death so may I endure life and death with Grace. In Wisdom, Love and Strength, so be it.

Offeratory Invocation

The Samhain Charm 

End of Summer, summoned

Herd Culling; Head Taking

Mead Making; Dead Calling

I keep the Feast of Samhain!

First of the Fallen, you I call

Son of the Warrior; Eldest of Brothers

Lord of the Feast in the House of the Dead.

Take now this offering here at my Fire.

Wrathful Red Goddess, you I call

Queen of the Spirits, Daughter of Danu

Mare of the Stallion, Crow of the Corpses

Take now my offering, here at my Fire.

Host of the Ancestors, this is your feasting.

Apples I give you, fruit of the Gods

Bread I give you, flesh of the Land

Ale I give you, blood of the Cauldron

Come you from the Isle of Apples

Come you from the Dark One’s House

Come you through the Door of the Hinge

And give your blessing to our year!

So, all you Powers, I give you welcome at my Fire. Let your light be reflected in my spirit, let your ale flow in my veins. I raise this glass to you, and drink to your divine power. Let me know the health, wealth and wisdom of the Gods and Spirits on this holy feast of Samhain! So be it!

Offerings: For the Deities, oil or incense, for the Dead as specified: Apples, bread and ale. Work the rite close to your hearth, or at a tomb. 

Blessing cup: Prepared before beginning, to be drunk as the text calls for, and during the following litany.

Antiphon of Blessing

With open heart and centered mind I seek the flow of blessing

Shine from Above and Rise from the Deep

Litany of Blessing

Holy Ones, we remember you

response: Grant me the Blessing

All beings of the Great Way of Things

response: Grant me the Blessing

You to whom I make these offerings

response: Grant me the Blessing

That there be blessing in our spirits, bright and deep

response: Let the Blessing be in me

Let there be blessing in our minds, calm and clear

response: Let the Blessing be in me

Let there be blessing in our Flesh, whole and strong

response: Let the Blessing be in me

That Wisdom guide me

response: That the Blessing be mine

That Strength empower me

response: That the Blessing be mine

That Love sustain me

response: That the Blessing be mine

Antiphon of Blessing

With open heart and centered mind I seek the flow of blessing

Shine from Above and Rise from the Deep

Antiphon of Contemplation

In soul-peace I let light reflect, and shadow bide in the deep

May my stillness reflect beauty, and abide in wisdom

Now abide a while in silence, and let the whole Blessing of the coming Feast be upon you

Antiphon of Contemplation

In soul-peace I let light reflect, and shadow bide in the deep

May my stillness reflect beauty, and abide in wisdom

Final Prayer

So I remember the work of the Wise. Let the Fire be lit again, let once again the Well give forth, when I return to this shrine and work. Let the Holy Ones be praised, and the Great Dance of All Things be a turning of joy. Let Blessing carry me, and mine, and bring comfort to all the world. In Wisdom, Love and Strength, so be it!

A Solitary Spring Equinox Rite

This season our local ADF Grove cancelled our public seasonal ritual performance for, I think, the first time in our history. We've had a couple of weather-related close calls, but this is the first time that we simply won't hold a rite, thanks to the COVID 19 problem.

Here is a reasonably simple rite that can be done at a family dinner table, or alone. It requires a few candles, a bowl of water and a couple of simple symbolic props

I will take the strength of the land for our own, and let growth and the rising light overcome ill.

A Family Table Rite  for Spring

In addition to service for the food, arrange the Center of the table, as desired, with four good candles, one shorter than the others, and an attractive bowl of clean water. If desired a decorative Tree symbol completes the array. A piece of silver or quartz crystal might be present to drop into the water, and incense is good, if tolerable for a meal-table. Also have present a preferred beverage, or two, to receive the Blessing.

• With all prepared, the kin join hands, and breathe together in silence for a moment.

• The Head of the Table lights the short candle, drops the silver into the Water, and speaks:

We come together to celebrate the turning of tides, the rising of light, the balance of the rolling wheel. In the name of the Earth Mother and the Spirit of the Grain, Let us seek blessing.

• All recite:

The Fire, the Well, the Sacred Tree

Flow and Flame and Grow in me

By Land, Sea and Sky, Below and On High

Let the Water be blessed and the Fire be hallowed.

• It is good to formally cleanse– pass the water, or sprinkle all – pass incense if do-able; this may be light-hearted.

One simple charm (spoken three times) is:

By the Might of the Waters and the Light of the Fire

Let this meal/table/gathering be blessed!

An offering is given, saying:
• Where Fire and Water Meet, Where Land and Sea and Sky are joined
There is the Sacred Center, The Crossroads of Worlds.
We light the Fire of Welcome, we draw water from the Holy Well,
And to the Gods of Crossroads we offer,
That this place be a sacred place, a between place,
A place of meeting for mortals and the spirits.
 Let the Roads be open, let the voice be heard, let the Gates be Open!

• The Head, or another, lights the three tall candles in turn as all recite:

Oh all you Holy Beings of the Worlds, In all your might

We call you, whether unnamed or by name, By these three lights

(light one tall candle)

Beloved Dead, you travelers, gone before, To you in love

(light one tall candle)

Oh wond’rous spirits of this land we call, To you in awe

(light one tall candle)

And every shining god, in every heart, To you in honor true

Love, awe and honor, these we light

With these three flames here, burning bright

And bid the spirits bide with us in peace.

The Spring Charm:
For this charm have a stone from the surrounding land (or a small bowl of dirt), a handful of seed-wheat or corn, Two offerings of incense are also ready

The Head, or another, begins:

• Light and Dark in balance, turning; Year comes forth from Winter, changing
Shoots come forth from mud and soil, kits and young are birthed, as well
Sing we springtime one and all, as all the land rejoices.
Unto the landfolk we give honor, remember we your sleep and waking
Give us your blessing in the planting, and multiply it in the reaping
As spring brings summer and the harvest

The stone or soil is taken up and held as the charm is said. The stone or soil may be passed around the table for each to contemplate, if desired.
• To the Mother of All we make our prayer, and likewise give this offering.
An incense offering is made
Many named, who upholds every path, womb of grain and final tomb
Let your power be growth in the season of growth.
Let water run free, and soil be rich and quenched
Let sun be warm and winds kind, and the storm bring the protection of the Thunderer
Earth Mother, you are the Womb of Spring
Be for us the Mother of Peace

The Corn, in a bowl, is elevated, or passed around the table, saying:
• To the Spring Thunderer we make our prayer, and likewise give this offering
An incense offering is made
Thunder-wielder, who wakes the seed and guards the corn
Let your power be growth in this season of growth.
Shake the sky, rumble the ground, and let no good seed stay sleeping
Lightning charge the air, and guard against all ill; keep safe the Beloved Mother.          
Thunderer, you are the Hammer of Spring
Be for us the Shield of Protection

This charm can be said or sung three times, or until all the tokens have returned.

So turn, turn, from dark to light
We stand in place ‘tween left and right
One hand is winter, one is spring
Between is each and every thing.

All recite or sing the prayer of sacrifice, and a final offering of incense might be given.
• Hear us Holy Ones
Offering we give to all
In Honor, Reverence, and Joy
Accept our sacrifice, we call

A daring and confident host might choose to draw an omen at this time. Many will be happy simply to proceed to the Blessing:

The Head of the Table, or another recites:

• The lights are lit, and the feast is ready. Let the blessing be poured for us all.

The prepared drinks are poured, and a single passing-cup is raised, or everyone raises their cup, and recites:      

Let this be blessing, poured for us, from the Holy Powers.

Let it be wisdom, let it be strength, let it be love, between us, true.

Let the World be soil, in which our hearts sprout and bloom and bear.
Let the Season be life, and energy, and strength for the growing
Mother of All, Thunder-Champion, we ask your blessing on these cups.

• All drink, then bide a moment in silent unity.

• The Head begins closing, saying:

• So we accept the blessing of Spring! To all those who have come at our call, All who have given us their blessing, to all those who bide with us in Spring, we give thanks. We bid you go in peace, if you will, or stay at our sides in blessing. Spirits, we thank you!

The Gatekeeper is thanked and the gate closed, saying:

• Keeper of Gates, Lord of Ways, for keeping the crossroad, we give you our thanks.

Now let the Fire be but flame; Let the Well be but water

Let all be as it was before; Save only for the magic we have made.

Let the gates be closed!

Then all recite the Great Blessing:

• We offer our thanks to the Mother of All.

We offer our thanks to the Gods, Dead and Spirits.

May the Three Sacred Kins bring joy to all beings, and renew the ancient wisdom.

To the Fire, Well and Tree we offer our thanks.

May Wisdom, Love and Power kindle in all beings, and renew the ancient wisdom.

To the Earth, Sea, and Sky we offer our thanks.

May the ancient wisdom be renewed, and may all beings know peace, joy and happiness

In all the worlds.        So be it!

• The Head concludes, saying:
Let us keep gratitude in our hearts for this blessing, for this labor, for this good food we are about to eat, in the light of the Holy Ones.
Holy Ones, we thank you (all repeat)
Let’s Eat!

A Spring Invocation of Persephone

My own spiritual work is focused on the ways and lore of the Pagan Gaels - the Celtic peoples of Ireland and Scotland. However I have worked ritual in a number of formats over the years, in many cases writing eclectic and modern pieces that mix-and-match mythic elements. Most notable for that are rites I created for the Winterstar Symposiums. These were events promoted by A.C.E., the folks who do Starwood, and held in a resort setting with cabins and hotel meeting rooms. Every year the Saturday night "Multi-media ritual" transformed the hotel ballroom into a temple of light, color and sound. Rites done there included ecstatic wildness by Bate Cabal, Walk-through symbolic and interactive labyrinths, and, occasionally, actual circle-style ritual.

Usually scheduled in mid-February, one year the event was held later than usual, on Spring Equinox weekend. I wrote and directed the rite, and for that unusual crowd wrote an unusual rite. In the middle of it is this invocation to the Winter Queen (who transformed into the Spring Maiden in the rites climactic mystery). It is plainly a call to Persephone, though the name is unmentioned. 

The Equinoxes have no particular Celtic context - there is blessed little lore or mythic content available to fit them into a Gaelic calendar. Our own local Grove (which does a variety of ethnic Pagan rites in addition to our core Gaelic work) is celebrating Equinox in Hellenic fashion this weekend. Looking through old material I thought this invocation was fitting, and so I offer it here.

(I have an announcement coming about the fate of this blog, readers, so watch this space...)

An Invocation of Persephone

• The Green Earth is a Goddess, this we know

By ancient lore and by our own heart’s eye

In winter she abides beneath the land

The Underworld her home, and she its queen

• For in the Dawn-time she was wedded true

To that dark power of the Underworld

A maiden she, she went into the earth

There to be crowned, and reign among the dead

• The Gods of Earth were loathe that she should stay

Away from light and life, from warmth and weal

For with her gone, the land lay still and gray

Cold winter banning blossom, bud and fruit

• So by their wit they struck a bargain fair

Twixt life and death, between the dark and light

When sun and shadow are together joined

The Goddess goes from one world to the next.

• Now see her, seekers, in your vision eye

Upon her throne, deep in the wide world’s root

Her power keeps the Flame of Life alive

Preserved, like pomegranate seeds, for spring

• For there, in her deep realm, lie riches great

The force that makes seed spring lies in her hand

From last year’s death she makes the stuff of life

That new good may spring forth from old and gone

• We call you now, Great Goddess, we who seek,

We bring you gifts, hear us, we ask you now,

Flowers we bring, that you remember spring

And rise from your cold throne into the world.

• We stand with star and sun within our souls

And offer incense, that our prayers may rise

Unto your spirit, come to us, we cry

Garbed in your winter pallor though you be.

• For you are Death’s Queen still, who keeps the Dead

Rise now among us, Goddess, hear our call

In wonder, awe and wisdom, love and dread

We offer fire, now come into our hall!

An Imbolc Charm for the Beer

Readers know that the goddess Brigid is the chiefest god of our house. Such a thing is not easy to say, meaning no slight to the Dagda, her father, nor any other mighty one. Still, Brigid the Inspirer is close to both me and my wife, and Brigid the Hearth Mother has been kind to us over the years. In the ways of our Paganism, Imbolc is the special feast of Brigid, and we're working our Grove to work a big ol' sacrifice for Her this coming weekend.

Last night L and I kept our monthly Druid Monday work, which involves checking in with certain Inner contacts. I often spend a certain portion of that work asking for teaching, and the result is often a whirl of brain-contents and attempted clue-bricks, that sometimes knock together. Last night I was given most of this charm in a bag, and told to manifest it in the morning.

Like most of the Gaelic deities, we know of Brigid only by hints and reflections, especially in stories of her namesake St. Brigid of Kildare. This semi-historical figure is so surrounded by tales of magic and wonder that it is impossible not to suppose her a reflection of the earlier Celtic goddess. It is in stories of St Brigid that we hear of her connection with beer. 

It is not often that I link to Franciscans, but do have a look here for a marvelous 10th century poem about offering a lake of beer to god.

"St. Brigid also was a generous, beer-loving woman. She worked in a leper colony which found itself without beer, "For when the lepers she nursed implored her for beer, and there was none to be had, she changed the water, which was used for the bath, into an excellent beer, by the sheer strength of her blessing and dealt it out to the thirsty in plenty." Brigid is said to have changed her dirty bathwater into beer so that visiting clerics would have something to drink. Obviously this trait would endear her to many a beer lover. She also is reputed to have supplied beer out of one barrel to eighteen churches, which sufficed from Maundy Thursday to the end of paschal time."

This verse is especially meant for the brewing of beer, but I'm sure it could be used to bless any beer you might drink in celebration of the Power of Good Welcome, the Inspiration of Arts. Later today I mean to go brew beer for the coming season with fellow-Druid AJ. Perhaps he'll let me charm it with this verse:

Yuletide Blessings

From Ian, Liafal and Tredara, this blessing on my readers, and on the whole Northern Hemisphere in this season of renewal.

Have a great season... I'll probably do a year-end wrap post sometimes around the calends of January.

Harvest Blessing

This is a day late, but it has been rather a busy weekend. I'll have a post about that later. In the meantime it is not at all too late to make your peace with the spirits in the Grain, and perhaps this charm can help.

Easter Fakelore

(This little screed has gotten hundreds of shares on FB. I thought I'd post it here, being timely for the weekend.)

Attention Pagans - repeating this makes us look stupid. This stuff comes from half-wit anti-Catholic literature of the 19th century - it is worthless in light of modern scholarship.

Let's do this in a little detail:

1: Ishtar is not pronounced 'eester' - silly. If one pronounces a long 'I' one can arrive at "eeshtar', but that's only so close. In any case see below for the origin of 'Easter'

2: Ishtar was a goddess of fertility and sex, also war and sovereignty. While the Spring equinox season was important, it was not her particular feast. In any case the Feast of the Resurrection has only a coincidental association with spring equinox.

3: There are no depictions of Ishtar with eggs or rabbits. These symbols might be associated with the Germanic goddess below, but not with Ishtar, who has no relationship with the Christian feast.

4: Constantine did not Christianize the Roman empire. He made Christianity legal and was, to some extent, a patron of the early church. My impression is that there was no active worship of the ancient goddess Ishtar in Constantine's day.

Most specifically, the name of the goddess "Ishtar" has nothing to do with the Germanic name of the Christian feast, 'Easter'.

Easter was said by the early medieval scholar, Bede (and only by him) to be derived from the English goddess-name Eoster. That name is hard to trace, though a bit of progress has been made. It occurs elsewhere hinted at in place-names, and in literature only as a name of the month of April - 'Ostaramonath' or 'Eastermonath', which may just mean 'Easter Month'. A germanic goddess-name of that sort would be connected with goddesses of dawn - Eos in Greece, etc. The most likely meaning for the name 'Easter' for the Christian feast is "the feast we keep at dawn".

Most of the Christian world does not call the Feast of the Resurrection 'Easter'. In most languages it is called some variant of 'Pascha', derived from the Hebrew 'Pesach' - the Passover feast. Only English speakers call it "Easter" (and German Ostern) - nobody in Rome ever called it that. Constantine surely never heard the word "Easter", which would not have been invented for several hundred years after his time.

Summary: There may be pre-Christian remnants in the folk customs surrounding the Christian Resurrection Feast, but they have nothing to do with the ancient goddess Ishtar.

My Books; A Self-Review for Buyers

Gifting at the solstice season is an old and honorable custom, stretching back into Pagan time, along with drinking and feasting. For those of us in the northern hemisphere, whatever our religious inclinations, the solstice season is a time for enjoying friends and kin, and sharing the bounty that the year has brought. Here at the always-annoying initial descent of winter I am already looking forward to Yule morning, when the light begins to grow again.

Regular readers will know that I write books and sell them. I’ve done this a long time, though I have yet to have a main-stream publication. (The truth is I’m only a little motivated. The advantages of self-publishing continue to appeal to me. ) As a result I am sometimes asked how to approach my material in an orderly way, or, “what to read first”. In an effort to reduce the retyping of the answer to that question I’ll try to put the important stuff in order here.

If you are looking to read my books, you are hoping to learn about a practical approach to modern Celtic-style religion and magic. I freely refer to what I do as Pagan, though my material is radically different from much of modern Pagan practice. I begin with a reconstructionist’s concern for the original and reliably authentic lore of the Celts, especially the Gaels. To that I add a modern mage’s willingness to reframe, reinvent and experiment. In general I am more concerned with occultism and sorcery than with religion, mainly just as my personal inclination. However all my magical work is framed inside the Pagan religious model in which I work. Blog readers will know my opinion about the intimate connection between religion and magic.

Had I been interested in fame as an occultist, I’d have been an eclectic. Instead I have hitched my wagon to the specific ritual format and cosmology devised within ADF’s Druidry. Fortunately that format has come to be more in tune with trends (and/or contributed to them) in modern magic over the last decades. The modern interest in real work with spirits based on offering, divination and blessing fits very nicely (imhhaa opinion) with the work that I’ve devised. Readers used to working in a post-Wiccan or post-Masonic ritual style will find plenty in the material that can be adapted for their own work.

Prologue:

1: ADF’s Dedicant Path: The 150 page book that comes with one’s first year of ADF membership provides a simple introduction to the symbol system and ritual forms used in the rest of my work. I wrote most of the material, and edited the most recent edition. Even if one is uncertain about ADF as a primary Pagan path the material in our training, and the community of support, is valuable for those interested in non-Wiccan modern Pagan directions.

The Dedicant materials are available only with a one-year ADF membership. Note that all the following are available at my Lulu shop, except for SFHW, which is available at Amazon from ADF Publishing.

  

Top Tier:

2: Sacred Fire, Holy Well, A Druid’s Grimoire. This was the first formal writing I did about

our Druidic system. The core material began as a pamphlet for our local Grove in 1991. By the end of the 90s it had grown into the 300 page item it is now. In truth, all the themes of my later work are present here. If there’s a fault in the book it is that the rites were written to be performed for and by medium to large groups. The seasonal rites are based on our local Grove rites, where we readily have a half-dozen voices available, and the magical rites are written for myself and a partner to work for a fairly large group. The rites have been criticized as unworkable by solitaries, and that may be true.

However I continue to get good reviews from readers who find the book useful for developing a personal practice. It is a multi-category compendium with an introduction, at least, to the whole shootin’ - match.

 3: The Book of Nine Moons. This is a formal system of weekly exercises intended to provide initiation in magical skills and alliances over nine months.  It begins with a program of daily prayer and offering, and works its way into a fully consecrated home shrine and tools, practical magic and spellcraft and the work of gaining familiar spirits. It is specifically written for solitary performance. It includes no seasonal rites, focusing on personal hearth-cult and magical work.

It is, according to students who have attempted it, an intense and challenging program. I based the model on the kind of work that we expected of ourselves back when I was running a training coven. It may be that the pace is too brisk for someone working the system at home alone. I do (still) plan on expanding it into a slower-paced set of trainings, but that has been slow to happen. Those who have completed some basic familiarization with Druidic ritual (say, the Dedicant’s work) will find more of the more advanced material in one place in this book than anywhere else.

Having run a few students through the Nine Moons work I realized that much of the material might be of interest to folks not involved in Our Druidry. I decided that two of the primary teachings of the system ought to be broken out an offered to more general readers, apart from a rigorous general training. Those are the spirit-arte material, and the teachings on trace and vision-work.

 4: The Book of Summoning.  This book presents a systematic approach to gaining the aid and friendship of the spirits (especially non-deific spirits) and beginning to employ them in magic. It begins with a summary explanation of our Druidic ritual form, proceeds with a suite of rites intended to ‘introduce’ the magician to the spirits, and then proceeds to the work of making alliances.

This book contains my final-to-date efforts to apply principles of classic magical spirit work as found in the grimoires to a polytheist, alliance-based model. The rites have been tested by several magicians now to good effect, and I’m confident offering the material. I expect the system to be especially useful for those working to gain primary familiar allies among the Dead and the Landwights.

 5: The Book of Visions. Again using material lifted from the Nine Moons system, this book brings together the exercises for energy-work and vision-trance into a set of progressive exercises. This includes an invention of which I am fairly proud, the Nineteen Working. The working is a sit-down energy, meditation and visualization pattern based in a modern understanding of Celtic Pagan symbols.  It offers both an opportunity for mystical insight, and an important level of understanding and authority for spirit work.

The focus of the book’s vision-work is the construction and use of an Inner Nemeton – a visualized temple and workspace that serves as an arrival and departure point for further vision. This is presented in some detail, in a series of scripted trances. Also provided are exercises intended to allow an approach to the personal Higher Genius, here conceived in a Pagan way.

Let me say this plainly – I don’t recommend buying both the Book of Nine Moons and the two “Books of…”. There is some new material in each of the latter (more in the Book of Summoning) but they mainly reframe material from the full system. The two later books are more modular, easier to adapt to a personal a la carte practice. The Book of Nine Moons is a complete system.

Second Tier

6: The Court of Brigid Grimoire. This is a complete ritual suite for approaching the

goddess Brigid, meeting her primary ‘ministers’ or ‘angels’ or ‘daemons’ and working with the servant spirits of her ‘court’. It is based entirely on the methods presented in the Book of Summoning (and to some degree in Sacred Fire, Holy Well). It could be worked directly from the text by a new student, but some study of the underlying system will certainly reduce confusion.

 7: Draiocht;  A Celtic Sorcery Primer.  As titled, this is a simple introduction to the system, along with a collection of deity invocations, spells and trances. If you want a walk-through of the kind of magic this is, this could be the book for you.

 8: Beginning Practical Magic. This old monograph began life as a transcription of a day-long workshop on spellbinding and practical work. It remains chatty in tone, but it also still sells widely, especially in e-book. The advice and teaching has been rewritten in Sacred Fire, Holy Well.

 9: Spirit Talk; Seedling of Pagan Theologies. Articles on Pagan theologies originally published on this blog.

 10: The Book of the Dragon. What can I say; I wrote this in 1982 or so, in a first attempt

to synthesize my art. It is Wiccan in ritual form, but contains attempts at new work combining shamanistic methods with ritual magic. Very primitive by my current standards, but the art is fairly cool.

Me Having Fun

11: The Fire and Well Spellbook. This was me having fun with typesetting. It is all the ritual material from Sacred Fire, Holy Well arranged in a pretty type-face. Buy the hardback if you want something romantic for your wizard’s library.

12: Blank Books and Journals. (buggy-whips and sealing-wax on the left…). Keep an eye out, I put different ones up. Also see lots of them at my Tabula Rasa shop. 

13: Liber Spirituum. The grimoire tradition of magic includes the idea of a Book of Spirits – a personal book in which one collects the names, sigils and ‘signatures’ of the spirits with whom one has made pacts. This is my typeset of one for myself. The decoration is Celtic, but it would work for any spirit-arte collection.

And…

The Dwale of Afagddu. My small effort at a Cthulhu Mythos tome begins with a weird tale of ancient Wales, telling the secret story behind Cerridwen’s brewing. It then provides a grimoires of mythos rites. It walks a line between actually performable and why bother, but it includes a variety of fake-evil sorcerous Cthulhu art by me.

I write because I like writing, and because I hope that my words and ideas may be of value to other modern Pagans and occultists. I do my own typesetting and art, and enjoy making a book an expression of magic. May my readers be blessed by the work.

A Beltaine Blessing