Pagan Worship And Rituals

There are two types of modern Pagan rituals:

those done in public
and those performed in secret.

Calendrical rites are public ceremonies that are usually connected to the yearly cycle of seasons.

The longest and shortest days of the yearly cycle, the summer and winter solstices, are extensively observed festivals among today's Pagans, as they were among Pagans in the past.

Similarly, the arrival of spring, as well as the harvest season in fall, is frequently celebrated with ceremonial mirth.

Winter, when much of nature dies or fades from view, is also traditionally honored as a season when the ghosts of the dead visit the living.

People welcome their ancestors by arranging a seat at the table for them, lighting special lamps, giving food and drink to the deceased, and honoring them with traditional music during the Lithuanian Velines festival, for example.

Families may also pay a visit to their relatives' graves and celebrate the same way.

Halloween was most likely inspired by recollections of old Celtic customs observed at the festival of Sámhain, which took place at the conclusion of the Celtic calendar in the month now known as October.

The contemporary Halloween adornment of jack-o'-lanterns echoes the old Celtic tradition of ritually keeping severed heads as protective talismans, typically exhibited at doors.

The ancient Pagan belief in providing food, drink, and other forms of hospitality to one's ancestors in order to avoid their possible anger or malevolence should the dead feel slighted or neglected is mirrored in the ritualized chanting of "trick or treat," in which masked children request candy or other treats in exchange for refraining from mischievous tricks.

The number and frequency of yearly festivals celebrated by Pagans in the past varied depending on the population and area of Europe.

Wiccans have created an eight-festival calendar called sabbats, which is based on Pagan Celtic festivals from the past.

Imbolc, the first festival of the calendar year, is celebrated in the dead of winter at the start of February as a time of preparation for the arrival of spring. At this time, the Celtic goddess Brigid is worshipped.
The second sabbat is Ostara's feast, which is commemorated on March 21 or 22 around the time of the vernal equinox, with egg decoration and other symbolic activities commemorating the first stirrings of spring and a general theme of fertility.
Beltane, a raucous celebration of springtime, fertility, and life in plenty with joyful dances, bonfires, maypoles, and other sexually themed festivities, takes place on May 1.
Litha, the summer solstice, the fourth Wicca sabbat, is marked with bonfires and dance, as well as symbolic flaming wheels placed on poles and thrown down hills to symbolize the sun at its zenith.
Lughnassad, a festival devoted to the Celtic deity Lugh, takes place at the beginning of August. The start of the harvest season is commemorated during this event.
The autumn equinox, which occurs on September 21 or 22, is known as Mabon, and it marks the beginning of the harvest season.This sixth festival's festivities revolve on the particular handling of the final sheaf of grain harvested from the field (or a substitute), which is said to symbolize the deity or goddess of grain and fertility.
The next holiday is Sámhain, which is associated with the reverence of the dead and the preparation for the approach of winter.
The winter solstice celebration, also known as Yule in German, is the eighth and final festival. This sabbat is a time for feasting and revelry, being close to the hearth and safely insulated from the harshness of winter winds and cold; there are a variety of activities, some of which involve the reappropriation of rites that were previously taken into Christianity from European Pagan winter celebrations, such as the decoration of evergreen trees with lights.

Although the Wicca yearly round of eight sabbats is a composite of traditions from Celtic, Germanic, and other sources, and is not observed by all modern Pagans in all of its details, the general celebration of the agricultural cycle, particularly at the key times of solstice and equinox, and respect for the dead are common among Pagans, regardless of the differences in ritual times and activities.

Regional, sometimes transregional, and even international festivals, in which Pagans gather on farms, in parks, and in other open spaces for days of revelry, feasting, music, dance, and sharing of ritual lore in a setting close to nature, with nighttime bonfires always a central event, are another important aspect of Pagan ritual life.

In the United States, anthropologist Sarah M. Pike has done considerable study on these growingly big and popular events. “Neopagan identity is mainly represented at festivals via music and dance,” she said, highlighting the boisterous, joyfully physical character of most contemporary Pagan ritual.

Menuo Juodaragis (Moon of the Black Horn) is a yearly August festival in Lithuania that brings together Baltic Pagans, artists, and musicians ranging from traditional Lithuanian folksingers to heavy metal rockers and electronica and trance music acts.

The Moon of the Black Horn, like the American celebrations that Pike attended, attracts huge groups of Pagan revelers from Lithuania and other European nations to the open countryside for singing, dancing, and eating around blazing fires.

Private forms of worship conducted by individuals or families in their homes are another kind of contemporary Pagan religious practice.

Domestic Pagan worship takes many forms. Many Pagans, though not all, create and adorn representations of deities to whom prayers, hymns, and sacrifices are addressed.

Though animal sacrifice was common in ancient European Pagan religions, it is uncommon in contemporary Paganism, especially among Reconstructionists who are typically so committed to an accurate re-creation of previous rituals.

Bread, cake, fruits, flowers, and other nonmeat products, as well as milk, beer, wine, and other drinks, are often offered to Pagan deities.

Candles and incense are often used to create a more sensually evocative ambiance and as an indoor alternative to the roaring flames that are usually used when rituals are conducted outside.

Prayer passages are shared on the Internet or published in periodicals and books, and religious music are also disseminated on the Internet or marketed in cassette or compact disc (CD) format.

Reconstructionist Neopagans often dispute the proper method to give gifts, read prayers, chant incantations, and conduct other ritual acts, exchanging information and interpretations through the Internet and other media.

The symbolic decorating of houses of worship is another significant aspect of religious practice. Reconstructionists prefer to depend on symbols and artifacts proved by archaeologists and other academics to have really been used in ancient Pagan rites, while Eclectic Pagans enjoy a broad range of creative representations drawn from imagination, popular books and periodicals, or other sources.

Such subtle differences in emphasis should not be overstated, nor should they distract us from observing the broad agreement among modern Pagans of all stripes about the use of food, drink, and other such material offerings as legitimate forms of worship; prayers, chants, songs, dances, and other verbal, aural, and kinetic expressions; and symbols, images, statues, and other similar forms of visual and kinetic expressions as legitimate forms of worship.

When comparing Pagan worship styles to those of other religions, we discover that the use of images in domestic worship distinguishes Paganism from the aniconic severity of Judaism, Islam, and post-Reformation forms of Christianity, while bringing it closer to the devotional practices of Hinduism, Buddhism, Shinto, and the Roman Catholic form of Christianity (with its profusion of Jesus, Mary, and saint images) (with its sacred icons).

Modern Pagan celebrations and public rites include loud music and dancing that conveys a pleasure in sensuality that is typically controlled and limited—and sometimes condemned as evil and wayward—in many global religions rather than freely embraced.

You may also want to read more about Paganism here.

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