By Ceisiwr Serith

Pagan Ritual

Ritual is the heart and soul of Paganism. It's a sacred acting through which we celebrate the world and the gods. By taking part in ritual, we not only learn how to live rightly - to perform rituals is to live rightly. There are rituals of time, when we do what is most appropriate for a given moment, and rituals of place, when we do what is most appropriate for a given location. By performing these rituals at the right time and the right place, we act rightly. And Pagans are what they do. 

Some rituals are unlearned. Humanity seems to have an innate genius for developing and elaborating rituals; they spring out of us when the moment calls for them. But if a ritual is to have meaning beyond a small group of people, it must be learned. The symbolic acts of a ritual make up a language that must be understood by those who perform it, and this language has to be learned.

This World and the Otherworld

Pagans live in this world, recognizing it as sacred. We don't see it as merely a temporary thing, nor as the manifestation of some more sacred realm. For Pagans, there is no other world that is more real and of more value than this one. We're not mere sojourners here, marking time until we can die and go on to a "real" and eternal world. This is our world; we belong here and we like it that way. 

This reference guide for Pagan parents and families includes:

• Ritual guidelines for weddings, births, birthdays, coming of age, seasonal celebrations, lunar phases, and more

• Suggestions for creation of the sacred home (including household shrines)

• Children's activities including meditations, mask and rattle making, drumming, and storytelling

• Prayers for throughout the day

• Tips for teaching children about paganism

• References for resources

About the Author

Ceisiwr Serith (David Fickett-Wilbar) is a writer and teacher in the Pagan community. His interest in prayers and rituals grew naturally as a result of working in the Wiccan and Druidic traditions, as well as writing books such as A Book of Pagan Prayer and Deep Ancestors: Practicing the Religion of the Proto-Indo-Europeans. He is a member of Ár nDraíocht Féin, a Druid fellowship, and is priest and liturgist for Nemos Ognios grove in Durham, NH. He has been published in the Journal of Indo-European Studies and Proceedings of the Harvard Celtic Colloquium.