To Walk a Pagan Path: Practical Spirituality for Every Day

11/13

to walk a pagan path

Publication date: November 2013

Price: $15.99 U.S.; $18.50 CAN

Pages: 288

Trim size: 53/16"x 8"

ISBN: 978-0-7387-3724-9

Paperback original

Llewellyn Publications

2143 Wooddale Drive

Woodbury, MN 55125-2989

1-800-THE MOON (1-800-843-6666)

For publicity queries, contact

[email protected]

UNCORRECTED PROOF

Please be aware that the editing and

proofreading of this manuscript have

not been completed. Errors will be

corrected in the final version.

ALBER

UNCORRECTED

TSSON

PROOF

NOT FOR SALE

To Walk Pagan Path.indd 1

6/21/13 9:58 AM

To Walk a

Pagan

Path

tarw

oan Ste

© J

About the Author

(to come)

To Walk a

Pagan

Path

Practical Spirituality

for Every Day

ALARIC ALBERTSSON

Llewellyn Publications

Woodbury, Minnesota

To Walk a Pagan Path: Practical Spirituality for Every Day
© 2013 by Alaric Albertsson.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever, including Internet usage, without written permission from Llewellyn Publications, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

First Edition

First Printing, 2013

Bees: iStockphoto.com/Loradora

Blackberry: iStockphoto.com/Jiri Oubelicky

Butterfly: iStockphoto.com/Jamie Farrant

Honey: iStockphoto.com/Alonzo Design

Spindly vine: iStockphoto.com/SpiffyJ

Young leaves: iStockphoto.com/Sveta Demidoff

Cover design by Kevin R. Brown

Editing by

Llewellyn Publications is a registered trademark of Llewellyn Worldwide, Ltd.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data (Pending)

ISBN: 978-0-7387-3724-9

Llewellyn Worldwide does not participate in, endorse, or have any authority or responsibility concerning private business transactions between our authors and the public.

All mail addressed to the author is forwarded, but the publisher cannot, unless specifically instructed by the author, give out an address or phone number.

Any Internet references contained in this work are current at publication time, but the publisher cannot guarantee that a specific location will continue to be maintained. Please refer to the publisher’s website for links to authors’ websites and other sources.

Llewellyn Publications

A Division of Llewellyn Worldwide, Ltd.

2143 Wooddale Drive

Woodbury, MN 55125-2989

www.llewellyn.com

Printed in the United States of America

books by this author

Contents

Introduction . . . 1

Chapter 1: Seven Steps to a New Way

of Living . . . 5

Chapter 2: The Sacral Calendar . . . 37

Chapter 3: Daily Devotions . . . 61

Chapter 4: Familiar Spirits . . . 81

Chapter 5: Leaf And Fruit . . . 119

Chapter 6: Bark And Branch . . . 145

Chapter 7: The Birds And The Bees . . . 163

Chapter 8: Making Food . . . 191

Chapter 9: Pagan Crafts . . . 215

Candle Making 215

John Barleycorn 225

Solstice Wheels 230

Making Scents 232

Corn Dolls 239

Mirror, Mirror On The Wall 242

Chapter 10: Yule . . . 245

Glossary . . . 261

Bibliography . . . 265

Index . . . 269

it is about how to express our spirituality in our daily lives.

After your coven meeting comes to a close, or your grove rit-

ual ends, how do you continue to live as a Pagan from day to

day?

Years ago a non-Pagan friend once said to me, “I know

why you’re always so happy, Alaric. It’s all the holidays you

Pagans have. You have Christmas all year long!”

There was a kernel of truth in that thought. For the

majority of us Pagans, those who observe the Wheel of

the Year, another holiday celebration comes approximately

every six weeks. We barely have time to put away the Spring

Equinox decorations before we start planning for our Belt-

ane celebrations, and then Midsummer and then Lammas.

Depending on your path or tradition some of these holidays

will have more significance than others, but the celebratory

f 1

f

2

1

end.

We can find even more fulfillment by expanding our spir-

itual expression beyond these seasonal observances and into

our daily lives. But to live fully as a Pagan requires intentional effort, and usually a little planning. The good news is that the rewards far outweigh the effort.

Think of this book as a tool kit for building a Pagan life.

The book provides some tools, but the design of your life

will depend on your path or tradition, your personal needs

and all of the many factors that have made you a unique indi-

vidual. Some of the ideas you find herein will be more useful

than others. Some you may eschew altogether.

For example, in the book I suggest beekeeping as one

means of building a connection with the earth, but this may

be inappropriate if you are allergic to bee venom, suffer from

entomophobia (fear of insects) or do not have the funds for

the initial start-up expense. Beekeeping is not for everybody.

Depending on your life design, some of the ideas present-

ed here may be useful, but only after they have been altered

for your own use. As far as possible I have tried to be inclu-

sive of the vast diversity of Pagan belief, tradition and experience, but feel free to adapt anything given within these pages

to fit your own needs.
To Walk a Pagan Path
is about expressing YOUR spirituality in your daily life!

My own path is Saxon, as you already know if you have

read other books that I have written. The inspiration that

shapes my spirituality comes from the culture and traditions

of pre-Christian England, and so this book has a lot of exam-

ples from a Saxon viewpoint. However the ideas behind those

f 2 2

tradition. Whether your path is Wiccan, Saxon, Celtic, Hel-

lenic, Kemetic, Ásatrú or some other tradition, this book will

help you expand your spirituality into a more fulfilling life-

style.

The first chapter I’ll tell you about seven things you can

do to really integrate Paganism into your everyday life in

a meaningful way. You very likely do some of these things

already. Most are steps you can take over the next couple of

weeks to expand your spiritual experience. As with every-

thing else in this book, all seven steps can be easily personalized for your own spiritual tradition.

Most of the seven steps require little explanation, but two

following chapters will explore the purpose and methods of

creating sacred time. In the second chapter we will look at

personalizing the sacral calendar, and in the third chapter I

discuss expressing your spirituality through your daily rituals.

Through the remainder of the book we will explore dif-

ferent activities to help strengthen your connection with the

earth. Again, some of these activities may be inappropriate

for your lifestyle, some may need to be tweaked or person-

alized, but some may eventually become cherished tradi-

tions for you exactly as they are presented here. These later

chapters explore the possibilities of expanding your spiritu-

al experience by working with companion animals, growing

some of your own food, connecting with trees and wildlife,

keeping hens or honeybees, baking bread, making your own

incenses and candles, and more.

You may find that you derive enjoyment and spiritual

enrichment from most of the activities in
To Walk a Pagan

f 3 2

introduction

Path
. Many of these can be integrated into your life as seasonal projects either for you alone or for group activities.

Your coven may decide to make ritual candles every Imbolc

(as some of my Wiccan friends do), blend incenses at Mid-

summer and bake bread at Lughnasadh. In this way you can

enjoy a lot of these projects without them overwhelming