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Author Topic: How often do you light your altar and /or honor your chosen deity/ies?  (Read 5592 times)

MeeneyLeeney

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Just as the title says, how often and also, what are your practices, eg. Meditation, prayer, ritual??
 As a solitary right smack dab in the middle of the bible belt, I have zero friends or acquaintances to exchange ideas from. I have my sort of "ritual" I perform everyday. I light my altar and reflect and begin praying to the spirit/deity/ancestor that resonates with me at that time. I also walk in the woods or just along the road and speak to them and feel their energy. Sometimes I will leave offerings in the woods at night. I only do magick when necessary... point is, I feel like i'm getting bored with what i'm doing and if i'm bored then "they" must be too! Or insulted?!?!?!
So, lay it on me ya'll!! As long as you don't mind sharing. =D

Blessings!
ML

Jainarayan

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Re: How often do you light your altar and /or honor your chosen deity/ies?
« Reply #1 on: November 13, 2014, 09:01:18 am »
Quote from: MeeneyLeeney;165120
Just as the title says, how often and also, what are your practices, eg. Meditation, prayer, ritual??
 As a solitary right smack dab in the middle of the bible belt, I have zero friends or acquaintances to exchange ideas from. I have my sort of "ritual" I perform everyday. I light my altar and reflect and begin praying to the spirit/deity/ancestor that resonates with me at that time. I also walk in the woods or just along the road and speak to them and feel their energy. Sometimes I will leave offerings in the woods at night. I only do magick when necessary... point is, I feel like i'm getting bored with what i'm doing and if i'm bored then "they" must be too! Or insulted?!?!?!
So, lay it on me ya'll!! As long as you don't mind sharing. =D

Blessings!
ML

 
I do not perform rituals regularly at my altar. Last night was the first time since the weekend that I made a libation offering (mead). Most nights of the week I light candles and incense around the house, including the altar, but without an offering or special prayers. I say prayers every morning when I put on my hammer pendant. I do some chants to Thor throughout the day. I think of the gods and goddesses, I talk to them.

Things I learned from practicing Hinduism is a saying nara seva narayana/narayani seva, "service to man is service to God/dess". Krishna told a story about something called antharyagam puja, internal worship. This means that if you mentally offer a flower, incense, water, food, etc. to God(dess) the offering goes immediately to him/her, and is one of the most sincere offerings. I can't speak for every tradition, because I understand some deities are a bit more demanding than others, but imo, what you are doing is perfect. I do not think the gods are bored or insulted... "If one offers me a leaf, a flower, fruit or water, I will accept it." - Bhagavad Gita 9.26  ;)

Nerine

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Re: How often do you light your altar and /or honor your chosen deity/ies?
« Reply #2 on: November 13, 2014, 12:11:55 pm »
Quote from: MeeneyLeeney;165120
Just as the title says, how often and also, what are your practices, eg. Meditation, prayer, ritual??
 As a solitary right smack dab in the middle of the bible belt, I have zero friends or acquaintances to exchange ideas from. I have my sort of "ritual" I perform everyday. I light my altar and reflect and begin praying to the spirit/deity/ancestor that resonates with me at that time. I also walk in the woods or just along the road and speak to them and feel their energy. Sometimes I will leave offerings in the woods at night. I only do magick when necessary... point is, I feel like i'm getting bored with what i'm doing and if i'm bored then "they" must be too! Or insulted?!?!?!
So, lay it on me ya'll!! As long as you don't mind sharing. =D

Blessings!
ML

 
Well your kinda in the same boat im in there small town and no one to talk with etc. Plus im basically a loner lols have my bf and kids and one close friend but that's it.
But anyways for me I don't always have a chance to sit down and light my altar and give an offering to my Goddess which is usally some kind of liqour I don't know why but that's what feels right to give.
Im a busy mom of 3 young kids and sometimes its five kids so I usally have to wait until they are in bed, there is the odd day that they do decide to nap at the same time so basically its anytime that I manage to have at least a half hour to my self that I get to do my prayers, offering and meditation. And that's usally just thanking her for the day etc. and asking for continued guidance in life, which is usally just picking a tarot card and that helps a lot with seeing what might be happing soon.
Everyday though I sit down at my altar and even if it is just for a couple quiet minutes just to thank her for everything.
Also I find walking helps a lot I walk everyday as long as the weather cooperates take my kids out and just show them things be it just looking at the leaves, snow or bugs there is always something. I find that to be a great way to connect. Appreciate the little things in life.
But thats just me this is what I find works best for my life.
Can I play with madness? - Iron Maiden

Redfaery

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Re: How often do you light your altar and /or honor your chosen deity/ies?
« Reply #3 on: November 13, 2014, 01:37:05 pm »
Quote from: MeeneyLeeney;165120
Just as the title says, how often and also, what are your practices, eg. Meditation, prayer, ritual??
 As a solitary right smack dab in the middle of the bible belt, I have zero friends or acquaintances to exchange ideas from. I have my sort of "ritual" I perform everyday. I light my altar and reflect and begin praying to the spirit/deity/ancestor that resonates with me at that time. I also walk in the woods or just along the road and speak to them and feel their energy. Sometimes I will leave offerings in the woods at night. I only do magick when necessary... point is, I feel like i'm getting bored with what i'm doing and if i'm bored then "they" must be too! Or insulted?!?!?!
So, lay it on me ya'll!! As long as you don't mind sharing. =D

Blessings!
ML


*looks at location line* Oh dear, right in the middle of Fayette'nam... I've been lucky to live in first the Triad (Greensboro, in the area right next to Jamestown and High Point) and now the Triangle (Raleigh), which are both pretty liberal, accepting areas. I'd suggest checking out WitchVox for groups in your area. Charlotte has a lot happening, actually!
 
I'm not sure if just because you're bored, then whoever you're honoring is bored, but I agree, if you're going through the motions half-heartedly, that's not a good thing. The thing I would ask is how much of a relationship do you have with the spirits you work with? You say you work with whoever resonates with you at the time. Have you considered building deeper relationships with any of them?
KARMA: You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

stephyjh

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Re: How often do you light your altar and /or honor your chosen deity/ies?
« Reply #4 on: November 13, 2014, 03:53:39 pm »
Quote from: Redfaery;165163
*looks at location line* Oh dear, right in the middle of Fayette'nam... I've been lucky to live in first the Triad (Greensboro, in the area right next to Jamestown and High Point) and now the Triangle (Raleigh), which are both pretty liberal, accepting areas. I'd suggest checking out WitchVox for groups in your area. Charlotte has a lot happening, actually!
 
I'm not sure if just because you're bored, then whoever you're honoring is bored, but I agree, if you're going through the motions half-heartedly, that's not a good thing. The thing I would ask is how much of a relationship do you have with the spirits you work with? You say you work with whoever resonates with you at the time. Have you considered building deeper relationships with any of them?
Oh, frak, Fayetteville. Yeah. Come to Charlotte.
A heretic blast has been blown in the west,
That what is no sense must be nonsense.

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Re: How often do you light your altar and /or honor your chosen deity/ies?
« Reply #5 on: November 13, 2014, 04:44:32 pm »
Quote from: MeeneyLeeney;165120
Just as the title says, how often and also, what are your practices, eg. Meditation, prayer, ritual??
 As a solitary right smack dab in the middle of the bible belt, I have zero friends or acquaintances to exchange ideas from. I have my sort of "ritual" I perform everyday. I light my altar and reflect and begin praying to the spirit/deity/ancestor that resonates with me at that time. I also walk in the woods or just along the road and speak to them and feel their energy. Sometimes I will leave offerings in the woods at night. I only do magick when necessary... point is, I feel like i'm getting bored with what i'm doing and if i'm bored then "they" must be too! Or insulted?!?!?!
So, lay it on me ya'll!! As long as you don't mind sharing. =D

Blessings!
ML

 
I am pretty rural as well, and my hubby and son are both Athiest, so I am most comfortable doing things when it is just me here/awake.  So on nights where hubby is working night shift, I light a candle on my altar and have prayer time.  When he is on days, I do it astrally.  In the morning I do Yoga combined with morning prayers, and then meditation.  I find that it doesn't bother me to meditate with them there, but I like saying my night time prayers out loud, and that I prefer to do when I am alone.

I have pretty much kept the same routine (at least as far as night time prayers) for over a decade now.  It has changed somewhat in the details, but the basics have remained.  While one the one hand it borders on boring, I find that the comfort factor makes up for it.  I have also found that keeping my night time prayers more conversational (as opposed to a scripted prayer) keeps them relevant to what is going on in my life right now...and thus less stagnant.
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Re: How often do you light your altar and /or honor your chosen deity/ies?
« Reply #6 on: November 13, 2014, 06:38:33 pm »
Quote from: Kylara;165172

I have pretty much kept the same routine (at least as far as night time prayers) for over a decade now.  It has changed somewhat in the details, but the basics have remained.  While one the one hand it borders on boring, I find that the comfort factor makes up for it.  I have also found that keeping my night time prayers more conversational (as opposed to a scripted prayer) keeps them relevant to what is going on in my life right now...and thus less stagnant.


I agree that the consistency of a routine can be comforting. I do use scripted prayers, but they're very short, like 4 lines each for morning and evening. I've rewritten them a few times as my path has evolved.

Once a week I do a longer ritual with candles, incense, and meditation. The other days I just do a short prayer and a water offering.
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orbilia

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Re: How often do you light your altar and /or honor your chosen deity/ies?
« Reply #7 on: November 20, 2014, 10:34:12 pm »
Quote from: MeeneyLeeney;165120
Just as the title says, how often and also, what are your practices, eg. Meditation, prayer, ritual??


For me, strangely enough, it seems that Cernunnos understands the kind of person that I am. I am a college student either on the run with school or tangled up in my own head. Sometimes I make an offering and I don't touch it for a few days. Sometimes I make the same offering consecutively because, well, I just don't know what to give him. When I move in back home from the dorms, it's always incense and a candle for him (he doesn't like it if I offer him flowers or plants from the backyard). Sometimes, and I hate to say it but it's true, I simply didn't offer anything. I would be so caught up in what I had to do that I would forget, or I simply didn't have the energy.

This was a huge cause of stress for me for a long time because I was freaking out over whether he was mad at me, whether he was even present, if I was doing it right. Then I was made to realize (and rather sternly, too) that he didn't mind that I did things my own way. He still loves me, cares about me, and makes it a point to stay in my room and make sure that whomever enters understands that I am to be taken seriously and protected by him. A few days ago he even gave he a nod of hello with a new tarot deck and answered me in another reading even more recently with that same fatherly, gentle, firm warmth.

Moral of the story? I think it's really all up to you, and what you feel is good for you. I also think that it's what you feel in relationship to your gods. I try to honor Cernunnos as much as I can, whether it's a passing thought or a difficult choice to work out instead of being lazy in bed (lol) but I find that the sweet moments where I have the passion to give him something that I really, really want to give him is the nicest thing for him. I don't like empty-hearted gifts and I'm sure that he respects that this is how I work. It could be weeks before I give him something; like today. I went to the cafeteria - bam, somehow, for some magical reason, someone decided to make pretzels for everyone. So I took a big one home for the altar. As opposed to me having to think "oh, damn, I have to give him a present... again..." I don't like that thinking. To me, if it comes from the heart, one passionate gift is much better than a thousand heartless ones.

Although one thing is for certain: if there's alcohol involved, no matter what, first sipful is his.

Hope I didn't talk your ear off! Really great question.

Scales

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Re: How often do you light your altar and /or honor your chosen deity/ies?
« Reply #8 on: November 22, 2014, 05:06:38 pm »
Quote from: MeeneyLeeney;165120
Just as the title says, how often and also, what are your practices, eg. Meditation, prayer, ritual??
 As a solitary right smack dab in the middle of the bible belt, I have zero friends or acquaintances to exchange ideas from. I have my sort of "ritual" I perform everyday. I light my altar and reflect and begin praying to the spirit/deity/ancestor that resonates with me at that time. I also walk in the woods or just along the road and speak to them and feel their energy. Sometimes I will leave offerings in the woods at night. I only do magick when necessary... point is, I feel like i'm getting bored with what i'm doing and if i'm bored then "they" must be too! Or insulted?!?!?!
So, lay it on me ya'll!! As long as you don't mind sharing. =D

Blessings!
ML

 
From multiple times daily to bi weekly, depending on everything else going on. I'd rather have it more regular, but I'm not up to it right now. I do try to at least think on things a bit daily.

Nyktelios

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Re: How often do you light your altar and /or honor your chosen deity/ies?
« Reply #9 on: November 22, 2014, 11:12:36 pm »
Quote from: MeeneyLeeney;165120
Just as the title says, how often and also, what are your practices, eg. Meditation, prayer, ritual??
 As a solitary right smack dab in the middle of the bible belt, I have zero friends or acquaintances to exchange ideas from. I have my sort of "ritual" I perform everyday. I light my altar and reflect and begin praying to the spirit/deity/ancestor that resonates with me at that time. I also walk in the woods or just along the road and speak to them and feel their energy. Sometimes I will leave offerings in the woods at night. I only do magick when necessary... point is, I feel like i'm getting bored with what i'm doing and if i'm bored then "they" must be too! Or insulted?!?!?!
So, lay it on me ya'll!! As long as you don't mind sharing. =D

Blessings!
ML


Usually once a day, though I miss days here and there. I try to keep my daily practices pretty simple so they aren't that time-consuming or complicated. I will mostly just light a tea light candle in front of a deity statue in the morning, say a few prayers, and blow out the candle. If I have extra time that day, or if it's a special occasion, I will use incense and keep the candle burning longer. At night when I'm lying in bed I will often do breathing exercises and more prayers.

10_Of_Swords

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Re: How often do you light your altar and /or honor your chosen deity/ies?
« Reply #10 on: November 24, 2014, 04:06:17 am »
Quote from: MeeneyLeeney;165120
Just as the title says, how often and also, what are your practices, eg. Meditation, prayer, ritual??
 As a solitary right smack dab in the middle of the bible belt, I have zero friends or acquaintances to exchange ideas from. I have my sort of "ritual" I perform everyday. I light my altar and reflect and begin praying to the spirit/deity/ancestor that resonates with me at that time. I also walk in the woods or just along the road and speak to them and feel their energy. Sometimes I will leave offerings in the woods at night. I only do magick when necessary... point is, I feel like i'm getting bored with what i'm doing and if i'm bored then "they" must be too! Or insulted?!?!?!
So, lay it on me ya'll!! As long as you don't mind sharing. =D

Blessings!
ML

 
Given what traditional offerings are to my patron I can only make them sporadically, but they don't seem to mind...
I have however started to make offerings to the others recently and have come to find them to be a bit more demanding, bugging me when I don't do it daily.

Hrútsvinr

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Re: How often do you light your altar and /or honor your chosen deity/ies?
« Reply #11 on: December 10, 2014, 10:13:24 pm »
Quote from: MeeneyLeeney;165120
Just as the title says, how often and also, what are your practices, eg. Meditation, prayer, ritual??
 As a solitary right smack dab in the middle of the bible belt, I have zero friends or acquaintances to exchange ideas from. I have my sort of "ritual" I perform everyday. I light my altar and reflect and begin praying to the spirit/deity/ancestor that resonates with me at that time. I also walk in the woods or just along the road and speak to them and feel their energy. Sometimes I will leave offerings in the woods at night. I only do magick when necessary... point is, I feel like i'm getting bored with what i'm doing and if i'm bored then "they" must be too! Or insulted?!?!?!
So, lay it on me ya'll!! As long as you don't mind sharing. =D

Blessings!
ML

 
Honestly, I don't do rituals/meditation/prayer nearly as often as I should. I try to do a short, mindful prayer every day when I put on my pendant. Lately that's gone out the window because I don't have a daily routine anymore (I'm not even at my own house for half the week, etc.).

When I am at home, I'll light some candles and incense and do things around the house. When I can be sensible enough to do it, I try and meditate. I've gotten worse at that lately because I've done it so seldom these past few months.

It can be a month before I do a physical offering on my altar. Usually, it's water for the ancestors and gods, or alcohol, sometimes food.

TL;DR I don't do it very often, but They don't seem to hold it against me.

Louisvillian

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Re: How often do you light your altar and /or honor your chosen deity/ies?
« Reply #12 on: December 14, 2014, 04:56:40 am »
I'm a mostly-Hellenistic syncretic recon. So here's my perspective:

Quote from: MeeneyLeeney;165120
Just as the title says, how often and also, what are your practices, eg. Meditation, prayer, ritual??

I have a calendar that I try to follow, but life gets in the way sometimes as far as exact timing goes. I might have it set that I do something on x day, but I'm sick that day so I do it two days later. I think that as long as I'm doing something, it's not too huge of a deal unless it pertains literally to that specific date.
Usually, these consist of a feast day or a libation ritual where I portion off part of a meal or drink, and dedicate it to the god(s) relevant to the ritual, and place it somewhere as an offering. I don't exactly have a permanent outdoor altar, and it's really cold out, so I make do with what I have on hand for these. But they consist of a set sequence of things: processing to the ritual space, purification, prayer and hymns, and an offering. Often I'll read from the Homeric Hymns; I've been wanting to get my hands on a copy of the Orphic Hymns, too.

What I make sure to not miss is the ritual for the beginning and end of a month. Those set a kind of rhythm and are very important for my household cultus. These are rather idiosyncratic, with elements similar to a basic libation ritual, but other elements specific to the purpose of closing out the month and beginning the new.

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Re: How often do you light your altar and /or honor your chosen deity/ies?
« Reply #13 on: December 22, 2014, 12:58:18 pm »
Quote from: MeeneyLeeney;165120
Just as the title says, how often and also, what are your practices, eg. Meditation, prayer, ritual??


I used to go to my altar every day, but I fell off of my path for a while. I'm getting back on it now. I light one candle for the overall Divine, and a candle for each entity I'm speaking to. If I'm lighting them all, I do it in a specific order each time. When I blow them out, I do it in the reverse order.
“You must be shapeless, formless, like water. When you pour water in a cup, it becomes the cup. When you pour water in a bottle, it becomes the bottle. When you pour water in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Water can drip and it can crash. Become like water my friend.” -- Bruce Lee

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Re: How often do you light your altar and /or honor your chosen deity/ies?
« Reply #14 on: December 22, 2014, 05:33:10 pm »
Quote from: MeeneyLeeney;165120
Just as the title says, how often and also, what are your practices, eg. Meditation, prayer, ritual??


Usually twice daily. I always light a candle and some incense at my shrine, but how long I spend there can vary a lot. There are days I can only squeeze in the most basic set of prayers, about 5 minutes' worth, and others when I go maximalist at around an hour. My biggest challenge at the time is incorporating the vigil service on the eve of great feasts; even in the reader (i.e. priestless) version, it clocks in at about 2 hours, and by the second half it can be hard to stay awake.
'You created us restless, O Lord, and we find no rest until we rest in You.'
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