Read Along: To Walk A Pagan Path (Chapter 7)

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alaric albertsson, backyard chickens, bee keeping, divination, eggs, Eostre, Ostara, pagan books, read along, to walk a pagan path

Welcome back to the Read Along of To Walk a Pagan Path by Albert Albertsson–Catch up here with Chapter 1 (part 1), Chapter 1 (part 2), Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 5 (I’m still skipping Chapter 4 for now), and Chapter 6.  Today’s commentary will be for Chapter 7, “The Birds and the Bees”.

This holiday is celebrated on the Sunday following the first full moon after the vernal equinox. In Latin it is called Pascha, the French call it Paques, the Spanish say Paschal, and the Swedes say Pask. The only two languages that have preserved the name of the goddess who was once praised and honored in mid-spring are German, which names this holiday Ostern, and and the English language, where it is known as Easter.

Very little solid information about the goddess Eastre (or Eostre) has survived. Her name is cognate with our word east, and so we can surmise that she is a goddess of the Dawn and, because of her feast date, of the spring–a goddess of beginnings. Her moon marked the beginning of Eostre’s month, which later became to be known by its Roman name, April. In the pre-Christian era, Eostre’s feast was one of the three great festivals of the Germanic world.

Now, I’ve not read A History of Pagan Europe by Prudence Jones and Nigel Pennick (the book that the author references for at least the last portion of the above quote), but I’ve read enough in my 20+ years as a Pagan to have some doubts about Albertsson’s choice of openings to this chapter. Of all the Wheel of the Year holidays, Eostre is the one whose provenance has always been a bit thin:

Our sole authority for Eostre is Bede, who says that she was the Anglo-Saxon goddess after whom the month of April is named. He did not associate her with hares, and modern scholarship finds her name cognate with many Indo-European words for dawn, which presents a high possibility that she was a dawn-goddess, and so April as the Eostre-month was the month of opening a new beginning which makes sense in a North German climate.

~Ronald Hutton

So, we have a holiday whose first historical written reference is by the Venerable Bede in his 8th century De ratione temporum, later followed by some commentary by Joseph Grimm’s Deutsche Mythologie from the 19th century–these two bits of source material seem to the reference material for all modern claims of the goddess Eostre. We also have a preponderance of folk-festivals and custom involving bunnies, eggs, and other spring things. And last, but certainly not least, there’s the proposed proto-Indo-European (PIE) root word (a reconstruction of a theorized goddess name), Hausos (also *h₂ewsṓs, Aeusos, or Xáusṓs). My problem with this introduction to the chapter is my problem with how this holiday is generally addressed among Pagans–as fact.

There may have been a goddess of the dawn named Eostre that was largely lost to time (I find this odd, when so much of Germanic myth was preserved) but can still be found through the tracing of linguistic evidence back to the cultural group from which most Pagan religions descend.  There were definitely a number of springtime festivals throughout Pagan Europe, and bunnies and eggs certainly play a role in the symbols and customs of a number of European folk traditions that undoubtedly have Pagan roots.  And, most certainly, the Eostre-as-goddess idea is true by simple fact that itis what (most) Pagans celebrate–its what we do, what we believe, etc.  My objection to it is treating it as historical fact when, in fact, we don’t know that it is historical fact.  We hope it might be, we believe it might be, and we think we have evidence that supports it…but there are other plausible, evidenced (and more parsimonious) hypotheses out there*.

The problem is this–when one  belongs to a tradition that has often used inaccurate or outright manufactured claims for as a bid for legitimacy, I think its fairly safe to say that one loses their credibility.  This, like many things in Paganism, becomes a conflict over authenticity vs. validity.  We like the idea of Eostre, Goddess of Spring, because she “fits” our narrative–but what we “know” of her (everything but her possible name) as been our creation to fill avoid in that narrative.  Since this is a topic I’ve already broached, I’ll leave my criticism with one last general thought, as it has effectively become longer than the two paragraphs it is addressing:  Validity without historical authenticity is better than validity with false historical authenticity; with the former, you at least keep the validity…and with the latter, you have neither.

Moving on…

Then came spring’s promise.  First came the lambing season, which meant fresh milk as the ewes began to lactate.  And by this time, the chickens were produing more than an occasional egg…

…For early Pagan people, the spring eggs were life; they were much-needed sustenance and nourishment after the hardship of winter.

Albertsson continues to draw upon other commonalities and to discuss spring (and the symbols of spring) as a gateway to discuss additional customs, rituals, and activities to incorporate an observation of the seasons and a more natural way of living (the *actual* point of this book anyhow).  Among these topics, he addresses the following (not necessarily in order):

• Natural Egg Dying–Of all his suggestions this one (and egg divination) are probably the easiest for people in a variety of living situations.  There are actually a number of ways to dye eggs (if you Goggle “natural egg dying” everyone from Better Homes and Gardens and Martha Stewart to CrunchyMomBlog (I’m making this one up as a summary of every “natural” parenting blog ever) has a website about it.  Basically, simmer any colored plant matter til it turns a few shades darker than you want your eggs, toss in a tablespoon of vinegar per cup of dye, and then soak the eggs in the cooled dye til they reach the preferred color.  You can rub some oil onto the eggs to deepen the color and make them shiney.  Albertsson suggests a slightly different method of boiling the eggs and the ingredient for coloring at the same time…but its been my experience dying other things (like cloth and yarn) that sometimes it takes longer than the length of time required to boil eggs to get the desired shade.
• Keeping Chickens–I’m a huge fan of keeping chickens.  I know a number of people that do, I love fresh eggs, and when I eventually have a yard, I’m totally down with this.  As an apartment dweller, its just not practical.  With that being said, if keeping chickens is something you want to do, there are some excellent print and online resources.  Albertsson’s synopsis of chicken-keeping is an excellent overview to introduce someone that is unsure or has never thought about it to the idea.  For more information (if its something that interests you) I would recommend starting with BackyardChickens.com’s forums, which are full of helpful individuals and some good resource lists (I’ve been lurking there for years).  If you want to keep chickens, the big things that I’ve learned that you need to consider are 1) local ordinances, 2) breeds suitable to your climate, 3) suitable habitat for your chickens (you’re gonna need a coop, a place to put it, and a way to keep them safe from whatever your predators are–for me, that’s hawks, eagles, osprey, gators, foxes, snakes, coyotes…also, I like the idea of a mobile coop), and 4) the time to properly research their needs and care for them appropriately.  Most of what Albertsson says here is a summary of what you can find more fully developed elsewhere.  The biggest novel idea that he presents here is in using magic and ritual to bless and protect your coop and/or flock.
• Egg Divination–“With your own eggs, you can practice one of the oldest forms of divination.  It is a practice known variously as oomantia, ovamancy, oloscopy, or oomancy…”  Basically, egg divination involved hot water, and cracking one of your freshly laid backyard chicken eggs (just the white) into the hot (not boiling water) and interpreting the shapes it creates (not unlike reading tea leaves).  Albertsson is quite adamant about this only being *truly* significant if its a nice fresh egg out from under your own chiken, and not from the grocery store.  Personally, I’d hate to waste good fresh eggs like that (they are SO much tastier than store eggs)…unless I was doing oomancy while making egg drop soup.
• Bee Keeping–Albertson recommends bee keeping for honey, beeswax (good for candles, salves, etc), a way of being part of the Earth’s cycles, supporting pollination, and for pure entertainment (also as a social topic of interest).  He talks a little bit about bees (from human history to bee behavior), of keeping bees (taking bee keeping classes, hive maintenance), and “making it Pagan” (deities amenable to bee-oriented magic).  He also mentions that even if you aren’t going to keep bees yourself, you should plant with a mind to the bees.  And this is true–bees are immensely important to our way of life, to our agriculture…and they are in trouble from that same way of life (CCD, or colony collapse disorder, is a terribly threat to honey bees, with a complex etiology).  But it is important to remember, whether you keep honeybees or not, that there are other pollinators–pollinators that are actually native to our ecosystems (unless you are reading this from Europe, honey bees (Apis mellifera) are not a native species), that you should also be planting for and can also make homes and shelter for.  Native bees may not make honey, but they are still important!

 

Next time, Chapter 8: Making Food.

* I’m quoting Wiki here only because it has the most complete explanation that I’ve been able to find outside of a book (and yes, its footnoted):

In 1959, Johann Knobloch proposed a different etymology. Writing of “the relationship between dawn and springtime, between night – or early morning – and daybreak in the Christian Eastern rituals of the East and the West”, he proposed that the Old High German name for the feast, Ōst(a)rūn, as a Gallo-Frankish coinage, drawn from Latinalbae in the designation of Easter Week as hebdomada in albis and in the phrase albae (paschales). The Germanic word is connected with an Indoeuropean word for the dawn (uşás-, Avestan ušab-, Greek ἠώς, Latin aurora, Lithuanian aušrà, Latvian àustra, Old Church Slavonic za ustra), and Knobloch links this derivation with the word albae in the phrases in Church Latin, with which are associated the French and Italian words for the dawn, and connected it with the dawn service of the Easter Vigil in which those to be baptized faced east when pronouncing their profession of faith.  Jürgen Udolph, himself a proponent of a different view, says that, although the theory that the words “Easter” and “Ostern” come from the name of a Germanic goddess reconstructed by Jacob Grimm as Ostara is the most widespread at a popular level, Knobloch’s proposal enjoys most support.

(source)

 

Read Along: To Walk a Pagan Path (Ch 1, part 2)

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alaric albertsson, book review, connecting with spirit, paganism, read along, sacred space, to walk a pagan path

Welcome back to discussing the second part of the first chapter of To Walk a Pagan Path: Practical Spirituality for Every Day by Alaric Albertsson (Book stats: 275 pages (10 chapters), published by Llwellen in 2014). Last time, I talked about my impressions of the first few pages and the idea of a dedication rite. This time, we are actually getting to the seven steps mentioned in the title! Please keep in mind this isn’t really a review, but rather a summary and commentary. Also, I’ve found that one or two of these topics are likely going to become topics on their own for future posts, so this post doesn’t become its own book!

1. Connecting with Spirit–Albertsson’s first step is to find your connection with the Divine (which is probably one of the best first steps one could suggest in how to live your religion). He offers some practical advice on finding which gods to worship, on finding a pantheon or mythology* that appeals to you, perhaps because you’ve been “called”, or perhaps based upon your heritage, or perhaps just because you’ve done some reading and picked something that interested you. He then suggests picking a god to make an offering to as the start to building a relationship, and describes the process of making an offering in a clear and easy to understand way. Like many polytheists that have chosen a specific pantheon to work with, he is fairly dismissive of eclectic Pagans (more on this shortly). And finally, almost as an afterthought, he brings up the subject of connecting to spirits in other ways–ancestor spirits and land/nature spirits.

If I have any complaint throughout this book, it is that Albertsson (understandably, mind you) has a bias towards tradition-specific polytheism (because, you know, that’s his path). As a result, his discussion of non-traditional contemporary Paganisms and eclecticism are underwhelming at best and in some places, more than a tad presumptuous (if I’m feeling uncharitable) and naively stereotypical (if I’m feeling more kindly)–“there are many Pagans today who take a more scattered, eclectic approach to connecting with Spirit, leaping from one pantheon to another, collecting “patron” deities as if they were Hummel figures.” (p 17). While it didn’t lessen the value of most of the advice in the book over all, I did find it to be an unhelpful distraction at times. I bring this up because I feel that it is important to recognize that one can absolutely have a worthwhile polytheism that is eclectic in nature (although I also recognize that there are practitioners that live down to the negative stereotype that is often levied at eclectics), also because I think that his discussion of connecting with spirit could have done a better job with ancestor spirits and land/nature spirits, and it certainly leaves out suggestions for non-theist Pagans. I strongly feel that the book would have been better served with a thoughtful look at eclectic Paganisms and a more in-depth look at non-deity centered Paganisms (something that I plan to blog about as its own topic).

2. Creating Sacred Space–After finding one’s connection with Spirit, Albertsson recommends that “your next action should be to establish a place where you can maintain and continue to build that connection” so that “there is some place in your home that is sacred and set aside for your gods” (p 19) (and/or presumably for your ancestors or nature spirits). He suggests that one’s sacred space (for devotion is an altar and that one’s altar should reflect the culture of the deities of worship–“the sacred space you reserve for your gods should be a space where they can rest comfortably” (p 19) before turning to the practical concerns of space itself and how “out” one is as a Pagan, the benefits of outdoor altar space, and of altars dedicated to one’s ancestors**.

I strongly agree with Albertsson’s assertation that establishing sacred space is of paramount importance in a Pagan practice, though my own take on things is a bit different. First of all, I view all space as sacred…we don’t create sacred space, we just acknowledge our own belongingness (to invent a work) to a particular space (which is already sacred). Functionally, it’s about introducing ourselves to the land–in a land-based practice, you don’t pick the gods you worship, the land does (and they won’t always be from a single pantheon). Secondly, I don’t see an altar as essential to sacred space and I differentiate between altars and shrines in my own practice. An altar is a place for working–for rituals, for magic, for crafting, also for mundane work…it’s a workspace that acts as a conduit (for lack of a better word) between us and outside energies. Shrines, on the other hand, “house” the essence of the object of our reverence…a shrine (IMO) is the place for offerings, for devotional prayers and meditation, etc. Additionally, I feel the former can easily be moved or stored and taken out when needed (a travel altar, for example), but the latter is something that should be established in a semi-permanent location where it doesn’t need to be moved or taken down. Third, in my practice, because is is rooted in the land first, rather than being centered around deities, acknowledging a belonging to the bioregion and introducing yourself to a particular location is how you find your connection to spirit, so this step 2 is really my step 1.

3. Creating Sacred Time–“If you do nothing with your altar, it is not truly an altar it is merely a table or shelf holding an incense burner, a couple of candles, and perhaps two or three interesting statues. The activities that take place at that table of shelf–the reverence, the offerings, and the meditation–are what give meaning to your sacred space.” ^{(p 23)} Yes! Paganism is a religion based in praxis; without practicing, all you have is a shelf of dust collectors. In this section, Albertsson talks about the fact that life happens, and the importance of consistency. Because, as he says, there is always going to be something happening that will let us feel justified in putting it off until the next day. His recommendations include setting aside a specific time for doing this. Practically speaking, that might be during a certain event of your day after you wake up or while you wait for your morning coffee to percolate, or it might be at a specific time each day (in my experience, setting your alarm for this is a good idea). Whether its 5 minutes or 15 or 50 isn’t as important as consistency. And it doesn’t have to be every day–maybe it’s just once or twice a week. Albertsson’s advice (and I concur) is to pick the smallest time commitment that you can reasonably stick with…if you can’t stick with it, then it’s not reasonable for your lifestyle. His last advice here regards the interruptions that life brings to even the best laid plans, “When something like this happens, attend to the problem but make your sacred time the next highest priority. If you put it off any longer than necessary, you diminish its worth.”^{(p 26)}

4. Sacralize Daily Activities–Albertsson’s fourth step is to “integrate our spirituality with the rest of our lives” as our spirits are “sustained by the mindful actions you take to sacralize your daily activities” ^{(p 27)}. He explains his tradition’s “Hal Sidu”, or “holistic tradition” (I call this “artem vitae”, which is Google Latin for “art of living” and my summer sister*** calls it “nuanaarpoq” which is an Inuit word that means something akin to “taking extravagant pleasure in being alive”) as an integration of our spirituality into the everyday of our lives. I won’t spend too much time here, since his third chapter is pretty much dedicated to this idea, except to say that this sacralization might be while you do dishes or take a shower or when you drink your first cup of tea (whether you are interested in Wicca or not, Diane Sylvan’s Circle of One has some great ideas on this topic). Or maybe it’s mindful eating and before meal prayers, or meditation while swimming laps or while running each morning–you name it. As Albertsson says, “Any worthwhile pursuit can be a sacred act.” ^{(p 29)} As I put it, let every action or our bodies be a prayer of our soul.

5. Observe Regular Húsles –Perhaps this would be better titled “Observe regular rites” or “Observe regular Offerings”… According to Albertsson, a húsle (sometimes called a faining) is his tradition’s “formal offering usually given to a specific spirit” ^{(p 29)}.  With that being said, what Albertsson is really calling for here (as opposed to a regular schedule of making offerings) is a ritual practice that is “more formal that a person’s ordinary devotionals” that “recur at specific times” and often are “observed with a group rather than one’s self” ^{(p 30)}.  Some examples of this from other traditions, include blots or esbats, or any other regularly religious observation–what he isn’t talking about are actual holy days (that’s #5 on his list).

If I were to call out any of the 7 steps as perhaps less important (or maybe even unimportant) for some individual paths, this would probably be one I’d single out. I think that whether or not regular formalized religious rites are useful to you will first depend on your personal connection with spirit.  If one has a mostly (or entirely) solitary practice or a practice that isn’t deity-centered, perhaps a weekly or daily devotional practice in combination with seasonal observances is enough for one’s needs.  From personal experience and observation, I also know that this depends on the conditions in one’s life–not every community has a Pagan community, not every Pagan community has fellow members of one’s own tradition or welcoming to one’s own tradition, and not every Pagan community is accessible or amenable to one’s personal needs.****

6. Observe Holy Tides–The next step is a set of seasonal observances that recognizes the significance of the passage of time throughout the year.  Albertsson mentions a number of possibilities here–following the contemporary Pagan Wheel of the Year, whether in the Wiccan form or some other adapted way, or to celebrate an annual calendar from another culture.  As he puts it, “The important thing is not what calendar you follow, but that you consistently observe the hold tides–the holidays of that calendar.  By doing so you touch the earth, attuning yourself to the seasonal change occurring around you.” ^{(p 32)} I’m not going to spend too much time discussing this step now, since it’s the very next chapter!

7. Find Your Folk–“Humans, however, are social, tribal creatures, and the overwhelming majority of us are happier when we can share our life  experiences with others… Our celebrations, whether secular or spiritual, are more fulfilling when we are joined with others of like mind”^{(p 32-33)}.  Albertsson takes some time in this next step to talk about the benefit of having some sort of non-solitary practice, whether its is a single family or a formal group–support, advice, assistance, fellowship, and friendship, to name a few.  He also offers some practical advice in finding the “right people to enter into such a relationship with” , from the practical–compatibility of beliefs and membership expectations, to the precautionary–that active recruitment of new members can be an indication of something not being on the level.  This last step is another that might not be up everyone’s alley, for a number of reasons (many of which overlap with the reasons from step 5).  For those where a local community doesn’t mesh with their own practice or beliefs, online communities may be an option worth looking into.  While the worship aspect would be difficult, the community aspect–advice, support, assistance, and friendship is not.

Extra Thoughts:
*I have a wee complaint here, on the author’s “dislike (of) the word mythology because of its secondary definition meaning “something untrue”^{(p 14)}, as I have a very broad understanding of mythos which is comfortable with the idea that myths are “untrue” (if by untrue one means not factual). As its a disagreement on semantics, I figured I’d keep it out of the main body of discussion.

**Albertsson takes a “not necessarily limited to your biological lineage” ^{(p 22)} approach to ancestors, which I like (= have issues with the bloodline idea of ancestry.

***My BFF since high school and I have long called ourselves summer sisters from our decade of summer canoe and camping trips together, before we’ve had to become long-distance BFFs.

****This might be a physical need such sign language interpretation for Deaf Pagans at Pagan rituals, or it might be a lifestyle need, like child care for Pagan parents that would like to participate–while I can’t personally comment of the former, I’ve long been a follower of Deaf Pagan Crossroads, and know that this (and other) barriers exist for many Pagans…but on the latter, I can definitely comment that Hubby and I often felt unwelcome once we had (mobile) children (if I couldn’t leave them at home) at the very events that we had faithfully attended when it was just the two of us. Many Pagan groups and events that I have encountered don’t have adequate support for families, particular when the kids are between the toddler and early elementary ages.

Read Along: To Walk a Pagan Path (Ch 1, part 1)

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alaric albertsson, dedication ritual, druidry, pagan book review, to walk a pagan path

One of my recent favorite books to recommend to new Pagans (or to Pagans that feel like they’ve strayed or stagnated from their path a bit) is To Walk a Pagan Path: Practical Spirituality for Every Day by Alaric Albertsson (Book stats:  275 pages (10 chapters), published by Llwellen in 2014).  Albertsson is an Anglo-Saxon Pagan and a member of ADF who has clearly and concisely created a book that meats his goal of being a “tool kit for building a Pagan life”^{p. 2}.  This book really does create a framework (with plenty of IRL examples) for Pagan to live more fully their religious and spiritual beliefs with (as he puts it) “intentional effort, and usually a little planning”^{p. 2}.   Throughout the book, Albertsson uses the example of his own path, which includes the “attempt to follow what the early Saxons might have called Hal Sidu, meaning healthy or holistic traditions”^{p. 7}, as well as the incorporation of other traditions based in ancient pagansims by other practitioners* to really allow the reader to see ways in which they might integrate their own path into their daily lives.

The goal with this set of blog posts (maybe weekly?  we’ll have to see how life goes) is to go chapter-by-chapter through the book.  I’m not so much doing a book review as maybe a bit of a summary and  I’ll sort of relay my favorite bits, my impressions, and what I do with regard to each section.  Also (in the interest of my own sanity) I’m forgoing proper use of footnotes for a page reference superscript for any quotes I use (sorry, its just easier in an internet format).  If you have the book and haven’t read it yet, feel free to read it with me and offer your own comments and ideas.  If you don’t have the book, consider getting it and doing the same.  But even if you don’t have the book and may not have the resources to get it, hopefully I can do this in a way that is still a useful reading experience!

This week, I’m going to start with a discussion of the first chapter.  While fairly short at 30 pages (p 5-35), it covers quite a bit of ground, so I’m not sure that I can relay all of my impressions and own experiences and relate them to what he’s written in just one post (without writing my own book, lol).  The chapter is titled “Seven Steps to a New Way of Living”  and seeks to answer the question that is the first sentence to open the book–“How do you express your spirituality from day to day?”^{p. 5}  If you’ve never read the book before, and maybe even if you have, I recommend stopping at that very first sentence and pulling out a pen and paper.  Take a moment to inventory what it is that you *do* on a daily, weekly, monthly, yearly basis that inspired you to claim the label (whatever adjectives and caveats you might throw on it) Pagan.

Now think for a moment about what led you to Paganism.  Albertsson goes on to briefly discuss a number of different ancient paganisms and their role in the cultures from which they originate.  He compares it to contemporary Paganism, where many of us are first (or maybe second) generation Pagans (or maybe first generation Pagans raising second generation Pagans), and makes an obvious and simple statement that is none-the-less profound for its accuracy.  While there are many differences between ancient paganisms and contemporary Paganism’s many tradition (available technologies for understanding the physical, biological, and chemical realities of ourselves and the world around us is a biggie), there is something to be said for his idea that “intentional choice may be one of the most significant distinctions between contemporary Pagans and our Paleo-Pagan ancestors”^{p. 6}.  Paganism today is a conscious and intentional action, rather than a byproduct of cultural norms and societal pressures–and it has been my experience and observation, Western cultural norms and societal pressures are frequently in conflict with the intentional actions of a Pagan life (and I’m not talking about religious bigotry here, though that doesn’t help either).

The chapter next covers another topic near and dear to my heart–praxis.  Albertsson says here “”belief” is relatively unimportant in polytheistic religions” because ancient pagans believed in their gods “in the way modern people believe in gravity or electricity, not in the way a child believes in the Tooth Fairy”.  He goes on to say that “it is patently obvious that the gods are real” because (using the example of Athena) “she has spoken to and interacted with thousands of people over thousands of years–and she is no “less real” just because Bob decides, for whatever reason, not to believe in her existence. Early Pagans knew the gods were real; for them it was not a matter of personal belief.”^{p. 7-8}

I agree that it is accurate to say that praxis (practice) was more important than doxa (belief) among ancient Pagans, but I’m going to disagree a little bit in the idea that all ancient Pagans had the same sense that the gods were “real”.  First,  ancient Greece has a well documented tradition of the questioning belief and theorizing on the nature and existence of the gods, as did ancient Hinduism (and I’m fairly sure, even if it wasn’t documented that other cultures likely had folks that did the same, even if they did so only in their own heads). Secondly, I have issues with equating the reality of gods as analogous with the laws of physics in terms of being “real” as being overly simplistic–our understanding of the mechanics and nature of the world around us is very different now than it was in the ancient world, the idea that the contributions of our ancestors in expanding our knowledge so thoroughly in this regard wouldn’t change our understanding of the nature of what it is to be a god or to be divine seems to me to be its own sort of hubris that denies the very real struggle that our predecessors went through (Pagan or not) to gain that knowledge.

Either way though, I’m pretty sure the author’s point isn’t to spark a debate on the nature of what it means to be divine (that’s just my own brain thinking about things), but to point out the importance of praxis when it comes to being Pagan…which is something I am down with.  He and I can fully agree on the lack of such resources that “address this issue of how to live as a Pagan after closing the ritual and washing up the chalice or mead horn.” ^{p. 8}  Towards this goal, he very strongly suggests considering a dedication rite as a first action to take, signifying one’s intention to live a Pagan path. I recently posted my personal (and very adapted) dedication rite on Pagan Devotionals (knowing that I was going to be doing this series of posts and not wanting to take up the extra space here).  One of the things I noticed by the time I got to this point, when I first read this book, is that Albertsson’s ADF background certainly shines through!  If you are familiar with ADF’s Dedicant Path, you will notice the ADF influence (which I see as a positive, as I think the program is quite good**) in the example dedication rite that he offers.

And this is probably a good stopping point, in discussing the book’s text.  To really do as Albertsson suggests, to start to live as a Pagan every day, to dedicate yourself to this endeavor, requires some forethought and some reflection.  To, as he says, “do something, some little thing each day to connect with your gods and with the world around you.”

Next time, we’ll actually get to discuss the seven steps that the chapter is named after!

*A bit about my use of paganisms vs Paganism…perhaps it is idiosyncratic of me, but when I refer to historical/ancient paganisms, I don’t capitalize because IMO, “pagan” is a description of the type of religions practiced by these cultures (non-Abrahamic, with a pluralistic view of divinity, a sacralization of the material, and an emphasis of right practice over right belief). Contemporary Paganism on the other hand (IMO) is a modern set of recreated traditions in this ancient model (sometimes with very modern twists)—it is a religious movement, and as such, a proper noun. Additionally, I *always* pluralize paganisms when referring to ancient religious traditions as a group, though I may or may not depending on how I am refering to Contemporary Paganism (whether I’m talking about it as a distinct modern religious movement or a series of modern religious traditions). For more info on (the evolution of) my views here (whether you agree or not), I’ve written a bit on the topic here, here, here, and here.

**If one is planning a Druidic path whether they are going to join ADF or not (or complete the Dedicant Path, or not), I fully recommend working your way through The ADF Dedicant Path through the Wheel of the Year, which I think is free as a PDF if you are a member along with Our Own Druidry and some other books (which you need to do justice to the course), but you can also get them on Amazon if you aren’t going the ADF member route.

The 2014 Read Aloud Project

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books, raising a reader, read aloud project

A child’s reading level doesn’t catch up to his listening level until eighth grade. You can and should be reading seventh-grade books to fifth-grade kids. They’ll get excited about the plot and this will be a motivation to keep reading. A fifth-grader can enjoy a more complicated plot than she can read herself, and reading aloud is really going to hook her, because when you get to chapter books, you’re getting into the real meat of print – there is really complicated, serious stuff going on that kids are ready to hear and understand, even if they can’t read at that level yet.  (source)

I’m pretty sure that most parents know why you should read with your kids, even once they are older (and heck, why we, as parents, should be reading too!).  Books change your brain.  And they change your life!  What we read matters, what we read to our kids matter.  It matters that we foster their critical thinking ability, their creativity, and their knowledge about themselves and the world around them.  It matters that we teach them to think about what they read and what that means in the context of their lives.  It matters that we expand their horizons and open their eyes, that we grow their hearts and set free their consciousness.  

So, we read together.  I stole this idea from another mom and blogger last year, and we are making a new list for the start of this year.

This Year’s Books:

The Hobbit (J. R. R. Tolkien)–The Hubby will be out of town for work through at least September, so he’s been reading this one to the kids via Skype (we actually use Google video chat…but we still call it Skype, which makes me wonder if skyping is going to be the next band-aid or kleenex)

The Series of Unfortunate Events books 3-13 (Lemony Snicket)–Chickadee loves the movie, and we’ve read books 1 and 2.  The plan this year is to finish the series, or at least make a big fat dent in it.  10 books sounds like a lot to add, but really, they are super quick to read.

Meet Kirsten, Kirsten Learns a Lesson, Kirsten’s Surprise, Kirsten Saves the Day, Happy Birthday, Kirsten!, Changes for Kirsten (American Girl Books)–So, I have a love-hate relationship with these books.  I love the fact that they introduce different time periods through the lives of ordinary girls, for other little girls to identify with…I hate the fact that they portray the idea that they are historical but (if they do address them at all) they gloss over some very basic unpleasant realities of history (particularly for women and girls and minorities, and in relation to economics and politics and social expectations and every day life and…I could keep going).  With that being said, I had three of these books as a kid, when I was Chickadee’s age and I loved them, so its something for us to share (like reading the Little House books last year or reading the Anne books in a few years).  I consider this a teachable lesson–how do books about history “change” history as we understand it, and where should we look for more accurate information.  I also like it because Kirsten is an immigrant from the same area that The Hubby’s ancestors are from, immigrating to the same place that his ancestors ended up.  And the subject of immigration, and how our ancestors got here and what that means for us today in how we treat others that come to this country looking for a better life, is yet another, HUGE, teachable moment.

Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson–I’ve actually never read this, but The Hubby loved this as a kid.

From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg–This is probably one of the most fun ideas in a children’s book ever–who the heck wouldn’t want run away to live in a museum?

The Story of Dr. Dolittle and The Voyages of Dr. Dolittle by Hugh Lofting–This is another series that I loved as a kid.  Amazon Kindle has the first two available for free (they are pre-1928, public domain books).  I think a lot of people don’t realize there are actually 12 books in the series, though the last 10 can be a bit harder to find.

how to read aloud to kids

Tags

raising a reader, read aloud project, reading stories, reading with kids

The STORY Method

You may not have known, but its apparently not enough to just read to your children at bed time.

Really. There’s actually a technique to it…

I’m pretty fond of this, since its pretty close to what we naturally do anyhow when we read a story.  But…I’m amused that it has its own acronym!

Start with the title

• Identify the title, the author, and (if there is one) the illustrator (explain what these roles are if needed)
• Point out the cover and the title page
• Ask kids to predict what the story might be about by the title and the cover art

Tell the story

Act out the story using different voices for different characters, inflection and enunciation, etc.  Be dramatic and make it fun.  Point out key words.  Encourage the kids to follow along with you.  If there are repetitive terms or words, point them out, and develop a cue so they can chime in and help tell the story.

Offer information

Every few pages, stop and look at the illustrations.  Have the kids describe in their own words what is going on.  Further explain difficult concepts and ideas.

Review and Discuss

Ask comprehension questions.  Have children retell the story using the illustrations as a guide.  Discuss the characters and their motivations, the underlying message of the story, etc.  Discuss if they have ever felt like the character  or what they think it would be like to be in a similar situation, etc.

Your child’s turn

• Draw a picture from the story
• Make a collage about something in the story (the location, a character, etc)
• Write a sequel or a prequel to the story
• Retell the story as a song or pantomime
• Create and share a new story with the same carachters