A Year of Pagan Prayer: A Sourcebook of Poems, Hymns, and Invocations from Four Thousand Years of Pagan History

by Barbara Nolan

Overview

450+ Poems, Prayers, Hymns and Blessings

This treasury of beautiful and powerful pieces is the perfect companion for marking holidays, milestones, and the seasons. You'll discover prayers to Janus from Horace and Ovid, a traditional Scottish blessing for Imbolc, an invocation to Pan by Aleister Crowley, an ode to Proserpine by Mary Shelley, a pharaoh's hymn to Isis, a song for Lammas by Gwydion Pendderwen, and many, many more.

A tribute to the beauty and resiliency of Paganism, this sourcebook will enhance any special day throughout the year. Enjoy prayers for weddings and funerals, blessings for the sabbats, and hymns to the gods and goddesses of various pantheons. Barbara Nolan includes brief historical or biographical details to contextualize each piece as well as descriptions of different celebrations and festivals to help you integrate these readings into your practice.

A Year of Pagan Prayer demonstrates that the literary worship of Pagan deities was never fully lost in the West. This bounteous collection draws from the spiritual legacy of Italian Renaissance poets, ancient Sumerian priestesses, twentieth-century Pagans, French Romantics, Greek playwrights, nineteenth-century British occultists, and Egyptian hymnists, making it a must-have resource for anyone who yearns to embody the eloquent expressions of our Pagan past.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780738768335
Publisher:	Llewellyn Worldwide, LTD.
Publication date:	10/08/2021
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	456
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Barbara Nolan (Philadelphia, PA & Mohawk Valley, NY) has been a practicing Pagan since she was nine years old. She studied Latin, ancient Greek, and Near Eastern archaeology at Bryn Mawr and Irish Gaelic at the University of Pennsylvania. Barbara holds an honors degree in English with a concentration in Celtic Studies. Her writing has appeared in The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Irish Edition, and she has worked in the book industry for more than twenty years.

Table of Contents

Contents

Introduction 1

January . . . 5
New Year's Day 5
Compitalia 12
Þorrablót 14
The Feast of the Divine Twins 18

February . . . 25
Imbolc 25
Concordia 33
The City Faunalia 36

March . . . 49
The Birthday of Mars 49
The Vernal Equinox and the Lesser Eleusinian Mysteries 53
The City Dionysia 64

April . . . 75
Veneralia 75
Megalesia 86
Cerealia 92

May . . . 97
May Day 97
Mercuralia 111

June . . . 123
Feast of Juno 123
Vestalia 127
Summer Solstice 131
Fors Fortuna 142

July . . . 145
Games of Apollo 145
Neptunalia 157
Aphrodisia 166

August . . . 183
Lúnasa 183
The Lamp-Lighting 197
Athena's Birthday 207
Vulcanalia 216
The Day of Victory 219

September . . . 221
The Feast of Jove, Part I 221
The Autumnal Equinox and the Greater Eleusinian Mysteries 227

October . . . 243
October Mars 243
Thesmophoria 247

November . . . 261
Samhain 261
The Isia 273
The Feast of Jove, Part II 284

December . . . 291
The Country Faunalia 291
The Country Dionysia 301
Yuletide and the Winter Solstice 311
The Saturnalia 320
Mithras's Day 323

Lunar Prayers . . . 327

Wedding Prayers . . . 347

Funeral Prayers . . . 355

Appendices . . . 365

Bibliography . . . 395

Credits . . . 411

Index . . . 417