Imagining the Gods

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Apollo, God of light and the sun, healing (or disease), music (especially stringed instruments), poetry, archery and prophecy

Pagan Offerings

"The Vestal" by Corcos (1900)

Note that I revised this post in 2026 as in all honesty I tend to think it is better for most people to avoid making offerings to the Gods because, for a great many people, for a great many differing reasons, it will not bring benefit. 

Nonetheless, the historical practices of our pre-Christian European ancestors deserve to be understood (based on reliable sources) so, as I have researched the topic so heavily over many years, I offer the information up below from that perspective. My main source was Ovid's Fasti, as well as other ancient sources such as Cato, Livy, Virgil, Petronius, Tibullus and Horace (their writings are available for free on various websites). I also sourced from books written by contemporary scholars, most especially Beard, North and Price, Religions of Rome (Cambridge University Press).

Typical offerings

The types of offerings ancient Romans and Germanics typically made included things such as:

Pagan Prayer

Prayer to ask or to thank 

A model with the head covered in a way that suits
most Roman rites. Image: "Lycinna" by Goward (1903)

If not a regular, household ritual (ie, it is not in honour of household divinities) prayers and offerings are generally best performed outdoors under an open sky, preferably in a place which seems to be associated with the Deity. Creating a shrine, of either a temporary or permanent nature, is a possibility when a sacred location cannot be identified. 

It is important to prepare for rituals. Some of the things you may want to consider are as follows (all that follows relates primarily to Roman rites):

1. Determining what it is that you want, and thus who are the appropriate Deities to supplicate. To identify the Deity the following (hyperlinked) posts may be helpful: Contemporary Visions of the Divine and A Long List of Deities.