Raw Paganism

Ouroboros from a Byzantine manuscript (1478)

To me, part of the appeal of Pagan practice is the potential link it gives one to ancient or even pre-historical spirituality – to something raw, to something fundamental and continuing in the human spiritual process. The Religio Romana interests me partly because I see it as an ancient European religion about which we are reliably informed – much of the source material on Roman Paganism existing today was written by Pagans writing in a Pagan world, but, of course, there are other ways we can inform ourselves about authentically ancient spiritual practices and that is by looking to that which is common to a multitude of cultures and timelines – as a child of Europe I am naturally interested in the beliefs of the Indo-Europeans, from whom I am (at least partly) descended. Common themes in their belief systems include/d:

Salubrious Food

Gods of Healthy Eating

There are a number of significant Roman Gods of food including:

• Ceres, Goddess of agriculture, especially regarding grain – which today we associate with, inter alia, wheat, barley, rye, oats, maize and rice. In ancient times she was mostly associated with wheat (Romans did not eat maize or rice); bread being perhaps the most important food in ancient Rome. Ceres was one of fifteen Roman deities who had an official cult, including a designated flamen (priest). Her festival, the Cerealia, was celebrated in April.

The Question of Faith

"A Priestess"
by J W Godward (1894)

I have an ambivalent attitude to faith. When, for a number of years, I was more or less a follower of Buddhism the subject of divine beings would occasionally surface and the Buddhist view seemed to be that there are divine beings (Devas – note that this word is cognate with the Latin word Deus), who live in something like what we would call heaven but that they are not immortal (though many Devas live much longer lives than humans), they did not create the world, they are not omniscient and they are not omnipotent, however some devas are of great moral authority and prestige and thus deserving of a high degree of respect. According to the Pali canon, the Buddha stated that making offerings to the devas is noble and an example of wealth gone to good use. Ancient Greeks and Romans were also more or less familiar with this perspective as it is not so very different from the Epicurean perspective on the Gods – though I would not go so far, as Epicurus did, as to say that the Gods do not concern themselves at all with human beings, as this is something we cannot know.  

Pagan Altar

"The Household Gods" by J W Waterhouse (1880)

My altar (which may also be called a shrine or a Lararium*) tends to be changed around a fair bit from month to month but there are a few core features (as to the rituals performed at my altar see this post) – the core features are:

• a designated space for the shrine itself - in my case I use the entire top of a cabinet in the bedroom. 
• a candle holder (compare to a lucerna).
• an incense burner (compare to a turibulum).
• a container in which to keep incense (compare to an acerra).
• a small plate on which to place food offerings (compare to a patera).
• a small glass in which to place liquid offerings (compare to a gutus).
• a container for salt (compare to a salinum).

Daily Pagan Ritual

Young Vestal by Auzou (19th century)

I generally practice this ritual every day and make up for days I missed by burning additional incense to "all benevolent divine beings" and giving additional food offerings to "local spirits" and "spirits of the household". I use these vague descriptors so to capture all possible Gods to whom I should be addressing my prayers. If you want to be more personal you might light the incense in honour of specific Gods whom you wish to honour (I admit that I am anxious not to offend any Gods by omission so I hesitate to be specific, though perhaps this is unduly superstitious).* You might also make a food and/or drink offering to the Lares and Penates. However, I prefer to use plain English, hence the all inclusive "spirits of the household" and "local spirits".

The ritual is performed at my household shrine/altar before the main meal of the day (dinner in my case). It may also be performed at the start of the day.

The head should be covered (a scarf over one's head, or the hood up if I am wearing a hoodie) and hands should be clean.