A Heathen’s Daily Routine

Throughout my Heathen life, I have tried to have daily routines that I do to bring spirituality to the world around me. We do not, and probably cannot, see the world the way The Ancestors did. Our world is mundane, full of science and explanations to “why” things are. Seeing mysticism and magic doesn’t come easy. I sated that I “try” to have a daily routine. This does not always happen. In fact, most of the time it does not happen. Why? Well, because I let the modern world get in the way. Got to make coffee, get the kids up and off to school, go to work…and so on. By the time I think about a morning bede (prayer) I’m in the car and halfway to the office.

I have read in several books, a few websites, and countless blogs that as Heathens we should have a daily ritual routine. I have read that The Ancestors did this and we should too. I am going to make an educated guess here and say that the idea that pre-Christian peoples, namely the Indo-European Tribes may have had some sort of daily ritual. HOWEVER, I am not aware of an historical or archeological evidence to prove this. I can say they got up every morning to let the sheep out, but I don’t own sheep.

That being said, there is a possibility that The Ancestors did have daily ritual pertain to spirituality. We know that today some Christians (mainly Catholics) have daily prayer routines that can be as simple as making the sign of the cross, a simple prayer, or touching a cross and then the heart of forehead. I have seen people do these things. It makes sense that these ritual offerings are holdovers from pre-Christian times. A lot of paganism got pulled over into Northern European Christianity. I would venture to guess that there is more Heathen than Christian in most of the rites and rituals of Christianity as it is today, but that’s another story.

So, what is a heathen to do? I have seen everything from elaborate ritual to a simple “Hail the day!” What I have tried to do is somewhere in the middle. Basically, I get up and go about my modern daily chores, you know time to make the doughnuts… After which, I wash and go to my glédstede (in house altar) and I say a little bede for the day. It is different every day. I base what I say, request, or give thanks to upon the situation, events of the previous day, and what I know is to come during the day. That’s my morning.

There are other tings you can do during the day that include a hammer ritual. For instance, if you are a person that takes your Mjolnir necklaces off at night then you might have a rite to put it back on. Some heathens say a bede over each meal and cup of coffee. Some pray three times a day, sunrise, noon, and sunset, and others do very little or nothing at all. Here is an example of a very simple routine that you could do.

  • Wake, wash, and morning bede
  • Give thanks for your meal (breakfast, lunch, dinner)
  • Wash, bedtime bede, and sleep

There are simple things, yet they can be difficult to work into your busy modern life. Believe it or not, it is difficult. Once, you have a routine that you think you can manage just make the time and keep at it. It takes a few weeks of forced behavior to make it seem easy and just another part of the day.

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