[Main Blog Post] [Heathen Rosary] First Pass at Saying the Heathen Rosary

[jprussell]

For the past week or so, I've been giving it a go saying the Heathen Rosary in its almost-done shape, and I thought I'd share how to do that in case anyone else wants to give it a go.

If you do try it out, kindly let me know how it goes, as so far, I've been feeling this one out with little but prayer and divination to guide me, so hearing if it's helpful for others would be very big indeed.

Comments

[borealbear]

No need for apologies, and I appreciate you taking the time to write out a detailed response. Also appreciate the glimpse into your prayer practice. I haven't been able to be so structured yet, but I'll keep some of these approaches in mind as possible ideas when I get my altar set up properly. So far I've mostly been doing some "freeform" prayer at the end of the Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram, often centered around gratitude (partially inspired by Kimberly Steele). Since I often bake bread, I've also found a habit of offering the first slice of each bread to Frey as a way to show appreciation for the blessings of grain and field.

As I might have mentioned before, I also started with the Heathen LBRP/MP back when JMG first posted them, and also floundered a bit because I wanted a more complete system. So coming back to it now is like coming full circle in many ways. And you're right that vibrating ALU features in the aptly named ALU Ritual, ie. the Rose Cross analogue. Plus many of the planetary rituals IIRC, but that'll be above my grade for a while yet.

Finally, if you don't mind a couple more quick points about the Rosary: first, while I like the detailed instructions on your blog post, I think it'd be very helpful to have a picture to go with it, to get an idea of how all this fits together. Or if putting up a picture of your own beads would be too personal, maybe a drawing/schematic? Second, I'm curious why the focus is on Idun rather than Frigg? To my mind She would be the closest analogue to Mary, but of course I respect that you've probably based this on divination and prayer and don't mean to argue, just curious.

Again, thanks for the guidance and for doing this project! After looking at some videos of the Catholic version I'm even more intrigued to try this in a Pagan context.

[jprussell]

1) Thanks for the kind words, and my pleasure. I should add that my own structured practice has been cribbed together from a bit here, a bit there and a lot of experimentation. I think doing freeform prayers and then seeing where your intuition pulls you is a great way to start, and is basically how I did, but over time, I have found the structure of formal rituals and set prayers (with some room for freeform and being open) to be helpful to me, but they might be less so to you. Happy to share some of the sources I've drawn from, if that's of interest.

2) Fair enough! I asked JMG about vibrating ALU in this context, and he suggested experimentation. He suspects that it might work for some folks and not for others. The only thought I had on it since writing my response yesterday was that it would alter the timing/flow of the repetitive prayers - which might be helpful or might not! One intermediate option might be to say "Alu" normally after each "Hail Idun" and then vibrate it after each "Mark of the Wells" at the end of each ninefold, but I haven't tried any of this yet (I might tonight, though!)

3) I don't mind at all, I'm thrilled to talk about something I've been spending so much time thinking about and worrying is interesting to precisely one person (me).

3a) Sure, I'll be happy to post a picture and/or a schematic, I'll just have to figure out how to do so with my current very primitive blogging set up, or else find a place to host it/them and post here to dreamwidth.

3b) The short answer is "because She told me to" :) You're not the first person to suggest Frigg. In fact, hearthculture composed a lovely "Hail Frigg" when I posted a version of the "Hail Idun" to a Magic Monday: https://ecosophia.dreamwidth.org/223141.html?thread=39594405#cmt39594405

The longer answer is that Idun is and has been very important to me personally and has helped to steer my spiritual life. I had the vague feeling I should work out a set of (mostly) repetitive prayers with beads, and the vague feeling I should have a more focused devotional practice to Idun, and then it hit me that I ought to put those two vague feelings together. As I've worked through making that happen, along with my other work, a tantalizing, but vague, link between Idun, the Mead of Poetry, and Yggdrasil has held itself out to me, and in a way, these prayers are my attempt to make something concrete of that.

For what it's worth, I'm planning to write up some thoughts on customizing the Heathen Rosary, including changing which Gods/Goddesses you pray to while saying it. I think there's value both in putting out a "complete" version that can be picked up as-is, as well as providing a model for something more individualized, so I'm aiming to do both.

Anyhow, thank you again for your thoughts, and hope this helps,
Jeff

[borealbear]

2) Sounds about right, and good idea to run it by him. His comments about Catholic Rosaries being "charged" with energy was intriguing too, since I've been thinking about how GD consecration rituals would interact with religious tools like rosaries and god figures. I think I'll ask a broader question about that on a future MM. Anyway, I'll experiment with the ALU when I have my Rosary (we really need a more Heathen-flavored name for this, don't we?)

3b) I see, appreciate the explanation, and your Idun UPG makes a lot of sense. Again, I'll start out with the Hail Idun and then see about experimenting later.

[jprussell]

2) I look forward to reading your question, as I also found that a very interesting data point. Speaking of intentions, I'm currently reading a short little book by "Brother A.D.A." recommended by open_space way back when I started this undertaking called How to Pray the Rosary and Get Results, which gives a lot of practical advice on imbuing Rosary praying with specific, material intentions, which sounds like it should be quite interesting for potential applicability with these prayers.

Also, yes, agreed. I really like the "Rose Tree" imagery that has grown up around the Rosary, but it's so very Catholic. Winifred Hodge Rose suggested calling the set of prayers the "Tally of the Bedes," which is growing on me quite a bit, but that still leaves a name for the physical beads themselves - maybe something like "tally-beads."

3b) Sounds good, and I look forward to hearing about it!

Jeff