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Yes it's amazing and amazing quality too! https://www.amazon.co.uk/Incense-Ornaments-Ornament-Traditional-Handicraft/dp/B08YFCNTVB?pd_rd_w=9zqK0&pf_rd_p=292e6549-0898-4d4f-9d89-f0400bba32e5&pf_rd_r=H063TBN4G1SKWQPPAVGA&pd_rd_r=8820fa1e-f9a3-4cde-834e-cf03928a7afb&pd_rd_wg=... here is the link for you good friend!
I highly, highly recommend The Journey Into Spirit: A Pagan's Perspective on Death, Dying & Bereavement by Kristoffer Hughes. The one thing to consider is that Hughes is specifically a druid, as am I, which is how I discovered him. So it is possible that someone from a Norse, Hellenistic, or other path might find some differences. That all being said, Hughes works as a coroner professionally and brings that knowledge to his book, paired with his druid spiritual tradition. He covers the grieving process, topics of the afterlife, and more, and I feel as though no other book I have come across so far covers the topic of death with as much depth and breadth as this book. Cannot recommend it enough.
The Journey Into Spirit: A Pagan's Perspective on Death, Dying & Bereavement https://www.amazon.com/dp/0738740756/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_fabt1_6ktVFbTYH0K6G
Reading is your best bet. There are some great YouTube channels as well.
Harmony Nice wrote a book on Wicca that's a little more modern. I really like it as an introductory book. She also has a YouTube channel where she talks about her practice under the "Enchanted Endeavours" series.
Scott Cunningham's Book is a classic for introduction as well. He also has tons of other resources you could go to.
Unfortunately I haven't found much. There is a Pagan Portals book by Jhehah Telyndru, that I plan to buy. Most people suggested looking into Epona and Macha which I am, But I'm hesitant to equate them all together. Otherwise I've been looking into Brythonic paganism to get ideas on how I might go about working with her. Wish I could be more helpful!
You want specifically Norse paganism
Give that a look
I never took it seriously, but I learned some Norwegian inspired by this song. I wish they would do more songs in Norwegian.
If you have android, this app is fun for dabbling in Old Norse. It's cool to see how many words you recognize from a bit of familiarity with the Eddas.
r/learnIcelandic has a number of good resources.
I'm working through this book right now, using this website, and getting some other basics from Jackson Crawford's YouTube channel. I started out wanting to learn Old Norse, but figured that Icelandic would be a better use of my time in terms of a foundation, since I can speak it will living people and it will go a long way to helping me understand Old Norse given the similar grammar.
The Magick Toolbox by Carl Neal is a great book about acquiring or crafting various altar tools, and various uses for them in ritual and spells. The author does a pretty good job of keeping his advice tradition-neutral, and it covers all the basics like athame, wand, staff, and tons others. It's a fun read to boot.
Echoing Bastet- she’s a perfect example of a sexy, fertile momma.
Another goddess I very rarely see mentioned but who I think is very poignant and fascinating is TlazolteotlTlazolteotl .
Tlazolteotl is an earth mother goddess of sex, especially adultery, or whatever would be considered nastyness, and “filth” as in, like, sins, and also of purification, and fertility. You would confess your filthy deeds to her and she would eat them up, purifying you. She could absorb your filth, eat your dirt, and make you pure. She could both inspire lewd and lustful behavior and absolve you of your impurities.
And she is so often depicted giving birth, and celebrated during harvest, that she is very much inseparable from her motherhood identity, while simultaneously being intertwined with not just a sexual but a deviant nature. But this filthy aspect of her is venerated and celebrated rather than demonized. Fascinating!
There's this book that I've had on my wishlist for awhile:
The Visions of Isobel Gowdie: Magic, Witchcraft and Dark Shamanism in Seventeenth-Century Scotland https://www.amazon.com/dp/1845191803/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_fabc_6QATG7876S9ZZHWPNX14
Um, I'm new to paganism, so take anything I say with a grain of salt, cause I feel like I'm not qualified to answer. Also I don't know if people ban/discourage book piracy here(?)
So there's this site called libgen. This is the link. https://libgen.is
You can download paid books for free there in pdf format. Usually I look for recommended titles through Google or reddit, enter libgen, then type in the book title or author's name. If I'm lucky, the book I'm looking for will be available for download.
I'm sorry, I don't know if it's allowed to suggest something like this here but I want to help so I commented anyway. If anyone wants me to delete this post because of suggesting piracy, I'll be fine to delete this post. Hope you get what you're looking for in this journey. Peace!
If you are looking for a good pagan book on death, "As the Last Leaf Falls: A Pagan's Perspective on Death, Dying, and Bereavement" by Kristoffer Hughes is an excellent read. The man who wrote it is a Druid and a mortician.
Personally, I lean towards some kind of reincarnation.
More people need to learn about toxic positivity, it's a very real thing! Highly recommend the book Bright-sided by Barbara Ehrenreich.
Agree with OP, sometimes life is just going to suck, no matter what! That's just how the world is, and it doesn't always need assigned blame or have to be "karma" or an omen or anything. We're all just lucky if it doesn't happen more often.
My apologies! The above Amazon link for the paperback is incorrect. This is the correct link for the paperback book.
Military chaplains are supposed to offer non-denominational services, yet we're all fairly well they tend to suck at that and go either mildly Christian or full Christian in their prayers. sigh Same for VSOs. I've filed my share of complaints with the American Legion, for example, for chaplains who have ignored their non-denominational protocol.
Fwiw, the American Legion Ceremony & Prayer book is pretty good: https://www.legion.org/sons/filelib/BroPrayerMn12.pdf
Also, a great book to have in your toolkit, as it were: https://www.amazon.com/Pagans-Christians-Personal-Spiritual-Experience/dp/1567182283/ref=sr_1_2?crid=WOTK8LFZ8EPY&dchild=1&keywords=gus+dizerega&qid=1615497442&sprefix=gus+dizere%2Caps%2C212&sr=8-2
Download an audiobook. I downloaded Paganism 101 and it goes over all the branches under the umbrella of paganism. Gives you an overview of how each is related, different, where they come from, deities, holidays etc.
This is the book I'm talking about on amazon, but it is available for audiobook as well.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1646117050/ref=cm_sw_r_sm_apa_fabc_NKhTFb62T8QXP?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
Flowers are good offerings, and I usually set most food out for just as long as it takes to cool or for an hour or two if fresh fruit. Alcohol I leave for 3-4 hours, but tea is only about half an hour. Just long enough to really cool.
Some gods like the offerings of shinies. Mine doesn't. Stones, jewelry, anything like that. I have also offered cute candles (similar to these https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07TTR16CQ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_fab_hAdBFb8K45ZXD) by burning them. I also offer incense, both stick (I prefer coreless) and loose, including resins.
I've done devotional acts. Things I would not normally do that are in the sphere of my goddess and dedicated to her. You have to have a good relationship before you know if they will accept those, though. Some gods do, some don't.
Mostly, the offering seems to be (at least with my goddess) a physical token of my love and time spent offering it, meditating on her and feeling love and joy for her presence in my life.
This book really helped me a lot when I was first questioning my own faith. They go into a lot of where stories in the bible come from, things that many Christians believe that aren't strictly biblical, and a lot of the bases of Paganism. I highly recommend it.
It's hard to break away from the idea that Christianity is the only correct thing ever and that anything else equals eternal damnation. It'd by lying if I said there weren't growing pains. But once you're free of all of that existential guild, it's so freeing. I don't feel low-key dread all of the time anymore.
I don't want to speak too ill of Christianity as to drive you away, but if you ever want to talk through it more, feel free to message me.
Get yourself a copy of Ganesha Puja by Swami Satyananda Saraswati. It gives a Hindu ritual text for Ganesha with the original Sanskrit and English translations of everything, and explains what offerings to give and how to give them during the ritual.
Here's a link to the book on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Ganesha-Puja-Swami-Satyananda-Saraswati/dp/1877795461/
So it’s actually from a Harry Lord Voldemort set I got from Barnes and Noble LOL. Here’s an Amazon link where you can purchase one https://www.amazon.com/Harry-Potter-Voldemorts-Wand-Sticker/dp/0762452412/ref=nodl_
There's a really good novel I read about this, The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden. It's told in the style of a Russian fairytale and the house spirits are very important to the story. If you want a good grasp on what they're like and what they do, I highly recommend it!
Edit: I can spell nightingale i swear
For a reconstructionist's approach, I've heard good things about <em>The Apple Branch: A Path to Celtic Ritual</em>.
Since you said you're Druidic, I would also recommend <em>The Druidy Handbook</em> by JM Greer. It provides suggestions for how to open and close a grove as well as celebrate each station of the Wheel Year.
Some common elements you'll find in Celtic ritual include circling the ritual space three times sunwise, purifying the space by burning herbs or incense, and making offerings to the ancestors, aes sídhe, land spirits, or gods. Celtic rituals are also presumed to have taken place primarily outdoors.
Note: I would not recommend approaching the aes sídhe or gods without doing thorough research beforehand.
Druidry often blends these practices with Golden Dawn/Masonic ritual and Arthurian themes. For example, my Druid order AODA (which is headed by JM Greer) circles the ritual space four times sunwise so you can bless the space with each of the four elements (earth, water, fire, air). Those four elements are not attested in Celtic lore that I'm aware of. As far as I can tell, that aspect is derived from Golden Dawn ritual.
Additionally, AODA calls peace in each of the four quarters by drawing and sheathing a sword that represents Excalibur. Calling for peace in the quarters isn't traditionally Celtic, but the incorporation of symbols from Celtic lore clearly is.
I do religious journalling, based on "Writing Down Your Soul" by Janet Conner (note: the author is not a Pagan; I think the book is worth reading as it doesn't require you to be of any specific faith). For me this works basically as written spontaneous prayer and receiving Goddess-inspired advice.
I tried various other ways of journalling and never managed to stick to it. I think I need some kind of a return on investment to stick to it. Just logging things got old pretty fast. This year, I'm attempting art journalling (in addition to the above mentioned prayer/journal) and hoping this will keep my interest, and have me re-read old logs.
If you're looking for something on the more contemporary side, I'd suggest the incredible Umm Kulthum. It's classical (but not Ancient) Egyptian/Arab music. She was the sort of talent that comes once in a generation. Give it a listen, I find it stunningly beautiful and highly inspirational. It might be just what you're looking for.
If you mean something more Ancient, we unfortunately don't have much. There are initiatives to recreate melodies but it's all too incipient. The vast majority of "ancient Egyptian music" you find around the web is a lie. The only exception I know of so far is this album, whose last few tunes are reconstructed Egyptian melodies. We have a wealth of ancient instruments that survived, but we are pretty much clueless about the melodies and theory of music in Egypt.
An intermediate path would be to look for Egyptian folk music - Saidi songs, from Upper Egypt. I know very little about this sort of music. Bear in mind they can be just as close to Ancient music as modern Greek music is to its Ancient counterpart.