Doing something -- even if it's something small -- to ground and connect to our paths, our Gods, and remind ourselves of what's important each day is always a good idea, in my opinion.  For me personally, the central pillars of my personal practice are prayer, offerings, regular journeying, and study (devotional study).  I also enjoy devotional writing and drawing pictures and dancing, although those are more "as the Awen strikes" than regularly practiced pillars of my devotion.  But that's just me.  Different people have different pillars of their connection and devotion -- for some, it's meditation, for others, it's making art.  Some regularly connect with Gods, spirits, and/or ancestors via friendly conversation over a cuppa tea.  Others via yoga or exercise, or their service to the community, or gardening, or a thousand other possibilities.  Some may not have a set of go-to pillars of practice and instead cycle through a rotation of a variety of devotional and/or magical ways to connect and honor their path and Gods.

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For me, I usually pray at both morning and night time, but at least once a day.  I have a goal to pray three times a day (morning, noon-ish, and night time) because of the significance of 3 in the Welsh tradition and to help me pause in the hectic middle of the day, but I am not there yet on the noon-ish prayer being an established practice -- I'm still forming that habit, and it's not second-nature yet.  In the morning, I also make an offering of lighting candles and incense when I pray if I am at home for prayer (which I usually am).  I sometimes will share a cup of tea or coffee with the Gods in the morning, depending on how much time I have, but it is not a habit for me.  I prefer to memorize the prayers I use most often, so my mind has the space to focus and chew on the meanings of each word and put emotional and heart-felt devotion behind them, but I know other Pagans who do just as well reading their prayers.  Different things work well for different people, and that's a part of the beauty of our freedom of practice as Pagans.  I also have a schedule of refreshing weekly offerings of mead or wine and oats, usually every Monday.  Like everything else, the types and frequency of offerings are as varied as the types and persons of Pagans who are out there actively practicing.

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The prayer I say every morning is one that I wrote myself, inspired by a prayer from the Black Book of Carmarthen.  I am devoted to Rhiannon and have the closest and longest relationship with Her of any of the Gods, so I direct my regular daily prayers, and most of my more impromptu personal prayers, to Her.  However, I also pray to other Welsh deities such as Gwyn ap Nudd, Cerridwen, Arianrhod, Blodeuwedd, Manawydan, and Math ap Mathonwy.  I also feel a connection to Lleu, as I too am an adopted person whose birth mother left them behind, but I have not as of yet had the courage to approach Him and face the pain that is there.  I suppose I will do this when I'm ready.  I know this is of course not the only aspect there is to Lleu -- it's not as if He is some one-dimensional being.  But I do know I will have to work through the trauma around my adoption when I do begin relationship with Him, and so I am taking my time to be sure I'm ready.  He hasn't reached out to me, so I assume He is fine with it. 

 

You'll notice the famous Gwydion isn't listed here among those I worship.  Gwydion's behavior in the fourth branch is consistently very misogynistic and objectifying of women, and I'm a woman.  He also acted as a warmonger for frivolous and selfish ends -- and I'm a former uniformed servicemember.  Oh, and He killed the son of the Goddess I'm devoted to -- the same one who was taken from Her before and who She already endured so much suffering over.  As if that didn't complicate matters enough, as someone who is both a sexual assault survivor and an adoptee, I have extremely complex feelings about Gwydion, who I consider to be a trickster God, because He ticks all the hallmark boxes.  While I'm not a hard literalist, and I see that there is without doubt some deep symbolism in these stories, I'm also not a neo-Platonist, and I don't believe a repeated pattern of selfish and destructive behavior is somehow symbolic of, or an allegory for, something divinely good.  (I'm also not currently convinced all Gods are automatically good, but that's a philosophical can of worms.)  I may change my mind and come to a different understanding at a later time, but this is where I am for now.  I will deal with Gwydion if I ever decide the time is right, but currently, I'm not planning on it.  If anyone here is a fan of Gwydion and wants to find out more about Him specifically, please inquire elsewhere about that particular topic -- you won't like my opinions.

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I also talk to and honor my ancestors -- mostly my beloved dead, but occasionally also ancestors from the past who I've never met, and ancestors "of the order," such as the former High Priestess of the coven I have been a member of since 2014.  I was adopted out of an abusive situation at age 7, and I have no blood relation to the entire half of my family that is on my Dad's side, so I have very strong opinions about the relative importance of blood in determining who one's ancestors are and how connected one is to other people.  These opinions can basically be summed up as: blood relationship is A connection, not THE connection.  Strong bonds of family are forged of love and trust, mutual support and dependability -- these are what make family, in my view. 

 

It's not that I think blood ancestry is inconsequential -- to the contrary, our DNA carries traits from our blood ancestors going back into the mists of time that still affect us to this day.  Those traits make up a part of who we are -- but it is only a part.  We are fully products of both our nature (inherited by blood) and our nurture (our environment, interactions, and relationships), and I feel sometimes people overemphasize the former and forget about the latter when it comes to ancestor veneration and ancestor work.  My Dad is my Dad, and he is one of my beloved dead and one of my closest ancestors who has had a profound effect on who I am today.  Our not sharing a blood relation does not diminish that connection in any way whatsoever.

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