Neopagan Rites: A Guide to Creating Public Rituals that Work [Paperback]

Isaac Bonewits (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 8, 2007

Practical and engaging, this guide represents the best practices from Isaac Bonewits' over thirty-five years of experience creating, attending, and leading public ceremonies as a Neopagan priest and magician. Ideal for Earth-centered spiritual movements and other liberal religious traditions, Neopagan Rites explains how to design powerful and effective rites of worship for small groups or large crowds.

With his trademark humor and candor, Bonewits covers every important aspect of creating and performing a public ritual that inspires and unifies the participants, and fulfills its intended purpose. You'll learn how to:

Determine the purpose of your ritual  
Create a basic ritual format that can be customized for different events
Choose the optimal time and location for your event
Enhance your ceremony with music, singing, poetry, and dance
Add visual drama with costumes and altar decorations
Include people with special needs in your ceremony
Raise, channel, and send energy to your ritual's deity or cause

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

A practicing Neopagan priest, scholar, teacher, bard, and polytheologian for over 35 years, Isaac Bonewits is one of North America's leading experts on ancient and modern Druidism, Witchcraft, magic and the occult, and the rapidly growing Earth Religions movement. He is the author of numerous books including Real Magic; The Pagan Man: Priests, Warriors, Hunters and Drummers; Real Energy (co-authored with his wife, Phaedra Bonewits) and Neopagan Rites.

Isaac Bonewits is the Founder and an Archdruid Emeritus of Ár nDraíocht Féin: A Druid Fellowship, a 3° Druid within the United Ancient Order of Druids, a retired High Priest in both the Gardnerian  and the N.R.O.O.G.D. traditions of Wicca, an initiate of Santeria and the “Caliphate Line” of the Ordo Templi Orientis, as well as a member of other Neopagan and Mesopagan Druid orders. He has also been a member of the Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans (CUUPS) for several years.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Llewellyn Publications (December 8, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0738711993
• ISBN-13: 978-0738711997
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #888,741 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Isaac Bonewits is one of North America's leading experts on ancient and modern Druidism, Witchcraft and the rapidly growing Earth Religions movement.

Now the Headmaster at RealMagicSchool.com, he has been a practicing Neopagan priest, scholar, teacher, bard, and polytheologian for over thirty-five years, he has coined much of the vocabulary and articulated many of the issues that have shaped the rapidly growing Neopagan community in the United States and Canada, with opinions both playful and controversial.

He is the author of Real Magic, Authentic Thaumaturgy, The Pagan Man, Bonewits's Essential Guide to Witchcraft and Wicca, Bonewits's Essential Guide to Druidism, Real Energy, and Neopagan Rites, as well as numerous articles, reviews and essays. He is a singer-songwriter with two-and-a-half albums to his credit. As a 'spellbinding' speaker, he has educated, enlightened and entertained two generations of modern Goddess worshippers, nature mystics, and followers of other minority belief systems, and has explained these movements to journalists, law enforcement officers, college students, and academic researchers.

He is the Founder and an Archdruid Emeritus of Ar nDraiocht Fein: A Druid Fellowship, (ADF, the best known Neopagan Druid organization based in North America), a 3rd Degree Druid within the United Ancient Order of Druids (the best known Mesopagan Druid order), a retired High Priest in both the Gardnerian ('British Orthodox') and the N.R.O.O.G.D. ('California Heterodox') traditions of Wicca (Neopagan Witchcraft), an initiate of Santeria (Afro-Cuban Mesopaganism) and the 'Caliphate Line' of the Ordo Templi Orientis (Aleister Crowley's Mesopagan magical tradition), as well as a member of other Neopagan and Mesopagan Druid orders. He has been a member of the Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans (CUUPS) for several years. Having survived five previous spouses (and vice versa), he is now married to former CUUPS Vice President, tarot expert, writer, and Wiccan Priestess, Phaedra Bonewits (hope springs eternal).

Isaac wishes it officially known that he is not 'A Pagan Spiritual Leader,' but merely one of the Neopagan movement's better-known Unindicted Co-conspirators...

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Buy This Book!!!, August 13, 2008

By 

Michelle Brzezicki (Florida) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Neopagan Rites: A Guide to Creating Public Rituals that Work (Paperback)

I have been a Pagan for over 20 years, and in that time I have read scores of Pagan and Pagan related books, dozens of which claiming to be "Advanced" or "Beyond the Basics" or "What Next" kind of books. Of all those titles, and of all of that reading, I think I can safely say this is the ONLY book I have read that qualifies as "Advanced" learning, without even claming to be so!

I design and lead ritual in my own coven, and have designed and lead public rituals for various local groups and for Pagan Pride Day in our area. I've been extremely happy with some of the rituals I've written/participated in, and other I've felt were a little flat. When those times have happened I was left scratching my head as to exactly *what* was missing.

This book really sheds some light on areas anyone designing rituals could use. Although written for people designing `large public' rituals, I can easily see how the ideas presented here in this book will help me for my small coven rituals as well.

Who should buy this book?

* Anyone who wants to improve the strength and power of their rites
* Anyone who wants a better understanding of *good* ritual design
* Anyone who cares about the research behind what they are reading
* Anyone who wants to know *why* certain things are done in the context of ritual with actual experience, and explanations as to why, and no FBC
* Anyone who wants more from a book then `by rote' instruction (ie. Now pick up Athame A and insert into Cup B and repeat the following...)
* Anyone who wants a valuable tool in helping to prepare rituals for years to come.

Mr. Bonewits, thank you so much for writing this book! This one goes right into my recommended reading list for students ready to start writing their own rituals.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Important Note from the Author, January 15, 2008

By 

Isaac Bonewits "One of two profiles here at A... (Nyack, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Neopagan Rites: A Guide to Creating Public Rituals that Work (Paperback)

Since my blog entry mentioning this book will eventually scroll off the screen for this page, it seems appropriate for me to repeat here that Neopagan Rites is an updated and expanded edition of Rites of Worship: A Neopagan Approach, now out of print. If you go to that page you will find twelve five-star reviews (and none less than five stars) from Neopagan and other clergy familiar with the earlier edition. Until we have a few reviews here, please visit the earlier ones to get a clear vision of the book -- then come back here to buy it, of course!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best book I've read in a while., January 28, 2008

By 

Stacy Marie (Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Neopagan Rites: A Guide to Creating Public Rituals that Work (Paperback)

"Neo Pagan Rites" Is by far the best book I have read in quite a while.
It really got me thinking about how my rituals are put together and ways to make them better for everyone. It got me thinking about aspects I would have otherwise overlooked. I recommend this book to any Priest/ess old and new.