1) I also do not have any experience working with the Irish Gods, but I can recommend a few good sources with different focuses that should give you something to get started:
a. The Soul's Inner Statues by Kaye Boesme (available for free online here, or PoD for a hardcopy: https://kayeofswords.github.io/soulsinnerstatues/). Kaye's focus is on the Greek Gods, but she explains basic practices that can be adapted to any pantheon.
b. Devotional Polytheism by Galina Krasskova. Krasskova's focus is on the Germanic Gods, and the specific prayers/practices she recommends in this book are to Them, but she does a good job of explaining the mindset and approach of devotion in a polytheistic context.
c. A World Full of Gods by JMG. This one is less practically focused, but I found it extremely helpful to get over some intellectual hurdles I had to polytheistic belief and worship.
d. The Druid Magic Handbook by JMG. Though not the focus, this book gives a few correspondences for the Irish Gods that might be helpful for getting started with practice.
For what it's worth, here's the short version of what I'd recommend for getting started with polytheistic worship: I) Read the relevant mythology, II) establish a daily prayer practice.
For I), find a collection of the relevant myths (so, Irish) and start reading the stories. If you have a meditation practice, meditating on them can greatly deepen what you get out of them. This will help you get in the right mood and mindset for being aware of these Gods and how They manifest in the world, and there's often a lot of wisdom and insight wrapped up in the tales symbolically. If you're of a more scholarly bent, you might find works of analysis or comparative mythology interesting, but it's possible to get two wrapped up in getting things "right" or understanding them intellectually, and to miss the subtler stuff going on, so don't worry about that kind of thing unless you find it interesting and helpful.
For II), there are a lot of ways to go about this, and the books I mentioned include some of them, but I think it's helpful to start simple and see what works for you. Many folks, myself included, find it helpful to have an altar, but I don't think it's strictly necessary, and some folks get hung up on getting this "right," but again, I think starting simple is a good idea. So, if you do want an altar, find a small table or bookshelf (currently, I use a wooden TV tray from Walmart), put a white cloth on it (I use an over-sized white bandana), and put a candle on that (a votive candle in a glass holder works well). That's all you really need, but if you want to make offerings of some kind, you'll likely want a cup for drink offerings and/or an incense burner for incense.
To pray at the altar, do some kind of simple ritual to open the sacred space (say, say a short prayer while lighting the candle), and then sit, stand, or kneel as feels appropriate and respectful, and say any prayers you wish to. I have a mix of "standard" prayers I say everyday and ad hoc "this is what I would like help with" prayers, and those are also a mix of being directed to specific Gods and Goddesses and to the Gods and Goddesses in general.
To make a drink offering, fill the cup you'll be using with the drink (alcohol is traditional, but lots of folks use others - water, juice, coffee, et cetera), address the God(s) to Whom it is offered, explain why you're giving it, take a small sip of it, and then place the drink on the altar. For incense, do something similar as you light it.
I then like to take some time to try to "listen"/feel for any sort of answer/guidance, sometimes on specific things, sometimes more open ended, for however long feels "right," but I give myself a minimum of 9 deep, slow breaths (since 9 is a sacred number in my tradition). Then I thank the Gods and Goddesses, stand, and leave the candle/incense burning and the drink on the altar for awhile (say, 30 minutes or an hour, but sometimes shorter if I'll be leaving or going to bed), come back, ask leave to dispose of anything left from the offerings (incense ash or what's left of the drink), and then either pour it on the ground outside, or down the sink if that's not an option.
Anyhow, you might find a different approach works better for you, and as you practice, it might grow/change - adding in specific prayers, finding images of your Gods, specific offerings, different candles for different Gods/purposes, and so forth, but you don't need to jump right in with all that. Likewise for more elaborate seasonal/holiday rituals or worshiping with groups or what have you.
2) For myself, I don't know if I can point to any dramatic "practical" results that have obviously come from the Gods, but I have felt Their guidance on figuring out what to do, where to put my efforts, how to think about what happens to me, and so forth. Perhaps most importantly personally, shortly after taking up daily magical and spiritual work, I had a strong experience of the presence of a couple of Gods, which shook me out of my old materialist worldview and has given me the conviction that there's actually something to all of this spiritual stuff, which has stood me in good stead when things get hard or spiritual practices feel rote or stale or the like. I've also had my share of "coincidences" that seem just a little too perfect not to have something behind them - stumbling on a book that exactly addresses what I need to focus on, connecting with a friend right when he needs it, looking back on life experiences that resonate with the Gods and myths I find most compelling, that kind of thing.
Anyhow, sorry for the long response, but hope some of that is helpful!
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branchandroot
(no subject)
Date: 2025-05-19 05:09 pm (UTC)1) I also do not have any experience working with the Irish Gods, but I can recommend a few good sources with different focuses that should give you something to get started:
a. The Soul's Inner Statues by Kaye Boesme (available for free online here, or PoD for a hardcopy: https://kayeofswords.github.io/soulsinnerstatues/). Kaye's focus is on the Greek Gods, but she explains basic practices that can be adapted to any pantheon.
b. Devotional Polytheism by Galina Krasskova. Krasskova's focus is on the Germanic Gods, and the specific prayers/practices she recommends in this book are to Them, but she does a good job of explaining the mindset and approach of devotion in a polytheistic context.
c. A World Full of Gods by JMG. This one is less practically focused, but I found it extremely helpful to get over some intellectual hurdles I had to polytheistic belief and worship.
d. The Druid Magic Handbook by JMG. Though not the focus, this book gives a few correspondences for the Irish Gods that might be helpful for getting started with practice.
For what it's worth, here's the short version of what I'd recommend for getting started with polytheistic worship: I) Read the relevant mythology, II) establish a daily prayer practice.
For I), find a collection of the relevant myths (so, Irish) and start reading the stories. If you have a meditation practice, meditating on them can greatly deepen what you get out of them. This will help you get in the right mood and mindset for being aware of these Gods and how They manifest in the world, and there's often a lot of wisdom and insight wrapped up in the tales symbolically. If you're of a more scholarly bent, you might find works of analysis or comparative mythology interesting, but it's possible to get two wrapped up in getting things "right" or understanding them intellectually, and to miss the subtler stuff going on, so don't worry about that kind of thing unless you find it interesting and helpful.
For II), there are a lot of ways to go about this, and the books I mentioned include some of them, but I think it's helpful to start simple and see what works for you. Many folks, myself included, find it helpful to have an altar, but I don't think it's strictly necessary, and some folks get hung up on getting this "right," but again, I think starting simple is a good idea. So, if you do want an altar, find a small table or bookshelf (currently, I use a wooden TV tray from Walmart), put a white cloth on it (I use an over-sized white bandana), and put a candle on that (a votive candle in a glass holder works well). That's all you really need, but if you want to make offerings of some kind, you'll likely want a cup for drink offerings and/or an incense burner for incense.
To pray at the altar, do some kind of simple ritual to open the sacred space (say, say a short prayer while lighting the candle), and then sit, stand, or kneel as feels appropriate and respectful, and say any prayers you wish to. I have a mix of "standard" prayers I say everyday and ad hoc "this is what I would like help with" prayers, and those are also a mix of being directed to specific Gods and Goddesses and to the Gods and Goddesses in general.
To make a drink offering, fill the cup you'll be using with the drink (alcohol is traditional, but lots of folks use others - water, juice, coffee, et cetera), address the God(s) to Whom it is offered, explain why you're giving it, take a small sip of it, and then place the drink on the altar. For incense, do something similar as you light it.
I then like to take some time to try to "listen"/feel for any sort of answer/guidance, sometimes on specific things, sometimes more open ended, for however long feels "right," but I give myself a minimum of 9 deep, slow breaths (since 9 is a sacred number in my tradition). Then I thank the Gods and Goddesses, stand, and leave the candle/incense burning and the drink on the altar for awhile (say, 30 minutes or an hour, but sometimes shorter if I'll be leaving or going to bed), come back, ask leave to dispose of anything left from the offerings (incense ash or what's left of the drink), and then either pour it on the ground outside, or down the sink if that's not an option.
Anyhow, you might find a different approach works better for you, and as you practice, it might grow/change - adding in specific prayers, finding images of your Gods, specific offerings, different candles for different Gods/purposes, and so forth, but you don't need to jump right in with all that. Likewise for more elaborate seasonal/holiday rituals or worshiping with groups or what have you.
2) For myself, I don't know if I can point to any dramatic "practical" results that have obviously come from the Gods, but I have felt Their guidance on figuring out what to do, where to put my efforts, how to think about what happens to me, and so forth. Perhaps most importantly personally, shortly after taking up daily magical and spiritual work, I had a strong experience of the presence of a couple of Gods, which shook me out of my old materialist worldview and has given me the conviction that there's actually something to all of this spiritual stuff, which has stood me in good stead when things get hard or spiritual practices feel rote or stale or the like. I've also had my share of "coincidences" that seem just a little too perfect not to have something behind them - stumbling on a book that exactly addresses what I need to focus on, connecting with a friend right when he needs it, looking back on life experiences that resonate with the Gods and myths I find most compelling, that kind of thing.
Anyhow, sorry for the long response, but hope some of that is helpful!
Cheers,
Jeff