There are as many ways of worship as there are traditions of the Craft. Most rituals involve consecration of the ritual space in some way, invocation of a Deity or Deities, and a communal meal. Rituals can include music and/or dancing, poetry, masquing and drama (often in enactments of myth), and even props and special effects.

As a group, PATHS celebrates the holy days agreed upon by the membership; currently, PATHS members have elected to communally celebrate the basic "Wheel of the Year" as recognized in most basic Neo-pagan and Wiccan traditions.

There are eight holidays:

Popularly known as Hallowe'en. The Feast of the Ancestors and Witches' New Year. Trick-or-Treating evolved from Pagan "Souling," when children representing ancestors collected food and blessed the houses they visited.

The Winter Solstice. Longest night of the year, Feast of the Rebirth of the Sun, after which the days begin to grow longer again. Many Christmas customs have a Pagan origin: the Yule Log, Christmas Tree, Evergreen Decorations, Wassailing.

Feast of Returning Light. Also called Candlemas. In honor of the Irish Brigid, Goddess of holy wells, fire, healing, smithcraft, and poetry. Brigid's Fire warms the Earth after Winter.

Named after the Anglo-Saxon Goddess of the Dawn; origin of the word "Easter." The Vernal Equinox, Feast of Planting and Rebirth.

Also called May Day. The first day of Summer, the beginning of the light half of the year. A feast of fertility and burgeoning life.

The Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year. Feast of the Sun on High or the Solar Hero; activities are mostly those to do with civilization/culture.

"Feast of Lugh," or "Loaf-mass." Feast of the Hero-God Lugh, who undergoes a shamanic death-rebirth initiation, and/or the Barley God, who dies and is transformed into beer. Festival of the First Fruits, the first harvest.

Celebration of the Harvest. Has its analog in the American Thanksgiving, which was indeed originally a harvest festival.

Back to About The Group