Wilderness Book of Shadows
Outdoor Pagan Rituals and Sacred Trail Hiking
Backpacking Pagans use different rituals than Wiccans and other earth worshipers, so answer some questions about wilderness rituals, praying in parks, and trail worship.
A wilderness book of shadows contains the traditions of a Gaiaped or other hiking Pagan. It includes outdoor Pagan rituals that can be performed with only the equipment on your back. Detailing sacred backpacking tools and Wiccan wilderness rituals, its entire contents is often memorized to save on weight for the trip. Here are some tips for creating a wilderness book of shadows.
Outdoor Oral Tradition
A backpacking Pagan is ever mindful of how much weight is in that backpack. The first step to creating a meaningful wilderness book of shadows is to realize that short rituals that are easy to memorize can keep that heavy notebook out of the pack altogether. The scrolls of the Torah may be impressive, but a sacred backpacker isn’t going to want to carry it fifteen miles. Wilderness rituals are written to convey more meaning with fewer words.
Lightweight Ritual Tools
Other aspects of Pagan religion are altered by praying on trails instead of in groves or temples. When writing a book of shadows for wilderness prayer, a section should be devoted to tools. Backpacking equipment is light, strong, and can be used for many different tasks. Gaiapeds prefer saving weight to dedicating separate objects for ritual purpose. An excellent example of this is the titanium spork, which, when consecrated, can be used a spoon, chalice, fork, athame, digging tool, horned headdress, and tent stake, to name a few.
Finding God in the Wilderness
A book of shadows isn’t complete without details about communing with God(s). Wilderness ritual of this sort presumes that nature itself is holy, so the book should describe how a hike is made sacred by touching trees and rocks with bare flesh. Contact with actual trail blazes may be more important. The hike itself can be seen as an exhaustion ritual, so that the backpackers are in some kind of altered state when the arrive at the campsite, and are more receptive to divine communication.
Pagans are fond of talking and singing, but doing either while hiking isn’t very effective. The backpacks make it difficult to hear, and the rigorous hike itself makes the conservation of breath necessary much of the time. Chants and spoken prayers may be part of a wilderness book of shadows, but they probably won’t be used until the hike is over for the day. Hiking itself is a time for meditation and introspection.
History and Tradition
The fear of a heavy book of shadows notwithstanding, this is a place to keep historical lists. There might be a page which tracks sacred ashes that are passed from campfire to ritual fire, or a list of land stewards and the parcels they protect. If the wilderness book of shadows is entirely personal, it probably includes a log of all nights spent in the wilderness.
The Internet Book of Shadows is an excellent resource for learning more about Pagan ritual and belief. For information on strong and lightweight backpacking gear, stop by Backpacker’s Gear Guide.
