Ideas for developing a breviary.
(Image description: A photo of a small lined notebook with a pen laying across it. A white, lit candle is to the right of the notebook. A white tea cup with a saucer, a bundle of purple flowers, and bunched white fabric are placed near the notebook and candle.) Credit: Photo by Sixteen Miles Out on Unsplash
This post was inspired by a recent conversation with a friend, and it made me recall why I started this blog in the first place. Polytheistic Monasticism is in its infancy, and there’s limited examples for those who are interested in getting started with it. One of those examples is the expression of prayer through art, especially in practices you may do daily or at least regularly enough.
Before I go over the ideas, I think an important concept at the heart of any practice is asking why about different parts of your path. It’s a simple thing to ask yourself why you are honoring or working with a deity, an ancestor, or any spirit, but it really gets to the point of why you want to create a practice in the first place, which includes breviaries.
I was initially introduced to the idea of asking why by Lucy Valunos’ book One Heart, Many Gods: The Absolute Beginner’s Guide to Devotional Polytheism. The author emphasizes inquiring why in different ways and where the question can lead and what will be accomplished along the trek. Your path may have already moved past the beginner stage, but I think this question is important to return to every so often; it can give you an understanding of your spiritual foundation and its current state.
Besides offerings of various types, prayer is a vital part of a Polytheist religious practice. They can be formal and informal, said aloud or silently; they all count. They can be viewed as necessary foundations for Polytheistic Monasticism and Devotional Polytheism.
The subject of prayer brings me back to my breviary plans. To be honest, I still haven’t started on it. Part of this is procrastination, and the other is indecision on design. I could easily just write down my prayers in a journal and call it a day. However, I like aesthetics, which I feel is more ingrained into religious sites and practices than we’re probably conscious of. Writing about this topic also helps me organize my thoughts for my breviary.
The need for satisfying aesthetics probably goes all the way back to cave paintings of hand prints, animals, and mythical beings to grand temples filled with statues and elaborate columns. I want to apply this same logic to my breviary and feel spiritual euphoria from doing so.
Having morning and evening prayers can both prepare you for the day and help you settle down for the night as well. Additional prayers for greeting the Powers, gratitude, and even acknowledgment of beauty can be woven in as you wish. It’s your practice, so feel free to have fun with it!
Choosing what you want to put prayers and other things in is important. It can be as simple or as fancy as you want or can afford. (You don’t need to break the bank for your breviary; the deities and spirits you honor will appreciate it regardless of money spent on it!) Size may also factor into things if you want to take it wherever you go.
The aesthetics for your breviary will also vary. You may want something neat, chaotic, pretty, dark, floral, light, a mix of these traits, or anything else you prefer. You could even be inspired by modern aesthetics like cottagecore and many others (there’s a lot out there!).
For my own breviary, I’d like it to have an artsy feel and a mix of different mediums, such as colored pencils, paint, stickers, and even tissue paper for texture. How well these materials work depends on how thick these additions make to the paper, as the journal I have is relatively small. That factor is also something to keep in mind.
A benefit of decorating your breviary, rather than merely writing prayers in it, can create a spiritual atmosphere while gazing and reading through its pages. This could be a potential method of meditation, depending on what you create. Within reason, it could help you shift your mood from a stressed one to a calm one.
Returning to my above point, asking yourself why you want a prayer in the breviary or why you want to capture a certain feeling will make you delve into the process of making it. It’s a form of creating the sacred in the mundane, and that can make a devotional task that much more powerful. It can also remind you that meaning doesn’t have to be found in big moments. Decorating your breviary can be simple but also purposeful and poignant.
Also, you may want to write down the draft versions of prayers and texts elsewhere and then copy the final versions over to your breviary. It really depends on how much of a perfectionist you are, but you might like having prayers where you can look back at the previous versions to see how they looked.
Prayers aren’t the only things you can add to your breviary. Quotes, song lyrics, and notes about your UPG can also added to the pages. If you’re the type who likes to press flowers, then that adds a small touch of beauty to the process. Essential oils may be another thing you could include, perhaps by scenting the pages or blessing them with it.
Another part of creating my breviary includes making a leather bookmark with colorful ribbons to indicate different sections of it. Depending on how big and customizable your breviary is, you’ll need to decide how you will organize prayers. You could include an index, a table of contents, or colored tabs.
Take your time and enjoy the process of creating your breviary. The point is to make a piece of art that brings you joy and gives you a connection to the Divine, whatever form that happens to take for you. A breviary could be considered like an art book version of your altar or shrine.
If you have any comments or questions about breviary making, you can send me an email or leave a comment below.
Happy creating!
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