Overview: When a Pagan prays, there are many uncertainties - who we pray to, what we pray for, and what might happen to us as a consequence. Not having the same structures as other religions, Pagans can’t frame prayer in the same ways, and our experiences are likely to be wilder and more personal.

This book is both a wide ranging exploration of what prayer means in different faith and cultures, and a personal journey into a spiritual practice.

Verdict: To be honest with you, over the years I have myself read many books on Prayer, and from several faith perspectives, if truth be told. I have also painstakingly, yet dedicatedly taught Spirituality and Prayer out within the world, and studied theology at degree level, and thus I feel I am perfectly poised to be the right person to review this book; and report back that I truly believe this book by Nimue Brown is one of the most impassioned books on Prayer that I have come across in the past 20 plus years.

Now, for those not in the know, and taking a wide, yet at the same time somewhat pin-pointed view at it, Paganism is a Christian term used to designate those religions that do not worship the God of Abraham, the figure central to both Christianity and to other Abrahamic religions like Judaism and Islam. Indeed, Christians have used the terms paganism and pagan, which typically carry pejorative connotations, to draw clear distinctions between themselves and those who they believe are worshiping false gods.

Throughout most of the history of Christianity, few if any of those labeled pagan have adopted this label for themselves. However, since at least the first half of the 20th century, the term has been reappropriated as a self-designation by a family of related new religions. Often called modern Pagan or Neo-Pagan groups, they are inspired by the religions of Europe, North Africa, and West Asia that were rendered extinct by the spread of Christianity and the other Abrahamic traditions.

But, I digress, for what we have here in When a Pagan Prays: Exploring Prayer in Druidry and Beyond by author Nimue Brown is a prose that is both engaging and heartfelt one minute, yet informative and lucid the next. So much so that she, at times, reveal a raw honesty in relation to the problems they faced whilst writing the book.

Thus whilst most all of the text given to some ideas on Prayer and why people pray and the ethics behind such things are undoubtedly personally hued, overall she doesn’t lose her way in the mire of personalized spiritual practice, but moreover brings forth a more open-minded, nay a genuinely rewarding viewpoint on something that should also be of interest to open-minded, non-believers too.

About the Author - Druid, author, bard and dreamer. Nimue Brown is OBOD trained, a founding member of Bards of The Lost Forest, Druid Network member and previously a volunteer for The Pagan Federation. She lives in Gloucestershire, UK.

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