I would suggest 4 points to practical paganism or folk tradition, including for the secular frens. These are offerings, study, meditation and calendar. Hopefully this inspires some of you currently building families and homesteads to think along these lines if you don’t already!

Offerings:

It is the same gesture as flowers on a grave, but the idea is to part with something of aesthetic value or even of exchange value. Preferably alone; can be a libation. Use something as a lodestone or altar (not indoors unless it’s supremely aesthetic) and leave things there – that’s about it. Another shade of this is getting rid of clutter in your house. Let go of heavy things that don’t need to be carried. Delete irrelevant contact info.

Study:

Most common because it’s the least likely to get you accused of being a LARPer. We’re long past caring about that, but it’s useful to be able to cite why you do things, know the complexity of the gods and practices you name, inspire others with its musicality. Check out the Eddas, Kalevala, Wagner’s ring cycle, the Greek classics. Do some informed speculation of the movements of peoples (Survive the Jive) to gain perspective on your genetics, and I really encourage the study of evolution and the basics of modern biology, for example John Maynard Smith. And because we’re spending time in nature, we need to know about first aid.

Meditation:

An overlooked form of meditation is long rune-chanting. This style is better in a group once you get past the ‘performance’ barrier. To get an idea of the purpose and vibe, check out Nichiren Buddhist chanting (in front of a gohonzon), which has a defined rhythm, but runic chanting is more like throat singing. Find something that resembles the rune of your focus or a space that embodies it, choose some sustainable posture and draw out the syllable while envisioning the rune as intensely as possible – some even imagine being impaled by it (or hanging from it, as Woden on the worldtree). Conventional meditation also works but has more to do with non-resistance, whereas chanting has to do with willful self-energizing. In my view, music is an adequate substitute if you are experienced enough in it.

Calendar:

Luckily, our holidays are already strongly implemented into normie lifestyle. Some lament their own turn to their ancestral folk religion because they don’t want to give up the profoundly wholesome aesthetics of Christmas. Well, we don’t have to, because celebrating Yule is as simple as celebrating Christmas minus the nativity narrative. Easter is cognate with the pre-Christian holiday Eostre/Ostara. There’s a lot of info out there on this – it’s the least contentious to globohomo because it demoralizes Christians. Most of us will be neutral in this dispute. Essentially, take note of major celestial events and seasonal changes. Make a concerted effort to honor them – they initiate the changes that set the tone for all agricultural, hunting and seafaring communities.