Most of the Pagans I know are fond of ritual adornments: robes, jewelry, makeup, even the occasional veil. I have my share of devotional and enchanted jewelry, to be sure, and I own couple of items of clothing that pretty much only get worn to Pagan gatherings, SCA events, and the Renaissance Faire. But I don’t see many other people wearing ribbons, which is a shame because they’re such a versatile item! Since my hair is long enough to put up or put half up, which is my usual preferred style, I usually wear my ribbons in my hair. I have, however, worn them both around my neck and around my wrist in the past, and I find they work just as well in that manner. I usually buy silk ribbons with edging, about a yard long. They are easy to find on Etsy dyed in almost every color and color combination you could possibly want! I own about a dozen, most of which have a ritual or devotional purpose, and the picture below shows three of the ones I use most often.
A selection of my personal ribbons.
The top one, in shades of blue, green, and magenta, is the hair ribbon I usually use for divinatory work. It is a key part of my personal ritual to align my headspace with the practice of intuitive divination, and when I’m rushing that’s sometimes the only thing I do. I find that the act of tying it in my hair or around my wrist has become an effective mental trigger for changing my focus and sliding into trance. Even in my hair, the slight weight and movement of the strands as I move my head is noticeable, and helps me maintain focus. On my wrist its presence is even more palpable as I shuffle and draw cards or cast objects. I don’t always use the ribbon every time I do divination, though. If I’m away from home and am just pulling a few cards on the fly I don’t usually have it with me, but if I’m doing a reading for a client I always take the moment to pull it out and tie it in. It’s as important a piece of my personal preparation as grounding and centering, and when I’m feeling a little under the weather or preoccupied, it helps me to set those aside, and open instead to the work that needs to be done.
The other two ribbons, one in shades of beige, brown, and black and the other in shades of grey, are both devotional adornments. The tricolor one in the middle of the photo above is one I use for rituals to Hela, and to work with the Dead. For me, the colors evoke bones and the dark earth of graves and caves. Like the one I use for divination, this one helps shift my focus, and helps me align myself with the chthonic energies. I use it to help me shift into the oracular headspace associated with the spae tradition I’ve been trained in. While I also place a veil over myself when I am acting as seer, that act moves me through the gates of Helheim. The ribbon primarily helps me begin the journey down, and clarifies messages when the Dead come to me, though it likely helps with clarity in Helheim as well.
The ribbon in shades of grey is a devotional piece for Na Morrigna, and I use it each dark moon in my oracular rituals, but also whenever I am doing Their Work, or attending rituals in Their Honor. It helps me connect with the trio of Goddesses who came to me and named themselves in the plural: Na Morrigna as a collective, not An Morrigan in the singular. I’ve identified them elsewhere as the three daughters of Ernmas — Morrigan/Anu, Babd, and Macha — and so I wear the ribbon as well when doing work for them or attending rituals to them individually, as well.
Others have discussed Pagan veiling practices much better than I could hope to summarize, but I do want to mention ribbons in connection with that, briefly. For those who cannot veil completely, I’ve seen the idea of hair jewelry or other accessories used in place of a scarf, and I think a devotional hair ribbon (for those who can tie it into their hair) would be a great alternative. They’re very easy to style into hair, and they don’t have a religious connotation in US mainstream culture, thus allowing their usage by people whose practices and/or beliefs are sub-rosa*, without posing the threat of being found out.
I have other ribbons I use for healing work, for certain types of spellcasting, and to wear when I honor other entities, and I keep them all in a little accessory bag with my ritual jewelry. In the past I have just taken the whole bag with when I’ve gone to pagan events. Most of the ribbons are multicolored, like the ones in the picture above, and I’ve gotten them from several places but my favorite source is probably Jamn Glass on Etsy, because of the sheer range of hand dyed colors they offer. Or you could buy white ones and dye them yourself!
*Note: I tend to prefer using “sub-rosa” to “broom closet” terminology for a couple of reasons, one of which being that it’s such a lovely phrase! For me, “under the roses” evokes images of lush gardens protecting hushed conversation and midnight meetings from prying eyes, which has a similar aura of mystery and secrecy to my own experiences being a teen with a covert polytheistic magical practice in a staunchly Catholic household.