From the spiritual technology of the ancestors, let us consider the hallows—in Latin, the sacra—those holy objects of presence, in which a god is. If the work of religion is the making-present of the gods, this work the hallows accomplish, for the hallows are points of communication, articulating radical immanence. The genius of the paganisms has always been to understand that we best touch the universal through the specific.

To say “idol” implies a statue, but hallows take many forms.

One thing to remember about hallows is that in them, by them, through them, we look upon a god.

The other thing to remember is that in them, by them, through them, the god looks back at us.

In the hallow we encounter the god in his entirety. That the god may be present in his entirety in a hundred hallows simultaneously is a mystery one must experience to understand.

The keeping of a hallow is an obligation not to be taken on lightly or lovelessly, for it is a relationship of persons which, like all such, requires ongoing care. You don't leave a friend on a shelf and then, when you need her, take her down and dust her off. With hallows as with people, regular attention is necessary—tending, attending, offering—and in the case of an intimate relationship, better it be if daily done, twice daily even better. Best is to begin with what you can sustain, for to begin in these things and then to stop is worse than not to begin at all: on this point, all the authorities agree.

When offering to a hallow, one's focus should be the hallow itself, the god-made-present here. My experience has invariably been that if while offering to the hallow, I direct my thought, prayer, and power to the god-out-there, the offering miscarries, goes astray. There is no need to think of the god-out-there; that is the hallow's work. My work is to shine the bright beam of my thought, my prayer, my power, directly to the hallow itself. The hallow, like a lens, will focus the thought, the prayer, the power, and direct it to the god. That is its work, its power, its purpose.

Let us consider the hallows, loci of presence, by which gods are made present. The ancestors kept them and so do we.

And unto ages of ages.

Eric Gill, "Golden Calf"