When All You Can Do Is Pray?
Pagans pray too! Our ancestors prayed to
their Gods, long ago. Their pleas and offerings are documented in the
hieroglyphs that adorn the tombs of Egyptian pharaohs, in the carvings and
inscriptions left for us to read by the philosophers of Ancient Greece and
Rome. A prayer is a request and
there are many sorts of prayers. Different
types of spiritual entities prefer different types of offerings and words. Chants and songs are great for visualized meditation.
While prayer beads can be found in many
forms all over the world.
There is contemplative
prayer to commune with a deity, usually in silence. A body prayer uses dance or other special
movements in prayer. Walking a labyrinth
can be a prayerful act. Petitionary
prayer is praying for help for yourself.
A general prayer offers thanks. You
can do it out loud or silently, in a temple or backyard or forest or at a
kitchen table.
Yes, I know there is some debate in the community on prayer being for
Catholics and Spells being for Wiccans. Many Pagans dismiss prayer
as 'passive magic' - as opposed to doing spells, which they class as 'active
magic'. Other Pagans use spells and prayers interchangeably. The biggest debate I saw was calling a spell is a command. As the redirection of energy, causing a
change, to conform with your will. While
you may ask a God or Goddess for a little extra mojo in your spellwork, it's
not always necessary. In a spell, the
power comes from within the caster. In a
prayer, the power comes from the Gods.
Many Wiccans
stand before their Gods and Goddesses as an extended family. We never kneel or prostrate ourselves to them like slaves or servants. We hold ourselves up proud and strong be the
Divine. This is not a religion of
hearing and preaching - it's a religion of doing; sing, feast, dance and love
in a good life. As long as you are
willing to accept the consequences and do no harm, do as you will.
But in times of difficulty, I often feel so drained or
exhausted that even thinking about praying or giving an offering seems too
much. It feels there are no right words
for the circumstances, no flowery phrases that can directly translate the pain
and heartache that must be dealt with. In
these times, I find it best to use a simple prayer, a good prayer that affirms
the order of the world and calls down blessings. One such prayer can be found in the SigrdrÃfumál,
part of the Poetic Edda. This version
was translated by Bellows in 1936, and reads:
Hail Day! Hail sons of Day!
And Night and Her daughter now!
Look on us here with loving eyes,
that waiting we victory win.
And Night and Her daughter now!
Look on us here with loving eyes,
that waiting we victory win.
Hail to the Gods! Ye Goddesses, hail,
and all the generous Earth!
Give to us wisdom and goodly speech,
and healing hands, life-long.
and all the generous Earth!
Give to us wisdom and goodly speech,
and healing hands, life-long.
This is such a
powerful prayer. Molly Khan has written her
own version that I like to use when I can’t find the words but feel the urge to
pray, to affirm my place in the cosmos and ask for the good favor of the Gods
and Spirits.
Hail to Dagr, the Day that rises,
Hail Sunna who brings light and life!
Hail to Nott, Night that brings joyful sleep,
Hail Mani who keeps the time and tides!
Ever keeping Your circles,
look on us with loving eyes,
bring blessings like shining light.
Hail Sunna who brings light and life!
Hail to Nott, Night that brings joyful sleep,
Hail Mani who keeps the time and tides!
Ever keeping Your circles,
look on us with loving eyes,
bring blessings like shining light.
Hail
to the Gods and Goddesses,
to the lands and the living waters,
to the ancestors, ancient and wise,
to all the generous Earth!
Give to me wisdom and a happy heart,
a voice and hands that heal hurts,
for all the days of my life.
to the lands and the living waters,
to the ancestors, ancient and wise,
to all the generous Earth!
Give to me wisdom and a happy heart,
a voice and hands that heal hurts,
for all the days of my life.
How you end a prayer is up
to each individual. Amen, Blessed Be and
So it is are the most common endings. But
others like Many Blessings to all, Alu, or Blessings be upon us. Pray when you need to, and say what you wish
to say. Chances are good that someone is
listening.
I encourage you to make up prayers of
your own! They become much more personal
once you have come up with them on your own.
Again,
choose what feels right to you.
A prayer can be nothing more
than time taken to set an intention for the day, or to contemplate the day’s
events before going to sleep. It can be
time spent communing with a deity, or holding others that you care about in
your awareness and wishing them well. It
can take place at your personal altar, or just in your head. It can be spoken or unspoken, formal or
informal, and involve stillness or movement. It can involve descending into your own depths
to find a connection with all-that-is; or it can be reaching out to a deity or
spirit of place; or some other process. Different
people experience it differently.
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