prayer

Reigniting Your Devotional Practice

For many people, including me, November and December are so busy with family obligations and other social functions thanks to the over-culture, that our own personal devotional practice tends to fall by the wayside for awhile.  Devotional practices, whether they be daily or weekly prayers, meditation, or magical workings, ebb and flow.  They go in cycles like the seasons, and that’s okay.  A dormant season is necessary for a fruitful growing and harvest season.  So, as we’re coming out of the dormant season, it’s okay that our practice may have been dormant for awhile. Now is the time to reignite it.  

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I’ve Been Praying All Along

As my kids have gotten older, it’s gotten more difficult to have a regularly scheduled personal practice. I used to have a very solid devotion/prayer schedule: daily devotion (often at dawn), twice weekly trance work, weekly solitary rite, full moon rite, new moon rite, Druid moon rite, and high day rite. These days I’m lucky if I manage a devotion once a week, trance work really only happens about once a month, and I’m down to just the grove Druid moons and high days. I’ll admit: I was feeling pretty guilty and inferior about it.

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Artemis, for the right to choose

On this National Day of Prayer,
as we watch our rights threaten to be eroded,
I call out to Artemis, protector.

Artemis, you were born in conflict,
with your mother, Leto, making the choice to give birth.
You, in turn, helped deliver your brother.

Artemis, when you were but a child,
You demanded sovereignty:
to choose your own path,
to follow your own passions,
to remain childless,
and not forced into the role of mother.

Artemis, I ask you now to be present.
To stand beside those who fight
for their own right to choose as you did.
You have always defended your followers,
And in this fight I ask that you continue to do so.

Lend your strength of will,
Lend your protection,
Let your precedence sway the minds of those who rule.

Artemis, as you have always been there for me,
be there for us all now.

Meal Planning

Hestia, as I flip through our family recipe book, be with me. 
I’m choosing meals for this week, and I’d like my children to eat them. 
Help me pick things that are delicious, and will retain their flavors well for leftovers. 
Help me pick things that have overlapping ingredients, yet different flavor profiles. 
Hestia, as you are with all things in the home, be with me in this.

Prayer for Evening Companionship from the Gods

The quiet parts of the evening are sometimes the hardest. 
That time when my brain slows down
And I’m no longer focused on keeping everything in order. 
That time when anxiety and depression have the opportunity to rear their heads. 
The chance to relax, once so welcome,
Now feels empty and uneasy. 
I’m those moments, when I’m feeling alone and vulnerable,
I ask:  gods of my heart, be with me. 
I need to feel your presence and your comfort. 
Be with me as the evening winds to a close,
And I seek  calm before bed.

Morning Patience

In the bustle of the morning,
Kindreds grant me patience.
As I’m called on to brush and braid hair,
To pour cereal and milk,
To help get dressed,
To help with the potty,
And on and on and on. 
The never-ending refrain of “Mom!”
Resounds in my sadly still empty coffee mug.
So, Kindreds… patience and compassion this morning. 
Please.

Days of Rest

Kindreds, may tomorrow be better than today. 
It’s not like today was awful, 
But it was a mulligan day. 
I slept more than I kept up with tasks. 
I relaxed more than I was productive. 
Actually… Kindreds…
Perhaps more days like today, please,
But also help me release the guilt,
And the pressing need to always be doing something. 
Help me allow myself moments of pleasure,
Days of rest. 
Kindreds, help me see that I deserve these things too.