A Pagan Ritual Prayer Book (41 page)

Apollo, against cancer:

• Apollo, God of the Logos,
  

  of the Truth that is behind the form,
  

   
  

  whose lyre sings forth harmony.
  

   
  

  God of the pattern that is,
  

   
  

  and thus of the shape that should be:
  

   
  

  you are rightly called Great Healer,
  

   
  

  returning life to its proper place,
  

   
  

  setting it firmly within the natural Order of things.
  

   
  

  Rain down your unfailing arrows on this illness;
  

   
  

  pierce the crab's hard shell,
  

   
  

  cut it cleanly about its edges,
  

   
  

  drive straight through its heart and carry it away,
  

   
  

  leaving a purified body behind.
  

   
  

  I have always revered the Logos, Son of Leto,
  

   
  

  and dedicated myself to it.
  

   
  

  You know that, God of the Bow,
  

   
  

  so when I pour out this libation in your honor
  

   
  

  I know you will look kindly on me and answer my prayer.
  

   
  

• Woken in the night by a pain in my stomach
  

  I pray to you for cease of its prodding
  

   
  

  and a return to healing sleep,
  

   
  

  Apollo of the shining bow.
  

   
  

Apollo or Brighid:

• With your vivifying flame fill with vitality this loved one who lies here ailing,
  

  Bright One who heals.
  

   
  

Asklepios:

• It was an honor for you to be struck down by the hand of Zeus,
  

  a great honor to be so treated,
  

   
  

  the greatest of honors to be so feared by the gods.
  

   
  

  You were breaking the natural order of things, keeping men from death,
  

   
  

  so you were punished.
  

   
  

  Zeus treated you justly, Asklepios,
  

   
  

  and I have no quarrel with him.
  

   
  

  I don't ask for immortality, then,
  

   
  

  but only for health in the time allotted me.
  

   
  

  The gods may know what that time is
  

   
  

  (or maybe they don't; maybe it is in the hands of a Fate beyond them)
  

   
  

  but I do not.
  

   
  

  So I ask you, Asklepios, for health while I live.
  

   
  

  End this sickness that weighs me down.
  

   
  

  You have the power and need only use it.
  

   
  

  Give health to one who confidently worships you.
  

   
  

• As I touch this patient,
  

  may my fingers be each like your staff, Asklepios.
  

   
  

  As I speak this prayer, giver of true diagnoses,
  

   
  

  may my words be like the lapping of the gentle snakes that surround it.
  

   
  

  May everything I do to heal [name] be exactly what you would have done if you were the doctor here.
  

   
  

Brighid:

• Brighid who guides a healer's hands,
  

  whose fire inspires soothing words,
  

   
  

  be with me as I greet this patient:
  

   
  

  may diagnosis and treatment be true.
  

   
  

• The hammer on the anvil
  

  creates delicate beauty.
  

   
  

  The fire in the forge
  

   
  

  creates delicate beauty.
  

   
  

  May the force and fire within which I live
  

   
  

  create delicate beauty,
  

   
  

  beautiful Brighid.
  

   
  

Death:

• If I give this to you, Death, will you go?
  

  Will you return on your well-marked path to the enclosed place?
  

   
  

  Will you stay far away for many years left unlived?
  

   
  

  Will it be a payment for your time waiting?
  

   
  

  Take this, then, and go.
  

   
  

• You have your own place, Death,
  

  and this is not it.
  

   
  

  There you rule as king;
  

   
  

  here we are the most common of people.
  

   
  

  There you dwell in a noble palace;
  

   
  

  here we live in a simple house.
  

   
  

  There you enjoy sparkling riches;
  

   
  

  here our poverty shames us.
  

   
  

  Go to your place, Death,
  

   
  

  and wait for us there.
  

   
  

  We have heard your message and we will respond.
  

   
  

  But we are busy here, Death.
  

   
  

  We have many things to do.
  

   
  

  Be patient, we will respond,
  

   
  

  but only when the time is right.
  

   
  

  Return to your home, Death,
  

   
  

  and wait for us to come.
  

   
  

  For you it will be only a little while.
  

   
  

  For us, it will have been a lifetime.
  

   
  

Firebird:

• Firebird, who dwells on the Tree of Life,
  

  bring some of its fruit to me,
  

   
  

  to heal my sickness,
  

   
  

  to return me to health,
  

   
  

  and I will praise you.
  

   
  

The Goddess:

• Mother of all that lives
  

  and all that dies,
  

   
  

  promote life,
  

   
  

  defeat illness and death,
  

   
  

  in this one who comes to you with love.
  

   
  

Kwan Yin, for someone with Alzheimer's:

• As my [loved one/father/mother, etc.] descends into the fog of Alzheimer's,
  

  Kwan Yin of the beatific smile,
  

   
  

  with each moment draw [him/her] closer in the strong and gentle hug of your encircling arms.
  

   
  

  In this troubling time, may [he/she] find your peace.
  

   
  

Mithras:

• Mithras Soter,
  

  Mithras Pater,
  

   
  

  Mithras of the Ever-Descending Knife:
  

   
  

  Through your obedience to Sol Invictus
  

   
  

  you rose to be with him,
  

   
  

  to grasp hands with him,
  

   
  

  to feast with him.
  

   
  

  May I be as obedient to you.
  

   
  

  May you alone be my crown.
  

   
  

  May I come to sit beside you in the never-ending feast,
  

   
  

  there among the stars.
  

   
  

  Through Mercury, may I rise.
  

   
  

  Through Venus, may I rise.
  

   
  

  Through Mars, may I rise.
  

   
  

  Through Jupiter, may I rise.
  

   
  

  Through the Moon, may I rise.
  

   
  

  Through the Sun, may I rise.
  

   
  

  Through Saturn may I rise.
  

   
  

  Through the agency of the salvific bull-slaying,
  

   
  

  May I rise,
  

   
  

  May I be made immortal.
  

   
  

Moon:

• We pray for light's power to heal this person.
  

  Not
  your
  light, though, Sun.
  

   
  

  The fierce purity of your blazing would harm more than heal.
  

   
  

  Another time we will come to you with respect and offerings.
  

   
  

  Tonight, we turn to Luna of the soft light.
  

   
  

  With this bowl of milk, we ask you to pour your own healing swiftness over this one.
  

   
  

  Swathe [her/him] in your sweet unguent;
  

   
  

  with it draw anything inimical to health out from [her/his] body.
  

   
  

  You are dependable in your constant turning
  

   
  

  so we feel confident to depend on you for this.
  

   
  

• I place myself in the center of the turning world:
  

  the center is still.
  

   
  

• Maybe I have as many troubles as there are grains of sand on all the beaches of the world.
  

  But there are more of you than all the grains of sand on all the beaches of all the worlds in all the universes.
  

   
  

  With your irresistible power you can crush them into powder and wash them away if you want.
  

   
  

  Please want to.
  

   
  

The All-Gods:

• All-Gods,
  

  each god,
  

   
  

  joined together in perfect relationships:
  

   
  

  I hunger for friends to fill my lonely days,
  

   
  

  and it is to you whom I turn for help.
  

   
  

  Bring me in contact with the right people
  

   
  

  and advise me on how to do the rest.
  

   
  

Cernunnos:

• I saw him.
  

  I saw Cernunnos in the eye of the whirlwind.
  

   
  

  I saw the one with antlers sitting in the axle of the midst of the world's turning.
  

   
  

  He was the very force of calm force;
  

   
  

  still, but ready to lash out in any direction;
  

   
  

  balanced on the cusp, the nexus between one moment and the next.
  

   
  

  I saw him
  

   
  

  and this is what he told me to tell you:
  

   
  

  be at peace.
  

   
  

• You with the antlers,
  

  It is always still where you sit in the center of the whirling storm.
  

   
  

  When the winds whirl about me,
  

   
  

  be the rock to which I cling.
  

   
  

  I pray, Lord Cernunnos, for a share of your peace.
  

   
  

• Calm, still Lord, may I be calm.