Natural Witchery (21 page)

A Witch's Prayer

Prayer is both a simple and a profound method to help you find your way while traveling along your own sacred path. When a Witch uses prayer as a magickal tool, it gives them a little one-on-one time with the God and Goddess. This is a phenomenal and very personal way to experience a connection to the divine. Prayer can be both spur-of-the-moment and a part of your regular spiritual practices. Plus it is an intimate technique to express your own spirituality. The act of setting aside some personal time to say a prayer is a beautifully simple ritual.

Connecting with deity through the use of prayer gives a natural Witch inner strength. Prayer is one of the most time-effective and practical ways to revitalize your magickal spirituality, especially if you've been feeling overwhelmed and disconnected. In fact, a Witch's prayer can open up a doorway between the psychic realms and the magickal realms, because when we acknowledge the enchanting moments of our lives with a simple magickal prayer, we get in touch with our feelings, honor our intuition, and tune in to the realms of the spirit all at once!

A Witch's prayer is like a spontaneous spell. Truthfully, it all depends on the amount of psychic energy that is raised and the quantity of will that is projected into the spoken prayer. A Witch's prayer can actually be an act of natural magick in and of itself; no waiting, no tools, just
boom—
and there it is.

Now, I realize that many Pagans will shy away from the use of prayer. They think it's too much like a mainstream religious practice. But all religions use prayer of some type. Praying doesn't involve groveling before deity. It's about building a relationship and going to deity when things get tough. How many of you have ever had to face down a tough situation and said quietly to yourself, as you walked into the confrontation, “Okay, Goddess, help me to handle this situation well” or “Lord and Lady, give me strength to deal with my teenagers today.” Those are spontaneous prayers.

The spoken word has power. The soul opens up with simple invocations that honor the God and Goddess, life, and love. Remember that there is more to a prayer than just saying, “Please give me this item …” or “I really need that …” A prayer is also about thanking deity for their blessings and for their assistance in your spiritual life. And that's just one idea. You may also wish to recognize deity and celebrate the elements for their assistance in your magick at a specific time every day, like when you get up in the morning or before you turn in at night.

Now, it is important to be spontaneous and to use your own words while putting
together these Witch's prayers. But I do understand that some folks absolutely panic at the thought of writing their own spells, or any magickal material, for that matter. So here are a few formal magickal prayers to get you motivated and inspire you to compose a few of your own.

To Honor the Moon Goddess

This Witch's prayer is for celebrating one aspect of the Goddess. The moon goddess is a powerful archetype, and this prayer will work well no matter what phase the moon happens to be in. All you need for this is yourself and a clear view of the moon. If you really wanted to go all out, you could light a white or silver candle at the beginning of this prayer. When you are finished, allow the candle to burn in a safe place until it goes out on its own.

Lady of the silver moon, watch over me this night,

Guide my words and actions, and keep me within your sight.

I thank you for your love and for protecting me from strife,

I honor you for bringing charm and magick to my life.

To Honor the God of Nature

This Witch's prayer honors the God as the Green Man and the spiritual side of nature. The Green Man is a popular, powerful aspect of the God and a favorite among most Witches today. If possible, try praying this outdoors in your backyard or garden. If you live in the city, try saying this spell while under a tree or walking through the local park. Or set aside a spot in your home, and fill it with several live houseplants, thus creating a indoor oasis of sorts. If you are working this prayer at home and can keep a small candle supervised, add a green candle to this prayer if you desire.

The smiling Green Man, soul of nature, now hear my call today,

You manifest within my life in many wonderful ways.

Please grant me compassion and strength, and help me to be wise.

Thank you for illumination beneath your sunny skies.

If you are wondering where the correct place is to work these formal Witch's prayers, that is completely up to you. But since I am a huge advocate of natural magick, personally I would suggest the outdoors, under the light of the sun or moon. If you are limited to an indoor area, then at least move to a place where you'll stand in a beam of natural light, because natural light has a power all its own. The light of the sun and moon has traditionally been recognized as an essential type of spiritual illumination. Surprise! There is truly magick to be found in the most simple of things.

A Celebration of the Magickal Elements

In natural magick, the elements of earth, air, fire, water, and spirit are called upon and utilized all the time. After all, we work with the elements every time we cast a circle. So why not take a moment to celebrate them and to thank them for the energies they bring to your natural witchery? This is a powerful and personal way to recognize all the positive and spiritual qualities they bless us with every day.

If you'd like to add a candle to this prayer, try white, since it's all-purpose. Or you could really get into it and use several candles: a green candle for earth, yellow for air, red to denote fire, blue for water, and purple for spirit. Set up this spell on your indoor working space or just step outdoors, ignore the props, and instinctively link to nature. Repeat the following prayer out loud and with feeling:

I thank the earth for its grounding and prosperous qualities,

I thank the air for the insight and knowledge it grants to me.

I thank the fire for passion and courage both true and bold,

I thank the water for psychic gifts and love to have and hold.

Thanks to Spirit, the element that binds all powers as one,

Now as I will it, so must it be, and bring harm to none.

Let your religion be less of a theory
and more of a love affair.

G. K. Chesterton

Finding the Sacred in the Ordinary,
Discovering the Magick in the Mundane

Now that you've tried out a few Witch's prayers, let's take the idea of maintaining our spirituality even further. To be happy and at peace, you need to be thankful for the wonderful things in your life. Nah, I'm not talking about “If only I had that brand-new sports car/could jet off to the seashore for the weekend/could have a designer outfit, I'd be so happy …”

Oh please, let's be realistic here. I'm a practical woman and a very practical Witch. What I'm talking about are the little things that are actually the most important things: your health, friends, home, and family. I want to remind you to cherish these things because they are vitally important to keeping your spirituality on track.

If you are moping around, feeling blue or sorry for yourself, it's going to be a tall order for you to see the sacred and feel spiritual, much less magickal. So, what do you do? Well, you can try keeping a personal journal of sorts, and write down what you cherish and are thankful for. You can use this as a personal exercise and note the enchanting and inspiring events that you experience in your life. This could even become a little daily ritual, if you like; to look for and then to find the sacred in the ordinary.

Take the time to note the things or people that you most appreciate. Choose five different things that you are thankful for on a daily basis, and write those down. Something like this:
I am thankful for my job, so I can help support my family.
See? It's a positive affirmation, and it only took a moment of your time. Now try adding four more things to that list. For example, if I were to do this right now, I'd say:

1. Today I am thankful for my and my husband's good health.

2. I am thankful for my kids, Goddess bless them. They make me laugh and learn.

3. I am thankful I was able to afford putting in a new kitchen floor this year. It's so much easier to keep clean.

4. I am thankful for my cats; they bring me companionship every day.

5. I am thankful for our home and our garden.

The point of this is to help remind you what wonderful things you are blessed with. You may have noticed I have listed a kitchen floor. Work with me here:
sacred in the ordinary, magickal in the mundane …
To you that may not seem magickal or particularly inspiring, but to me it was a huge deal. I purchased that floor tile with money earned from the magickal books I have written, so it was an epic event for me.

I enjoyed the whole process immensely. Having my oldest son take me to the home-improvement store with his truck so we could haul the tile home … Getting to whip out my checkbook to pay for the whole thing myself … my husband and I taking a weekend to lay the tile ourselves. It was hard work, but it was most satisfying. Not only does the whole kitchen look better, but it also looks bigger and brighter. Every time I walk in there, it just lifts my spirits and reminds me that I am contributing to help care for our home and help support my family.

Acknowledging the positive things in your life is an affirmative and powerful thing. It keeps you optimistic and reminds you to be thankful, whether you are thankful for a new kitchen floor, are cherishing a loving relationship, are appreciative of a loving home environment, or are simply taking pleasure in planting a flower garden in your yard or a pot of herbs for spells. Enjoy them all. There is magick to be found all around you, and there is a sacred and spiritual side to your everyday life. It's up to you to pay attention and to discover it. And it doesn't stop there. Jot down any important events in your life, and note the little things that inspire you. See what you can learn about yourself as you go along.

Today a new sun rises for me; everything is animated,
everything seems to speak to me of my passion,
everything invites me to cherish it.

Anne De Lenclos

Daily Dose of Inspiration

The fastest way for a Witch to be spiritually or magickally motivated is to get the physical senses involved. What simple things in the natural world inspire you? Watching the sun rise over the ocean, feeling crisp autumn leaves crunch under your shoes? Does the boom and crash of a thunderstorm rev you up? Do you become moved by the scent and texture of flowers or stirred by the earthy fragrance of the forest?

Inspiration may arrive in myriad ways; what counts is that you cherish it when you find it. Sometimes you have to snap yourself out of the doldrums and get in there and pull those choking weeds from the spiritual garden. This happens to all of us. The flowers are being smothered, and you need to get some air and inspiration to the plants in that spiritual garden!

For example, a few years ago I was having trouble finding inspiration to finish a writing project, and I was feeling particularly down in the dumps. I sat on the living room couch one afternoon in the foulest of moods. As I tried to identify what the problem was, I discovered that I had been spending an awful lot of time indoors on the computer, slaving away.

Consequently, I felt sluggish, disconnected from nature, and burned out. I took a moment and searched my intuition and asked myself what I needed to do to get pumped back up again.
Go outside, now,
my intuition announced. After a second or two, I decided that even though it was hot, getting outside and doing something beat the hell out of sitting on the couch and moping.

I shook myself off, clipped my hair up on top of my head, and then headed outside with my gardening tools and gloves, looking for inspiration. If inspiration was to be found, I knew I'd find it in the garden. So I determinedly hunkered down to weed the front flower beds. My husband was also outside cutting the grass, and as usual, getting in the gardens soothed me. So I pulled weeds, sweated, deadheaded the spent blossoms, got dirty, sweated some more, and tidied up the flowers. While I was in the gardens (looking very glamorous, I'm sure), a trio of late-summer butterflies fluttered around me as I worked. I also noticed a few hummingbirds zipping about. Cheered, I enjoyed their company, ignored the heat, and felt my mood lift.