Prayer

Prayer

You may have childhood memories like I do, of praying at the side of your bed, or at mealtimes. As the years have passed, that practice may have faded away and got lost under all the hustle and bustle of daily life. Nonetheless, prayers offer much to Wiccans/Witches and Pagans (especially when directed to a specific god or goddess). Prayer can also become a useful tool for Witches, if used as a mechanism for reconnecting with the psychic self, and the collective unconscious.

??? What is prayer ???

The answer to this actually depends on who you ask... When I looked it up I found that a 17th Century preacher and writer John Bunyan thought that prayer is “sincere, sensible, affectionate, and pouring out of the soul to God”. However, in comparison Ralph Waldo Emerson, an American essayist and poet described prayer as “the study of truth”, which implies a more meditative element.

So, for this, I am going to say... that prayer is defined as a means of communicating with Spirit (or the deity of your choosing), which in part also means listening. Whether that communication take the form of a request, thankfulness, worshipfulness, or simply opening up to Spirit (or deity) in truthfulness, if you do not listen as well as talk; a great deal of the effectiveness of prayer remains unrealized.

The role of Prayer in Wicca and Witchcraft.

It has taken a while for Witches on the whole to integrate Prayer into rituals and daily magical practices. The problem for many has been the connection the idea of prayer and organised religion. Since many witches come from a past steeped in a faith to which they had no strong personal connection, it’s been hard for them to reclaim the power of prayer. Nonetheless, it is happening, albeit slowly.

This change is in part due to a realization that many prayers are really a kind of respectful deity-directed spell. Think of it this way; when we pray for something, we are indicating our desire for something to manifest. In spell craft, the Witch does the same thing, adding will and an awareness of how to build and direct energy into the equation. A Wiccan/Witch/Pagan can also invoke the quarters, or Spirit to bless and guide the energy – by all definitions, these invocations qualifies as a prayer.

Many Witches/Wiccans/Pagans approach prayer as a personal construct. If a practitioner doesn’t follow a particular deity, (s)he may not feel the need to pray, and will likely substitute this with meditations or other thoughtful practices. If a practitioner honours Spirit, or a particular deity, prayer will certainly have a place. This is to say, that just because someone may not have a deity, they cannot pray... because they can and I know some who do.

What to expect from Prayer?

According to Socrates “God knows what is good for us”. Prayers are filled with good intentions, yet often good intentions, pave the way to trouble. It’s a fact that we as human beings have a limited spiritual vision, and frequently don’t realize that a ‘good’ idea may have terrible consequences. Thus, the Witch may end a prayer (spell or ritual) with a phrase similar to “for the good of all, and it harm none”. This small phrase releases the energy of the prayer’s energy to the Powers so it can be guided for the best possible results. Even if those results, aren’t what we first expected

The Rainbow Witch 27-05-2012