I assure you all, I am still alive. I managed to hurt my back some more this past month, and spent a good deal of September recovering. (See my rants about disability at my Twitter.)
While recovering, I was not idle, religiously. In September I wrote three sets of prayers for three pantheons, and then figured out a schedule for them and the Otherfaith daily prayers (written by Aine). These prayers are really daily prayers, not twice weekly ones, but twice weekly is when I say each set (with the exception of the prayers to the Three; they get one day).
Right now the schedule is this: Otherfaith on Monday/Thursday; D’Angeline Gods on Tuesday/Friday, Hellenic gods on Wednesday/Saturday, and the Three on Sunday. This is subject to change, but I want to try to stick to this schedule for a month or more before I start altering it.
I’ve been doing this every day, morning and evening, since the 24th, and a bit more sporadically before that day. Initially I was doing libations as well for both the Hellenic gods and the Otherfaith, but I have come to realize that is too much for me to handle. I end up forgetting about the water on the shrine until the next prayer day for that pantheon comes along, and that’s just not tenable. So for now, these prayers are libation free, though they sometimes involve “lighting” my LED candles and letting them “burn”.
Today is Tuesday, which is a D’Angeline day. The D’Angeline prayers are the ones I’ve felt most motivated to do, because I’ve felt the most response from them: little ideas and epiphanies about how to further shape D’Angeline recon.
For one, I keep the D’Angeline shrine veiled when not in use, and lift the veil up on Tuesdays and Fridays when I say the morning prayer. I don’t know why it feels right to veil it, but it does.
Another thing that’s felt right is that I am half-clothed before the shrine — I go shirtless and bra-less, bare-breasted before Elua and His Companions, but I wear underwear and pants or a skirt. I have come to understand that this shows honor to all the gods of the D’Angeline pantheon — the more modest ones, and the less modest ones. Naamah glories in nakedness; Cassiel does not. By being half-clothed, I am compromising for them.
(On the contrary to this: I can’t do my prayers at the Hellenic shrine until I have showered and dressed fully, and with the other two sets, there seem to be no restrictions/wishes as to my nakedness or not.)
Currently on the shrine there are 8 LED candles, 7 of them arranged on the shrine itself and one in a tall candle holder decorated with stars. At first, I was worried about missing a candle — there are 9 D’Angeline deities, after all. But I got a very clear sense from Elua that He does not need a candle to Himself, because the light of the others’ candles hold His light as well.
Naamah’s candle is the one in the star-imprinted candle-holder. The reason for this is twofold: that candle holder used to be part of my Aphrodite shrine in my old apartment and I have come to believe Naamah and Aphrodite are sometimes syncreticized, and because “Love is the star by which we must set our sights.” (Naamah is the deity of sexuality in the books, but in my headcanon/because of Her syncretization with Aphrodite, She is also a goddess of love as well. But then, all the Companions I see as gods of love in some way, the entire pantheon being based on it.) So far I have not specified the other candles to the rest of the Companions. Eventually I will likely paint something on each LED candle to symbolize the god it is for.
There is also a small container of hyssop, which I bought on a whim a Pagan Pride Day but had no real reason for getting. At some point I realized it needed to go on the D’Angeline shrine. It’s been a while since I’ve read the books, so I’m not sure if it’s canon that hyssop is sacred to the gods (or a specific one), or if it’s even mentioned. It feels familiar in that sense, however, so I’ll be keeping an eye out for it when I do my reread. At any rate, it’s my headcanon that They like it.
And on that note, here are the prayers I’ve written to honor the gods of Terre D’Ange.
Morning Prayer
Naamah, Anael, Eisheth, Shemhazai,
this day I think of you
Cassiel, Camael, Azza, Kushiel,
this day I seek to honor you
Elua and His Blessed Companions,
let love guide me.
Evening Prayer
Naamah, Anael, Eisheth, Shemhazai,
this night I sing your praises
Cassiel, Camael, Azza, Kushiel,
this night I pray to you
Elua and His Blessed Companions,
Your love has led me.
At some point I will likely write more prayers for the D’Angeline gods, more specific ones, or ones for certain times/situations. These, however, are very general so they can be used every day. (I have plans for hymns for the D’Angeline gods as well, ala my endless 30 days of hymns project, but those will have to wait until I complete my reread of the books.)
If you feel called to use these prayers, please do!
~Morag
which I bought on a whim a Pagan Pride Day but had no real reason for getting.
I love it when these things happen. For non-Pagans, it might be “Do I need this thing? Well no, not right now, but maybe I will in the future.” For Pagans it’s “Do I need this thing? Not that I know of, but my gods may have other ideas.”
Love the prayers, I may end up using them, perhaps. 🙂