Posted in Prayer, tagged ADF, druid prayer, healing, November challenge, polytheist prayers, prayer a day, prayeraday, thracian physicians on November 4, 2020| Leave a Comment »
Posted in Prayer, tagged ADF, columbia, democracy, Druidry, election 2020, libertas, polytheist prayers, prayer a day, prayeraday, themis, voting on November 3, 2020| Leave a Comment »
Posted in Prayer, tagged November challenge, polytheist prayers, prayer a day, prayeraday, tea spirits on November 2, 2020| Leave a Comment »
Posted in Prayer, tagged depression, November challenge, prayer a day, prayeraday on November 1, 2020| Leave a Comment »
Each year in November, organized by Rev. Jan Avende, a group of folks from multiple spiritual traditions gets together to write prayers. This is largely organized on Facebook through a group, and then Jan curates the FB page to post highlights each day. Some days there are tons of prayers and other days are lighter, but we’re all seeking to write 30 prayers in November.
I make my prayers into graphics, using Adobe Spark Post, but that’s NOT necessary to participate. Any prayer is fine, public or private, written or made into a graphic. It’s all totally up to you how you want to do this challenge.
I usually try to post mine here, but fizzle out partway through. We’ll see how this year goes.
But here’s today’s. I’m less confident than I usually am about finishing this year, but I can only control today, and today I am writing a prayer.
An image of a black dog on a black background.
On this day of new beginnings, I find myself hounded by the events and fears and woes and trials of this year. Walking the Black Dog is never easy – trying to be creative while doing so is harder. But life is about taking risks, even when I am not sure I will complete them. Today, spirits of perseverance, I ask you to bless this work of November. May I, with your help, write these prayers for myself and for others, and may they bring light into a dark time. So be it.
Photo from Pixabay, image made in Adobe Spark Post.
Posted in Prayer on August 31, 2020| Leave a Comment »
Gift of the Grain God, Holy Harvest Making
Earth rising upward, blessing of the reaping
Ground flour formed, work of the shaping
Yeast spirits give life, time of the resting
Sacred making flame, all things transforming.
The seed sprouting
The plant growing
The farmer weeding
The harvest reaping
The village milling
The dough baking
This is the cycle of creation
This is a prayer of life.
May our communities be strong together.
May our lives be filled with good work.
May the land we live on be green with life.
Blessings to the farmers market.
Blessings to the small business.
Blessings to the home baker.
Blessing to all the makers.
Blessings to the caregivers.
Blessings to the truth-tellers.
Blessings to those who need healing.
Blessings to the land
to the land
to the land.
Blessing, always blessings, to the land.
Posted in Prayer, tagged baking bread, blessing, earthmother, food, prayer a day on November 21, 2019| Leave a Comment »
Blessed are you, Earthmother, for the grains which we have harvested from your abundance.
Blessed are you, Earthmother, for the yeasts which grow upon your feet and in your breath, that our bread may rise.
Blessed are you, Earthmother, for the clean waters which flow across your skin.
Blessed are you, Earthmother, for the salt of your tears and your tides, which enriches and seasons our lives.
Posted in General Things, Poetry, Prayer, tagged ADF, Druidry, jan avende, paganism, poetry, prayer, prayer a day, prayeraday, praying, priesthood on November 8, 2018| Leave a Comment »
Every year, ADF priests and others get together to celebrate the month of November by writing a prayer a day. Started by Rev. Jan Avende, this year marks the third year of this prayer-writing festival, and is something I look forward to doing each year.
Things are a little tough for me right now, so I expect a lot of my prayers will reflect that, and also this year I was out of town from Nov 1- Nov 4, so I’m one prayer behind still (today’s the 8th and I’ve published 7 prayers).
But here are the first week of prayer images for this year’s Prayer A Day. I hope you enjoy them. Feel free to share, but please leave the attributions on the images, or attribute the written text to Rev. Lauren Mart, ADF.
Enjoy!
*****
An Airport Prayer –
Liminal spirits of the airport, hear this prayer of mine. I make you this offering that my flight may be on time, my seatmates pleasant, and my phone battery not run out. And should I be delayed, I pray for patience and calm, that I may make it home today.
A Daylight Saving Time Prayer
I say this prayer to ease the transition from one time to the next. The clocks have fallen back and the streetlights come on early. May we all ease into this time of transition and find respite in the ever shortening days.
A Day of Rest Prayer
For the beauty of a day of rest, away from the chaos and noise of the wider world, I thank you today, oh spirits. May I care for myself today, that in the coming days I may rejoin the world with a fighting spirit and a hunger for what is just and true and right.
A Prayer for Election Day
To the three sisters whose spirits guide our country, today we pray. Hail Liberty; Hail Columbia; Hail Justice. May we each make our voices heard. May our votes ring out like the sound of many beating wings; the sound of freedom, lifting us to fulfill the dreams we have for our country and our fellow citizens. May we, today, speak truth to power – truth that does not need to yell for it to resound through the halls of government like the strike of a bell. May we always seek to lift up what is true. what is just, what is right, and what is honorable. To you we pray, Liberty, Columbia, Justice, for the future of our nation and all nations.
A Prayer for Election Night
Tonight, as the world rages around us, spun up into a froth about so many (important) things, let me remember to breathe. Let me make tea and drink it, allowing only space for myself and the tea, that I may find my center. And then tomorrow, let me go back to work, no matter the outcome of tonight. Let there be stillness. Let there be peace. And then, from the stillness, let us move in the direction of justice.
A Cold Front Prayer
Oh Winter Winds, whose arrival is heralded this day by the sounds of far away thunder, come to visit my city. Bring your chill that we may know the blessings of warmth, bring your rain that we may be renewed, bring your darkness that we may appreciate the light. As you blow cold through my city, turning leaves to amber and gold, I welcome you, first winds of winter. May you renew us over these next months, that we may appreciate the spring.
A Prayer for Loneliness
May my loneliness be transformed to solitude
May my suffering be transformed to compassion
May the experiences which have changed me help me to become whole
May I know peace, and wisdom, and clarity of mind
Oh spirits, I place all these things as offerings
Posted in ADF, Prayer, Ritual, tagged ADF, core order, core order of ritual, cosmos, creating the group mind, Druidry, fire and water, grove, ritual, two powers on March 17, 2018| 5 Comments »
Part of ADF’s core order of ritual is a moment we call Creating the Group Mind, which involves grounding and centering. Most groves work with what we call the Two Powers – fire and water – that represent the primal forces of creation. Water is down, dark, chaos, potential, swirling, magnetic. Fire is up, light, cosmos, order, creation, burning, electric. As they combine, we find the energy we use to do magic. Below is a quick and dirty two powers meditation that you’re free to use – it works well with both large groups and as a solitary practice. Enjoy!
Children of Earth, breathe deep and close your eyes. As we stand here, preparing to work the magic that is found in our ritual, let us pause and release all the tension we may be carrying. Relax your arms and shoulders, ease your jaw and your forehead, and breathe deep into your belly. Now, let us take nine breaths together, to find our center and order ourselves in this great work.
For the first breath, our roots reach deep into the earth.
For the second breath, we draw up the swirling, chaotic waters.
For the third breath, we are filled with the cool waters.
For the fourth breath, our branches reach high to the heavens.
For the fifth breath, we draw down the ordering, creative fires.
For the sixth breath, we are filled with the burning fires.
For the seventh breath, the waters and fires alight, turning into the druid’s mist.
For the eighth breath, they expand and pour fourth, filling our grove.
For the ninth breath, we open our eyes, one grove, to work our magic together.
(2018, Lauren Mart)
Posted in Prayer on March 4, 2018| Leave a Comment »
I was lucky enough to meet up with ADF and OBOD druid John Beckett at the Texas Imbolc Retreat this year. He asked me if I’d talk a little bit about my prayer practices, and (being loquacious in general) I was happy to do so. It’s a little goofy in spots, but then, so am I, and I hope you’ll be able to enjoy our short discussion on daily prayer, prayer beads, and using set prayers as part of your practice as a pagan and a druid.
For those curious about the various sets of prayer beads – many of them are things I’ve had for a long time, but the two malas were made for me by Beth Lynch at The Wytch of the North. She is still making custom prayer malas for pagans, and I cannot recommend her work highly enough.
Posted in Clergy Training Program, Prayer, Ritual, Trance Journal 1, tagged ADF, body postures, clergy training program, CTP1, Druidry, drumming, hypnosis, journey, meditation, mental grove, progressive relaxation, shamanism, trance, Trance 1 on February 21, 2018| Leave a Comment »
Trance 1 is a course designed to introduce you to trance, various methods of entering a trance state, and working within one. Please note that Trance 2 will require a continuation of the journal begun in Trance 1, and ideally the break between the two parts will not be long. Please check the requirements for Trance 2 if you plan to continue with that course.
The primary goal of this course is for students to establish or enhance a regular and effective trance practice by utilizing knowledge of the physical process of trance, as well as modern and ancient techniques for producing trance states.
Little Druid on the Prairie 