We've been a bit quiet, of late. I've been following the interesting debate on the prayer thread and it set me wondering - what do we pagans think of prayer? Do you practice it? Do you understand it in some different way to the norm, ie: is your meditation time, your prayer? If you have deities, to whom do you pray? If not - then what? Do you use tried-and-tested 'prayers', or make them up yourself? Or both?
Ooh questions, questions, questions.
I know there's some good stuff in Rae Beth's *The Hedge Witch's Way* about prayer - but I can't quite find my copy! (Will write a quick prayer to the God of Things Lost Under The Fish-Tank....)
Meantime, to inspire us, here's some words of Emma Restall-Orr's about pagan prayer and the question of do I write my own, or use existing words...
Quote:
"...It is so very important for effective ritual that the energy of our soul truth and spirit creativity flows freely through us, whatever words we use... The words spoken must be meant.
In the same way, using other people's words, whether learnt by heart or read from a script, can allow us to make the sounds without spirit flowing through them. Another's text may give us teaching... but we must understand and fully participate in each and every word, claiming them as our own truth, or they will be meaningless...
Some prayers have a power about them - old words used many times, words that have been consecrated and filled with the collective spirit of many priests and seekers in many rites over many years... Words can be magical... Words can also be doorways to the worlds beyond the mind... the worlds of the faerie and other older races who have long lived with us on the edge of our knowing..."
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Ritual: A Guide to Life, Love and Inspiration, Emma Restall-Orr (2000)].
So pagan cysters - what do we think about prayer? And non pagans with questions... keep asking! How would you feel about being your own priestess, writing your own liturgy?