Prayer is directed both within as well as without Many religions preach that our bodies are filthy, disgusting things that even their deities dislike and hate. Such faiths deny the flesh and turn their eyes towards the skies when seeking divine. Most Wiccans, however, accept that the Goddess and God are within ourselves as well as outside us. If everything in nature is connected through subtle but real energies, so too are we linked with the Goddess and God. We must become more intimately familiar with this connection. We can't accomplish this by searching our bodies and asking, "Where's the Goddess? Where's the God?" They don't reside in any one part of us; They're simply within. They exist within our DNA. They're present in our souls. The Goddess and God are infused into every aspect of our being. We gain familiarity with the divine spark within ourselves through ritual, meditation, and prayer. It's during these moments, in which we expand our awareness beyond the physical world, that the divine energy within us rises and fills our consciousness. Though we may call the Goddess and God, we're actually becoming newly focused on Their presence inside us. Once this has occurred, we can become aware of Their greater presences beyond ourselves. Prayer is the process of attuning and communicating with the Goddess and God. During prayer, we may call Them from the Moon, the Sun, and the stars, from the seas, the deserts and caves, from the haunts of wild animals; from the Earth itself: but the calls must first move us, must first renew pure awareness of the Goddess and God within, before it can contact the universally manifested deities. We might see a bunch of ripe peaches hanging from a tree and feel great desire to eat one. However, until we narrow our focus on just one peach, approach it and pluck it from the tree, we won't satisfy our craving. In prayer, we must narrow our focus, at first, upon the Goddess and God within, before we can contact the greater understanding of the Goddess and God. This initial focus may be accomplished through words, visualizations, songs or by other means. There are no governing rules, though I present a few suggestions below. Experiment to discover the most effective technique. To begin, a Wiccan adopts a prayerful attitude. She may then begin each prayer with the following words: O Goddess Within, O God within, While saying these words, she shifts her consciousness to the warm peaceful memories of her previous contacts with Them. This may put her into the proper mode of consciousness. She could then proceed to say: O Goddess of the Moon, Waters and Earth; O God of the Forest and Mountains; This expands her conception of the Goddess and God, and contacts a greater part of Them. Once she's achieved a stronger connection, she then speaks to Them in specifics (i.e. states the reason for prayer.) Wiccan prayers, then, isn't addressed to some distant deities who reside in alien cloud palaces. We needn't use a bullhorn to call to the Goddess and God. Rather, we need only become newly aware of them within us. This is the secret. Prayerful Attitude Many people, of all religious persuasions, pray only in times of great need, terrific stress or spiritual crisis. This is a part of human nature: when all else fails, appeal to higher forces. Prayers at such times are certainly appropriate, and can often provide just what we need to get through such periods. However, they're not the ideal prayerful occasions, for we often don't take the time to truly contact the Goddess and God before we begin our communication. This may block the prayer's effectiveness. Thus, it's quite important, even in moments of extreme desperation, to adopt a prayerful attitude before speaking to the Goddess and God. A prayerful attitude consists of peace and hope resting on an unshakable spiritual foundation. It may be quite difficult to adopt such a state when a friend has just become ill, a child has run away from home, your cat is missing. However, Attaining this peaceful, hopeful, spiritual state will lend greater power to your prayer, for it will allow you to more directly connect with the Goddess and God. Once you've linked with the Goddess and God, you can be as emotional as you wish. Urgent, wild prayers ("Goddess, help me!") or demanding prayers ("You got to help me out. Right now!") will lend you little or no spiritual support, and probably won't go farther then your lips and mind. A few of these prayers may indeed reach the Goddess and God, if their speaker is sufficiently aware of her or his connection with Them. However, they're far from the most effective forms of prayer. The Nature of Prayer Many religious people will argue that prayer consists of only communication between humans and the divine. As Wiccans, however, we're aware of the non-physical energies contained within our bodies (the same energies used in creating the circle, in consecrating tools, and in other works of magick.) Effective prayer consists of more than words, for when prayers are made in the correct state, with pure, unadulterated emotion, we release energies with our words and direct it to the Goddess and God. Thus, certain forms of prayer (those in which we make requests, for example) are also acts of magick. We needn't attempt to make true prayer into a magickal act; (that is, we don't have to arouse, program and direct energy during prayer); this automatically occurs during emotional prayer. Fixing our minds upon a need, contacting the Goddess and God, and speaking got Them stirs up, programs, and directs energy. It is an act of magick. If we're not properly attuned with the Goddess and God-if we're not clearly focused-the energy raised by the prayer flies off into outer space in a willy-nilly fashion to no effect. Just we must gather droplets of water into a tub to take a bath, so too must we gather our energies and direct them to the Goddess and God. To do this otherwise is to perform ineffective prayer. Therefore, we must maintain our focus on Them and allow nothing to distract us. Don't misunderstand this. Though some types of prayer can be considered to be spells, this certainly isn't true of all forms. Additionally, praying to the Goddess and God isn't spell casting; it's a religious act that happens to have a magickal content. Wiccan prayer is far more than a simple recitation of facts to the Goddess and God and more than form of communication. It's a flow of personal energies from a human to a deity. Types of Prayers There are many types of prayers: prayers of thanks, of celebration, of need. Situations obviously frame the nature of most prayers. However, praying only when in need is using the least of prayer's potential. The following prayers are merely examples. Prayers of thanks are just that: O Goddess within; O God within; O Goddess of the Moon, Water and Earth; O God of the Forest and Mountains: I give thanks for ________(or, for many other blessings.) The prayer may then continue on to describe how this blessing has changed her or his life: Thank you for lending me spiritual strength in this time of need; it has refreshed and encouraged me. Or: Thank you for assisting me in finding the perfect home; we're safe now. Or: Thank you for touching my life and allowing me to find Mr. (or Ms.) Right; My world is filled with love and happiness. Such prayers may be quite lengthy. In prayers of thanks, it's best to detail your specific reasons for thankfulness. This strengthens the fact that the Goddess and God have recently assisted you, and also strengthens the prayer's effectiveness. O Glorious Goddess; O Glorious God; You who created all that is; Help me create this ritual In Your honor At the time of the Full Moon (Yule and so on). Prayers of celebration may also be framed when the Wiccan has accomplished a tremendous feat, with our without the direct assistance of the Goddess and the God: O Gracious Goddess, I passed the test. Or: O Mother Goddess O Father God I finished (the book, the song, the garden). And so on. Certainly, there are many types of need. In our market economy, where we must work to earn money to buy things that others create, our needs are often physical: we need a new car, a new home, a good job, more money. Prayers of need may also be involved with healing, compassion, love, protection and many other aspects of daily human life. At times, our needs may seem insurmountable. We may temporarily lose our Goddess and God focus and descend into negative thinking, disillusionment and fear. It's as such times that we may pray to them: O Goddess within; O God within; O Goddess of the Moon, the Waters and the Earth; O God of the Forests and Mountains I need to feel Your presence. I need to be reminded of You. Assist me to remember Your lessons; Show me the key that will unlock my spirituality. Blessed Be. Or, we may pray regarding problems that we're having with our religion: After the introductory part of the prayer, you may say: Goddess, I simply don't understand this. This book says that we never incarnate as the opposite sex of the one that we are in this life. Help. Or: Goddess and God, I'm trying to find the perfect circle casting. Guide my mind, heart and hands as I try to figure this out. Keep in mind that, to be effective, all prayers of need must be started with a prayerful attitude. Wiccan prayer is a private, personal aspect of our religion. We all have our own methods of contacting the Goddess and God. However, the techniques outlined here may be of assistance in truly contacting Them, and of using prayer as a positive, supportive tool of everyday life. Pray often-It's an essential part of Wicca. I cut some parts out but all you see here is from 'Living Wicca A Further Guide for the Solitary Practitioner' By Scott Cunningham
