A Prayer to the Greco-Egyptian Gods

This one’s in the Polytheist Hymnal too.

Hear my prayers, O Gods, for I am one who has burned incense for you,
and adored your image in its shrine, and set out bread and meat
to nourish your body, and poured cool water and sweet wine
to quench your thirst. I have kept the memory of you alive in my heart,
and I have walked upright in your ways and shunned all those deeds
that are hateful before your eyes. You are the mighty ones,
who hear all prayers and have the power to grant them,
and never turn aside a supplicant.
Hear my words, O Gods, for this is what I pray!
King Ptolemy, grant me strength of arm, nobility of spirit,
and pious reverence for all the Gods, such as you possess in abundance.
Zeus-Ammon, make clear my sight that I may behold the way
that is right for me, and walk always in truth, and justice, and balance,
a friend of the Gods and one who upholds Ma’at daily.
Thoth, may all my words be chosen properly, may you grant
my thoughts swift flight to soar above whatever is placed in my way,
and establish in my mind a knowledge
of the presence and blessings of the Gods,
remaining forever like the divine monuments of holy Egypt and Greece.
Hathor and Aphrodite, Golden Ladies of love and joy,
share your blessings with me! Kindle the flames of passion within my breast,
fill me with an aching longing for others,
delight my eyes with the awesome beauty of all creation,
make me melt with unimagined ecstasy.
Lady Hera, grant that I remain faithful to all of my responsibilities,
never shirking those duties to family, friend, and city
which are your special concern. May I treat my loved ones with respect
and always demonstrate concern for them,
never violating the commitments I have sworn or causing another to do likewise.
Hestia, help me to keep your flame burning eternally,
to see my home as a temple to the Gods,
and everything done in it as a holy service.
May my life be clean, and orderly, and all of my interactions
with people filled with kindness, understanding, respect, and righteousness.
Bast, do not let me forget that men are not the only creatures on this planet,
but that all life is sacred and deserves to be cared for, most especially the life of cats.
Help me to remember that there is more to existence
than just work and social duties, but that we must also take time out
to play and enjoy the sensual pleasures of our animal existence.
Imouthes-Asklepios, make my body whole, free of every infirmity
and disease, that I may experience the fullness of life.
But if by grim necessity I should be afflicted with some ailment,
do not let this stop me from seeing the beauty and joy around me,
and make my spirit strong enough to endure whatever I must.
Horus, grant me courage to stand up for the things I believe are just,
fierceness in the face of my enemies, and the means necessary
to protect those who cannot defend themselves.
Apollo burn away every sign of weakness and impurity within me:
make me to shine as brilliant and purely as Ra upon the horizon.
Fill my ears with the harmonious music of the heavens;
make my speech ring with prophetic truth.
Sobek and Seth, may you stand at my side and protect me
from those who would do me harm.
When I grow too attached to something,
and don’t even realize that I am smothering my soul in
addiction, comfortable complacency, and stagnant stasis,
tear me apart and destroy whatever is holding me back,
that I might be reborn into freedom.
Sekhmet, drive back my enemies as fiercely as you fight
the forces of Isfet, and make me pure in body and soul,
that I might conduct the holy services of the Blessed Immortals rightly.
O grain-discovering Goddess of many names, if I must wander
across great distances and lonely paths, watch over me
and help me to find what my soul most desires.
Teach me the way of transforming suffering into joy
and never let me lose heart.
Hermes, be with me too as I journey, show me the way,
and if I should need it, don’t be averse to making the road twist
in strange directions beneath my feet.
Yours is the realm of chance and unpredictability –
help me to see adversity as an opportunity,
obstacles as a way to hone and demonstrate my cunning,
and never let me become so serious and committed
to my path that I cannot stop to roar with laughter at life’s absurdity.
Dionysos, make me drunk on the wine of life!
Open me up to every experience
so that when it is time to stand before the judges in the West
I will be able to say that I wasted not a second of life
and that I ended my days without a single regret.
Cause my spirit to overflow its bounds,
like the Nile spilling over its banks,
and may this inundation make the soil fertile
so that every type of crop and plant can take root in it.
Osiris, nurture the seed that I plant
and guide it until it reaches fruition.
Be just as gentle to me, Lord, as I undergo the journey into wholeness.
Show me the source of true being, which survives every transformation,
even that of death, so that I might see
just how small and powerless my fears are.
Anoubis and Hekate, you who stand
at the beginning and the end of all things,
meet me at the wild places,
when I cross the threshold into unfamiliar territory.
Challenge me to grow and change,
to be more doglike, unconcerned with society’s conventions,
fiercely loyal to my own nature, hunting out what is good and true
with a single-minded intensity.
And when my days have reached their end
welcome me into the land of the dead,
reveal to me the path of becoming
one of the imperishable stars in the night sky.
And all of the other Gods – far too numerous to count –
do not think that I have forgotten you!
You are dear to my heart, and your names shine brilliantly before me,
as radiant as Sothis who makes the Nile to flood.
I seek the blessings of all of you,
and will honor you so long as the breath remains within my body
– and even after that!

6 thoughts on “A Prayer to the Greco-Egyptian Gods

  1. oh this is beautiful. I wish you’d mentioned Sekhmet, but that’s because I love Her so. This prayer is breathtaking though and I love the way you sort of worked the negative confession in at the beginning!

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