A Pagan Ritual Prayer Book (23 page)

The moon is the “measurer.” It marks out time in the sky, to the point where ancient people spent a lot of creativity creating calendars that reconciled the unconnected cycles of the sun and the moon. No surprise, really, since it not only tells time; it also controls the tides, and the length of time of a month (a “moon”) is that of a woman's reproductive cycle.

Most people think of the moon as female. Not all, however. We have the Man in the Moon, for instance. Most of the prayers in this chapter will be to the female moon, especially in the form of the Wiccan Goddess, but there will be some to a male moon as well.

• I praise you,
  

  I praise the Goddess shown in you,
  

   
  

  bright against the dark.
  

   
  

• Change by continuing law into each phase, one following the other,
  

  from dark, to waxing, to full, to waning, to dark again, and once more into growing,
  

   
  

  as I follow your ways, as I submit myself to the same laws that govern you.
  

   
  

• New Moon,
  

  Maiden,
  

   
  

  You are dark now.
  

   
  

  And in the dark, who knows what mysteries are enacted?
  

   
  

  For these are women's rites,
  

   
  

  and I, a man, have my own mysteries.
  

   
  

  But I revere them all, and so tonight my thoughts are turned to you.
  

   
  

  Lady of Renewal,
  

   
  

  renew the Earth.
  

   
  

  Queen of Darkness, bring in the light.
  

   
  

  Black Void, give birth to the dancing Maiden within me
  

   
  

  and, from her,
  

   
  

  Worlds many and wonderful.
  

   
  

• I am told by the ways of the Old Ones that this darkness is a time necessary for the winning of wisdom,
  

  for its germination, its growth.
  

   
  

  Forgive me my doubt, Moon in your darkness,
  

   
  

  and inspire in me that same germination, that same growth,
  

   
  

  that which you yourself possess;
  

   
  

  may I, through my knowledge of you,
  

   
  

  win wisdom.
  

   
  

• With Her gone from my sight, emptying the sky,
  

  I, no longer distracted by Her presence outside,
  

   
  

  and no longer excused,
  

   
  

  look within and find Her there,
  

   
  

  find Her light in the darkness,
  

   
  

  find She who changes and remains.
  

   
  

  May I find fullness in the empty.
  

   
  

• The world begins in darkness,
  

  and out of darkness springs the light.
  

   
  

  The day begins in darkness,
  

   
  

  and out of darkness comes the dawn.
  

   
  

  The month begins in darkness,
  

   
  

  and in the darkness the new moon is born.
  

   
  

  The Wise One goes into the darkness,
  

   
  

  and returns the Maiden.
  

   
  

  Sweet One of the Silver Crescent:
  

   
  

  We invoke your presence here.
  

   
  

  Come with your fresh love
  

   
  

  and purify your people gathered before you;
  

   
  

  Resurrect us, cleanse us, make us new.
  

   
  

• Welcome back, little one.
  

  I've missed you in the days of darkness.
  

   
  

  Welcome back, to adorn the night sky.
  

   
  

• A new month begins,
  

  a new moon appears chasing the sun into the dying fire of the western sky,
  

   
  

  a new moon dancing an old dance,
  

   
  

  the dance she has always performed,
  

   
  

  the same dance in the same sky,
  

   
  

  the old steps traced in the old pattern by the New Moon.
  

   
  

  The Maiden, who is young,
  

   
  

  whose art is skillful, perfected by long years of practice,
  

   
  

  a long stream of new moon dances.
  

   
  

  She dances, intent on the spoor of the setting sun,
  

   
  

  dancing Him into his death with Her new life's spirit.
  

   
  

  She dances into death the old,
  

   
  

  dancing into life the new,
  

   
  

  as she appears in the darkening sky of the world, of our lives,
  

   
  

  and returns joy to all who lack.
  

   
  

• I see you in the West, as beautiful as a young child.
  

• The Goddess has put her child's artwork on display:
  

  the sunset sky pinned by the magnet moon to the refrigerator of the night sky.
  

   
  

• As you grow in the sky,
  

  grow in my soul,
  

   
  

  soft light of the moon.
  

   
  

• Your increase in size, your increase in light, is amazing,
  

  and that I might see it, and be inspired by it to my own growth,
  

   
  

  amazing as well,
  

   
  

  and that's why I'm thanking you.
  

   
  

• Blessed be the Goddess of All
  

  in Her image the Moon.
  

   
  

  Threefold is the Moon
  

   
  

  and threefold we name her.
  

   
  

  When waxing, she is the Maiden.
  

   
  

  Blessed be the Maiden.
  

   
  

  When waning, she is Dark One.
  

   
  

  Blessed be the Dark One.
  

   
  

  But when full, she is the Mother
  

   
  

  and under this name we call her today.
  

   
  

  Come, All-Mother;
  

   
  

  Your people are gathered here:
  

   
  

  Purified, prepared,
  

   
  

  properly dedicated to your service.
  

   
  

  Come, Mother of All, and shine within us.
  

   
  

  Though all else may be dark,
  

   
  

  You will be our beacon.
  

   
  

  Though all others shall reject us,
  

   
  

  You will hold us in your arms.
  

   
  

  Though all else be uncertain,
  

   
  

  We will place our trust in your wheel of change.
  

   
  

  Come, Mother, and be with us.
  

   
  

• They say there's a Man in the Moon.
  

  And why not; what man, or what woman too, wouldn't want to be in the body of the Goddess?
  

   
  

  But we already are, we always are.
  

   
  

  So says the light of the full Moon tonight.
  

   
  

• Your milky light, Full Moon Goddess, feeds your babies,
  

  your children who rely on you for food to grow.
  

   
  

  Pour down each night, Good Mother,
  

   
  

  but especially on this one, when you have so much to give.
  

   
  

• Old, dark woman,
  

  growing stronger each night
  

   
  

  as each night the moon dwindles and we are spun slowly but irresistibly into blackness;
  

   
  

  you reach out with your sharpening sickled moon,
  

   
  

  to divide, and decide,
  

   
  

  to cut straight through me and remove any illusions,
  

   
  

  any falsehoods and frauds I might harbor,
  

   
  

  even unknowingly deep within,
  

   
  

  any faults, no matter how dear to my heart.
  

   
  

  Please let it be without pain.
  

   
  

  But if it has to be painful or frightening,
  

   
  

  I'll understand:
  

   
  

  the loss of prized possessions is never pleasant,
  

   
  

  no matter how necessary or wise.
  

   
  

  As your sickle sharpens,
  

   
  

  cut ever more finely,
  

   
  

  shaping me to approach the person whose perfection is appropriate to who I am,
  

   
  

  or rather to who I should be,
  

   
  

  preparing me for the loss of a light of guidance, which will come in the dark of the moon.
  

   
  

• The sight of the moon may fade:
  

  you will not fade, Goddess.
  

   
  

  The light of the moon may fade:
  

   
  

  you will not fade, Goddess.
  

   
  

  The dark may come and fill the sky
  

   
  

  but it will be a wisdom-giving dark:
  

   
  

  for it will be your dark, O Goddess.
  

   
  

  And you never fade or fail or abandon us,
  

   
  

  O Goddess.
  

   
  

• Goddess Moon, as your cup empties in this time of your waning,
  

  even disappearing into the dark,
  

   
  

  pour your light into me, and I will keep it safe until you return,
  

   
  

  and I will pour it back in turn.
  

   
  

  May we be perfect reflections of each other,
  

   
  

  your dark my light,
  

   
  

  your light my dark.