Wiccan prayer for consolation is a powerful tool that can bring comfort and peace to those who are going through difficult times. In the Wiccan tradition, prayer is seen as a way to connect with the divine and seek guidance and support. When facing hardship or grief, Wiccans turn to prayer to find solace and healing. One of the main goals of the Wiccan prayer for consolation is to bring light and positive energy into the situation. The prayer often starts with an invocation to the Goddess and God, acknowledging their presence and asking for their assistance. This is followed by a request for comfort and strength during challenging times.
The first Armistice Day observance was held at Buckingham Palace, commencing with King George V hosting a ‘Banquet in Honour of the President of the French Republic’ during the evening hours of 10th November 1919. The first official Armistice Day events were subsequently held in the grounds of Buckingham Palace on the morning of 11th November 1919, which included a two-minute silence as a mark of respect for those who died in the war and those left behind. After the end of World War II, most member states of the Commonwealth of Nations, followed the earlier example of Canada and adopted the name Remembrance Day. Other countries also changed the name of the holiday just prior to or after World War II, to honour veterans of that and subsequent conflicts.
Never more so does kindred call to kindred, blood call to blood because the most powerful energy on which an Old Craft practitioner can call is that of our Ancestors , who represent our culture, traditions, heritage, lineage and antecedents; they trace the long march of history that our predecessors have taken under the aegis of the Elder Faith. For a people entirely dependent on a volatile natural world, these prophecies were an important source of guidance during the long dark months to follow.
This is followed by a request for comfort and strength during challenging times. The main idea behind the Wiccan prayer for consolation is to recognize and accept the pain and sorrow, while also seeking guidance and support from the divine forces. It is a way to find solace and healing through the connection with the divine.
Author: melusinedraco
At this time of the year, some of the Old Ways tell that certain ‘portals’ between the worlds may require physically closing once they have been opened to prevent unscheduled souls being sucked through before their time. These portals must be marked with a propitiatory rite of a soul passing through before the way can be closed, or the gates will remain open to trap the unsuspecting. It has been suggested that ‘dabblers’ mucking about with things they do not understand can create this type of ‘gate’ that preys on the unwary because the ‘dead’ are often hungry for life. Here we find disembodied entities, such as those of the Unseelie Court of the luchd-sidhe, who simply hate the living.
According to the Celts among others, Samhain was the time when the veil between this and Otherworld was believed to be at its thinnest: when the spirits of the dead could most freely mingle with the living once again. They believed the Lord of the Dead, would come that night to take up into the afterlife the souls of those who had died during that year. Like many other pagan traditions, the holiday was eventually Christianized in order to honour the dead, including those newly ‘absorbed’ saints. In its original Elder Faith form it was much more dangerous and threatening – a weird period of dread and ill-omen; a time of gloom and mourning for the dying year and the Mighty Dead.
At this time of the year, some of the Old Ways tell that certain ‘portals’ between the worlds may require physically closing once they have been opened to prevent unscheduled souls being sucked through before their time. These portals must be marked with a propitiatory rite of a soul passing through before the way can be closed, or the gates will remain open to trap the unsuspecting. It has been suggested that ‘dabblers’ mucking about with things they do not understand can create this type of ‘gate’ that preys on the unwary because the ‘dead’ are often hungry for life. Here we find disembodied entities, such as those of the Unseelie Court of the luchd-sidhe, who simply hate the living.
The Seelie and Unseelie Courts of Scottish fairies are a particular feature of the folklore of that country; the clear separation of the faes into good and bad groupings that are entailed is almost unique in folklore. The Unseelie Court was used to describe the darkly-inclined faere and no offence was deemed necessary to bring down their assaults. As a group (or ‘host’), they were thought to appear at night and assault travellers, often carrying them through the air, beating them, and forcing them to commit such acts as injuring cattle. In Scotland, they were seen as closely allied with witches.
As we can see there is quite a bit of dangerous stuff out there which is not so much evil as ‘hungry’. The gates themselves aren’t evil pathways, neither are those who open them indiscriminately – just shamefully foolish and irresponsible. This day marked the beginning of the dark, cold winter – a time of year that was often associated with human death. Which is why Celts believed that on this night – before the ‘old new year’ – the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred – and dangerous!
So plenty of propitiatory observations need to be performed to keep the malevolence at bay … because on this night they observed the ‘end of summer’ when it was believed ghosts of the dead returned to earth. In addition to causing trouble or damaging provisions and livestock, the people also thought the presence of these otherworld entities made it opportune for the Druids (the Celtic priesthood), to make predictions about the future. For a people entirely dependent on a volatile natural world, these prophecies were an important source of guidance during the long dark months to follow.
In its most common form it was seen as an agrarian festival held to placate the Ancestors, to propitiate any malevolent forces; to please the gods (and those ‘saints’ who replaced them), and as a clear distinction between the joys of harvest and the hardships of approaching winter.
To commemorate this ‘new year’ and the first day of winter, there were enormous sacred bonfires; it was the time when the night became longer than the day, the last apples were picked, and the year began again with its dark, winter half. When the Earth rests it is sometimes called Trinoux Samonia, or ‘Three Nights of the End of Summer’. Originally a Druid festival, it was observed on either day (31 st October/1 st November) as the Celts measured the day from sunset to sunset. In the Celtic seasonal tale, The Wasting Sickness of Cuchulainn, it was observed for a total of seven days – three before and three after the feast of Samhain – marking the dangers of Otherworld at that time of the year.
In the Sacred Order of the Elder Faith, it is the time when Otherworld entities can mix freely with humans, when the liminal space between the two, is easily traversed. The displacement of the natural laws of time and place means that there is a ‘crossing over’ when all kinds of boisterous behaviour can be indulged in – which is seen as an offering of life-energy to replenish the dying year.
Food was provided for the dead but these were not the grand feasts of harvest-time and Beltaine, since they were not celebratory gatherings but observances of propitiation in order to avert the anger or malevolence of the old gods. Turnips, apples and apple cider, mulled wines, gourds, nuts, beef, pork, poultry, ale – the Samhain recipes concocted from the harvest brought the community together and the Celts ate the fruits of their labours, told stories and tried to predict their fortunes in the future – while honouring the dead.
Otherworld entities and malevolent forces were free to walk the land at night, causing mischief. Samhain was seen as a time when the future could most easily be predicted, and was a favoured time among Druids for ritual fortune-telling. As in other major Celtic Festivals, Samhain was a gateway, a transition from one season to the next, and, because in Elder Faith belief at the heart of every gateway is a paradox. The threshold is literally between two worlds but is, in itself, in neither/and or in both at the same time. Thus Samhain belonged to both Summer and Winter … and to neither. It is the gateway to winter, and a magical time of passage between the seasons.
As in many pastoral societies, winter was regarded with a mixture of anticipation and dread. Samhain was the last gasp of summer … a time of uninhibited feasting and dancing. It was a time of release; a time to let go of all unwanted baggage, fears and attitudes, just as the trees let go of their leaves. So the lives of men parallel the sacred cycles of nature.
To commemorate the event, Druids built huge sacred bonfires, where the people gathered to burn crops and animals as sacrifices to their deities. During the festival, the participants wore costumes, typically consisting of animal heads and skins, and attempted divination. When the festival was over, they re-lit their hearth fires, which they had extinguished earlier in the day, from the sacred bonfire to help protect them during the coming winter.
In the Coven of the Scales, where we follow the old Julian calendar in traditional British witchcraft, since Old Samhain conveniently aligns with Armistice Day that is commemorated every year on 11th November to mark the armistice signed between the Allies of World War I and Germany at Compiègne, France, at 5:45 am for the cessation of hostilities on the Western Front of World War I, which took effect at eleven in the morning – the ‘eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month’ of 1918. But, according to Thomas R. Gowenlock, an intelligence officer with the U.S. First Division, shelling from both sides continued for the rest of the day, ending only at nightfall
The first Armistice Day observance was held at Buckingham Palace, commencing with King George V hosting a ‘Banquet in Honour of the President of the French Republic’ during the evening hours of 10th November 1919. The first official Armistice Day events were subsequently held in the grounds of Buckingham Palace on the morning of 11th November 1919, which included a two-minute silence as a mark of respect for those who died in the war and those left behind. After the end of World War II, most member states of the Commonwealth of Nations, followed the earlier example of Canada and adopted the name Remembrance Day. Other countries also changed the name of the holiday just prior to or after World War II, to honour veterans of that and subsequent conflicts.
Needless to say, for us this is an extremely sombre observation which has no place for frivolous role-playing and festivities. In Coven of the Scales, we observe Old Samhain/Calan Gaeof on the 11 th November so that it can coincide with modern Remembrance Day and, as the time to remember our war dead and the Ancestors – today we wear our poppy with pride. Never more so does kindred call to kindred, blood call to blood … because the most powerful energy on which an Old Craft practitioner can call is that of our ‘Ancestors’, who represent our culture, traditions, heritage, lineage and antecedents; they trace the long march of history that our predecessors have taken under the aegis of the Elder Faith.
In other words, our dead are always with us and when we channel that rejuvenating power into the Coven’s mindset, we are imbuing the group and its members with the strength and magical energy of all those centuries of ancestral influence. In fact, these are the ancestral properties we call upon to consolidate the energy required in spell-casting and invocation, rather than what others may see as the beneficence of deities, angels or spirits. And, we re-affirm this allegiance to this sacred past each time – and to each other – whenever we perform a seasonal rite that includes the breaking of bread and taking of salt – either singly or in a group.
‘The Ancestors act as Coven guardians and also channel the god-power in a two-way conduit, for it would be too hazardous to allow a direct current to pass between supplicant and benefactor. This shield can also act as a safety-barrier for any deific displeasure we may inadvertently attract by behaving inappropriately, i.e. ignoring or disobeying the ‘rules’. It guards us from infiltration by outsiders who would infiltrate our ranks in order to acquire secret information or cause damage. And, it warns when our own are wavering and likely to fall prey to indiscretion and flattery. It also means that once we are permanently linked to this power, we don’t even have to think about it in order to tap into it. This is what it means to be an Old Craft witch.’ [Round About the Cauldron Go …]
So … modern Hallowe’en celebrations and Samhain rituals in America and the UK have very little in common – though both occasions often call for large gatherings. Modern Wiccans and other pagans (Wicca is a subset of paganism; Druids are another example) of all stripes have kept the festivities alive, adapting their Samhain traditions to suit the contemporary pagan community. These days, Samhain is celebrated with more much mischief but (hopefully) it still remains a time imbued with a powerful spirituality. Nevertheless, it is often unwise to attempt to combine participants from both traditions since this can lead to offence on both sides.
Hallowe’en, Samhain and all that
This day marked the beginning of the dark, cold winter – a time of year that was often associated with human death. Which is why neo-Celts believed that on this night – before the ‘new year’ – the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. On this night they celebrated the ‘end of summer’ when it was believed the ghosts of the dead returned to earth and, in addition to causing trouble or damaging provisions and livestock, the people thought the presence of these otherworld entities made it easier for the Druids (or Celtic priesthood), to make predictions about the future. For a people entirely dependent on a volatile natural world, these prophecies were an important source of guidance during the long dark months to follow.
ISBN: 9781803025148
Type: Paperback
Pages: 104
Published: 27 May 2022
Price: €6.85
Hallowe’en, Samhain and all that
Wiccans believe that through prayer, they can tap into the energies of the universe and channel them to bring comfort and peace. The prayer may include affirmations and positive intentions, as well as expressions of gratitude for the blessings in life. In addition to the verbal component of the prayer, Wiccans may also incorporate rituals, such as lighting candles, burning incense, or creating a sacred space, to enhance the spiritual experience. These elements help create a sense of sacredness and amplify the energy of the prayer. It is important to note that Wiccan prayer for consolation is a personal and individual practice. Each person may have their own way of expressing their needs and desires to the divine. There is no one-size-fits-all approach, and it is up to each individual to find their own style and words to invoke the divine powers. Overall, the Wiccan prayer for consolation is a powerful tool that can bring comfort, healing, and guidance during difficult times. It is a way to connect with the divine and draw upon the energies of the universe to find solace and peace..
Reviews for "Healing the Soul through Wiccan Prayer: A Source of Consolation"
1. John - 2 stars - While I appreciate the sentiment behind the Wiccan prayer for consolation, I found it to be lacking in substance. The prayer seemed repetitive and didn't provide me with any real comfort or solace. I was hoping for something more profound and meaningful. Overall, I was disappointed with this prayer.
2. Sarah - 1 star - I found the Wiccan prayer for consolation to be unintelligible and confusing. The language used was overly flowery and poetic, making it difficult for me to connect with the prayer on a personal level. It felt like empty words without any real depth or significance. I was left feeling unsatisfied and unaffected by this prayer.
3. Mark - 2 stars - As someone who is not familiar with Wiccan practices, I found the Wiccan prayer for consolation to be confusing and inaccessible. The rituals and references mentioned in the prayer were unfamiliar to me, making it difficult for me to fully understand and appreciate the prayer. I would have preferred a prayer that was more inclusive and accessible to individuals from different spiritual backgrounds.
4. Emily - 3 stars - While the Wiccan prayer for consolation had good intentions, I didn't find it to be particularly comforting. The language used was quite cryptic and metaphorical, making it hard for me to relate to the prayer on a personal level. I appreciate the effort put into crafting such a prayer, but it just didn't resonate with me in the way I had hoped.
5. Michael - 2 stars - The Wiccan prayer for consolation felt too abstract and disconnected from my own experiences. The prayer didn't address my specific concerns or provide any practical guidance for finding solace. It lacked a personal touch and felt more like a generic poem than a prayer. Overall, I didn't find it to be helpful or meaningful in my journey towards finding consolation.