Witchful Thinking

Tis a day to celebrate with family, and I count it among the good secular holidays (except for the whole lie about the Indians and Pilgrims, but that’s not the point). I hope everyone is traveling safely on this late autumn day.

If, Gods forbid, you’re tapped to do grace at your family meal, having an idea of what you might want to say can go a long way in making everyone feel more comfortable. This is a great opportunity to out yourself if you choose to do so, or to express your beliefs if your family is already comfortable with your religious choices. So here’s a few prayers to get you by:

Great Spirit Above Us,

In the future, as in the past

bring to our hearts

much love and great joy.

-Native American prayer (sorry, I don’t know the tribe. If anyone knows, please share!)

May I always remember:

This time is as sacred as any myth.

This place is as sacred as any temple.

This body is as sacred as any deity.

This mind is as sacred as any tome.

This life is as sacred as any light.

Let it be so for all times and all places

and for all manifestations.

-A Prayer for This Moment by Shanddaramon

Oh Ancient Ones,

We gather here as a family

to share with one another

as a reflection of the Great Family:

Goddess, God and Child.

As with you,

let us now come together

to support one another.

Let the qualities of one

be the strength for another.

Let us find balance in the uniqueness

of each other.

Let us speak and act with honesty and dignity

and let us find the same in each other.

Let us practice to be what we seek the world to be.

Let us represent the ideals of our spiritual path

as we walk this path together

as a family.

-Family Gathering by Shanddaramon

It’s harvest time,
It’s harvest time,
How rich is nature’s yield
In fruit of earth
And bush and tree,
From orchard, farm and field.
It’s autumn time,
It’s autumn time,
When leaves turn gold and red.
In smiling sky
And land and sea
God’s glories are outspread.
It’s Sukos time,
It’s Sukos time,
This day of our Thanksgiving.
We hymn the praise
Of God above
For all the joys of living.
— Israeli Sukos Song

Thank you for the apples like berries
that color the trees and the sky.
I want to leap and talk
and then sleep in the air
where your fruits ripen and dance.
Mother of earth, this is my prayer!
Oh yes — at night
when we turn from father light
please cover my cloud bed
with your phosphorescence.
Thank you for your apples.
— Small Prayer by Scott Chaskey, North America

Mother of Plenty,
Bless this Bread
Father of the Grain, Lend Your Seed
Let it nourish Heart and Head
Let it nourish Thought and Deed
Let its breaking be a Spell
That hungry mouths be fed as well
And let its eating keep Us Free
As is our Will
Blessed Be!
— Wiccan prayer

Give us hearts to understand;

Never to take from creation’s beauty more than we give;
never to destroy wantonly for the furtherance of greed;

Never to deny to give our hands for the building of earth’s beauty;
never to take from her what we cannot use.

Give us hearts to understand

That to destroy earth’s music is to create confusion;
that to wreck her appearance is to blind us to beauty;

That to callously pollute her fragrance is to make a house of stench;
that as we care for her she will care for us.

We have forgotten who we are.

We have sought only our own security.

We have exploited simply for our own ends.

We have distorted our knowledge.

We have abused our power.

Great Spirit, whose dry lands thirst,

Help us to find the way to refresh your lands.

Great Spirit, whose waters are choked with debris and pollution,
help us to find the way to cleanse your waters.

Great Spirit, whose beautiful earth grows ugly with misuse,
help us to find the way to restore beauty to your handiwork.

Great Spirit, whose creatures are being destroyed,
help us to find a way to replenish them.

Great Spirit, whose gifts to us are being lost in selfishness and corruption,
help us to find the way to restore our humanity.

Oh, Great Spirit, whose voice I hear in the wind,
whose breath gives life to the world, hear me;
I need your strength and wisdom. May I walk in Beauty.

-Big Thunder (Bedagi), late 19th century Algonquin