how many?

Thou, Godde, art Zero: the Void from which everything was born, the ground and origin of our being.
Thou, Godde, art One: all in Godde, and Godde in all.
Thou, Godde, art Two: the union of Lover and Beloved, spirit in matter, the jewel in the lotus.
Thou, Godde, art Three: the Maker, the Lover and the Sustainer.
Thou, Godde, art Four: the Father, the Mother, the Logos and Sophia.
Earth, Air, Fire and Water.
Thou, Godde, art Five: Child, Spouse, Parent, Wise One, Hidden One.
Thou, Godde, art Six: the rays of Tiphereth, the beauty at the heart of all.
Thou, Godde, art Seven: the seven planetary angels that sing to Thee and of Thee and in Thee; the seven branches of the menorah.
Thou, Godde, art Eight: hidden in the eightfold wheel of the year, the centre to which all must connect; the compass rose, the rose upon the rood of time, the Buddha's eightfold path.
Thou, Godde, art Nine: the nine worlds upon the Tree, the nine proud walkers, the nine noble virtues.
Thou, Godde, art Ten: the ten Sephiroth of the Tree of Life, unfolding from eternity into time.
Thou, Godde, art the ten thousand things that emanate from the Tao.
Thou Limitless Sea of Light, thou of nine billion names and faces.
Thou, Godde, art infinity: Godde in all, and all in Godde.
Thou art That.
That art Thou.
That of Godde in everyone.

by Yvonne Aburrow

attunement

We pray for a religion that is not a set of preconceived beliefs,
but a pattern of living
In tune with the land with the seasons, and with human needs,
with the moods and movements of the human heart.
We pray for a religion of passion and reason,
A religion of poetry and story and drama.

We pray that our religion will be
A religion of forgiveness
Of wisdom and of gentleness
Of the wisdom of gentleness

Let the symbols of religion not be those
of guilt and sin, of the darkness of death
but those of renewal and redemption
the rolling aside of the stone,
of friendship and fellowship
of a loaf and a fish,
let our symbols be
the symbol of life and light
Of warmth and sharing,
The sunrise,
And a chalice and a flame

Let our religion be as old as sleep
and as new as tomorrow's dawn,
and let our covenant be
the loving and joyful acceptance of the natural world
in all its shapes and colours, in all its seasons;
and the loving and joyful acceptance
of all the shapes and colours of human desire:
of the heart in all its seasons.

And let our God be
a God who is both mystery and certainty,
A God of all hopes, of all hearts,
God of all joys and of all sorrows,
God of all loves and of all lovers.

~ Unitarian prayer by Tom McCready

magic and prayer

What is magic? To many Pagans, magic is an awareness of the miraculous, the magical, the spiritual, the numinous as it infuses everyday life. It's about living in a one-storey universe. In Simple Magics, a new blog discussing magical awareness, the author discusses the magic of being stung by a bee, and how this affects one's awareness of one's surroundings. She suggests an exercise to increase mindfulness:

Resolve to notice and appreciate 3 new things in everyday surroundings. Small things, big things, it doesn’t matter as long as they are new. Does this make common surroundings more interesting? more alive? more immediate? more a part of the world rather than a backdrop? more inter-related?

Magic is not just about "doing spells" - it may include that, but spells for most Pagans are a form of prayer, asking the Universe (or a deity) for the desired outcome (usually with the proviso, as long as it doesn't harm anyone). Not demanding or trying to force the issue. "Spells" are simple rituals which ask for something to happen - so are prayers.

Think of the difference between the magic of Uncle Andrew (the bad magician in The Magician's Nephew who uses magical formulae and procedures without understanding what they do and is completely unethical - simply seeking power and knowledge for its own sake) and the magic of Aslan (in all the Narnia books) who is a magical and miraculous being.

But just as prayer is about far more than asking for things, so is magic. Both magic and prayer are about allowing the fullness of the Universe to infuse our awareness, and having a sacramental view of reality. The more each of them is like a ritual (involving the whole body and all the senses, and including symbols and words that stimulate our awareness of the Thou-ness of the Universe), the more effective they will be.

One of the traps of the 'spiritual life' is thinking that spirituality is only about self-development. It's not. All the great texts of the spiritual life, from the Tao Te Ching to the Bible, point out that it's about emptying yourself to become full, losing yourself to find yourself, and many another phrase to describe the same experience. It's about detachment from unhealthy desire - the desire to dominate and control, greed, "lust" (sexual desire without consideration for the happiness of the the beloved) and so on.

The magical path is often seen from outside as a desire to set oneself up as an independent power from the universe - but all magicians must eventually realise that all power comes from the Universe. If they don't, they end up burning themselves out by trying to wield their own power. It's like the difference between a lamp running on a battery and a lamp that's connected to the mains.

However, complete identification with the Thou is an advanced mystical state achieved after a long time; it's not an instantaneous result, nor is it for the faint-hearted. But notice that those who achieved this were often very individual and full of soul - Jesus, Buddha, Saint Francis, Gandhi, and so on. The rest of us can probably only manage a balance between the inner and the outer. But let us not forget that true self-development (theosis) comes only when we are in right relation to the Universe (whatever tradition you are following).

Nature

Alan of Lille wrote the following poem about Nature in the twelfth century:

O child of God and Mother of things,
Bond of the world, its firm-tied knot,
Jewel set among things of earth,
and mirror to all that passes away
Morning star of our sphere;
Peace, love, power, regimen and strength,
Order, law, end, pathway, captain and source,
Life, light, glory, beauty and shape,
O Rule of our world!

~ quoted in The Black Madonna by Matthew Fox

Earth teach me

Earth teach me suffering,
As old stones suffer with memory.
Earth teach me courage,
As the tree which stands alone.
Earth teach me freedom,
As the eagle which soars in the sky.
Earth teach me to forget myself,
As melted snow forgets its life.
Earth teach me regeneration,
As the seed which rises in the spring.
Earth teach me humility,
As blossoms are humble with beginning.

~ Chief Yellow Lark, Lakota

via Grateful Bear

The word "humility" come from humus, earth. So to be humble is to be like the earth - stable, solid, uncomplicated, homely, not over-proud.

Shekhinah

Shekhinah bless us and keep us
Shekhinah shine your face on us
Shekhinah turn your countenance
To us and give us peace

from A Prayer to the Shekhinah by Alicia Ostriker

interfaith harmony

We Are One

I pray we, all children of the earth, no matter our path to enlightenment, come to realize that we are one. We may walk our own paths, but we are not alone, for we walk at the same time, toward the same end/beginning. From our individual perspectives, be we Pagan, Christian, Muslim, Jew, Buddhist, Taoist, or Hindu, are the same. I pray that we all feel the love of our Creator(s) and by example learn to see each other as brothers and sisters, allowing the boundary lines of religion to fade away. May the Lord and Lady bless your path. May you always have enough, and may you give enough in return. Blessed Be.

- Beliefnet member FaeAisling