A practical, sometimes skeptical Witch based in Toronto, Canada.

Friday, August 27, 2010

Wiccan Goddess Rosary

I've been thinking for a long time that I wanted to revise the Catholic Rosary that I grew up with to reflect my Wiccan faith. I still like the prayers to Mary although there are a few issues that I'm still ironing out with them but it was the other prayers and the Catholic Creed I had a problem with. I think the Rosary is a wonderful meditation tool and I feel connected to the Catholic Rosary as a physical object, as its part of my spiritual roots but I don't like guilt prayers asking Jesus to "save us from the fires of hell." I think if I don't ask Jesus to do this, I'll still be just fine :)

So, the first thing I did on my newer Rosary (not the family one) was to cut off poor dead Jesus. I told Jesus: I think you've done some wonderful things and you're a inspiration. I'll add you to my pantheon of Gods and Godesses but I want you off my Rosary and I'm removing the guilt prayers. I then sewed a Goddess figure that I found when I was shopping in Shanghai, China onto the end of my Rosary. She looks much more filled with life, ready to worship, meditate and pray! [picture seen to left]

I then searched around for appropriate prayers to replace the Catholic ones. I wanted to keep the general feel of the Rosary but choose more appropriate and meaningful words. To show you what I've done I'm providing three tools: 1) the prayers typed below (2) a diagram labelling which bead is for each prayer [especially helpful if you've never done this before] (3) A recording so you can hear how it flows. I had a lot of problems with this recording. I did it several times. I apologize that it skips. I was using my internal mic and it sometimes does that . . . but I do have a nice meditation drone in the background to help :)

I hope that you enjoy this! If you've never done this type of prayer, I hope you find this interesting and inspiring. If you have done the Catholic Rosary . . . I hope this is liberating! I hope to inspire others to develop their own meaningful methods of prayer, meditation and enlightenment. Blessed Be!



Great Goddess, Lady of Life
Whose Garment is the shining Heavens.
You are the white moon among the stars
And the beauty of the green earth.
You are the Oneness of all things
And the Completion of the Spirit
You are the mystery that if that which we seek
We find not within
We will never find it without
For you have been here since the beginning
And you are that which is attained at the end of desire. (Excerpt from The Charge of the Goddess)

(Optional to Sing) We All Come from the Goddess
And to Her we shall return
Like a drop of rain
Flows into the ocean

Hail Mary, Full of Grace
The Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb*
Holy Mary, Mother of God
Pray for us sinners* now,
and at the hour of death.
*I removed "Jesus" and I contemplated removing "sinners"

Blessed Be, O High and Holy Lady;
Thou who art the Cauldron of all manifest existence!

Hail, holy Queen, Mother of Mercy!
Our life, our sweetness, and our hope!
To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve,
to thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley, of tears.
Turn, then, most gracious advocate, thine eyes of mercy toward us;
and after this our exile show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb;
O clement, O loving, O sweet virgin Mary.
Pray for us, O holy Mother of God.

11 comments:

  1. This is so beautiful! I love the new prayers that you have substituted for the traditional rosary ones. It made me think of Jennifer Berezan's recording of "She Who Hears the Cries of the World" on her CD called "She Carries Me." In it, Jennifer uses a revised Hail Mary chant that goes: "Holy Mother, full of grace / Power is with thee. / Blessed are you, / Queen of the Universe / And blessed is all of creation. / Holy Mother, / Maker of all things, / Be with us now and always. / Blessed be."

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  2. Thank you for always coming to read my blog :) I'm not sure if anyone else does.
    . . . and greater than that is the wisdom you bring! :)

    I've never heard this version before and I love it. I think I'm going to make more revisions to my prayers (and try to memorize it . . .lol). I really like the line, "Power is with thee"! I'm overwhelmed by this.
    Thank you for making my evening!

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  3. This is wonderful! I really love your concept and can only imagine the time and work that went into such a project. You have inspired me!

    Blessed be.

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  4. For the Hail Mary I have for many years been using this version, although the source may be lost by now. Perhaps it's adapted from the version in SRW's Angels book.

    Hail Lady, full of Grace, the Lord is with Thee.
    Blessed art Thou amongst women, and Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, the Consort and Son.
    Holy Goddess, Mother of Earth, work your Mysteries for your Children now and at the hour of our need.

    By the way, thank you for commenting on my blog so that I could find yours!

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  5. I am so moved by your Goddess Prayer and am excited to incorporate it into my prayers.

    I found you today by searching google for pagan prayers. I can't tell you how happy I am! Thank you so much for sharing and I'm off to visit more of your blog.

    Blessed Be,
    Teresa

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  6. I googled a pagan version of Hail Mary, not sure how else to describe what I felt I needed. Your blog is wonderful and I love your version of the rosary. Thank you! PS I grew up in Toronto!

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  7. I've been coming back, and back again along a long and winding track since 2010, never commented but here I am, I live in Coffs Harbour, Australia, and go to an Australian Witchcamp every 6 months

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  8. I found this post on pinterest today. I can't tell you how happy I am that someone else thinks this way and had done this work. 10 years since you wrote this and still touching people's lives. Blessed be!

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  9. Thank you for this blog! I've recently transitioned to Christo-Paganism & found this blog on pinterest. Totally stoked! Thank you! :)

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  10. So beautiful....what beads do you recommend? I want to make my own

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