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Reviews: Pagan Prayer Books
Book of Hours: Prayers to the Goddess 118 pages Llewellyn Press ISBN 1-56718-273-9 Retail price: $14.95
A Book of Pagan Prayer
286 pages Weiser Books ISBN 1-57863-255-2 Retail price: $19.95 “Prayer” is not a word often used or discussed in regards to Paganism. Even so, sometimes we need a prayer for a particular circumstance or occasion, or we need some inspiration when putting together rituals. These two books are now among my most prized books in my Pagan reference library. I start with The Book of Hours: Prayers to the Goddess by Galen Gillotte, which is one of a 2-volume set. Prayers to the God are in a different volume (entitled appropriately The Book of Hours: Prayers to the God), making it easy to find a prayer aimed at a particular deity (or at least gender). It also means you really need both books to get the full benefit. This book has devotionals for the time of day, day of the week, meditations, affirmations, seasons, Sabbats, moon cycles, and occasions, plus prayers that can be used for invocations and a glossary of Goddesses. It’s a hardback book with a ribbon bookmark, and the dark red cover with gold lettering and Celtic knot work makes it a pretty addition to my collection. The bookmark is necessary, as the prayers are grouped for different times of the day--morning prayers together, and evening prayers together--so you have to skip around to say the appropriate prayer not only for the given day but also for the particular time of day. Pagan clergy should run out and get A Book of Pagan Prayer by Ceisiwr Serith. I can’t pronounce his name, but he’s written about the best prayer book I’ve ever seen in any religion. It’s a very small, thick book (286 pages) that fits neatly in a purse or coat pocket. Its simple green cover with gold lettering is made of a heavy-duty paperback that will handle wear-and-tear well and is subtle enough to use in non-pagan-friendly places. The first section of the book, “How and Why We Pray,” delves into the many ways prayer can be performed--like through chanting, dance and drumming-- and not just the stereotypical kneeling-in-a-church method. Part two is a huge variety of prayers and devotionals for just about every occasion and deity, and many can be modified to suit the practitioner’s personal deity. There are prayers for the home and family, times of the day, lunar cycles, Sabbats, life changes, thanksgivings and blessings. It also has a glossary of deities and an index of the prayers by their first lines. If you can only get one, I suggest A Book of Pagan Prayer because its variety of prayers covers just about every occasion. The Book of Hours has more prayers that can be used for invocating, so if that’s something you do frequently Hours is one to have on hand. If you can swing it, purchase all three books, because they are extremely useful when you need a prayer and are at a loss for words. When you need some divine inspiration, these books serve it up in full.
8-Jan-2004
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