#Gaulish prayers

[paganpillar]

"My thoughts arise. May good things be thought by me today.

I open my eyes. Let good things be seen by me today.

I open my lips. Let good things be said by me today.

The grace of the Gods upon this day. I walk with the Gods."

Gaulish Prayer by Ceiswr Serith

[jasper-pagan-witch]

(Photo by Livin4wheel on Unsplash)

O Cernunnos, He of Liminality

Horned One, Keeper of Riches

The one who dwells both sides

Bridge and guide from one state to another

Thank you for your aid, your guidance,

Your wisdom, your knowledge

O Cernunnos, He Who Sits At Crossroads

We thank you

[fernthewhimsical]

You stand tall within your sacred grove,

The sun's rays shining through your antlered crown

I feel your call, oh, Cernunnos

You stand rooted deeply within the Earth,

Connected to all things living and passed,

I hear your call, oh, Cernunnos

You lead the dance ‘round the blazing bonfire,

The drums echoing the beat of your heart

I feel your call, oh, Cernunnos

You lead the hunt through forest deep,

The spirit of hunting wolf and hunted stag both,

I hear your call, oh, Cernunnos

You stand firmly ‘pon the threshold,

The liminal of body and time and place is yours,

I feel your call, oh, Cernunnos

You sit cross-legged between the standing stones,

The power of tree and root and fur and fang is yours,

I hear your call, oh, Cernunnos

You wear the torc of sun-bright shining gold,

The wealth of coin and wealth of life are yours to give,

I feel your call, oh, Cernunnos

You hold the horned serpent within your grasp,

The keeper of ancient knowledge and lore long forgotten,

I hear your call, oh, Cernunnos

[Poem/prayer by Marjolijn Ashara, a.k.a. me]

[apples-and-seagulls]

prayer for an evening shower

Braton tei, Apollo Grannus,

Braton tei, Sirona,

For this water that I use this evening,

And its cleaning effects,

I praise you!

.

And I praise the many others,

Gods, spirits, and my fellow humans,

Who helped to bring this water here from far away.

Braton tei!

.

May this water cleanse my body of filth,

That I might be clean, comfortable, and healthy

And that I might avoid causing others around me to fall sick.

.

May this water cleanse my soul of filth,

That I might sleep peacefully

And greet the new day with happiness

And with the energy to do my duties.

.

Braton tei, Apollo Grannus!

Braton tei, Sirona! 

[uailogenos]

Ordered some prayer cards for my adbertoclâros (altar) and some stickers for my drums today.

[ferngullyhedge]

I've thought about making a witch blog for a while. I returned to tumblr with noble reasons that don't matter anymore because I've been sucked back into the reblog vortex. I use this blog to share my research, experiences, and practice writing. You can read my first welcome post here.

Note: this is not a tradfem, terf, folkish, new age, or conspiracy welcome space.

All Original Posts Witch Journal Entries Snippets Reading List

Scrapbook (poems, photos, aesthetics, quotes) Art Resources

Nature-Based Animism City Witch New England

Cosmic Cosmic Horror

Hearth Practice

Folk Practice Folklore Environmental Anthropology

Heathenry Continental Heathenry

Celtic Gauls + Gaulish Paganism

Pagan Research

Deity Tag Holda/Frau Holle Berchta/Frau Perchta Brighid Cernunnos

Prayer

Witchcraft Hedgecraft Kitchen Witch Wortcunning (and herbalism) Spirit Work Spellwork Energy Work Angelic (needs tag & link)

[blesscernunnos]

If you don't mind me asking, what was your first experience with Cernunnos?

I'm so sorry if this has been in my inbox for a long time, life and death caught up to me and wowie, I got busy!

My first experience with Cernunnos came through Wicca. I'm not Wiccan anymore, but Wiccans tend to venerate the Mother Goddess and Horned God.

A lot of people think Cernunnos and the Horned God are separate because there are a lot of differences between them. However, my experience was that the Horned God is just another facet of Cernunnos, a way for Him to connect with modern people. After all, we are much different from the Gaulish worshippers of old! Change is natural...

So I worshipped mostly the Mother Goddess for quite some time but then I started to get a feeling that I should worship the Horned God more. His presence was amazing and beautiful. As I left Wicca and became more of a "non-denominational" pagan, The Horned God came to me more and more as not a nameless title but as Cernunnos. As I read about Cernunnos in the Gaulish context I realized that this was absolutely Cernunnos, and His consistent presence, acceptance of offerings, acceptance of my prayers, and the peace I felt reading about Him confirmed that.

I don't have a first experience as in a specific event, it's more of a timeline of experiences that lead to this point.

Hail Cernunnos!

[blackwattlenemeton]

Morning Prayer

Having moved away from Norse Heathenry, I no longer use those excellent passages from the Sigrdrífumál as my morning prayer. They don’t feel right anymore. So I’ve written something else. The first version was just okay, but didn’t feel quite right after road-testing it for a little while, so I took out the Gaulish, Slavic, and Anglo-Saxon words, and instead asked myself what I really wanted and felt. The current result is simple, snappy, and has just a little spice of other languages. Here it is.

Salve!

To the rising of the ancient sun

And the shining of the bright day.

May your light fall upon me

And keep me safe and whole.

Slava!

To the wheel that turns overhead

And the earth that lies underfoot.

May I be honoured by my place

Within your vast cycle.

Sāli!

To the gods who surround us

And the ancestors who witness us.

May I be guided by your wisdom

And face the world with courage.

I wanted some words to represent the Celtic, the Slavic, and the Germanic parts of my current practice. ‘Salve’ is a Latin greeting, but would have been used in the Roman Celtic world. ‘Slava’ is used in Slavic paganism and means roughly ‘glory’. ‘Sāli’ is, technically, reconstructed Proto-West-Germanic (at least, according to Wiktionary…) and means something like ‘joy’, ‘happiness’, and wellbeing. I picked this word because I wanted a Germanic word of roughly the 100-500 CE period that could be used as a greeting or interjection, and ideally started with an ‘s’ to match the rest of the words. I didn’t use ‘hail’, which would have been easy, or any of its older variants, ‘hāl’ (Old English), or even ‘*hail’ (Proto-West-Germanic), because it doesn’t feel right – reminds me too much of Norse Heathenry. ‘Sāli’ may not have been – and probably wasn’t – used as a greeting, and might not even be appropriate, but I can’t time travel and I’ll never know. But for now, it sounds and feels good, so I’m gonna use it.

[dimancheetoile]

hi! i was hoping to connect over the goddess damona. i came across your post regarding her. i was hoping to find out if you knew of resources regarding her / ways to honor her and offer her??

Oh absolutely, she's one of the Goddesses I'm Dedicated to. In case you're unfamiliar with the concept, in certain Druidic Circles and Celtic/Gaulish traditions, people who are in training in the Bardic, Vatic and Druidic ways as well as fully in place in those roles can Dedicate themselves to a number of Gods and Goddesses. It means you worship them regularly, you're able to lead ceremonies and rituals in their honour, you can guide worshipers in their prayers or guive guidance in ways to connect to the deities, etc. It's a pledge, and oath to do right by the deity and always put them above all, to respect them and Know them so that the rest of the Tribe can rely on you to do the brunt of the religious work while they can simply honour the Gods in their own ways.

There are tons of resources I could give you but I'm unsure how interested the people who follow me are regarding witchcraft and Gaulish tradition, so I would instead offer that we chat privately. That way I can answer all your questions instead of going through asks.

(and if I'm mistaken and you lovely people are actually interested in this stuff, you can always manifest yourselves and I'd be more than happy to talk about this side of my life)

[racout]

La Tarasque

Note:

I'm an English learner and I wrote this text to practise my written English. If you want to give me feedback about my English, please go ahead!

The Tarasque is a legendary creature from the commune of Tarascon, Bouches-du-Rhône. It was a half-dragon, half-fish beast that lived a long time ago in the Rhône, terrorising the locals, until St. Martha tamed it. This is the story told by Jacobus de Voragine in The Golden Legend, a collection of stories about the lives of several saints.

It seems that these events take place during the 1st century A.D. Martha, who devoted herself to serving Jesus Christ, travelled on a boat with her brother and her sister. Although they lost the sails, the oars and the rudder, they managed to reach Marseille. Then, they travelled to the area between Arles and Avignon. This is where Martha heard about a half-dragon and half-fish creature. She was told that it was bigger than an ox or a horse, and its maw was full of enormous teeth. People said it was the descendant of a sea monster and it came from the Galatia sea. This creature attacked travellers and sank boats sailing on the river. Martha decided that she had to help the local population. She went on the bank of the Rhône and met the ferocious beast. She poured holy water on it and brandished a cross. Thus, the monster became gentle and docile. Martha fastened it with her belt and took it to the villagers. The latter attacked it and killed it to finally make it pay after all these years of terror.

Martha stayed in the village and devoted her life to prayer and fasting. She was considered a saint and in the XVth century the Sainte-Marthe Church was built.

During the same century, king René invented les Fêtes de la Tarasque (the Tarasque Days) and founded l'Ordre des Chevaliers de la Tarasque (the Order of the Knights of the Tarasque) of which members are called Tarascaïres. Les Fêtes de la Tarasque are still celebrated today, every year in June, and are inspired by the legend. Numerous shows are organised, including the running of the Tarasque, during which the Tarascaïres carry around a reproduction of the beast, teasing and scaring the public. The beast seems to be usually green and red, with a shell on the back, covered with thorns, and a tail. This event is also an occasion to celebrate more aspects of the local culture. Thus, one can see people dressed in traditional clothing during the parade, or participate in activities about Alphonse Daudet's character, Tartarin of Tarascon. These few days have a religious importance too, as the local Christian community also celebrates St. Martha. The cleric, for instance, blesses the Tarasque at the opening of the event.

Some think the Tarasque could represent the river overflowing and destroying everything around. Or they see in this legend the victory of Christianity over Gaulish beliefs: the Tarasque personifies this pagan cult, "defeated" by St. Martha after she spreaded Christianity. After all, it seems that one of the reasons for her journey was to convert new believers.

In conclusion, I want to draw attention to the Tarasque's likeness to the Drac of Beaucaire. Beaucaire is on the opposite side of the Rhône, and the similarity between Tarascon’s and Beaucaire’s creatures is probably not a coincidence.

Also, I found some Christian website that has, apparently, the full version of The Golden Legend.

Here is the list of all the Saints.

And here, St. Martha's story.

Sources

BELOUET Guy. La Tarasque. www.universalis.fr [online]. Encyclopædia Universalis France. Visited between 25/09/22 and 30/09/22.

URL

Encyclopaedia Britannica. Tarascon. www.britannica.com [online]. June 30, 2017. Visited between 25/09/22 and 29/09/22.

URL

Jacques DE VORAGINE. Légende de Sainte Marthe. In: La Légende dorée : Volume 1. Paris : Charles Gosselin, 1843, p. 191.

URL (Google Play France)

Le Parisien. Ses chevaliers perpétuent la tradition. www.leparisien.fr [online]. 12 août 2014. Visited between 25/09/22 and 29/09/22.

URL

Marie GASPA, Perrine ALRANQ. Les fêtes de la Tarasque. www.culture.gouv.fr [online]. Visited between 25/09/22 and 30/09/22.

URL (PDF)

Musée du Vieux Nîmes. Fiche pédagogique sur la Tarasque. nimes.fr [online]. Visited between 25/09/22 and 29/09/22.

URL (PDF)

Ville de Tarascon. Les Fêtes de la Tarasque. www.tarascon.fr [online]. Visited between 25/09/22 and 29/09/22.

URL

[paganpillar]

Thank you for the winds which carry your powerful paroxysms .

Thank you for the rain which strengthens and nourishes my home.

Bring the heavy rains which soak our ground with you almighty power.

Blow the winds and spread the seeds of life to regenerate what we have destroyed.

Awaken us with your commanding call and announce your undeniable presence,

So that we may remember again.

Thank you Taranis of the Sky, for this beautiful gift you have given me today.

May you continue to grace us with what we so desperately need.

Taranis

Gallo-Roman God of: Thunder, lightning, thunderstorms, the spoked wheel, and protector. Sometimes attributed to Jupiter.

[moninamie3448]

Check it out

[the-wilderness-calls]

When my Lord Cernunnos looks upon me he doesn't see what the eye of mere mortals see.

My body sits between the sexes, my mind between genders. My fellow mortals have pushed me aside for this, my society abandoned me, but not my Lord.

"They see not that you walk the border, that you embody the boundaries and the whole. Hold your head up, Mortal. Be proud to be the Other. You see beyond these feeble constructions of mankind."

My disabilities are ignored, my needs not met by others, I live without accomodations I need and barely get by, but He knows the truth of my pain and struggle.

"Do not blame yourself for the failings of a temporary vessel that only contains your wonderful soul for a blink in the eye of time, you are not this body."

I fight with my own broken instincts, I am often malnourished due to the affliction of disordered eating. He does not blame me for this, but he still reminds me of my needs.

"Nurture yourself with the bounty of this world, don't waste your offerings of food on my altar while you sit with an empty gut."

I live in constant mess, always toiling for my employer and left with no energy for my own housework. He does not cast judgement on me for this, for he sees my efforts.

"You work, you serve others and this is honorable. There is no shame in exhaustion, nor in rest."

When I struggle to see the future I live for, he reminds me that it is attainable.

When I feel guilt for the state of the world, he reminds me this is the fault of failing authorities, not the people at the bottom left with the mess.

When I am overwhelmed by this failing system I am forced to live with, he helps me endure, affirms that I can find my way out of it and thrive.

When I neglect my worship and the most I can do for weeks is simply to pray and think of my gods, he shows no impatience, no aggression.

He is understanding, wise, compassionate.

My Lord Cernunnos, Walker of the Woodlands, King of the Beasts, the Divine Stag. He wishes not to be feared, but loved. Not to be flattered, but respected. Where others have failed, he rises to the challenge and loves so dearly and unconditionally those who walk in his steps.

I am so very grateful for his watchful care and concern.

To be so lucky as to fall so inextricably in love with one's deity is transcendent, surreal. I cannot possibly in words convey the comfort and warmth of his presence.

[chronarchy]

Blessing of the Good Striker

Sucellos, Good Striker, Firm hand and guardian, I call to you with a bright voice, And ask that you hear me now.

Your hammer-strike sparks the night, And serves as both warning and welcome: For you stand with us, and hold us close, Helping us walk the line in confidence.

With one side you strike the nail And craft community together. With the other you strike our foes And keep our borders safe and sound.

Come, open wide your cask Filled with drink for all: Let it flow in hospitality And deep connections!

For you will always swing wide the door For those who seek a better life, And offer them both a full cup, And the best seat beside our shared fire.

Sucellos, keep our community whole, And keep it safe and welcome.

#ADFDruidry #PrayerADay 

[Image description: Sucellos wood carving by Rev. Michael J Dangler, available at The Magical Druid]

[xartus]

The following text copied directly from my post on the GaulPol Discord about an experience I had today:

"Not sure which channel to put this in but I just had the strangest dream I've had in a long, long time. I mean it was intense. I was just taking an afternoon nap and I only slept for maybe an hour. No alcohol or other altered state

The dream started out with me having some kinda sexy dreams, I get those occasionally but this went on forever. Then the scene changed and there was an altar, lots of deer images, a model of standing stones, a statue head of a blonde youth, and a lion statue. I get this dream from time to time where the altar changes subtly with what's on it.

I saw that my little crochet deer that I use to kinda comfort myself when I talk to Carnonos was messed up somehow and I was trying to glue it back together. Then this... Person thing came in through my window. Had kinda a heavy brow ridge and sharp teeth. Ate oats from a bowl kinda like a horse. It said that I was having too many lustful dreams and that's what brought it there. Told me what is was but I forgot. Said I was cursed now. I started pulling hair out of my mouth and it backed me into a corner.

I said "Carnonos please protect me, please close the door, please take this away" over and over. Then, there was this bright light and I heard the thing screech and I was blinded for a second. I thought it was behind me because I saw a shadow but it was a floating kinda old looking statue of Carnonos. I knew immediately he had made it go away. I fell to my knees and said thank you over and over. There was another bright light and it was gone"

I want to thank the community for listening to me with respect and helping me with this pretty freaky event. The Touta is my family, and I am forever grateful for them ❤️

Following what happened, I did spring into action. I sprinkled some of my Fuck Off Mix on my window sills (cayenne, salt, and sage if anyone wants to make it) along with some dirt for grounding. Went outside and cut a sprig of rosemary and hung that above my door, as well as a cross necklace. Took my old Bible and placed it near my beside with my other cross, my iron spike, and my stuffed deer I use to talk to Carnonos sometimes.

Then I did a quick purification of myself and began a ritual of thanks and invocation to Carnonos, as well as thanks to Brigantia for being the purifying flame and Sucellus and Nantosuelta for being GaulDad and GaulMom and comforting me. I said thank you to Brigantia and asked her to purify me, the immediate space, and my room. Thanked Sucellus and Nantosuelta for the comfort and asked for their help as well. Carnonos was the first and last Dewoi that I thanked, I thanked him over and over and over again for protecting me and to please banish the bad things and keep protecting me and my family. I offered peppermint tea to all.

Now taking a ritual bath to fully make sure all is well, as well as further precautions tomorrow.

Please feel free to comment or message if you have any tips or ideas for banishing, warding, protection, ect, as well as insight into the dream itself. I welcome the input!!!!! May the Dewoi walk with you

Praise and Hail to Brigantia, Sacred Flame!

Praise and Hail to Sucellus, Father and Comforter!

Praise and Hail to Nantosuelta, Mother and Nuturer!

Praise and Hail to Carnonos, Lord of the Ways, Sitter-In-Between, Guardian and Protector!