I Arise Today: Morning Devotions

I arise today
Through the strength of heaven
Light of sun
Radiance of moon
Splendor of fire
Speed of lightning
Swiftness of wind
Depth of the sea
Stability of earth
Firmness of rock
-verse 1 of “The Deer’s Cry”, lyrics attributed to St. Patrick, arranged by Shaun Davey for his suite “The Pilgrim”*

It’s cold outside, but not freezing. But I’m not a morning person and the idea of dragging myself out of bed and into clothes so I can go outside to pray is just a bit more than I can handle with winter approaching. My husband is up and out the door by 7:15 am for his hour-long commute and I struggle to get myself in gear before my son misses his morning potty call and I end up changing the sheets. Getting him up and dressed is my first job of the day, followed shortly by getting him fed. And given that he is a champion at stalling tactics, these tasks often occupy me until almost 9:30 in the morning. But then he settles down to watch his morning TV on our local PBS station and I have time to myself. So I start my day with prayer.

I didn’t think much about prayer when I first joined the Pagan community 20 years ago. I was very involved in ritual work but couldn’t seem to connect on a more personal level. I had the same problem with Christianity, so it wasn’t surprising. I still have troubles being a solitary; and I’m not sure if it is a difficulty connecting personally or that I simply need group dynamics and group energy to fuel my worship. Anyway, I spent a goodly chunk of time writing group rituals and ignoring that more personal expression. I think I would have stayed in that place, if it hadn’t been for a string of negative events, personal, financial and professional, about 8 years ago. I ended up in a downward spiral and, as part of my struggles to pull myself back up, I began to pray on a regular basis.

I began with evening prayers, since that is a the time when I am most active, both physically and mentally, and eventually added a morning devotion as well. I chose to use the Celtic Devotional: Daily Prayers and Blessings, an ecumenical Celtic-themed devotional by well-known Celtic scholar Caitlin Matthews**. I dearly love this little book and have used it repeatedly over they years. My copy is dog-eared and the binding is broken. It’s set up by Celtic season (Samhain, Imbolc, Beltaine, and Lughnassa) and then by day of the week. Over time, I replaced the more ecumenical meditations with more Pagan and Goddess influenced ones from various other meditation collections*** and for a year that worked well for me.

After our move to California, I stopped my devotions for a number of reasons, mostly a lack of time and private space. For 2 years I struggled to find a balance in our new surroundings and eventually, another string of bad luck, that included a fire in our apartment building, brought me back to my devotions again. By this time, I had begun actively serving the Goddess Brighid and so I added two more pieces to my daily prayers: The Deer’s Cry, that begins this entry, and an adapted version of an old Irish prayer, the Genealogy of Brigit. I used this formula for over a year, until my son was born, when again I fell away from it.

Now, as part of my campaign of positive habits, I’m starting again. But this time I’m taking a different tack. I’ve started simply, with morning devotions; singing The Deer’s Cry and saying the Genealogy, before doing a short reading from A Daily Book of Pagan Prayer by Megan Day. Over the next several months I’m hoping to ramp up my devotional time by adding an evening prayer time and some structure, using The Book of Hours: Prayers to the Goddess by Galen Gillotte****. It is my hope that six months from now, I will have fully integrated a time of prayer into the beginning and ending of my day and that I can share some of that prayer time with my son. I know he won’t understand everything that I do, but I hope that by being exposed to my own signs of devotion, they will become something he seeks when he gets older and is ready to make a choice about his own religious path.

And as I light my candle and sing my praises to the morning sun, I find myself at peace again and ready to face whatever challenges the Universe has to throw at me. I hope that I am achieving balance, not just for myself but for my small corner of the world. By sending out good thoughts and positive energy into the world, I’m making it just a little bit better for all of us. And that makes my early mornings well worth the effort.



*For those interested in hearing this sung, there is a purely audio file here and a video on Youtube here. These are of the unadapted version of the prayer. I have put together a Brighid-centered adaptation which I will be happy to send to anyone who requests it.

**For a Celtic Christian themed devotional, try Celtic Benediction: Morning and Night Prayer by J. Philip Newell.

***I used The Celtic Spirit: Daily Meditations for the Turning Year, also by Caitlin Matthews and Patricia Telesco’s 365 Goddess.

****For those seeking a balanced view, Mr. Gillotte has also published a Book of Hours devoted to the God which can be found here. I hope to integrate a mid-day devotion from this book into my practice as well.