I call to Terpsichore, great of grace,
daughter of Zeus and wise Mnemosyne,
beautiful goddess, lissome and lithe,
merry-hearted muse of dance,
giver of comfort and of bliss,
we know you as we whirl and sway,
we find you as the music finds us.
Yours, O goddess, is joy in motion,
yours is the rhythm of the form,
yours the embodiment of song.
Terpsichore, granter of delight
I pray to you, goddess, I honor your gifts.
Tag Archive | hellenic paganism
To Calliope
I call to Calliope, eldest of muses,
daughter of Zeus and wise Mnemosyne,
goddess who tells the hero’s tale,
recounter of great deeds. Calliope,
mother of sweet-singing Orpheus,
you know well of sorrow and of loss;
you know too of the venturesome soul,
the core of greatness in humanity,
and how to tend a noble story
that it may grow into a legend.
Calliope, easer of the flow of words,
I pray to you, goddess, I honor your gifts.
To Leto
All praise to Leto, blessed among mothers,
who brought forth fair twins, Artemis and Apollo,
children mighty and shining bright. Leto,
daughter of Coeus and luminous Phoebe,
dark-veiled goddess, gentle and kind,
friend of women who lie in childbed,
of mothers who hold their babes at night,
protector of youth, of all innocent ones,
O Leto, great goddess who hears all prayers,
I call to you with a grateful heart.
I honor you, good and gracious Leto,
I offer you my praise and seek your blessing.
To Metis
I call now to Metis, wisest of goddesses,
daughter of Ocean and kind-hearted Tethys,
mother of wisdom, of grey-eyed Athena
who sprung full-formed from her father’s head.
Yours is the art of reason, O Metis;
yours is the will to understand, yours the drive
toward knowledge; yours is the gift of foresight,
of fine and flawless judgement in all things.
Metis whose counsel is renowned, whose vision
is unmatched, great goddess, I call to you.
I honor you, good and gracious Metis,
I offer you my praise and seek your blessing.
To Amphitrite
Amphitrite, great and sovereign goddess,
bride of Poseidon, mighty sea-queen,
daughter of Nereus, long of beard,
and Doris whose gift of the ocean’s bounty
provides for the children of humankind.
Amphitrite, eldest of the Nereids,
fairest of those fabled maids, Amphitrite
who sits enthroned on the ocean floor,
mother of all sea-creatures, of all who dwell
in your briny realm, friend of the sailor
and the fisher-folk, yours is the power
to grant a smooth sail, or to pull a ship down
beneath storm-driven waves. Amphitrite,
unrivaled, unyielding, I pray to you.
To Enyo
To Enyo, beautiful, terrible goddess,
I offer my praise. Companion of Ares,
daughter of Hera and thundering Zeus,
you delight in the clash of arms, the loud battle-cries;
you dance upon the blood-soaked ground. Fiery-eyed Enyo,
sister of War, destroyer of cities,
the sword and the spear are yours to wield;
the lives of the young are yours to take.
Keen-eyed goddess, strong of arm and swift of strike,
yours is the frenzy of the field, the madness
of the fray, the pounding pulse of strife.
I honor your work, O goddess; I honor your might.
To Harmonia
I call to you, Harmonia, child of love and war,
of Ares who is strong of heart, of courage unrivaled,
of Aphrodite whose might it is that binds us all.
Fair bride of Cadmus, great of Thebes, on your wedding day
did gods and mortals all rejoice, for none yet knew
the doom which would befall you, the cursed ornament,
the ruin of all who would possess it. Harmonia,
great goddess who knows the worth of a peaceful life,
yours is the joy in tranquillity, in friendship
and in understanding, yours is the union
of soul and soul, of two hands clasped, of two hearts joined.
Harmonia, gracious one, I pray for your blessing.
To Anteros
Kindly Anteros, good of heart and great of mercy,
son of brave Ares and sea-born Aphrodite,
brother of Eros who aims his sharp shafts
at one and all, yours is a treasure more precious than gold:
a love requited and returned. Shining Anteros,
bright-winged as the butterfly, a love long-lived
is yours to give, a heart filled full with all delight,
the solace of a life’s companion, the sweetness
of fulfilled desire. Friend of the faithful, good Anteros,
your blessing comes to the tender-hearted–
your wrath to those who play at love, whose cruelty snuffs
a steady flame. Grant me your favor, compassionate one.
To Thanatos
To Thanatos, so kind and so good, I offer my praise.
Son of the darkness and the night, of wise Erebos
and raven-haired Nyx, brother of Hypnos who grants a respite
ephemeral and sweet, O Thanatos, you bring a repose
of a longer span–an endless sleep is yours to bestow.
Beautiful Thanatos, well-wreathed with poppies red as blood,
black-winged god, fleet-footed one, bearer of the sharp-edged sword
with which you cut a lock of hair from each who enters Hades’ realm:
some call you merciless, hard of heart, O god who takes
from us those we most love–and yet, dear Thanatos,
yours is a mercy great and freeing, a boundless comfort,
a final peace. O god who gives us life’s last blessing, I praise you.
To Themis
All praise to wise Themis, great mistress of order,
great friend of the seer and the sibyl
whose words were once heard in Delphi and Dodona,
great lady of the law who holds the balance,
whose blessings fall on the just and the true.
Daughter of deep earth and stellary sky,
mother of the ancient Fates who grant to each their share,
mother too of the Seasons who give the stars their course,
merciful Themis, kind of heart and even of hand,
fair and benevolent goddess, I call to you.
I honor you, good and gracious Themis,
I offer you my praise and seek your blessing.
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