A Prayer for Manannán mac Lir

Photo by Robert Herring
Used under a Creative Commons License

As the winter drags on here on the cold and sunlight-starved prairie, I tend to lose a lot of my motivation and drive.  I'm naturally an introvert, so one of the first things to go is my desire to get out and engage in social things.  Some days I have a hard time bringing myself to open Facebook.  It's times like these that I find myself drawing inward, finding more time to sit and think rather than rushing to finish whatever task is next on my to-do list.  As I focus more on my personal spirituality, I am drawn more towards deities I honor that also have a strong sense of inner and spiritual work.

In contrast to the crochet I do for Frige, the house cleaning I try to maintain for Brigid, and the everyday writing I do for Ogma, in my UPG Manannán is a much less concrete deity.  I know for many He is like a favorite uncle, a God largely of laughter and good times - and He is that for me also, at times.  But much more often, He is the deity that calls to me when I am sinking in the dark depths of the proverbial ocean.  When I need to step back from the world for a bit, He is there to guide me to the deep sea - where no storms stir, where no light penetrates - only the solitude that is so refreshing to me.  In an effort to build a more consistent devotional practice, I've taken to writing prayers for each deity I honor; this I wrote for Manannán.  It is based on Ian Corrigan's call to Manannán in ADF's solitary Celtic ritual template, with the wavelets inspired by a baptism charm from the Carmina Gadelica.

Oh Manannán, powerful son of the sea,

holder of the magics of the crane bag:

a wavelet for sweet dreams,

a wavelet for laughter,

a wavelet for good song,

nine waves for Your graciousness.

Oh Lord of the Otherworld, bearer of the silvered apple branch,

I ask that you hear my call:

a wavelet for grief,

a wavelet for tears,

a wavelet for the dead,

nine waves for Your graciousness.

Mist-shrouded rider of the maned waves,

clothed in the sea-shifting cloak:

a wavelet for solitude,

a wavelet for wisdom,

a wavelet for oneness,

nine waves for Your graciousness.