Prayer a Day 2018 – Mein Kind

 

In English:

My child

You conjure a smile upon my face,
you lighten my heart,

when you proudly show me something you have painted
or do breakdance in the living room
when you insist on your snuggling session in the evening
or crawl into my bed in the early morning

when you tell me of your epic fight at Minecraft
or we talk about the last book we both have read
when you are humming you favourite melodie endlessly
or construct some weird machine from Lego

Then I know how happy I can be
to have such a treasure* in my life.

* First instinct was to write ‘precious’ but then I thought that sounded too much like Gollum.
I am talking about two different children here btw., even if that’s not mentioned.

Prayer a Day – Nie wieder

In English:

Never again!

9th November 1938: Reichskristallnacht
The synagogues were burning.

9th November 2018:
All around us political parties gain power and influence
that like back then are agitating, polemicising, segregating.
Those who call the Third Reich a ‘flyshit in history’.

Divine powers: I call for your support: Never again!

You, for who time truely doesn’t play a role:
Don’t let us forget what happened back then,
don’t let it happen that those incidences get trivialized,
give us the strength to be there for eacht other,
to be strong for those who can’t stand up for themselves,
as a majority not to stand by in silence
when stupid, weak ignorants want to take the power in their own hands.

Because this is our time, and what happens now
will be what we are judged by in future.
And I don’t want to be asked sometime:
Why haven’t you done something?

Prayer a Day 2018 – Kompost

SANYO DIGITAL CAMERA

In English:

Compost
Deep down under the earth, hidden in moist darkness
they are busy.
Eating, rummaging, digging
and thus transforming
the rests of our food
into nourishing compost.
This is how the circle goes on,
and all that remains to me is to sing a song of praise to the earthworm!

Prayer a Day 2018 – Gebet für Regen

In English:

Prayer for rain

Come on sky, cover yourself:
Let clouds in all shades of grey gather,
big and heavy.
Let the air be filled with the smell of wetness,
wet grass and steaming asphalt.
And then let the first drops fall,
splashing and spattering
until a veil of rain is covering the land
and puddles are mirrorlike shimmering on the ground,
little lakes, saturating the earth
until the land breathes a sign of relief after the long draught.

Prayer a Day 2018 – Vielfalt im Garten

 

In English:

Today’s first cup of cappuccino is in my hand
and my gaze glides out of the window:
White frost covers grass and bushes.
The night has been a cold one.
But between all this white there’s a colourful spot,
hopping around.
A jay, I am surprised to see,
happy for the growing diversity in my garden.

Prayer a Day 2018 – Gebet für ein neues Auto

In English:

 

01 Prayer for a new car

„Das Auto ist ein Totalschaden.
Die Reparatur lohnt sich nicht!“,
so klingt es in meinen Ohren.
Wenn wir heute die Autohäuser nach einem neuen Fahrzeug durchforsten,
dann sei mit Rat und Tat zur Seite, Nehalennia,
und lass uns ein Auto finden,
das unsere Erwartungen erfüllt und unseren Geschmack trifft.

“The car is irreparable!”,
it sounded in my ears.
When we hit the car lots today searching a new car,
then be with us with guidance and a helping hand, Nehalennia,
and let us find a car
that meets both our expectations and our taste.

Samhain Ritual 2018: Kernarbeit

Gebet:

Die Nächte werden länger,

die Tage feucht und kühl,

und dünne Nebelschleier schweben nicht nur über den Wiesen,

sondern auch zwischen den Welten.

Ich entzünde eine Kerze für die, die von uns gegangen sind.

Möge sie ein Leuchtturm sein, eine ausgestreckte Hand,

mit der ich die Toten willkommen heiße!

Ahnen der Gene, meine leiblichen Vorfahren,

diejenigen, von denen ich abstamme!

Ahnen des Geistes, Priester, Künstler, Schriftsteller, Wissenschaftler,

die, die meinen Geist formten und meinen Gedanken Gestalt verliehen!

Ahnen des Herzens, Nachbarn, Freunde und Bekannte,

mit denen ich Feste gefeiert habe und über den Gartenzaun hinweg gesprochen!

Ahnen des Landes, aus längst vergangenen Zeiten und aus Ländern weit entfernt,

die einen sinnlosen Tod gestorben sind, weil andere es so wollten!

Ich rufe euch bei euren Namen. Ihr seid nicht vergessen.

Nehmt euren Platz in unserer Mitte ein und werdet in unserer Erinnerung wieder lebendig!

(Namen vorlesen. nach jedem Namen eine kleine Pause machen)

Lied:

Touching spirits, touching hearts,

touching loved ones, never part,

not by distance nor time,

touching you on the other side,

touching you on the other side.

(Nachspüren)

 

In English:

03 To remember the ancestors
(German version will be on my blog)

My core working prayer for the ritual tomorrow:

Nights are getting longer,
the days wet and cool,
and thin veils of mist are hovering not only over the meadows,
but between the worlds as well.

I light a candle for those who have gone before.
May it be a beacon to them, my outstretched hand
to welcome the dead!

Ancestors of genes, my physical forefathers,
you who form my family tree!

Ancestors of spirit, priests, artists, writers and scientists,
you who shaped my mind and formed my thoughts!

Ancestors of heart, neighbours, freinds and aquaintances,
you with whom I had fun on many parties and who I talked to over the garden fence!

Ancestors of land, from times long ago and countries far away, who died a death bare of any sense, because others wanted this!

I call you by your names. You are not forgotten. Take your places among us and become alive in our memories!

(read a list of names with a pause after each name, then sing a final song to them (“Touching” by Karen Beth in my case))