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One part of Ár nDrá'iocht Féin's ritual outline involves opening a gate between our world and the sacred. This is accompanied by a prayer to a deity who is the keeper of that gate. I thought it might be fun to write prayers to the gatekeepers of the more important Indo-European traditions that are represented in ADF. As much as possible (i.e., as much as I knew about) I wrote the prayers in the style of the appropriate tradition.
Gaulish:
Half-stag, half-man, sitting between,
between this and that,
between this and the other,
god of the gates, open the gates,
Cernunnos who guides my steps.
Greek (to Hermes):
God of the herm which is constructed on the borders:
you pass through as well as keep out.
Pass through my prayers, my offerings, to those I worship;
Pass through as well their presence, their blessings, to me.
The cattle of Apollo seemed to go one way when they had gone the other:
may our prayers go both ways,
may the Immortals go both ways.
Hittite:
Hasamelis, god of travelers:
with this biscuit cast into the fire I call you to me
with this pita bread cast into the fire I call you to me
with this loaf of bread, split open and cast into the fire, I call you to me.
With the first may you begin to come to me.
With the second may you continue to come to me.
With the third may you arrive here in my presence.
As the bread is split, so may the door between this world and that of the Holy Ones open;
as the smoke from our offerings rises, so may our prayers rise freely to those in the sacred realm,
that the Holy Ones may pour out as freely as this poured-out beer their blessings
Hasamelis, god of travelers, cause to travel between this world and that our prayers.
Iranian:
I offer to Čistā, who guards the pathways, who guards the traveler, those who offer to her.
May I travel smoothly through all that separates me from the pure, the divine;
with prayers, with offerings, with thoughts and deeds, I will worship the Kindreds,
as she herself, as Čistā indeed, is indeed honored by those whom we worship.
So let her, worthy of being heard, hear our prayers;
so let her, worthily hearing, pass them on,
so let her, hearer of the worthy, pass the Kindreds’ blessings on to us.
Irish:
I see a man coming towards me,
in a brazen chariot;
the horses which pull it are snorting sea-fog.
The green sea to me is a grassy field to him,
over which he rides;
the scattered sea foams are flowers about his wheels.
Who is this man who rides this way?
Not hard:
It is Manannán, son of Sea,
whose chariot approaches,
the god closest to man.
Clear away the sea’s mists, Son of Sea,
that bar the way to the sacred land.
Guide me safely, belled-branch led,
along the sacred path;
guide them, the Holy Ones, with the sound of the ringing, to me.
[It would be nice to accompany this with the ringing of bells.]
Lithuanian:
Rising from the mists,
with your brother-husband in attendance,
bring divine light to me,
Aušrine, young and lovely,
and my words to them,
the lovely Holy Ones.
Norse:
High One, Heimdall, winder of the horn,
Ward and watcher of the way to Asgard,
standing at the border of the Bifrost Bridge:
may our prayers go through to the sacred,
may the rainbow join us to the sacred.
Proto-Indo-European (to Xausōs):
Opener of the gates of the sun,
of the Shining One,
Open the gates to the gods,
to the Shining Ones,
Open the way for my prayers,
Rising One.
Roman:
God of two faces, Janus the opener,
open the gates for our offerings,
seen by you,
to pass through into the arms of the Kindreds,
of the Deities, of the Ancestors, of the Spirits.
Open the gates for the gifts of the Kindreds to pass through into our lives,
the gifts of the Deities, of the Ancestors, of the Spirits,
our words, our sacrifices, our freely-poured out libations bringing in response
blessings, powers, and long-continued life.
Open the gates, Janus Patulcius,
open them in return for this sweet-smelling incense.
Janus be my guide to the holy;
open the gateway, god of gates.
Russian:
Lark, little lark, do you hear what I am saying?
Fly, little lark, and sing, with your beautiful voice.
Fly to Zorya, to little dawn,
and tell her we are here,
here asking, here waiting for her to come,
with the gods in her train.
Zorya, we call to you, with beautiful words,
words of praise, words you love well.
Come to us here, be the first to arrive,
be the first to arrive of the Holy Ones,
to help us pray to the others as well,
our prayers to them, their gifts to us.
May our prayers be as beautiful as the songs of the lark
we send on her way to ask you to come.
Vedic:
I invoke Agni, priest of the gods:
bear my words on your tongue.
Through this first offering, bring prayers to the deities,
and through this their blessings to us,
Lord in the lightning
Through this second offering, bring prayers to the ancestors,
and through this their blessings to us,
Lord in the waters.
Through this third offering, bring prayers to the nature spirits,
and through this their blessings to us,
Lord in the trees
May your burning be a door open between us and the Kindreds.
[Six offerings of ghee are made into the fire, one with each of lines three, four, six, seven, nine, and ten.]
Welsh:
May this be the mound of Arbeth, where wonders are seen,
or blows received.
May I know wonders.
May I see a woman on a white horse, slowly riding,
swiftly riding,
waiting for me to ask her to stay.
May I see Rhiannon.
May she lead me to the Otherworld,
to share the feast of the Shining ones,
to sing their praises, and drink of their cup.
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