Can you pray to Wiccan gods like Christians pray?

[springsgrace]

Hi everyone, long time no see.
I've been looking in to other religions recently and have finally returned back to Wicca. But one thing I still have questions about is regarding the Wiccan God and Goddess.
If you're familiar with Christianity, you'll know that prayer to God is usually split in to five parts- praise of God, thanking Him for what you've been given, praying for others who are in bad situations, confessing the sins you've done and finally asking God for help. I know that it's pretty standard for Wiccans to give offerings to deities but does anyone pray in this way?
I've never really thought about whether or not Wiccan deities are benevolent or omnipresent or control the things that happen on Earth. Any thoughts, people? It's certainly a comforting thought
Blessed be!

[Chalice]

Yes.

Prayers to Gods, pre-exist the Christian religion.

[SnowCat]

I've never really prayed so much, even in my Catholic days, as just talked to the deity I was attempting to communicate with. I think to pray, make offerings, perform rituals, etc, is a matter of individual path and choice. If you find prayer to be helpful, why should that change?

Snow

[Seraphin]

Yes.

Prayers to Gods, pre-exist the Christian religion.

I agree. People in ancient times pray to their Deities to praise and honor Them, to give thanks and gratitude, to plead for the recovery of a loved one from troubles, sufferings and sickness, to confess our mistakes, transgressions or negative actions they've done unintentionally (usually accompanied by sacrifices) and finally asking Them to have their needs met.

I don't really pray in that way... anymore. That was something that I did as a child, partly because my Mom taught me to pray like that, but also partly because I was a very religious kid . I no longer pray in this way, because my Deities dont required me to pray like this, but it's a powerful tool for some and a powerful habit. So tap into that habit and every night before bed sit down and just acknowledge the Deities and your spirit community in general. Praying is an expression of our relationship with our spirit community.

[Siona]

Many people pray as part of their spiritual practice. However, the format you mention might not work so well within Wicca, as Wicca isn't so much about confessing sins and all that. If you wanted to use a familiar format you might consider changing that one part a bit, but in the end, as long as it works for you, that's really what matters.

[YanaKhan]

I don't know all that much about Christian way of praying, but I believe the confession part is only there in Catholicism. I know several prayers, but they are not Catholic and there isn't such thing there.
So, anyway, I agree with the others, you can pray the way you feel most comfortable with. Certainly the Christians didn't invent prayers.

[Cameron]

I don't know all that much about Christian way of praying, but I believe the confession part is only there in Catholicism.

The sacrament of reconciliation is present in the Catholic, Anglican, and Episcopalian churches.

And as far as the question of the original author of this thread goes, I myself pray like a *protestant* Christian would. I guess being raised as a Christian probably had at least a little bit of an impact, but plenty of other people do the same.

[YanaKhan]

The sacrament of reconciliation is present in the Catholic, Anglican, and Episcopalian churches.

Oh, OK, didn't know that, thanks.

[valerian moon]

I didn't know Christian prayer was in five parts! But basically I've prayed like that when I was younger, not necessarily in that order, but still the same. When the deities give me a gift (i.e., a feather) I always just say a quick prayer, such as "thank you for this feather" and move on to cleansing and protecting it if I'm at home.

[blue_moon]

I never payed attention to prayer that much! I had no idea there were 5 parts and what they were.
But it sounds plausible (and I wouldn't call it a "christian thing")

[Shekinah]

Hi everyone, long time no see.
I've been looking in to other religions recently and have finally returned back to Wicca. But one thing I still have questions about is regarding the Wiccan God and Goddess.
If you're familiar with Christianity, you'll know that prayer to God is usually split in to five parts- praise of God, thanking Him for what you've been given, praying for others who are in bad situations, confessing the sins you've done and finally asking God for help. I know that it's pretty standard for Wiccans to give offerings to deities but does anyone pray in this way?
I've never really thought about whether or not Wiccan deities are benevolent or omnipresent or control the things that happen on Earth. Any thoughts, people? It's certainly a comforting thought
Blessed be!

Christians know nothing about communication with the Spirit realm and most of their prayers go nowhere because they do not understand the dynamics of thought entanglement. Spoken words do not propagate beyond the immediate area, Silent words also do not pass the portal between worlds. Witches know that what we wish to materialize begins with mental visualization. To message a Spiritual guide God/Goddess we must create a mental image that will convey our message then visually associate that image with the intended recipient.

[Becks]

Hi Shekinah, respectfully-I disagree. I know many good followers of Christ who speak beautifully to "God" as they understand "God". I can not put one way of communing with the divine above another. To generalize all Chiristians is like generalizing all witches...in my opinion. Peace to all, and commune on.

[Shekinah]

Hail to thee Becks and thank you for your comment. One may speak beautifully in prayer but the question remains how many such prayers are answered? Communication between beings, mundane or spiritual, necessitates laws of physics. Our Magic does not happen by the words of our ritual (which are only tools to facilitate our mental imagery). Our Circle is manifest by the image in our mind not the verbiage we speak. I mean no disrespect but prayer is a form of mental telepathy if it is to propagate between worlds. The popular religions would do well to consider the wisdom of the ancient Pagans, Magi, Wizard and Witch. If we were content with the Abrahamic Faith's floundering approach to Spirituality we would not be a Witch. A Witch stands with one foot on earth and the other in the heavens. We cavort with Gods and Goddesses in real space/time not through the intermediary of church or priest. Faith or belief and five dollars might get you a cup of coffee but in the real world you must either know or not know. I must admit that some prayerful solicitations if accompanied by deep emotional content (that generates imagery) might get to the realm of Spirit. Namaste Friend Becks

[Silversong]

If you're familiar with Christianity, you'll know that prayer to God is usually split in to five parts- praise of God, thanking Him for what you've been given, praying for others who are in bad situations, confessing the sins you've done and finally asking God for help. I know that it's pretty standard for Wiccans to give offerings to deities but does anyone pray in this way?

Can you pray to the Wiccan God/Goddess in a so-called "Christian" manner? Absolutely. Especially since I'm pretty darned sure that it's not really "Christian" at all, at least not in an exclusive (or chronological) sense. While I'm no expert on theology and my opinions are therefore not to be taken as unquestionable fact, I'd be willing to bet that Judaism prayed that way before Christianity, and that other religions did it before them. Very few things are truly belonging exclusively to one religion or another.

Do I personally pray in this way? Usually not. But it depends on the kind of day I've been having. There have been times where I have sent out prayers like that. However, I usually find it more comforting to just sit and be aware. My version of meditation, since I'm very bad at clearing my mind completely, usually consists of stretching my awareness as much as I can (which has the side effect of clearing my mind in the process). This awareness starts with my body, from my feet to the crown of my head, becoming more conscious of my own internal workings - my breathing, my heartbeat - then strengthening my senses (generally excluding sight, since I usually do this with my eyes closed), hearing, smell, touch. I take a page out of the Inheritance Cycle (ergo, Eragon): trying to become aware of everything around me without focusing on any one thing. Eventually, I frequently become aware of things around me I otherwise wouldn't be able to sense without focusing on them - the pulsing of my crystals, the energy of the house curling around me, and, very often, the arms of the Goddess encircling me, and Her intensely powerful love. (I've also had days where I was really struggling, and, completely abandoning the rest of this procedure, simply sent out a desperate cry for help, reaching out for my Goddess, and She almost always has reached back to me immediately when I needed Her.)
But that's just me.

[Becks]

No disrespect taken Shekinah. This is good discussion.

Perhaps my use of the word "speak" was not the best choice. Barring that, in the end we may still agree to disagree and that is fine by me. That's life. What I am trying to express is that people who practice Christiantiy can still be extremely adept at work in the spirit realm as much as you or I. I have seen it. Some people don't merely say the words. They move and commune with the spirit in as real a way as we do. They 'travel'. Though they might look at it as happening through a different understanding, and used different words to describe what happens....a miracle...an angel..the power of "God". Not all Christians do move as adeptly, just as not all pagans, witches, magi (whatever term people like) do.

I believe that to dismiss all Abrahamic Faiths is a mistake. Some of those roots run very deep indeed, and there is a great deal of mysticism and elements like ancient thought forms thousands of years old that run through the faiths. Consider the fact that ceremonial magic is heavily based on Kabbalistic texts.

In the end, we each have our opinions. I feel that there is more harm than good when we start to compare and ascribe value and power to one way to know the sacred over another.

Peace.