The Invocation of Blessings
A morning blessing, for when you need it.
This is a short blessing I wrote recently that I’ve started doing each morning, which I shall now share with you. This blessing has done a lot for me even in its short life, and it represents the beginning of something I’ve been slowly developing and working towards. I’m not religious, I’ve been burned, I don’t know what I believe, but I want to orient myself, I want to ground my body, spirit, and soul. I want to try to find a way to do this that feels right, and this is the beginning of my attempt. I hope this is as useful to you as it has been to me.
Start your day however you normally would, but make room for this before you truly start your day. Do what feels right. Tend to that first thing you need to do. Eat, or drink your coffee, or take your shower, or whatever. Or simply go straight to the blessing. Regardless, it is important to position this toward the beginning of your day, however you choose to define that within the circumstances of your life.
When you are ready to really begin your day in earnest, grab a sheet of paper and draw The Ward of Reconciliation on a blank piece of paper, or whatever surface works. The physical aspect is important. The image of the Ward appears in the photo above, and in the bottom of that image I have also drawn a smaller, simpler version. It works with or without those symbols, or with the symbols that feel right to you, but the four junctures of the Ward are meant to depict the spirit/mind, body, lifesoul, and deathsoul.
Before the blessing, a few words about certain terms I use.
There are many rhythms of the body, spirit, and soul, and the most powerful is the one of reconciliation, binding them all. I refer to this as the Eighth Rhythm. This rhythm can mean many things and take many forms, but in this blessing I invoke the Eighth Rhythm to represent the reconciliation and union of all things, and this is what the Ward of Reconciliation represents. Even disparate things, that do not touch, that cannot mesh, are linked, and react to each other in their own way, so as to create some kind of larger union beyond their separate parts. The Ward contains the totality of all that is, and all that is not. Both the plenus and the void together. And it links together all of the things that are you, and all of the things that are not you.
Beyond the limits of the Ward, beyond the eight rhythms is the Unknowable. I refer to this in the blessing as the Infinite Ninth — what form this takes is unknown to me, but it seems as if it contains aspects of life and death, as if it may in some way contain a Ninth Rhythm, or infinite rhythms, that define and link together all these things, and exist in endless space beyond them.
And then there is Blood Magick. How to define it? I have spent a lot of time trying! Blood Magick is the formless protean mass… it is nameless, it is legion, it is the language of the Eaters of Stars… you feel it emanating through the world. It is not separate from you and you do not exist outside of its influence — it is a live force, an invocation of the Rhythm of Fear… but all these things are for another place. This is the place for blessings.
So, with all of that in mind, draw the Ward. Use the symbols that feel right, or give it whatever meaning you need to give it. However you need to represent it, know that making ourselves vulnerable to the Rhythm of Reconciliation, and putting ourselves before the great mystery of the various rhythms of the universe, is one of the important parts of this invocation. You are calling upon reconciliation, and the greater rhythms, and these things are calling on you in return.
Once the Ward is done and in front of you, recite the following out loud, alone or with others. Then go on with your day.
The Invocation of Blessings
I allow my soul to rise and fill with the morning.
I ask the Ward of Reconciliation to melt away my hunger for the Rhythm of Fear, to cleanse me of the malady of Blood Magick, to bless me with protection against the shadow of Death —
In the sickness Fear creates in my spirit, let me tend compassion —
In the sickness Blood Magick creates in my soul, let me tend love for the weight of the universe that I am merely part of —
In the sickness Death creates in my body, let me tend health, nourishment, and the healing water of life.
In all of these dark forces, let me also see truth — In addition to being many, I am also one.
One universe in my mind, One magick in the soul, One thing compromised of Death.
Many in the inextricable whole, Many in the invocation of blessings, Many in the Rhythm of Life.
Let me reconcile these things, as I also seek their distinction. I seek to turn toward Life, toward the Rhythm of Love — and I choose to ward off the shadow of Death, to invoke blessing against the Rhythm of Fear — even as I am, unchangeably, a child of both. Now, I place my hand upon The Ward of Reconciliation, and I ask to the Eighth Rhythm: reconcile all these things in my body, mind, and soul.
On this morning, I am grateful for my beloveds [(name those on your heart)], and my enemies [(name those on your soul)], to whom I extend compassion. I am grateful for the sun and the moon, and all the void in between. From the earth and ice, comes the fire and air. From the endless dark, comes the endless light. With this Ward, in the fire of reconciliation, I change death into life.
As I pull my hand from the Ward, I invoke the blessing of the Rhythm of Love, and I accept the Rhythm of Love into my heart. May the Infinite Ninth bless us with the miracles of: plenus, healing, soulfire, the life of apeiron, and the cleansing of water. In my soul, I cradle all my blessings together. As I begin my day, let me cradle the greatest blessing of them all — the chance to play once more in the era of light.
