So I’m having a quick flick through an old fluffy bunny book for ideas on things I could post about. Long gone were the times when you would find anything they say helpful or authoritative, but they always were fun and remind me of the times when I first got involved in the occult and how books like these got me on the same page as some of the other people I was working magic with at the time.
This post is more a question. What does it mean to bless something? Is there an effective way? How does one bless something/someone?
What does it mean to bless?
To bless is simply to give auspiciousness, particularly in a spiritual or religious way.
The word “Bless”
The English word bless actually comes from paganism that was practiced in various Germanic areas. Norse Paganism often involved a blood sacrifice or “blota”. An animal would be killed and sacrificed to the ancestors, the land or a pagan deity. By kindly giving something to the spirits they would return the favour in some way or another and a person would experience the auspiciousness of having the spirits on their side. Sometimes people involved in the blood sacrifice would be sprinkled with blood in a way called “bletsian” to ritually affirm that they are the people who are meant to receive the spirit’s favour.
The most common sacrifices would be pigs or horses, but occasionally other animals or captives from pillaging. Their meat would be cooked and shared with mead. Their blood would be put on statues religious objects and those offering the sacrifices. A number of toasts would be offered, to a good year to come.
Benediction
The term bless began to be used as an equivalent to the Latin benedicere (to good-speak). The word benediction is derived from that. This term was used from early Christianity to mean to pray calling for the spirit of god to come in and provide assistance or guidance. A common ritual performed by a priest in front of a large audience is to raise his hands over the audience and proclaim “God bless you, guard you, may he smile on you and be generous to you. May he face you and watch you. May his spirit be lifted up to you and bring you peace”. These words originate the Aaron blessing below. The raise of hands often looks dramatically like the were pouring out invisible rays of blessing.
Hand of Benediction
Many people are familiar with the strange hand gesture that he pope uses when he tries to bless the people. It often has the middle and index finger pointed straight and the other fingers partially bent.
Well ironically science has found neurological disease which actually paralyses some parts of the hand so this position is natural. St Peter (one of the the disciplines of Jesus most common associated with the church in Rome) is often represented using this hand gesture. So there is some suggestion he had this disease. Since the priestly blessing is passed from priest to priest until it reached the modern day priest and out of respect for that tradition they still stretch out their hands in the shape of St Peter. This is symbolic of their heritage. Some view the symbol as if it were a dramatic gesture firing out invisible rays of light. Some believe the hand is moved in a manner to draw the cross in the air.
Berakhah
The Hebrew word for blessing is Berakhah. In modern day it means the prayer said at meal times. It is related to the modern word mabroukh (blessedness) which is used to mean congratulations. The origin of the word is all the more interesting it relates to berekh which means kneel. The word means to kneel down and praise and thereby receive blessing. It is said the purpose of the modern prayer is to acknowledge god throughout life. It is said that a Jew should offer this prayer 100 times a day.
Aaron’s Hands
The following occurs in the third book of the Torah (which is also the the third book of the bible). The books is called The Book of Numbers in English but in Hebrew it is called “In the desert”. God is speaking to Moses and he talks about ways to consecrate themselves for God. Avoiding cutting their hair, alcoholic beverages and not touching dead things. There are also offerings to be made. If someone messes up these rules then they can make an offering of two pigeons / doves. They should also offer up animals such as a rams and a lambs of each gender and sacrifice the hair of his head. The Lord then says to Moses that Aaron and his descendants can in this way, bless the people of Israel and the words of the blessing appear here for the first time. He would say “God bless you, guard you, may he smile on you and be generous to you. May he face you and watch you. May his spirit be lifted up to you and bring you peace”. It is then said gods name would be with the people symbolic of his presence. Often this is interpreted as his name would be on Aaron’s and his descendent’s hands.
A popular way to do this is to hold the hands in a way that is considered symbolic of the Hebrew letter Shin. The shin resembles spirit to the modern qabalist and is the first letter of Shaddai (the almighty) which is often considered how god puts his name on Aaron’s hands. The hands are also raised up like the aforementioned benedictions. They are held as if holding a light over people and the blessing is said to shine out of them. It’s not uncommon to be required to not look while this is being done or sometimes for the hands to be covered, but that’s a modern addition.
Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament and Blessed Sacrament and the Monstrance
In the Catholic mass it is deemed that the priest magically turns the wine and bread into the blood and body of the Christian god, effectively making him present in the very truest sense in their meeting. This is done by a blessing. So here a blessed has transmogrific qualities, but this transformation is not accepted in all Christian churches. The people are then blessed by consuming the blessed object, which although it maintains the accident (outward qualities) of wine and bread may in some traditions actually be considered to be the blood and body of Christ. The monstrance is a ritual object used to bless the sacrament in the catholic mass. The monstrance often looks like a sun shining out rays. It is commonly done in the form a cross. It is said that Jesus did it this way before he ascended, but it is possible it was just an equal armed cross.
Laying on of Hands
So there is a long tradition of laying on of hands. This is where to impart a blessing a blessed person would lay their hands upon another person and pray. This appears to work on the concept that some part of the blessing is conferred through the medium of touch. As if blessing were an ethereal substance that could be passed through solid matter, but not air. This method is used in the ordination of a priest and supposedly this goes back to Saint Peter who had himself physical contact with Jesus.
Blessings in Islam
Islam has no priest caste among its believers so anyone can wish a blessing on a person and there is little respect given to a particular technique. Many Muslims recite prayers. For Modern Sufis it is recommended they recite 3 prayers asking for the message of god to reach them, the light of god to be poured on them and the light of god to be revealed them.
Puja
The Hindu worship ceremonies often feature an offering of light, by candles, a flame or lamp. Often dedicants cup their hands as if accepting the light eradiating from this and they pour into their own heads as if pouring a liquid. They then have some of the spirit in whose honour the worship ceremony was dedicated.
Buddha Help
In much the same way as the Christian, many blessings are a result of seeking help through prayer. The devotee often asks for the favour of a particular Buddha who will help them in their attainment. It is said however that suffering is a key to seeing through the illusion of reality and if a Buddha were to remove suffering they might be removing the potential for growth so it is more often that the Buddhas are sought to allow a person to see through the illusion of reality rather than a physical change.
Initiations
Many Mahayana traditions (and particularly Vajrayana traditions) require that an practitioner is initiated first. Often this initiation involves some ritual words and gestures which are inherited from their initiator. The purpose of this ceremony is to introduce that initiate to the spirit they are working with. Also a huge part of this type of Buddhism is lamaism where the practitioner treats their master as a fully realised Buddha to help them overcome their own ego issues.
Reiki Attunement
So when you learn reiki you often get attunements to connect you to the Reiki. This is like an initiation which allows you to use the Reiki. These ironically didn’t exist in original Reiki and instead the student received a blessing as part of learning the Reiki.
Energy Infusion
Modern Reiki courses often feature a session devoted to “blessing” food and/or drink by infusing it with energy. Following blessing the food and/or drink is confused.
Is there an effective way?
In my opinion a blessing is something that is too generic to measure. You can’t bless something or someone and then assume that something good happened as a result. Good and bad things happen to us constantly so it is too easy to assume the next good thing to happen was the result of a ritualised blessing.
How does one bless something/someone?
So the fluffy bunny book I was working from provided a ritual for blessing, however the ritual actually failed to include most of the components of blessing that are listed above. In fact it was simply a few uttered words much like a benediction mentions above.
Since so many of these involve blessing a meal before it is consumed or a sacred host I feel that for pagans the most suitable blessing is that of a simplified version of the gnostic mass ritual or a symbolic great rite ritual. This ritual produces a blessed host and wine and that is consumed by the participants. There are many versions of this ritual written for individuals who are not part of a male-female pair and since getting that pair is not always practical I will attempt to write such a ritual here.
The importance of this ritual lies in the deities in who’s name the host is consecrated. Obviously if you want a particular deity’s blessing choose that deity. You can select a few. I have provided a short list below each with something that deity often includes in their blessings if you gain their favour. We often work with the deities in a very anthropomorphised form (here is why). So we imagine the deity
- Venus – Love, Friendship, Peace with people
- Lakshmi – Riches, Fortune, Success (do not do with Greed)
- Oshun – finding oneself beautiful, sex, love
- Nuit (Thelema) – finding joy in life, ecstasy
- Luna – wanting to grow or shrink something in your life (do when the moon is waxing / waning), motherhood, menstrual regularity
- Sekhmet – Removing obstacles
- Gaia – Motherhood, good food
- Zeus – Alpha status, Respect
- Mercury – Ability to communicate, success in court, technology working well for you
Having picked a deity you write a prayer for the deity asking for the deities favour. Be prepared to make an offering. In my opinion it doesn’t have to hurt to be a good sacrifice remember what the gods value isn’t necessarily what we value and remember that these deities are not like the metadivine god of the Hebrews they are more like forces of nature. With a blessing you don’t necessarily ask for something specific.
Now you can ask the deity to come into you and you can lift your hands up performing a ritual action that goes back to the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn or a ritual action of the deities priests, but I would avoid the Christian action, as the heritage is not relevant to the forces you are invoking. For example Aaron’s hands is specifically for invoking Shaddai which is why the hands form the first letter “shin”. If the spirit could be related to a planetary force then perhaps the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn gesture which is the invocation of that planet into the earthly plan by way of the appropriate Hexagram (see the Greater Ritual of the Hexagram in Libel O vel Manus – Bk 6). This can be ommitted if necessary. When you do this you can use dramatic hand gestures as appear in the aforementioned blessings where you are cupping energy pouring it into a target. Often the target could be pouring it directly into your head or into food and drink you are about to consume. A common one I call the drain pipe position. One hand lifted up receiving from deity and the other aimed down toward the target allowing for energy to flow through like a drain pipe.
Instead of picking a particular deity you can choose the transcendent forces of the divine goddess and the divine god. Often these are symbolised by male and female deities which transcend fate or who ARE fate, for example Gaia and Uranus , Apsu and Tiamat, Nuit and Hadit or Shiva and Shakti. These can be invoked into an athame and a cup for male and female deities respectively and the two are brought together in a symbolic great rite going back to the OTO’s gnostic mass which was written in 1913 which was based on earlier symbols. You can then use dramatic hand gestures and energy work to pour the energy of the united two and whatever that unity produces into the host and wine or into the bodies of people.
You can then consume the host and wine or meal. Write your own blessing don’t just reuse mine. Tell a story of the great things the deity has done (if you’re not using the transcended male and female deity) and switch to speaking to the deity with respect and admiration. If you have a good relationship with the deity, you can ask them to come into you and then speak as the deity, “I bless this host and wine and all that consume it”. Holding your hands over it and pouring energy into it.
Example Blessing
I here invoke Nuit the great goddess that spake thus
“I give unimaginable joys on earth: certainty, not faith, while in life, upon death; peace unutterable, rest, ecstasy; nor do I demand aught in sacrifice.”
The beautiful continuous one of heaven that calls us forth in her love chant
“to love me is better than all things: if under the night stars in the desert thou presently burnest mine incense before me, invoking me with a pure heart, and the Serpent flame therein, thou shalt come a little to lie in my bosom. For one kiss wilt thou then be willing to give all; but whoso gives one particle of dust shall lose all in that hour. Ye shall gather goods and store of women and spices; ye shall wear rich jewels; ye shall exceed the nations of the earth in spendour & pride; but always in the love of me, and so shall ye come to my joy. I charge you earnestly to come before me in a single robe, and covered with a rich headdress. I love you! I yearn to you! Pale or purple, veiled or voluptuous, I who am all pleasure and purple, and drunkenness of the innermost sense, desire you. Put on the wings, and arouse the coiled splendour within you: come unto me! “
O beloved goddess rest here upon this cup. [One hand reached up to the heavens, one hand resting above the cup palm facing towards it and visualise the flow of the manifest presence of the goddess in the form of an energy from above in the raised palm and then through the arms to the cup where it settles. Make an equal armed cross over the cup as has been done since 1918]
O great god Had that spake thus: “I am the flame that burns in every heart of man, and in the core of every star. I am Life, and the giver of Life, yet therefore is the knowledge of me the knowledge of death. I am the Magician and the Exorcist. I am the axle of the wheel, and the cube in the circle. “Come unto me” is a foolish word: for it is I that go.”
He that calls himself “the Snake that giveth Knowledge & Delight and bright glory, and stirs the hearts of men with drunkenness.”
Dearest god be present in this knife. [Holding up one’s athame visualisating energy from something so small inside you that it barely exists bursting forth like a rocket into the athame. Wave the athame in the air making an equal armed cross as has been done since 1918] The end of the hiding of Hadit; and blessing & worship to the prophet of the lovely Star!
[Bring the cup below the knife holding them above the host and wine. Slowly bring the cup and knife together while breathing heavily getting faster like during sex suddenly hold your breath as you put them together and prepare to burst and shout] Hriliu [Pronounced fast H’ Reel you as you visualise the energy in the cup and knife becoming one].
[The baby of the two energies is born into the food and drink and you then consume it receiving their blessing]