People build cites like beavers build dams,
like wasps build nests,
like termites build towers.
May we build with beauty, deities of culture.
May we build as is our nature, deities of nature.
May we build as is right, all you deities.
Building Spirits
Buildings have spirits as much as animals and trees,
and I praise each of them as I pass them,
walking down this street,
surrounded by the sacred in the middle of this city.
Columbia
Columbia, may your people choose well.
May they vote not for their own benefit, but for you,
for the ideals that are our true country
and that will, in fact, work in the end for our self-interest,
securing the blessings of Liberty, your elder sister,
for themselves and their descendants.
Fill their hearts with love for the rights of all,
and their minds with reason to weigh their choices,
so as to make the ideal real, in your land and ours,
Columbia, Gem of the Ocean.
Goddess of the Constitution
The People are in need of protection
from the depredations of those in power,
those who think that that power is theirs,
instead of being given them in trust by the People,
and limited by the Constitution which defines and gives it bounds.
Remind them of this, Goddess of the Constitution,
that they might responsibly act in your service.
Remind them of their duties, Mighty One,
that they might willingly perform them.
And if they continue to oppose you,
trying and bringing into existence unjust laws,
compel them to follow the proper ways,
dividing them among themselves,
keeping the balance of powers intact
so that your will might be operative in this land.
It is in your power to do this, wise and holy one,
so it is to you that I turn my thoughts,
and to you that I speak my words
and to you that I swear my deeds will be done,
opposing that which is not right,
with my life if need be.
Goddess of the Constitution, hear me please.
I will depend in part on you to protect the People,
and in part on myself to do my duty,
that I might face myself in the mirror
and sleep peacefully at night.
Democracy
I offer you this vote, Democracy,
people’s goddess, the citizen’s friend.
The Flag and the Constitution
I pour a libation at the foot of this flag pole to the of the nation.
Through the flag may my honor be received by the nation.
May I never confuse the symbol for the reality, though:
I honor through this offering the principles which the flag speaks,
not the cloth which represents them.
All praise to the Constitution which the flag proclaims.
The Founders and Framers
Founders and Framers of the American Way,
that way is endangered by a loss of its ideals.
The people are confused, and unwilling to give up their benefits to protect the rights of others.
The tyranny of the majority you so greatly feared may be at hand.
Teach us, Wise Ones, all of the People, to remember your wisdom
and to apply it, and to strengthen the Liberty which you established.
Remembrance and dedication to your deeds are my offering to you
today and in the future.
Justice
Lady Justice, Mighty Justice,
who image I revered as I entered the courthouse this morning,
lifting my hand in greeting,
aid me in my deliberations today.
Libertas, Minerva, Demokratia
Through protecting your gifts,
the Rights of Man, Libertas,
may our country be admired by all.
Through producing in accord with your guidance, Minerva,
may it be a model for all.
Through your wisdom, Demokratia,
may we choose leaders who are wise and will keep our country on your path,
who will guide us in protecting the gifts of Libertas and Minerva.
Libertas, Minerva, Demokratia,
through your power may we the People govern ourselves well,
defending our freedom with just laws.
Liberty
Teach, Liberty, the knowledge of what I can do,
and what I cannot and what I should not do
that you might be strengthened.
Grant as well the integrity that I might do the one and not do the other
that you might be spoken of with glory.
Liberty, I call to you,
to bless this land.
We have no king;
bless instead the People,
for it is they who reign here,
bless us with peace and good government.
A child of democracy,
a citizen of a republic,
I have never had a lord to serve,
to praise with my poetry,
to eulogize his love.
It is a Lady I have,
Liberty of the flowing hair,
striding forward gracefully, bravely,
her torch lighting our way.
May I never have cause to write her elegy,
to praise her upon her death,
though I may fear her passing.
[For Juneteenth]
Lady Liberty, you finally brought freedom at last to the last of our country’s slaves,
ending a blot on the pages of our nation’s history,
on this day, not long enough ago.
Continue your work, blessing goddess,
.
May the descendants of the enslaved be freed from the limitations and oppressions
which they still suffer.
Minerva, America, Liberty
Minerva, grant me even but a bit of your wisdom as I vote today.
America, may my vote today result in your flourishing.
Liberty, may your interests be upheld strongly through my vote today.
You three goddesses, who watch over this country,
watch over me as I vote today.
May my vote be a wise one.
May my vote contribute to this country’s well-being.
May my vote advance the cause of Liberty in this land.
Divine ones who watch over the United States,
to you my devotion
to you this prayer
River Deity
[God/Goddess] of this river,
as you flow through this land,
join it and all who dwell in it in prosperity and peace.
These coins are a little gift,
but they are gladly and freely given.
Sovereignty Goddess
Heal our land, Goddess of the Nation!
Sovereignty, keep us in the traditional way,
our values and rights intact,
through all our troubles.
May the goddess of sovereignty
who gives right rule to this land
be known to me.
In the meantime,
out of my ignorance,
I offer this incense and this libation
and this bread.
Accept it gladly, I ask,
and answer my prayer.
Urban Deity
Tied together by law and land and infrastructure,
may we, people of this city,
live in accord with natural, and divine, and human law.
May our ways be in harmony with them.
[God/Goddess] of this city, receive this;
see our offering and grant us your aid.
[Goddess/God] of my city,
cause all of its inhabitants
and the city itself
to flourish.
May these, may it
be filled with life.
Through your power may this be done, Mighty Deity.
Your glory and that of the city you watch over are inseparable;
thus may you increase our happiness and prosperity
so that we and the city we dwell in might the envy of all.
Virtue
“Virtue” the ancient Romans called you,
meaning not refraining from sexual acts,
but the qualities and strengths of those who had matured,
those who were qualified to take part in public affairs.
Without you there can be no civilization,
and without you we cannot do what we must
if we are to truly pull our share of the common load.
And so we turn to you, Virtue,
to help us to live up to your demands.
George Washington
George Washington, you might not have expected it,
but you have many children today,
and I, one of them, look to your example as Cincinnatus,
fulfilling your duties,
employing your power well,
and then giving it up when the time came,
laying it lightly, gladly even, aside,.
I begin my tenure today as [ ].
May I perform my role with excellence
and not regret or hesitate when my term is up.
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