faith and prayer

[brightrosefox]

Something I have been curious about: When praying for a person not of your own faith, whose deity (or spirit or divinity) should you pray to: Theirs? Yours? A general universe thing? Or does it not matter, do all gods of every faith hear everyone regardless of who believes what?
I do not worship the Christian god, so I would not pray to him; but say if I invoked the Celtic goddess Brigit as a prayer for a Christian friend, does Brigit pass it on to the Christian god, does the Christian god hear me anyway, or should I send out a general prayer and ask any god listening?

Comments

[greenwillow27.livejournal.com]

I send prayers "general delivery" for others. They will get to where they are supposed to go. ;o)

[flyingshaman.livejournal.com]

I just send the prayers to the Divine universal energy, with it. That way there are no barriers, even though there aren't really any among gods anyway.

[faire-damsel.livejournal.com]

Personally, I See All Gods And Goddesses As Different Aspects Of The Same Force Of Universal And Divine Love. So IMO It Doesn't Really Matter What You Call It {Him, Her, Them} It's All The Same In The End Result! :o)

[unico-love.livejournal.com]

That's how I feel:) I certainly wouldn't be worried or offended by someone praying on my behalf to what to them is a different god; I'd feel the same sense of security and happiness as if they shared identical beliefs as me.

[faire-damsel.livejournal.com]

*Nods*

[brightrosefox.livejournal.com]

Hmm. So, are you a Soft Polytheist?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soft_polytheism
"Soft polytheists regard their multiplicity of Gods as being manifestations of either common entities, or representing different aspects or facets of a single personal God, the latter also sometimes known as "inclusive monotheists", as are many modern neopagan groups."

(I'm mostly a Hard Polytheist, but I often feel the way soft polytheists do)

[faire-damsel.livejournal.com]

I Don't Really Know. I Suppose That I Feel That All Gods And Goddesses {As Well As Everything Else In Existence} Are Aspects Of The One Divine Universal Source, But They Each Have Their Own Separate Personality And Identity Just As We Do. Does That Make Sense?

[brightrosefox.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it's hard to pin certain pagan views down. When you put it like that, I share that exact belief, so I guess I am neither hard nor soft...

[brightrosefox.livejournal.com]

*hugs back* Did I go anywhere? :)

[faire-damsel.livejournal.com]

LOL! I Posted That In The Wrong LJ! *G*

[brightrosefox.livejournal.com]

*laughs* Ahh, I kinda figured!

[faire-damsel.livejournal.com]

*G*

[faire-damsel.livejournal.com]

LOL! Crazy, Crazy Pagans! *G*

[brightrosefox.livejournal.com]

We all are! Hehe.

[faire-damsel.livejournal.com]

*Wink Wink*!

[thiswaste.livejournal.com]

Brigit eventually evolved into the Catholic St.Bridget anyway, so they're all the same. The only difference is in the practice and rituals.

Did you know that when the Yorubas, who practised Santeria, were taken as slaves to Cuba they were forced to become Catholic. What they did was associate every Catholic Saint with one of their own gods/deities and even built shrines! So when a master thought his slave was praying to St.George, for example, he/she was really praying to his/her own god.
They also had a certain drum beat to invoke every deity (I believe there were 700 but I may be wrong). In order not to be caught out they used these beats to create songs, which we now know as Mambo.

[thiswaste.livejournal.com]

Brigit eventually evolved into the Catholic St.Bridget anyway, so they're all the same.

I think I may have worded this wrongly. I didn't mean to imply that Brigit "evolved" so the Catholic version is better. Far from it! I meant to say that the Catholics took the Celtic form of Brigit and turned her into St.Bridget to accomodate their own faith.

[brightrosefox.livejournal.com]

I knew what you meant. :)

[brightrosefox.livejournal.com]

I love the histories of faith. :)

[hilarina.livejournal.com]

I took cuban/brazilian hand drumming classes at college for a couple semesters (or a couple years? dont even remember) anyway, our teacher and some of his advanced students were into Santerria. They actually did the whole initiation where you wear white for a full year and so forth. The teacher would take long visits to Cuba (??or who knows where) I guess he was a special drummer over there. You have to have drummers who wont go into trance.
anyway I thought it was really interesting and random that he was an american jew who got into that other religion.

[lily-cat.livejournal.com]

I pray to my own spirits and gods...simply because I wouldn't know how to address a diety from another relgion and wouldn't want to offend anyone.

But I believe the gods realize that they aren't in competition with each other...none of us are right or wrong in our beliefs, just different. I think they understand it.

I'd like to think that they receive the prayers and pass them along, such as you would do with a misdelivered letter.

[brightrosefox.livejournal.com]

"the gods realize that they aren't in competition with each other"

Tell that to the Greek pantheon. *grins slyly* Buncha bed-hopping, incestuous, jealous, bitter creatures. I love the Greek gods!

But yes, you make a very good point with the other stuff. I just had to comment on that.

[lily-cat.livejournal.com]

Lol, I stand corrected! ;) Hehe, more drama on Mount Olympus than on a daytime soap opera, there is!

Haha, bed-hopping incestuous creatures...I love it. ;)

[brightrosefox.livejournal.com]

It is it's own soap opera. Seriously. The ancient Greeks invented the soap opera drama!!
Sometimes I watch All My Children and One Life To Live and General Hospital, when I'm bored and there is nothing else on (we get the soap opera channel and I can watch the shows at night). They don't even compare to the lives of Zeus and his nutsy-ass family...

[hilarina.livejournal.com]

hahaha. i remembered when I first learned about them... I was really young... i swear they taught it in like 6th grade honors classes. Kind of a weird topic for kids maybe?

[morningstar4.livejournal.com]

I always pray to the God I believe in, since I think He answers prayers, regardless of what religion the person I'm praying for is. I guess it's a matter of personal preference really, although I wouldn't pray to a god I didn't believe in, because to me, that seems rather silly. ;)

[brightrosefox.livejournal.com]

" wouldn't pray to a god I didn't believe in, because to me, that seems rather silly. ;)"

Yeah, that was the theory behind my question. :) When I pray for my pagan friends, I ask them which gods or pantheons they worship, since I'm eclectic and don't mind praying to any pagan god. When I pray for Christian friends, I just generally send out prayer energy, since I don't see the point in trying to talk to their God, who I don't worship myself...

[morningstar4.livejournal.com]

I think, really, it's the thought that counts anyway. And if a god DOES exist, I'd like to think that he or she would listen and answer prayers, regardless of whether the person someone is praying for believes in them.

[brightrosefox.livejournal.com]

Yep! My idea is, just pray in general, don't worry, you'll be heard.

[amigone.livejournal.com]

Same god(s) just different methods of worship/appreciatoin

[armandii.livejournal.com]

I believe it's in the intention, and it matters not to whom you address yourself.

[sidheblessed.livejournal.com]

That's actually a very good question. I consider that if pray to Brighid, she is able to offer her blessing to whomever I love or care for. It does depend on the God/dess, their personality and the personality of yoyr friend.

[nicked-metal.livejournal.com]

I don't have any gods. But I did pray to the tooth fairy once (out loud) to help my son get over a headache. I value the goodwill of the one who is praying most, and I don't mind who they pray to.

[hilarina.livejournal.com]

I believe God is God is God. It doesnt matter what you call it. it is whatever it is regardless of what we mortals believe. I am a pantheist...but I used to be an an orthodox Xian sect. I prayed to God the Father back then.
I dont think anyone should ever pray to someone else's God. I always felt like trying to convert people was kind of wrong...unless they were in a very similar religion already. The idea of telling someone that they should worship MY God, just felt really invasive...

[greensh.livejournal.com]

I would pray to Divine Spirit if I don't connect at all to their god. If there is a connection, I would pray to their god. A good example would be a Wiccan circle ceremony that invokes various pagan gods. I will not do substitution with the god of my choice. If I am in a place of worship, and the deity(s) being invoked are those I am not comfortable with, I will merely not say anything.