Orphic Hymns
to Hecate Hecate the Beauteous, you I invoke: You, of roads and crossways, Of heaven, of earth, and sea as well. You, the saffron-clad, among the tombs, Dancing with dead souls the Bacchic rite. You, daughter of Perses, lover of desolation, Taking joy in deer and dogs, in the night. You, terrible Queen! Devourer of beasts! Ungirded, possessed of form unapproachable! You, bull-huntress, universal sovereign Empress: You mountain-roaming guide, and bride, and nursemaid, I entreat, O Maiden, your presence at these sacred rites, With grace to the Oxherd and a joyful heart eternal. to Prothyraia incense: storax O Goddess most venerable, many-named divine, hear me: You who ease the birth pain, sweet vision of pregnant girls, You are the only savior of women, loving of child, and mild, Swiftly-born, You who are always there for girls of earth. Prothyraia, You hold the keys and give warm welcome, Loving provision and always gentle, You dwell in every home. You rejoice in luxury, you loosen the mother's belt; Unmanifest you are, but manifest in everything! You sympathize with pain and rejoice in safe delivery, Eileithyia, you liberate all who suffer in terrible constraint. You are the only one whom girls expecting call upon, You are the one who gives rest to our souls, For within You is delivery from the pain of bringing forth. Artemis, Eileithyia, and holy Prothyraia! Hear me, Blessed Lady, and grant me children. Save me, just as You are ever, by nature, a Savior to all. to Night incense: firebrands I will sing of Night, Mother of gods as well as men, Night, who gave birth to all, and is as Cypris also known: Hear, blessed Goddess, dark-gleaming and star-lit, You who love quietude and deep peaceful sleep, You who are mirthful and delightsome, Loving the festivities in the dark, oneirical Mother, Whose benign hand makes us forget our worries. You brandish recuperation for our labors, Giver of Slumber, loved by all beings, Shining in darkness, You spur your mount aloft. You are below the earth, half-complete, And return in a cycle to fill the sky! You chase the frolicking demons away, You force light into the netherworld, Then You to Hades yourself retreat -- For omnipotent Necessity reigns supreme! Now, Blessed One, I invoke you, Abundant in bliss, longed for by all, easy to welcome: Hear my ernest, humble voice And come, filled with compassion, To stave off the fears that burn in the night! to Ouranos incense: frankincense Ouranos Pangenitor, eternal and undiminishing universal element: You are the beginning of all, and of all the culmination. Cosmic Father, revolving around earth like a sphere, Abode of blessed gods, your route is a twisting whorl. You all-pervading heavenly and chthonic watchman, Between your ribs you contain the unbreakable laws of Physics! Body of darkness, unconquerable, glittering one, Many-shaped, all seeing one, parent of Kronos, You, blessed one, superior of all demigods, hear! And bring a life of divine approval to the newly-illuminated initiates. to Aether incense: Krokus O You who occupy the highest rafters of Zeus' stronghold, And lay claim to power forever undiminished: You, the divider of the stars and sun and moon, All-subduer, breathing fire, to all of life the kindling, You, Aether, heavenly sight, foremost element of the cosmos! O splendid creation, light-bearing and star-lit, I invoke You and pray that you might be calm and congenial. to the Moon incense: aromatics Hear me, Goddess Queen, radiant, holy Selene: Moon, with horns like the bull, racing through the night, Walking in nocturnal darkness, torch-bearer, maiden! Dionysiac moon, waxing and waning, man and woman-- You star-bright lover of the pony, Mother of Time! Fruit-bearer, made of gold and silver, sullen one, You, up with the stars, in murky black, seeing everything! Fond of vigil, teeming with astral loveliness, You rejoice in peace and the prosperity of happy night! Flashing, You give joyfulness and perfection, You who glory in the night sky, arch-star in flowing robes! Come, You spinning, all-wise Maiden, blessed one, You who are full of mirth and Bacchic revelry, O Lady, And turn your bright radiance of salvation upon your new supplicants! to Pan various incenses I invoke violent Pan of the fields, and the panoply of the cosmos-- Heaven, Sea, and Queen Pangaeia1_ the undying Fire I too invoke: Come, blessed one, bounding and loping about, You, who rule alongside the Seasons themselves, Carousing like Bacchus on the legs of a goat, You who love the influence of divine possession! Living as You do beneath the starry skies, Weaving your playful song into a cosmic harmony, You excite feverish fantasy, terrible fear in mortals! Happy by the spring with herders of goats and cows, You, keen-sighted Hunter and lover of Echo, Dancing with the nymphs, All-producing Pangenitor! You, demigod worshipped under so many names, Ruler of the world, it is You who are the source of growth, And You who are the bearer of Light, fruitful Paean! You cave-happy one, wrathful beyond reason, Truly you are the Horned God! For by You is the boundless crust of earth held up, And to You submits the deep-flowing water of the never-resting sea; And even Oceanos, in watery orbit around the earth, The atmosphere that keeps us, that kindles life itself, And the Eye of Fire, so supreme, light and high! For all these things become arranged, near and far, as you wish, And your mere consideration can transform the nature of them all: In all the earth You plant the seed and foster humanity's every need! Only come, blessed one, Bacchic and possessed one, Come to these so holy libations. Make my life follow through to a noble culmination! Export your crazy Pandemonium to the very ends of earth! to Dionysos I invoke you, loud-crashing, eua-screaming Dionysos: First born, second, third born King Bacchus! You, the savage, unspeakable, clandestine one, Two-horned, double-formed4, ivy-clad, like the bull. You, like Ares, O Euius! You innocent devourer of flesh so raw! Triennial, frocked in grape and olive branch, You, Eubolius, so very enlightened. Demigod immortal, born of the coupling Of Zeus and Persephone, too dark to whisper! Listen, blessed one, to my voice, and breathe On me with a heart blameless and kind, You and the women who nurse you, dressed for duty. to Artemis incense: frankincense powder Many-named Maiden of Zeus, hear me, O Queen: You Titanic, Dionysiac, great-named one You, skilled archer, dreadful one, All-illuminating, divine torchbearer! Goddess of the Chase, you bring to birth, You ease the pain, yet are a stranger to it. You loosen the mother's belt, in love with hysteria! Huntress, running swiftly you banish worry, Showering down arrows, loving the wild, roaming the night. Bestowing renown, gracious, liberating, masculine, Orthia, you swift-born, godly matron of mortal children, Immortal, Chthonic, killer of beasts, destined to prosperity! You, whose keep is the oak grove in the mountains, Deer-huntress, dread Lady, Queen of everything! You, lovely blossom, She who is forever, You of the oak and hunting dog, Kudonian girl, You whose form can change so rapidly! Come, beloved Goddess of salvation, To the gathering of initiates who welcome you, Bringing the earth's choice fruit, and perfect bliss, And Health with her beauteous curls -- Banish to the mountaintops affliction and pain! to Aphrodite Heavenly, laughter-loving5 Aphrodite_sung in hymns the world over, Foam-born Goddess of generative power, loving the all-night feast, Noble Lady who binds in dark of night, crafty Mother of Necessity: All that is is out of you, You who bind the cosmos, You who write the destiny of the three kingdoms! You generate everything, all that is in heaven, And the bountiful earth, and the depths of the sea. You take your seat beside Bacchus, noble Lady, You take your delight in festival worship! Mother of the Erotes,7 matrimonial, bed-loving enticer! Secret and charitable, visible and invisible, Your hair is a vision of loveliness Blessed be your Father! You nuptial table-companion of the Gods, Scepter-bearer, she-wolf, regenerator! You longed-for man-lover, giver of Life! By your crazy erotic magic You compel mortal man And every beast to obey the urge unbridled... Come! Cyprus-born Goddess! Whether in Olympus You adrore your own image as Goddess and Queen, Whether You haunt the aromatic streets of Syria, Whether You rule the fertile plains of Egypt from your golden chariot, come! Come! If You traverse the swelling ocean in your carriage drawn by swams, Giving your joy to the creatures of water, spiraling, swimming! Giving your laughter to luscious tanned nymphs, skipping, frolicking on the sand! Come, my Lady, even if You bask in Cyprus, where all worship and honor You, Where lovely virgins and unrestrained nymphs raise their voices All the year, and sing to divine and holy Adonis and to You, O Blessed One. Come, blessed Goddess, You who are the very perfect form of sexuality! I call upon You with sanctified words and a humble spirit. to the Muses incense: frankincense Daughters of thundering Zeus and Mnemosyne, Muses of Pieria: You, whose names are praised worldwide, resplendent ones, We mortals long for your visitation, many-formed ones! You engender flawless artisry in every field of study, Nurturing the soul, guiding well the intellect, Leading and ruling the faculties of mind. You lift up and show to mortals the rites of holy mysteries! Klio! Euterpe! Thalia! Melpomene! Terpsichore! Erato! Polymnia! Urania! Kalliope! And divine and mighty Mother, Agne! Only come, versatile and sacred Goddesses, to these initiates, Bringing glorious inspiration, so lovely and everywhere praised! Fragment of an Orphic Song of Demeter The goddess Demeter wanders the earth in search of her lost daughter Persephone, stopping to rest at Eleusis. A local woman, Baubo, offers her a drink of barley water, which the goddess refuses. When that was said, she loosened her robes, displaying her whole body ... not a seemly sight! Iackhos, just a boy, was there and shot his hand out to touch the underside of Baubo's breasts. So did the Goddess smile, She smiled in her soul, and accepted, and drank the kykeon from the gleaming cup.
