The Empowerment of Prayer
A Simple Practice to Invoke the Imagination
Every day, when Steven Pressfield sits down to write, he says a prayer.
Specifically, he invokes the Muse Calliope.
The way he does this is by literally reading aloud Homer’s invocation from The Odyssey.
This works specifically well for him, as he is interested in ancient cultures and their warfare.
He is the guy who writes a lot about “Resistance,” the term he uses to describe the psychic blocks which prevent us from doing our work.
Praying helps him overcome the fears of his ego, and enters him into a broader historical and spiritual space in which he can engage in the Imagination.
I’ve taken up this practice.
I was already praying in the morning, but now I do it right before my writing.
Because I’m Catholic, I say different prayers than Pressfield does.
A la Godin, I integrate breathwork into my recitation.
To do this, I recite the prayers internally, rather than aloud.
Inhale
Glory Be to the Father, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Spirit.
Exhale
As it was in the beginning
is Now, and ever Shall Be,
World Without End. Amen.
Inhale
Our Father, who art in Heaven,
Hallowed be Thy Name.
Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will be done
on Earth, as it is in heaven.
Exhale
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our trespasses
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from Evil.
For thine is the Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory
Now and Forever, Amen.
Inhale
Hail Mary! Full of Grace.
The Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women,
and Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Exhale
Holy Mary! Mother of God.
Pray for us sinners, Now
and at the hour of our death, Amen.
Lickety split, I’m in a headspace to compose.
I’ve offered gratitude and praise to a Power Greater than myself, asked for forgiveness for my constant state of error, and asked to please be empowered to go about my daily work.
Further, I’ve linked my mind to ancient scripture, the hierarchy of the protection of Angels and Saints, and given my consciousness up to a Greater State.
This empowers the imagination to work through me.
When my tiny, fragile, hurt ego tries to control the Imagination, the effect is a lot of fanciful scribbling.
When I acknowledge that the work of the Imagination can be tapped into and performed with reverence and attentive intention, I see the stone which can then be shaped into the sculpture of the sentence.
Whatever your spiritual tradition, there are likely practices that you, too, can do.
If you’re not a creative, the same principle applies to any other work.
In addition to the intellectual and imaginal content of the prayers, the act of breathing is essential and centering.
It connects my mind and body into an holistic entirety.
From there, I am. And so being, I create.
With fond affection. I am
Yours, Amiably,
Aaron