I wouldn’t say I’m very good at daily devotions. I actually have a tendency to forget them. But I definitely notice a difference in myself on the days that I do morning devotions, and I sleep better on the nights I do my evening devotions.
Many Witches and Pagans do beautifully elaborate devotions every morning and evening, and oh how I envy them! But being in college, I rarely have time to sleep let alone two half-hour rituals a day! My normal devotions are simple, take less than 5 minutes and are short enough that I’ve memorized. I’ve also tried my best to make them engrained in my daily routine!
In the mornings, provided that I haven’t overslept, I make a pot of coffee. It takes roughly 8 minutes to brew so as I’m waiting for that I make breakfast. About the time I’m getting my cup ready, the coffee’s done. I prepare my coffee the same way every morning: 3 spoonfuls of sugar, coffee almost to the top (my travel mug holds almost 3 cups of coffee!), and then I top it off with flavored creamer. Then I set it to the side. My kitchen window looks out on a giant maple tree, which is fitting as my prayer mentions the Tree of Life. So I gaze at the tree while praying in goddess position. My prayer is to the Moirae (The Fates. I love their name in greek, mostly because I used to go by Moira, which is crazy similar), and the words can be found in Dorothy Morrison’s book Everyday Magick. When I finish, I turn around, and take the first sip of my coffee.
In the evening I brew a cup of tea, usually it’s spearmint, but if I need it, I brew a teas called “sleepy time extra” by Celestial Teas to help calm myself enough to sleep. After I finish the whole cup I light a small tealight in my oil burner, add a bit of scented oil (lately it’s been Egyptian Musk). I like this as opposed to incense as my sister (who’s pregnant) has been getting horrible headaches and nausea whenever I burn the incense. But the scented oils give a good scent with less smoke, and I don’t have to clean up the ashes in the dark! While that’s burning I sit and pray from my heart to any deities I’ve called on for assistance. Some nights if I don’t have many deities to thank (or any) I pull out my rosary and pray with it. When finished I snuff out the candle and curl up in bed and say “As I lay snuggled in my bed, pillows tucked beneath my head, Maiden bring me joyful dreams, Mother bring me peace serene, Wisest Crone watch over me until the light of dawn I see” (I cannot remember where this is from. I thought it was from paganwiccan.about.com, but I cannot find it on the site. If anyone knows, please let me know so I can give credit where credit is due!).
While my daily devotions are far from elaborate, I sometimes try to bulk them up for holidays and esbats though it doesn’t always happen. I also love looking for new ideas for my devotions. Right now I"m trying to add a few things to them, but so far it isn’t going very smoothly as it adds a lot of time. I’ve been trying to add sunrise yoga to my morning devotions, and moonrise yoga and daily offerings to my evening devotions. I haven’t give up on that working yet though!
What do you do for daily devotions, if you practice them? Do you do the same thing everyday or do you switch it up for the season and holidays? I’d love to hear what you do for your devotions!