Blessings from the Gods: Selections from “The Hymns of Orpheus,” Part 1 of 2

In addition to being a spiritual Master, Orpheus was also a legendary musician and poet. One of his most famous works is The Hymns of Orpheus,” where spiritual teachings are set in poetic form.

TO JUNO (GODDESS PROTECTOR) “O Royal Juno of majestic mien, Aerial-formed, Divine, Jupiter’s blessed queen, Throned in the bosom of cerulean air, The race of mortals is thy constant care. The cooling gales thy power alone inspires, Which nourish life, which every life desires. Mother of clouds and winds, from thee alone Producing all things, mortal life is known: All natures share thy temperament Divine, And universal sway alone is thine.”

TO APOLLO (GOD OF THE SUN & LIGHT) “Blessed Apollo, come, propitious to my prayer, Illustrious power, whom Memphian tribes revere, Far-darting, two-fold, and Divine, Power far diffused, and course oblique is thine. O, Delian king, whose light-producing eye Views all within, and all beneath the sky: Whose locks are gold, whose oracles are sure, Who, omens good reveal, and precepts pure: Hear me entreating for the human kind, Hear, and be present with benignant mind; For thou survey this boundless aether all, And every part of this terrestrial ball Abundant, blessed; and thy piercing sight, Extends beneath the gloomy, silent night; Beyond the darkness, starry-eyed, profound, The stable roots, deep fixed by thee are found.”

TO AURORA (GODDESS OF DAWN) “Hear me, O Goddess! whose emerging ray Leads on the broad refulgence of the day; Blushing Aurora, whose celestial light Beams on the world with reddening splendors bright: Angel of Titan, whom with constant round, Thy orient beams recall from night profound: Labor of every kind to lead is thine, Of mortal life the minister Divine. Mankind in thee eternally delight, And none presumes to shun thy beauteous sight. Soon as thy splendors break the bands of rest, And eyes unclose with pleasing sleep oppressed; Men, reptiles, birds, and beasts, with general voice, And all the nations of the deep, rejoice; For all the culture of our life is thine. Come, blessed power! and to these rites incline: Thy holy light increase, and unconfined Diffuse its radiance on thy mystic’s mind.”