Protection Ritual?

[Nicky McCloud]

Come the first half of July, friends of mine are coming down, back home, to visit. They're a married couple with a small child. The husband, who is in the Army, will be returning to Iraq later this year. He will have all of his gear with him, including his armor and uniforms.

It's our (my friends' and my) intent to hold a ritual of protection for these items. However, I'm not sure on how to go about the ritual. Suggestions would be very, very helpful. x_x

I was thinking, possibly, about calling Bastet, the motherly goddess of happiness for help, or Gaia. The only herbs I have available are dragonsblood, rosemary (fresh), and mugwort. Crystals include bloodstone, rock quartz (wand and loose stones), amethyst, selenite (wand), serpentine, and...a lot of other stuff that I'm not really sure all of what's there.  

[The Bookwyrm]

Bloodstone itself is a wonderful protective stone, especially for an individual who is going to be traveling. Is there any way that you could use the stone for an amulet that he could carry around his pocket?

And while invoking Bastet is a good idea, I'd definately look more into a god or goddess with associations with war, or victory/good fortune, or soldiers. The Roman legions used to pray to Mithras, so perhaps look into him?  

[Nicky McCloud]

I'm kinda hesitant to involve a deity I haven't worked with before. Plus, I'm not really sure if it would piss off one of my deities... I'm not sure how jealous they are, but I don't want to offend my patron or one of my matrons... x_x  

[WickedDecember]

As i stated in another thread by my beliefs all god are aspects of one god and all goddesses one goddess so i doubt that there will be much jealousy.
Another stone that is good for protection in my experience is lava rock. I've placed small pieces of it around my home and my friends.
As far as the rite goes just concentrating your energy into them is helpful in itself.  

[The Viscount]

Nicky McCloud

I'm kinda hesitant to involve a deity I haven't worked with before. Plus, I'm not really sure if it would piss off one of my deities... I'm not sure how jealous they are, but I don't want to offend my patron or one of my matrons... x_x

xd I would HOPE that the Gods would have evolved past petty human jealousy! I can't know what the Gods think but I really seriously doubt you could ever offend them .. ^^;;

Well, there is Tara, Goddess of Peace and Protection .. ^^ of course Bast is also known as a protectress so if that would work better go for Her. ^^

Use the items that you have to your best advantage. <3 You don't even really *need* tools to put your protective intent and the Goddesses protection into it. Your love and your prayers are the most important thing. I wish I had some further advice but I'm so sleepy, forgive meh! ^^;  

[Nihilistic Seraph]

Or for another take, you may want to invoke the favour of Ares for good fortune in the war.  

[midara the happy banshee]

shirokitsune

Nicky McCloud

I'm kinda hesitant to involve a deity I haven't worked with before. Plus, I'm not really sure if it would piss off one of my deities... I'm not sure how jealous they are, but I don't want to offend my patron or one of my matrons... x_x

xd I would HOPE that the Gods would have evolved past petty human jealousy! I can't know what the Gods think but I really seriously doubt you could ever offend them .. ^^;;

I'm going to guess you've not worked too extensively with the Hellenes. Any look into their mythos shows they they, indeed are not above jealousy, and not above a good smiting either. xd  

[midara the happy banshee]

Nihilistic Seraph

Or for another take, you may want to invoke the favour of Ares for good fortune in the war.

Ares is always wonderful. Though, as far as rituals involving war go, it pays to be careful who you pray to. For protection, it may be a safer bet to talk to Athene, as she has a long history of protecting soldiers (Odyssey, anyone?), and is a little less gung-ho about the gore that Ares. xd  

[MOD66]

Nicky McCloud

Come the first half of July, friends of mine are coming down, back home, to visit. They're a married couple with a small child. The husband, who is in the Army, will be returning to Iraq later this year. He will have all of his gear with him, including his armor and uniforms.

It's our (my friends' and my) intent to hold a ritual of protection for these items. However, I'm not sure on how to go about the ritual. Suggestions would be very, very helpful. x_x

I was thinking, possibly, about calling Bastet, the motherly goddess of happiness for help, or Gaia. The only herbs I have available are dragonsblood, rosemary (fresh), and mugwort. Crystals include bloodstone, rock quartz (wand and loose stones), amethyst, selenite (wand), serpentine, and...a lot of other stuff that I'm not really sure all of what's there.

there are a whole slew of gods and goddeses that you could invoke for protection, though i have only used one before, i called artamis to help me and a friend be quite while we snuck out of the house, it worked well the first time xp  

[The Viscount]

midara the happy banshee

shirokitsune

Nicky McCloud

I'm kinda hesitant to involve a deity I haven't worked with before. Plus, I'm not really sure if it would piss off one of my deities... I'm not sure how jealous they are, but I don't want to offend my patron or one of my matrons... x_x

xd I would HOPE that the Gods would have evolved past petty human jealousy! I can't know what the Gods think but I really seriously doubt you could ever offend them .. ^^;;

I'm going to guess you've not worked too extensively with the Hellenes. Any look into their mythos shows they they, indeed are not above jealousy, and not above a good smiting either. xd

I haven't worked extensively with them, but I've studied on the subject quite a bit. That's why I don't work with that pantheon really. The stories are a bit too much like soap-operas .. sweatdrop I personally don't really "believe" those stories to be true. I think they're just allegory, really .. ^^; not to offend anyone, that's just what I think. In my mind part of being a Divinity would ( or might ) require a certain 'letting go' of the smaller human emotions like jealousy, anger, ect. I guess this is because I am so accustomed to Buddhist practices.

And the later patriarchal stories of Zeus running around raping people kind of turned me off to the pantheon right off the bat. >_<;  

[Nihilistic Seraph]

If you suscribe to the idea of infinite deites, then if you don't mind a probably long journey, you can go questing for, and then invoke the deity of protecting (insert your friend's name) in his war-time adventures.  

[midara the happy banshee]

shirokitsune

midara the happy banshee

shirokitsune

Nicky McCloud

I'm kinda hesitant to involve a deity I haven't worked with before. Plus, I'm not really sure if it would piss off one of my deities... I'm not sure how jealous they are, but I don't want to offend my patron or one of my matrons... x_x

xd I would HOPE that the Gods would have evolved past petty human jealousy! I can't know what the Gods think but I really seriously doubt you could ever offend them .. ^^;;

I'm going to guess you've not worked too extensively with the Hellenes. Any look into their mythos shows they they, indeed are not above jealousy, and not above a good smiting either. xd

I haven't worked extensively with them, but I've studied on the subject quite a bit. That's why I don't work with that pantheon really. The stories are a bit too much like soap-operas .. sweatdrop I personally don't really "believe" those stories to be true. I think they're just allegory, really .. ^^; not to offend anyone, that's just what I think. In my mind part of being a Divinity would ( or might ) require a certain 'letting go' of the smaller human emotions like jealousy, anger, ect. I guess this is because I am so accustomed to Buddhist practices.

And the later patriarchal stories of Zeus running around raping people kind of turned me off to the pantheon right off the bat. >_<;

Yeah, I certainly could see how Buddhist philosophy would conflict with Hellenism. xd But really, if you read the Delphic maxims, it's pretty clear that ancient Greeks and modern Hellenists aren't nearly as depraved as the mythos might suggest.
I feel that I really have no business applying my morality or codes of conduct to the immortal Gods, and nothing they do could cause me to pass judgement on them. Also, I think their actions are often times symbolic and have within them many lessons for humanity. But at the end of the day they have lives to lead and I have no business deciding what actions are appropriate for them.  

[The Viscount]

midara the happy banshee

shirokitsune

midara the happy banshee

shirokitsune

Nicky McCloud

I'm kinda hesitant to involve a deity I haven't worked with before. Plus, I'm not really sure if it would piss off one of my deities... I'm not sure how jealous they are, but I don't want to offend my patron or one of my matrons... x_x

xd I would HOPE that the Gods would have evolved past petty human jealousy! I can't know what the Gods think but I really seriously doubt you could ever offend them .. ^^;;

I'm going to guess you've not worked too extensively with the Hellenes. Any look into their mythos shows they they, indeed are not above jealousy, and not above a good smiting either. xd

I haven't worked extensively with them, but I've studied on the subject quite a bit. That's why I don't work with that pantheon really. The stories are a bit too much like soap-operas .. sweatdrop I personally don't really "believe" those stories to be true. I think they're just allegory, really .. ^^; not to offend anyone, that's just what I think. In my mind part of being a Divinity would ( or might ) require a certain 'letting go' of the smaller human emotions like jealousy, anger, ect. I guess this is because I am so accustomed to Buddhist practices.

And the later patriarchal stories of Zeus running around raping people kind of turned me off to the pantheon right off the bat. >_<;

Yeah, I certainly could see how Buddhist philosophy would conflict with Hellenism. xd But really, if you read the Delphic maxims, it's pretty clear that ancient Greeks and modern Hellenists aren't nearly as depraved as the mythos might suggest.
I feel that I really have no business applying my morality or codes of conduct to the immortal Gods, and nothing they do could cause me to pass judgement on them. Also, I think their actions are often times symbolic and have within them many lessons for humanity. But at the end of the day they have lives to lead and I have no business deciding what actions are appropriate for them.

xD Yeah true that! I have a good book about the earlier versions of several Greek mythologies .. I think I'll look at some of them again. <3 It's not really my morality I'm applying to the Gods .. I actually get a lot of my ideas on morality from Buddhist practice. xD Which speaks of the Gods (or Bodhisattvas in their term) as being those ideal moral personifications, for example, Compassionate Tara. I'm just so used to it that I kind of apply those ideals to everything. xD It's a bit silly of me.

Oh! I know Hellenists aren't depraved. I would never think that. I love you guys. xD We're all in this together. <3  

[Pelta]

Um. Just as a though, have you asked the guy what sort of things he'd like to have done to his stuff? Like if he works with any gods in particular it may be more prudent to call on them. You're doing this for him, after all. It may make more sense to use his gods. wink

I'd definately suggest the bloodstone. Bloodstone is great for that sort of thing. There are also specific bindrunes for warriors but I'd be wary of using them unless you're 110% sure of what you're doing and have worked with runes before. That and Norse warriors used to want to die in battle so using them might not be the best idea... Creating a sigil or symbol to attach to his clothing might be a good idea and could remind him of what you've done. You could also make a charm or amulet, which bloodstone would be perfect for. You could even carve something into the bloodstone and string it so he could wear it. On impulse once I gave a soldier in JFK airport an origami crane, and I know those are special. Every little bit helps.  

[Nicky McCloud]

He's stated absolutely no preference. He's actually *technically* Catholic. X3 But that seems to be more of a choice for the benefit of his family than anything else. This ritual was his and his wife's idea, and neither follow specific deities. When asked what he wanted done, all he said was "Protect me."

I don't think I have anything strong enough to etch into bloodstone. O.o It's a polished stone.

I do have an amulset, though, that was blessed last Samhain. It's, uh... Quartz, dragonsblood, rosemary, and thistle bound in green cloth. I'm honestly not sure of what all I have, seeing as that it's all down in my car. XP