By All Your Names

Inspired by this morning’s beautiful post from The Recluse, I’d like to share a practice that has enriched my devotional life, more than I can say, over the last year or so.

Our Gods, our Holy Powers, have so many names, so many titles, so many heiti, more than we could ever possibly know. Sometime late last year, I started including in my devotions various forms of “by all Your names, I adore you,” “by whatever names You would delight in being called, be ever hailed,” and the like.

This can take a variety of forms. For some Gods, like Óðinn, we have literally hundreds of names and titles that have come down to us from our ancestors, and many more with which He has inspired worshippers who are still alive today. I’ve read and encountered more names for Him than I can recall in any given moment. So for Him, I’ll often call out by nine names that feel especially appropriate in the moment, or 27 (thrice nine), or as many as I can think of at that time (without explicitly counting, but I probably tend to run out around 50 or so), and then conclude with “by all Your holy and terrible and wondrous names, be ever praised!” Sometimes the names I list explicitly will all be clustered around a specific theme, or a particular group of His mysteries; other times, I’ll try to reach out as widely as I can, to praise Him by as many different aspects as I can. It all depends, and it’s all wonderful.

On the other end of the spectrum, when I started doing this practice last year, I didn’t have any names at all for the local land spirits, or for the specific Powers whose presence I’ve felt and recognized in the little gulch where I live or on the nearby mountains and hills where I often walk. So in this case, I would (and still do) go to a liminal spot, pour out a little offering of water, and address Them something like: “Hail the Gods and Spirits of this place! Hail you Holy Ones to whom this land is dear! By whatever names You would delight to be called by me, be honored and praised.” This too has been immensely valuable and, as best I can tell, very well received by Them.

As ever, use your own good judgment and discernment. But this is a practice that I highly recommend.