To the Four Winds

Boreas, god of the North Wind, god of the cold,
bitter breath of winter, purple-winged herald
of snow and black ice, your beard tipped with frost,
we know you in the unmatched beauty of your realm.
Most needful one, in your season we honor you.

Zephyros, god of the West Wind, god of the seedtime,
husband of the greening fields, father of the fruited
trees, mild one, kind one, fortunate one, companion
of Eros, within your domain does love unfold.
Most needful one, in your season we honor you.

Notos, god of the South Wind, god of summer storms,
god of the soul-searing heat, of the drenching rains
and the pale, parched soil. Foe of the farmer, taker
of the wealth of the earth, destroyer of crops:
most needful one, in your season we honor you.

Euros, god of the East Wind, god of the blood-red
leaves, the golden blades of grass, by the palace
of the sun you dwell. Change is in you, O Euros;
change in the world is yours, O capricious one.
Most needful one, in your season we honor you.

Prayer to Eileithuia for a Woman in Childbirth

I pray to Eileithuia, gracious granter
of relief to those who lie in childbed,
daughter of mighty Hera within whose realm
you wield your gift, O ancient one who sits
at the feet of the Fates. Eileithuia, easer
of the travail of women, gentle-handed
one who gives us strength to bear the racking pains
of childbirth, leader to life of all who ever
trod upon the fair-faced earth. O Eileithuia,
kind-hearted one, deliverer from pain,
I pray to you for the health of mother and child.
I ask of you, comfort this woman in the throes
of birth, aid her in her labor, safeguard her
and her child as it enters the bright-lit world.

Prayer to Epione for the Soothing of Pain

Tender-hearted Epione, fair-haired bride
of wise Asklepios, mother of clever
Hygeia, gentle one who gives comfort and ease
to those whose hurt has passed the point of bearing,
kindly goddess whose soft hands soothe all agonies,
learned one who knows all remedies, all reliefs.
Epione, grant to this wo/man your gift of rest
and respite, keep at bay the torment and the pain.

Prayer to Apollo in Time of Plague

Fair Apollo, son of thundering Zeus who holds
in his hands the order of the world, golden god
who parcels health and illness to all as is fit,
who holds the door against disease or lets it in,
all at your will. Apollo, we thank you for health,
we thank you for the gifts of modern medicine
and the gifts of traditional cures and healing.
We thank you a world in which plague and pandemic
are uncommon. Yet what is rare still exists,
O Paean, and is as deadly as ever it was.
Great Apollo, kind-hearted god, I pray to you,
protect us from all ill. Keep from our gates infirmity
and affliction, turn away the epidemic and the blight.
Apollo, mighty one in whose power it lies
to bless us with relief from all maladies,
to end a pestilence, I pray for your favor.