Prayers/Writing/Art/Myths/Whatever that has really touched you

[TransporterMalfunction]

I just picked up a new (to me) book with a prayer to Apollon in it that really touched me. I am curious to see what other works people have read/seen that touched you on a spiritual level. Maybe it was a prayer or a hymn, or a line in some dry, scholarly text, or a piece of art, or a myth that really speaks to you. Maybe it perfectly captures your relationship with a deity, or has some profound statement about your spiritual/religious life. Whatever it is, however it speaks to you, I'm interested in seeing where others have found these little nuggets of spiritual gold.

[ehbowen]

I am curious to see what other works people have read/seen that touched you on a spiritual level.

Billy Graham's Angels: God's Secret Agents.
Just about anything by C. S. Lewis.
Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. Seriously.
In much the same vein, City Slickers. Most all of you know what my "one thing" is by now.

[Aisling]

I just picked up a new (to me) book with a prayer to Apollon in it that really touched me. I am curious to see what other works people have read/seen that touched you on a spiritual level. Maybe it was a prayer or a hymn, or a line in some dry, scholarly text, or a piece of art, or a myth that really speaks to you. Maybe it perfectly captures your relationship with a deity, or has some profound statement about your spiritual/religious life. Whatever it is, however it speaks to you, I'm interested in seeing where others have found these little nuggets of spiritual gold.

The ones that pop immediately to mind are:

• Carl Sagan's Cosmos
• Dylan Thomas'  "The force that through the green fuse drives the flower"
• Peter Murphy's "Cuts You Up"
• Ivan Albright's That Which I Should Have Done I Did Not Do (The Door)

[Cinder]

I just picked up a new (to me) book with a prayer to Apollon in it that really touched me. I am curious to see what other works people have read/seen that touched you on a spiritual level. Maybe it was a prayer or a hymn, or a line in some dry, scholarly text, or a piece of art, or a myth that really speaks to you. Maybe it perfectly captures your relationship with a deity, or has some profound statement about your spiritual/religious life. Whatever it is, however it speaks to you, I'm interested in seeing where others have found these little nuggets of spiritual gold.

"Sometimes a wild god comes to the table.
He is awkward and does not know the ways
Of porcelain, of fork and mustard and silver.
His voice makes vinegar from wine.
When the wild god arrives at the door,
You will probably fear him.
He reminds you of something dark
That you might have dreamt,
Or the secret you do not wish to be shared.

He will not ring the doorbell;
Instead he scrapes with his fingers
Leaving blood on the paintwork,
Though primroses grow
In circles round his feet.

You do not want to let him in.
You are very busy.
It is late, or early, and besides…
You cannot look at him straight
Because he makes you want to cry.

The dog barks.
The wild god smiles,
Holds out his hand.
The dog licks his wounds
And leads him inside.

The wild god stands in your kitchen.
Ivy is taking over your sideboard;
Mistletoe has moved into the lampshades
And wrens have begun to sing
An old song in the mouth of your kettle.

‘I haven’t much,’ you say
And give him the worst of your food.
He sits at the table, bleeding.
He coughs up foxes.
There are otters in his eyes.

When your wife calls down,
You close the door and
Tell her it’s fine.
You will not let her see
The strange guest at your table.

The wild god asks for whiskey
And you pour a glass for him,
Then a glass for yourself.
Three snakes are beginning to nest
In your voicebox. You cough.

Oh, limitless space.
Oh, eternal mystery.
Oh, endless cycles of death and birth.
Oh, miracle of life.
Oh, the wondrous dance of it all.

You cough again,
Expectorate the snakes and
Water down the whiskey,
Wondering how you got so old
And where your passion went.

The wild god reaches into a bag
Made of moles and nightingale-skin.
He pulls out a two-reeded pipe,
Raises an eyebrow
And all the birds begin to sing.

The fox leaps into your eyes.
Otters rush from the darkness.
The snakes pour through your body.
Your dog howls and upstairs
Your wife both exults and weeps at once.

The wild god dances with your dog.
You dance with the sparrows.
A white stag pulls up a stool
And bellows hymns to enchantments.
A pelican leaps from chair to chair.

In the distance, warriors pour from their tombs.
Ancient gold grows like grass in the fields.
Everyone dreams the words to long-forgotten songs.
The hills echo and the grey stones ring
With laughter and madness and pain.

In the middle of the dance,
The house takes off from the ground.
Clouds climb through the windows;
Lightning pounds its fists on the table.
The moon leans in through the window.

The wild god points to your side.
You are bleeding heavily.
You have been bleeding for a long time,
Possibly since you were born.
There is a bear in the wound.

‘Why did you leave me to die?’
Asks the wild god and you say:
‘I was busy surviving.
The shops were all closed;
I didn’t know how. I’m sorry.’

Listen to them:

The fox in your neck and
The snakes in your arms and
The wren and the sparrow and the deer…
The great un-nameable beasts
In your liver and your kidneys and your heart…

There is a symphony of howling.
A cacophony of dissent.
The wild god nods his head and
You wake on the floor holding a knife,
A bottle and a handful of black fur.

Your dog is asleep on the table.
Your wife is stirring, far above.
Your cheeks are wet with tears;
Your mouth aches from laughter or shouting.
A black bear is sitting by the fire.

Sometimes a wild god comes to the table.
He is awkward and does not know the ways
Of porcelain, of fork and mustard and silver.
His voice makes vinegar from wine
And brings the dead to life."

(Poem by Tom Hirons).

The thing about questions like this is that examples tend to fly from my mind as soon as they're asked, ha. But I can say that in general, I love the depictions of gods holding the hands of humans in Ancient Egyptian art- it always really touches me.

[Altair]

I just picked up a new (to me) book with a prayer to Apollon in it that really touched me. I am curious to see what other works people have read/seen that touched you on a spiritual level. Maybe it was a prayer or a hymn, or a line in some dry, scholarly text, or a piece of art, or a myth that really speaks to you. Maybe it perfectly captures your relationship with a deity, or has some profound statement about your spiritual/religious life. Whatever it is, however it speaks to you, I'm interested in seeing where others have found these little nuggets of spiritual gold.

"Terra" by Caetano Veloso, a love song sung to the Earth, in Portuguese. Sinuous and exotic. Like Mom herself.

[Emma Eldritch]

[li$i]Peter Murphy's "Cuts You Up"[/li][/list]

I heard it in my head the second I read this.

[Eastling]

I just picked up a new (to me) book with a prayer to Apollon in it that really touched me. I am curious to see what other works people have read/seen that touched you on a spiritual level. Maybe it was a prayer or a hymn, or a line in some dry, scholarly text, or a piece of art, or a myth that really speaks to you. Maybe it perfectly captures your relationship with a deity, or has some profound statement about your spiritual/religious life. Whatever it is, however it speaks to you, I'm interested in seeing where others have found these little nuggets of spiritual gold.

• Neil Gaiman's Sandman series was formative on my teenage worldview and would probably be a huge influence on my perceptions of gods-as-stories and the relationship between human beings and Divine Powers. At the time, I was deeply in love with it. "...everybody has a secret world inside of them. I mean everybody. All of the people in the whole world--no matter how dull and boring they are on the outside. Inside them they've all got unimaginable, magnificent, wonderful, stupid, amazing worlds...not just one world. Hundreds of them. Thousands, maybe."
• Terry Pratchett's Discworld series helped me through rough times shortly thereafter and became a bedrock of my narrative theology. There's a reason I say Sir Terry (a confirmed and enthusiastic atheist) was the best theologian of his age. "Sin...is when you treat people as things."
• A few years ago I got into Type-Moon's multimedia Fate franchise through the original visual novel of Fate/stay night by Kinoko Nasu, and I resonated deeply with the themes within of how human beings construct their selves in the ever-changing rapids between the Scylla of earthly reality and the Charybis of heavenly ideals. "I want to know if it is a crime to live as you are, when you are different than others."
• The discography of Queen is a thing. But I particularly draw spiritual inspiration from Innuendo, the last album released in Freddie Mercury's lifetime. I actually fell in love with him upon hearing "Delilah." The idea that a famous rock star on the brink of death would absolutely insist on writing, recording, and releasing on his last album a heartfelt, shameless, and technically mediocre love song to his cat told me everything I needed to know about him and his place in my faith.

[MeadowRae]

I just picked up a new (to me) book with a prayer to Apollon in it that really touched me. I am curious to see what other works people have read/seen that touched you on a spiritual level. Maybe it was a prayer or a hymn, or a line in some dry, scholarly text, or a piece of art, or a myth that really speaks to you. Maybe it perfectly captures your relationship with a deity, or has some profound statement about your spiritual/religious life. Whatever it is, however it speaks to you, I'm interested in seeing where others have found these little nuggets of spiritual gold.

I have several hymns that have moved me in the past, and I apply them to my recognition of Spirit now.

-It is Well with my Soul
-I forget what it's called, but we sang it at the end of every service. "Glory be to the Father and to the Son (I say Mother now) and the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be World without end, Amen, Amen." It just has such an "As above, so below" vibe, and the music is like a chant.

Sia's albums also had a profound effect on me when I was going through a very hard time in my life. I love her voice, the cracks and pops give me shivers. Her more popular songs don't speak to me as much as the ones she wrote about her struggles with addiction. Her song "Come Hurt with Me" is like therapy.

Books:
-Le Morte D'Artur I was an English major in college, and something about the mythology really hit me. These men all dealt with demons, some internal, others external, but they are being portrayed as perfect to others.
-Women who Run with the Wolves. It was just a beautiful explanation of spirituality as I see it for myself.
-Isabel Allende's House of the Spirits. I think it speaks to the courage of women. I like Memoirs of a Geisha, too, but not as much as this one.
-Several passages of Ecclesiastes in the Bible. "Nothing is new under the sun." "Life is pointless! A vapor." When I read the whole book it seems almost Epicurean. There's a time for everything, so enjoy the time you have now.

In a weird way, Planet Earth moves me spiritually. It fills me with awe and wonder at the perfect imperfection of it all. I feel the same way watching the Neil Degrasse Tyson Cosmos series.

[Altair]

Whatever it is, however it speaks to you, I'm interested in seeing where others have found these little nuggets of spiritual gold.

I’ve mentioned this at The Cauldron before, but the conclusion of Leonard Bernstein’s “Mass” moves me spiritually big-time. Since music is the fundamental metaphor in my myths, this work—with the Latin phrase “sing to god” repeated as a round that builds to multiple voices and enormous power—perfectly sums up how I understand the divine: She diversifies into all our different voices “singing” with our individual lives, yet we still make one great, glorious song--Her.

The fact that it was written by a Jew for a Christian mass matters to me not one iota. Best listened to in the dark, with the volume cranked all the way up. Starts at about 3:04.

[corrosivesquid]

I just picked up a new (to me) book with a prayer to Apollon in it that really touched me. I am curious to see what other works people have read/seen that touched you on a spiritual level. Maybe it was a prayer or a hymn, or a line in some dry, scholarly text, or a piece of art, or a myth that really speaks to you. Maybe it perfectly captures your relationship with a deity, or has some profound statement about your spiritual/religious life. Whatever it is, however it speaks to you, I'm interested in seeing where others have found these little nuggets of spiritual gold.

I find a lot of small bits of poetry speak to me. Atticus is one of my favorites to read.

"That was her magic
She could still see the sunset even
On those darkest days" -Atticus

Or the random sentence from a book or a dialogue you're reading that jumps out at you. I've been known to close books or whatever I'm reading and set it assure because something significant jumped out at me and it became to real for me. I have yet to find a large piece that has jumped out at me though, mostly bits of a large thing.

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[TheGreenWizard]

I just picked up a new (to me) book with a prayer to Apollon in it that really touched me. I am curious to see what other works people have read/seen that touched you on a spiritual level. Maybe it was a prayer or a hymn, or a line in some dry, scholarly text, or a piece of art, or a myth that really speaks to you. Maybe it perfectly captures your relationship with a deity, or has some profound statement about your spiritual/religious life. Whatever it is, however it speaks to you, I'm interested in seeing where others have found these little nuggets of spiritual gold.

I don't know if I've had this experience with reading books, to be honest. With reading, I tend to be a quick, and plow through books like no other; thus meaning little reflection time (bad habit I'm trying to correct). I could say that Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder was influential in helping me understand philosophy and my more humanistic side, however, with my spiritual practices, that would be a no. The Harry Potter series during my late childhood and adolescent years helped me escape from my worries, but again, didn't help my spiritual practices. Similar with TV shows, such as Doctor Who - for example, while the Doctor was about to regenerate from Capaldi to Whittaker, he said several quotes that I am going to hang up in my classroom for my students to see. Certain lines I'll pick up on and really need to digest it in order for it to make sense.

Music has uplifted me at different times in my life. For example, Starset's My Demons, helps me focus on keeping both my dark habits in control, but also help me realize that I am an anchor for my husband during his bouts of depression (which often tend to go deep), and The Devil Within by Digital Daggers has helped me really understand - through metaphor - what depression and other mental health issues are like (and that was a mental kick in the head when that realization happened), while League of Legend's (featuring Mako) Piercing Light gets me into the frame of mind, "Let's get shit done" and focus. Anilah's music truly helps me with getting into a meditative state - I especially use her Medicine Chant on repeat for rituals. Right now, listening to This is Me from The Greatest Showman is getting me through a personal shit storm right now with regards to my professional career and whether I want to stay within the teaching profession or move into a different direction.

With Michael being in theatre, there are shows that I have seen that I come out with wonder, and amazement, and being touched. The most recent was We are Apples which Michael worked on, that tries to explain what mental health issues are like to people. In this show, the main character is actually two: the real world person Jane, and her mental health personality, Depression. Seeing that interaction played out was profoundly touching for me because it was a glimpse into what my husband deals with on a daily basis, especially with the age old question for those that are creative: If I get treatment, will my source of creativity be lessened or gone?

Art - I really can't say anything has truly touched me on a spiritual level. The process, maybe, but the end product? No.

A lot of the manga & anime I have consumed has actually influenced my spiritual life, now that I think about it. For example, much of what I read has elements of Shintoism, Buddhism, and Animism in it, thus leading me to incorporate them into my spiritual practices. One example that I can think of is how items can have a presence that's otherworldly, and how each natural item has a spirit to it (as well as hand-crafted items). Miyazaki's works are profoundly touching for me, and I constantly go back to watch them, and discover one more thing in them.

Lastly - the Earth is truly spiritual for me (and is my main source of spirituality). There are times where I have walked through the forest in the dead of winter and I can hear the snow falling, or smell the crisp leaves in the air during autumn or even smell petrichor in the forest after a dry spell. I'll never forget the moment while walking through a local forest when I was in a deep trance while walking that several animals had walked near me and were walking with me.

[mona lizard]

Neil Gaiman's Sandman series was formative on my teenage worldview and would probably be a huge influence on my perceptions of gods-as-stories and the relationship between human beings and Divine Powers. At the time, I was deeply in love with it.

Adding to the "people who became pagan through Sandman" experience, i'd like to point out a very specific piece of Sandman that still brings all kind of funny feelings in my veins when i just think about it: Death: the high cost of living. It's a spin off one shot about Death who gets to experience what it's like to be a living human once a year to remind herself the price of life. To me it's the most wonderfully written thing Neil Gaiman has ever done and I want everyone in the world to read it.