Canticles of Dibella

Dibella our Lady,

show us the beauty in this world

and open our eyes.

Guide us as we unravel the mysteries of love and mortal flesh;

bestow upon us appreciation for friendship and joy,

for art and song,

for faith and bonds.

Let us see as you always intended.

—Canticles of Dibella, 9:1–3

Prayer for Love

Tender-hearted Dibella, friend of the lonely,

friend of those who seek a lover, a companion

for life, a mate to share their sorrows and delights;

Dibella, you touch the center of the soul,

you light the flame of passion in men and women,

you hold our hearts in your gentle hands. Goddess,

fair one, kind one, giver of the most precious gifts,

open our spirits to joy and gladness, open

our minds to possibility, open our hearts

to love.

Heal us of hurt, release us from fear;

grant me the innocence of first love that we may

see the world in all its promise and beauty;

grant us the wisdom of experience that we may

choose with sense and judgment. May our eyes be keen,

may our vision be true, may we see what is

more clearly than what may be. Dibella,

We pray to you, goddess, grant us your gift of love.

—Canticles of Dibella, 6:4–9

Far-shining Dibella, hear our prayer

Far-shining Dibella, hear our prayer!

The Laughter-loving Lady, Beautiful

Well-girded, Golden, Artful, Romantic,

Companion, Tender-hearted, or however

it please you to be addressed, attend,

we ask, our words of praise, and send

You grace, because you are the source of all

that’s charming, graceful, all that does enthrall

in word or deed, in action, figure, face.

For yours is the allure that does enlace

our hearts as one, for as the charmed is bound,

so also is the charmer quickly found

surrendering, with yearning undisguised,

the compromiser gladly compromised!

But irresistible is even this,

seducer falling to seduction; bliss

repaid is twofold bliss, drawing tight

the bonds about them both, in shared delight.

—Canticles of Dibella, 7:11–12

Moments free of reason

Golden Dibella, fair and fearsome divine,

mighty one whose will it is that the heart leads us

where the mind knows not to go; Dibella,

whose hand it is that guides us to the cliff’s edge,

whose voice it that dares us to jump into the dark,

whose gift it is that love’s reward is worth any risk.

Blessed Dibella, many have sought to turn

from you, but fire is fire, and feeling is feeling,

and neither can be contained by will alone.

Dibella, I thank you for moments free of reason,

I thank you for the dominion of desire.

Dibella, yours is the force of life, yours

the call of instinct; Divine whose power it is

that leads us to joy or desperation, I praise you

for your many gifts, I ask your blessing.

—Canticles of Dibella, 1:5–9

Love, Friendship, Beauty and Art

Love, Friendship, Beauty and Art,

Lady Dibella, you bring warmth to our hearts.

From the poor beggar to the wealthy,

You love us all equally.

We thank you for your kindness,

We praise your infinite graces,

We share in your glorious blessings,

For we still learn about your teachings.

—Canticles of Dibella, 17:10–12

Dance, my heart! Dance today with joy!

Dance, my heart! Dance today with joy!

The drums of love fill the day and night with music,

and the world is swaying to its melodies:

Mad with joy, all true Lovers dance

to the rhythm that pays Men in moans.

The hills and the trees and the fragrant blossoms dance,

and all Love’s children dance in laughter and tears.

Why put on the robe of the penitent and live aloof

from the world in lonely pride?

My spirit, unclad, dances in the delights of a hundred arts,

and Sweet Dibella is well pleased.

—Canticles of Dibella, 9:14–19

O Dibella!

O Dibella!

In public I call you ‘the Lady,’

but in solitude I call you ‘My Beloved.’

With others I bow before the shrine,

but alone I lie down beneath your feet.

I have this moment, a moment so intimate

that there is no room between us for any saint.

Instead of words, I have this lute, this tambor,

and a hundred ways to kneel and kiss you.

Didn’t you yearn to be loved this way?

Isn’t this the reason you made everything beautiful?

—Canticles of Dibella, 3:1–6

Heartbeat of the World

Cry of an infant, heartbeat of the world.

Storm against ship, heartbeat of the world.

Heel against floor and wave upon shore,

heartbeat of the world.

Sigh of a lover, heartbeat of the world.

Cry of a mother, heartbeat of the world.

Oh Dance unstopped, heartbeat of the world."

—Canticles of Dibella, 11:1–2

In your radiant presence