THE BLACK TRANS PRAYER BOOK
Co-edited by
J Mase III & Lady Dane Figueroa Edidi
Copyright 2020 by Dane Edidi and J Mase III
All rights reserved.
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Cover by Kavi Ade
ISBN #: 978-1-71672-489-3
Table of Contents
Dedication
This book is dedicated to Black Trans, Non-Binary and Intersex people. May your spirits be gladdened, may your life be celebrated, may you always know the great spiritual legacy that you are a part of.
Mase & Dane
CREATION
Shores, Moons and Spiders
Naima Lavender
A New Creation Story
Lady Dane Figueroa Edidi
A TEMPLE HYMN TO THE CREATION OF THE UNIVERSE
In the beginning there was God
There was Goddess
There was The Great Spirit
There was Allah
The Universe
The All
The Us
There before there were first days
Before there were first nights
There was the every knowing of being
When Eurynome dances the serpent Orion is born
God created the world that She gave a thousand begotten suns
Yemaya is the Mother of All
The Goddess thought
and so it was
World is being born
The World is being born
The World is being born
And then there was longing
A longing to experience what will be
A longing of knowing what was already known
And from that longing came the first songs of creation
And the portal between thought and possibility opened
And the loud symphonic chorus of being arose into the then
And It is said God said
This is Good
Good as in right
Good as in more than nice
Good as in perfect
Goddess Good
God Good
Good Good
Good
When Grandmother Spider embraces the Sun
God created peace
One day Heaven and Earth can know each other
Yemaya is the Mother of All
The Goddess thought
and so it was
World is being born
The World is being born
The World is being born
And as solar systems sang their hymns
On countless worlds the waters stirred
On one world
A planet
azure
like the first waters
dark
like the first waters
gender-full
like the First Waters
God danced
Her body reverent
His body reflective
Their body the holiness of reverence
The waters in their womb stirring
They gave birth
They were nature
And Nature became their doula
Fate releases stories from their loom
Woven in hope
Spun in promise
Like Grandmothers webs they mirror Stars
The universe sings
The First and Last Breath has a name
Heaven and Earth lay together
Yemaya is the Mother of All
The God thought and so it was
World is being born
The World is being born
The World is being born
Made from starlight
Made from sun
Made from moon beams
Made from twenty-one elements
The Universe clothes your wonder in flesh
Adorns your magic in lifetimes
Divine Hands crafting creation with thoughts
The Underworld has its place
The Heavens have their place
The Ephemeral has its place
The Eternal has its place
The wings of Angels have their place
The tears of God have their place
The laughter of Being has its place
The Green
The Water
The Flame
The Wind
have their place
The Many
The One
have their place
Gender is a construct
Science evolves each Day
The Eternal knows Her name
Yemaya is the Mother of All
The God thought and so it was
World is being born
The World is being born
The World is being born
Pleasure adorns Creation
Defiant
Deep
Splendidly dynamic
Pleasure has their place
Time has her place
Gathering the sacred robes of Fate
Her shoulders have upon them written imagination
She has Gods ear
The Goddess has Gods Ear
They write upon the parchment of time
They write countless versions of seconds
From the Garden they spring
From the Heavens they are given flesh
Star People have you returned again
Star People are you flesh once more
Star People do you hold the mirror to the refrain
World is being born
The World is being born
The World is being born
On the tablet of story the pen of God is writing
The thoughts of God tell a story
The word of God crafts a tale
Thought creates the World
World creates the Word
Word creates the World
Life Death and Rebirth are a cycle
That which cannot die will not die
That which is eternal always is
Yemaya is the Mother of All
Grandmother Spider brings the Sun
Nut and Geb hold the in-between in their embrace
The World is born
We have labored
The World is born
We have given birth
The World is born
We have willed it
The World is born
Divinity has made it so
On creativity and spirituality and curiosity
~ Ahya Simone
I must do honor to my gifts. ~ Patricia Terry-Ross
Preface:
As a creative, one thing I am so fascinated by is the process of creating something from start to finish. I often find myself finishing things and after lamenting and complaining the whole time through, not even sure about the very clear things I did to get to the other side. Im overwhelmed by it all- tensed between listening to the pressures of the external world and heeding my internal voice.
While I believe that every human being is creative, Black trans people who dedicate a huge portion of their lives/careers to their art can find themselves having to balance these tensions more frequently and decisively. Here are a couple of thoughts to meditate on about the creative process with hopes it nourishes you in times of unrest and uncertainty. May these help you always remain true to who you are and who you are becoming.