As a Thean priest (or, if you like, priestess), one of my primary goals is to create feminist prayer resources. In that vein, I'm re-translating the Psalter. I just revised Psalm 144, and I'm struck by what a liberating prayer it could be for oppressed women.
Psalm 144 Blessed be Thea my rock! who trains my hands to fight and my fingers to battle; My help and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield in whom I trust, who subdues men under me. O Thea, what are we that you should care for us? mere mortals that you should think of us? We are like a puff of wind; our days are like a passing shadow. Bow your creation, O Thea, and come down; touch the mountains, and they shall smoke, Hurl the lightning and scatter them; shoot your arrows and rout them. Stretch out your hand from on high; rescue me and deliver me from the great waters, from the hand of men, Whose mouths speak deceitfully and whose left hand is raised in falsehood. O Thea, I will sing to you a new song; I will play to you on a ten-stringed lyre. You give victory to queens and have rescued Bathsheba your servant. Rescue me from the hurtful sword and deliver me from the hand of men. Whose mouths speak deceitfully and whose left hand is raised in falsehood. May our daughters be like plants well nurtured from their youth, and like sculptured corners of a palace. May our barns be filled to overflowing with all manner of crops; may our cattle be fat and sleek. May there be no breaching of the walls, no going into exile, no wailing in the public squares. Happy are the women of whom this is so! happy are the women whose Goddess is Thea!
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