The Paternosters: White, Black, and Green

[covenrochester]

If you have grown up in a Christian-Churchified country, you will know of the Pater Noster, the "Our Father," or the Lord's Prayer. The term "Pater Noster," comes from the two first Latin words of the Lord's Prayer:

Pater noster
qui es in caelis,
sanctificetur nomen tuum,
mekka lekka hi
mekka heiney ho . . .

(Just kidding on those last two lines . . . I wanted to make sure you are paying attention). This traditional Latin form was known as the White Paternoster amongst magical practitioners. There was also a "Black Paternoster" -- which is the White Paternoster, in Latin, said backwards. It had many uses in medieval times. Fallen Catholics and Christians, or the psychotic, vengeful, oppressed, etc. who wanted to pledge themselves to the Christian deity of evil, i.e., the Devil, would use it. It could be used in curses. And so on.

Less well known is the Green Paternoster. There are several old charms that go by the name Green Paternoster. The Bishop of Lincoln complained in the early 13th century of old women blasphemously using a charm in which they addressed an entity called the Green Paternoster as “Peter’s dear sister.” Given the facts that “Peter” derives from the Latin word for “rock,” and that the entity addressed is both female and “green,” it is clear that the old beldams were invoking the Earth Mother as the Sister of the Land (Rock). Another version addresses the Green Paternoster as “Mary’s sweet sister.” Mary is derived from the Latin word for “the sea.” So, in that version, the old ladies were invoking the Earth Mother as the Sister of the Sea.

Green Paternoster,
Peter's dear sister (or Mary’s sweet sister),
Who knew every charm
Of midwife and healer,
Be thou my guardian,
Be thou my foster,
As long as I say
The Green Paternoster!

It is an adaptable charm, and it exists in versions that Witches still use.

*** Blessed be to those who serve the Great Mother and the Horned Father.

* Copyright to Coven Rochester