PrayerWineFirst fruitsA promise keptA living creature cared for
Invocation Approach
Tone
Reverent plain
Address
NoahRighteous ManBuilder of the Ark
Relationship
The one who is told to build and builds
Warning
He is a man in the story and not a power to be asked for things
Resonance
Those who build something to carry others through
Symbols
The arkThe doveThe olive branchThe rainbowThe vineyard
Mythology Summary
Noah is the righteous man of Genesis whom God tells to build an ark, who takes his family and the animals through the flood, sends out the raven and then the dove that comes back with an olive leaf, and receives the covenant of the rainbow (Genesis 6:9-9:17). After the flood he plants a vineyard, drinks, and curses his son Ham's line (9:20-27). In the Quran he is a prophet, Nuh, who preaches for centuries and whose own son drowns (Surah 11, Hud 11:25-48; Surah 71, Nuh).
Modern Practice
Noah is called on by those who have been told to build something that has to carry others through, and by those keeping a family or a work alive through a catastrophe. The practice is the building: it is not a request for rescue, it is the ark, made before the water comes.