A few ponderings on Josh's initiation

[trystinn]

I do have to wonder at though I've been to several Initiations since my own - this one exhausted me! And dang, that's as "anonymous family member" on circle instead of being one of the Initiators - cannot imagine how exhausted they must be!

Hubby received lots of good presents - a few I may actually let him keep control of instead of quietly and sneakily moving them where I want them around the house! Received our holiday prezzies from the head of our trad - more MP3 goodness! Damn, do they know me, or what?? I have some of the songs in other collections, CDs, etc. but a few songs I have no idea who the artist or song title is and I hate to go asking - seems a bit rude. I was just about to run a google search, when I thought...

Anyone up for "

Here's a bit of the lines from each of the unknowns, to the best of my ability to figure out what they are singing. In all honesty, the mistakes I've made in the lyrics may be as funny as anything else:

1. "Shaaa-man, Shaaa-man" then more lyrics in a language I cannot identify.
2. "Burning Times" with a male singer (a very sweet tenor) - I have the Christy Moore version.
3. "I am a bold and pagan soul", "I judge the world by mine own rites", "my skin, my bones, my heretic heart are my authority", "I have sworn on dragon's tongue and danced on holy land".
4. "Lady of the glowing moon, lady of the night. I know thee by a thousand names, oh mistress of the night". (sounds almost like Lisa Thiel, but more of mezzo)
5. "The moon is high above the hill and we have come to work our will. What is your will, oh children wise?", "is she dark or is she bright, how shall you know her in the dark?", "that among you, you shall know her". "The three-fold moon is her own sign - Oh!"
6. "When she danced on the water and the wind was her...", "I am the Lord of the Dance, cried he! And I live in you and you live in me!", "I came with the dawning, when the world was new". "I joined in the rhythm and she gave me birth!", "When it comes to harvest, I shall never feel the pain".
7. "Magic, magic, magic, if you use your imagination. Magic, magic, magic, is the doorway to the mind". "Magic, magic, magic, all it takes is a bit of concentration."
8. "Midnight glance (?), silence blazed. Misty shrouds the leaves and twines (?)." "Silence still, the west wind carries, the tiny taste of distant seas. Dark and deep the nightshed berries".
9. "She takes us wanderers under her wings." "You were born naked, naked, naked in your time, angel of darkness", "angel of mercy, take away the sorrow, take away the pain, the angel of mercy knows the way (?), wraps it around your shoulders..."
10. "Spirit of the waters, take away my anger, for am I soon to leave here. In great fear and pain, surround me with thy beauty, if it please thee that I may lose my fear of the plains. Spirit of the fire, hear me, when I cry, for I am soon to die and leave a daughter to mourn. Let me burn brightly, if it please thee that she might see my light and be warned. Spirit of the air, lift my ashes quietly so high above that gathering and let them fall again. And this shall be a sign if it please thee that I shall be returning on the north wind. Spirit of the earth, I give my body to thee, oh let my bones scattered be among the growing things, then let the forest grow, if it please thee,"
11. "When the moon is lit in the Eastern Sky, and I slowly centering, centering.", "I am the Maiden, I am the Mother, I am the Crone. I am the sea, I am the sky, I am the blood, I am the moon, never alone, never alone, never alone."
12. "I was born in Turkey, 30,000 years ago, I taught the women and the men the things they should know, the patriarchs invaded and I was forced to roam, I am an ancient matriarch a long way from my home. So I escaped to Brittainy, way up in Northern France, I met some Gauls and hairy palms (wtf?) who thought they wore the pants until I had them brought to me, inside my pleasure dome. I am an ancient matriarch a long way from my home."
13. "I drive my car between the white and yellow lines, I know this path and I follow all the signs", "then I heard the blackbirds call from a distant rowan tree", "Oh so, I'll throw my penny in the well."
"

Comments

[taebopper.livejournal.com]

Congratulations to Josh! Even though I don't "know" you guys, I was thinking about his initiation last night during our full moon ritual.

[tryst-inn.livejournal.com]

Oh, how sweet is that! Thank you!

Yeppers, the Family is growing...going to be awhile before we take our next victim, err, initiate.

Initiate, must remember to call them initiates!

[paigemom.livejournal.com]

2 is probably Charlie Murphy, the author.

I just had to laugh at the idea of HPs giving MP3's as Yule gifts. Whatever happened to little pots to put more incense in? I dunno, it just struck me as funny.

Congrats to Josh as well.

[tryst-inn.livejournal.com]

I will definately give Josh his congrats - soon as he gets home - poor thing had to work today.

I confused you a bit - the male head of our tradition (I realize different trads have different names for this position, and the titles are often Oathbound) gave us the MP3s, not the HPs.

She was busy enough last night, frankly!

[paigemom.livejournal.com]

Still, it just strikes me as funny!

[tryst-inn.livejournal.com]

I think it speaks to more who he is as a person and a leader that he wants all of us conversant with pagan music, the same books, etc.

I may be wrong, but my guess is he's creating a context for future discussions, road trips, moots, etc. And possibly, even singalongs!

[jenett]

All the ones I can immediately identify of them are on the Best of Pagan Song CD put together by Serpentine (http://serpentinemusic.com). The ones below, I know well enough to ID them off the lyrics - some of the songs on CD I don't listen to as often, and I've made guesses about those too.

May potentially not be the same performers, though - you probably want to double check sources anyway for accuracy's sake.

2) Probably Charlie Murphy. There's also one by a group called Moonstruck, but that one's a little rougher (and shorter by about a minute and a half, if I remember right. Not by my iTunes right now.)

3) Heretic Heart (also the song Margot Adler's autobiography is named for). I've got two versions, with somewhat different lyrics - one is Holly Tannen, the BoPS one is Catherine Madsen

4) May be Ruth Barrett/ Every Woman Born - I'd have to listen to this again to tell. (She did a workshop at the conference I was at in October: I really like her recordings, and the workshop was way cool.)

5) Question Song : Pasha and the Pagans (same tune as the traditional Twa Corbies)

6) Lord of the Dance (same tune as Simple Gifts) : Todd Alan

7) Magic : Gypsy (same recording as "Bring Back the Light" which a lot more people I know have heard.) On BoPS.

9) May well be "Angel of Bells" - -Gaia's Voice (if so, can also check the lyrics on this one sometime.)

10) Spirits: Reclaiming, used for their big Samhain ritual. Also on BoPS. Singer is Susan Falkenrath

11) Deity : Wendy Rule

12) Rime of the Ancient Matriarch : Holly Tannen

13) Penny in the Well: Emerald Rose (Whose stuff I generally quite like a lot.)

Erm. No, I don't listen to a lot of Pagan music or collect it or listen to it a lot or anything. Really.

[tryst-inn.livejournal.com]

Hon, you're totally busted. So am I. Music is one of the reasons I have double hard drives with one strictly for MP3s.

You're right about Gypsy, Bring back the Light is one song I'm really familiar with. Didn't even bother to list the songs I already knew by Dar Williams, the Wilsons, etc. I've heard wonderful things in the Dianic community about Ruth Barrett, you're fortunate you get to meet these folks at festivals!

And thank you! I adore these kinds of collections, as you get to see such a great cross section of artists so you can go out and buy their CDs or MP3s.

[jenett]

I've heard wonderful things in the Dianic community about Ruth Barrett, you're fortunate you get to meet these folks at festivals!

This was the Women's Spirituality Conference in Mankato - which was a great experience for a bunch of reasons. (Part of it was timing: it might not have been so great for where K and I were last year or this year.) Write-up here: http://www.livejournal.com/~jenett/479951.html

(It, like most stuff in my journal these days, is friends locked, but I'm amiable about adding people, especially if they nudge me and let me know where they know me from.)

I was really impressed by her, though. In a "Not quite my path, and every so often something came up that made me go 'Nope, wouldn't work for me'" But way cool.

I keep amusing people in my group by producing mix CDs with all sorts of odd things on them. I've got a few more to make this weekend, too.

[tryst-inn.livejournal.com]

Nudge, nudge...you know me from A&J (Tirgereh) and we've a few friends in common.

[jenett]

Huh. You should be able to see it. (You are on my friends list: I do use some other filters, too.)

Try the link now?

[tryst-inn.livejournal.com]

My bad! I'm multi-tasking as I attempt to re-format my iPod. You'd think after four hours the darn thing would be done.

/sitting and fuming

[rimrunner.livejournal.com]

Congrats to Josh!

[chyara.livejournal.com]

ohh! I wish i had your mp3 collection.... lol

hugs! Congrats for your hubby...! that is so exciting

[dana3.livejournal.com]

2) "Burning Times", either with Charlie Murphy (the song's author) or Todd Alan did a cover of it too, and he's a higher tenor than Charlie is. (If you haven't heard Charlie Murphy's music, it's all amazing -- make it a point to hear Canticle of Light, where he's backed up by a gospel choir.)

3) "Heretic Heart", originally by Catherine Madsen of the Greater Lansing Spinsters Guild. If you find any of their albums or cassettes, I've been looking for them. 4 women, a capella, great voices. Very yummy.

4) "We must take back the night." I thought that was again Catherine Madsen, but when I saw Jennett's attribution to Ruth Barrett I think that's probably more correct. Good strong ending to the tune; nice tune.

5) I have it on a compilation tape, so thanks to Jennett for identifying the original voices and title. Yay!

6) "Lord of the Dance" has been covered by a dozen or more artists, I'd have to hear the version you're listening to in order to identify it. In no particular order, I've heard versions from Todd Alan, Ian Corrigan, Isaac Bonewits ... you get the idea.

And in a politically incorrect note ...
Josh's Initiation gifts are *his*. You don't "let him keep control" of jack about them -- they are his and he owns them completely. Please accept this gentle correction from a fellow HPS now -- it will save you great conflict with (and/or the ruining of) a potentially perfectly wonderful Priest. Learning to honor his autonomy from day one is a good way to start. Love, Dana

[tryst-inn.livejournal.com]

Dana~

If I let Josh get away with it, his gifts would sit in their gift bags on the dining room table for months. That's his "control of", mine is placing them nicely around the home to enjoy and ask him if that's okay once he notices.

But I completely see your point. Point accepted and taken. Good lesson to take in to the heart early.

Now, about those CDs...if you'll contact me offlist, I'd be happy to make arrangements to send you a few as a Yule gift.

TBarrettS at yahoo dot com

[wild-heart.livejournal.com]

Ermmm, ehhhmmm, please?? May I have some tooooooooo?

I'm going to echo Dana's sentiments about HP autonomy, especially since she and I both come from an era of the Craft when the HP was often overruled, run over, and shut up by the HPS. Doesn't help the coven or the relationship to emasculate him (no, I'm not suggesting that you do!). After all, what good is he to the Work at hand if he isn't strong?

That's strong . . . not arrogant. Doesn't sound like Josh is likely to become that. Please give him my warmest congratulations, and to your coven sibs and HP/S as well.

[tryst-inn.livejournal.com]

Of course, to both concerns. He'd be thrilled to see all these warm welcomes (he's already asleep!), our little island is so small there's few folks who understand the importance of what he's done.

Send me an email off LJ and we'll organize everything.

hey

[yaguari.livejournal.com]

#13 is an Emerald Rose song ...

I've got all their albums ... you'd love "Freya Shakti"

[tryst-inn.livejournal.com]

I'd love to - but we're talking about a three hour drive from here. But more importantly: I'm still on energy working probation - cannot do energy work with another group until further notice.

Its kinda like being grounded, frankly. I cannot play in other groups energy sandboxes until my HPs says so.

Or else. And she's mean, got a scourge and everything!

just kidding...sort of.

[kudzu.livejournal.com]

Haha! Okay, I got'cha. ;-)