Creepin' and Crawlin'

Something cooked up for Samhain

LYRICS:

creepin' and crawlin'
circle is callin
all of us critters
to come on home
beak and claw
hoof and horn
all reborn

1..2..3..4..   Soko

D.CC.DD.DD.D 

D.CC.CC.DD.D

Nothing Left

...poured out, fully formed after a very long deep silence in the circle following "We are here, we are held, we are holy, we are home."  All credit to the magic we brew in the circle and which in turn pours back through us in the most unexpected and delightful of ways.

LYRICS:

what if there is nothing else to say but i love you

what if there is nothing else to do but be this true

to look each other in the eyes

and hold our hearts open this wide

1..2..3..4..

C.DD.CC.D.DD

What Would You Do

...a raw, complex, personal moment in the circle which I won't attempt to explain. 

LYRICS:

what would you do

if i brought my truth to you

would it open up your eyes

or make you want to cry

either way it goes

it only goes to show

that I love you

that i love you

1...2... Malfoof

D..C..C.

Manifest Vision

This chant was the vocal element of the first "during the night ritual" i prepared for a fire circle. It blossomed the first time at one of the Winter Solstice Gatherings in Hawaii... and was most yummy!

LYRICS:

manifest your highest vision

amplify your clear intention

we call on the fire

to bring our dreams to life

breathe it pure, breathe it bright

feed it power, feed it light

we call on the fire 

to bring our dreams to life

1...2...3...4...

TkD.TkD.D.TkT.Tk

Most Amazing Day

Inspired by the first stanza from this piece by e.e. cummings:

i thank You God for most this amazing day:
for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
and a blue true dream of sky;
and for everything which is natural
which is infinite which is yes

(i who have died am alive again today,
and this is the sun's birthday;
this is the birth day of life and love and wings:
and of the gay great happening illimitably earth)

how should tasting touching hearing seeing breathing
any-lifted from the no of all nothing-human merely being
doubt unimaginable You?

(now the ears of my ears awake and
now the eyes of my eyes are opened)


LYRICS:

we thank the gods for this most amazing day
thank you sweet goddess for healing us this way
thank you my friends for being here to pray
our hearts overflowing, so in love we play

(The music in my head merges this chant with all but the first layer of the song "We Have Heaven" by Yes. Someday I'll record it all!)

1..2..3..4..

D.TkTkT...Tk

D.TkT.TkD.T.

One Seed

Adapted from the words of Joan Walsh Anglund and set to a tune

LYRICS:

one seed can start a garden
one drop can start a sea
one look can start a loving
one dream can set us free

1...2...3...4...  Masmoodi

D...D...TkTkT... 

D.TkTkT.TkTkT...

Bubble Bubble

...sometime after the Big Breakup   :(

LYRICS:

(i feel it) bubblin' up
i feel it bubblin' up
i'm grateful
spirit brought a new reflection
got a fresh direction for me

bubble bubble
from the rubble
choices open
to our eyes

bubble bubble
wisdom double
rainbows open
in the sky

1...2...

D.Dk.kC.

E.O.M.

If you have met her, you know.

LYRICS:

essence of movement

movement and sound

calling forth spirit

flowing around

1..2..3..4..

D.D.CC.CC.Tk

Seeds of Silence

I'm not sure this is really a chant. It's almost an anti chant!  Usually only sung once or twice, in a slow floaty way...  It emerged one night in a fire circle somewhere which was particularly "chatty", and those of us with a tiny bit more miles on our moccassins were looking for a way to refocus on the subtle possibilities which emerge from the anticipation within stillness.  

LYRICS:

out of the seeds of the silence arise

unexpected delights....

A Capella

From Our Hands

Written sometime before Firedance 2004 in preparation for "The RhythmTree". Here's the description from the event program: 

Total Immersion at the RhythmTree.

    Join Joshua Levin, Michael Wall, and many guest faculty - almost all day, everyday - at the Rhythmtree. Many of Firedance's most drum struck groove gardeners will be cultivating musical refinement and the evolving rhythmaculture of the sacred fire circle.
    Whether you have been exploring this path for decades or are beginning this very moment, you are invited to study, learn, and teach others in the ongoing, ever-growing curriculum of the Rhythmtree. This open campus is located at the Diversifire, and will draw upon the expertise of many experienced Firedance rhythm gardeners in co-creating a spontaneous investigation of the endless mysteries of musical magic.
    Through facilitated jams, rhythm games and exercises, meditations, discussion, mindful listening, extended entrainment, and deep sacred play, we will step out onto many branches of life's percussive possibilities.
    The Rhythmtree is devoted to nurturing a rhythmaculture that reflects, empowers, and harmonizes with the distinct post-modern context of Euro-American sacred rhythm space. We are joined together in the discovery of our own distinct and beautiful voice. With the understanding that we are in part, who we sound like when we are together, we plant the seeds for new ways to come together in and through sound.
    It is our intention that the harvest of the Firedance Rhythmtree will include:
1) Musical refinement around the sacred fire, in interactive harmonious relationship with Dance, Voice and Service.
2) A conscious, balanced sharing of sonic space for quieter musical expressions.
3) Conceptual growth and experiential wisdom, as we recognize the resonance between the microcosm of rhythmic insights and the macrocosm of rhythmic life.
4) Extraordinary friendships, the brotherhood and sisterhood of rhythm, that takes root through the power of the drum.
5) Maximum rhythmic immersion and the transformational effects of focused practice.

The tree fuels the fire, the fire nurtures the soil from which great trees grow.

Join us for cycle, after cycle, after cycle....

LYRICS:

and from our hands comes time revealed,
born in service, on sacred ground
we work the magic of mindful practice
richly woven, intricate sound

1...2...3...4...    Illuminati

D.TkC.TkD.D.TkD.  

D.TkC.TkTkD.TkD. 

Beauty and Strength

This chant was the first time I sat down - at my desk in fact - and "made up a song". The lyrics are not mine - they are from Liber Al vel Legis (The Book of the Law) chapter 1, v1-2 and - especially - chapter 2, v20.  But I made up the melody and rhythm of the music!

LYRICS:

beauty and strength, 

leaping laughter, 

delicious langour

force and fire are of us

every man and every woman is a star

the unveiling of the company of heaven

every woman, every man is a star

1...2...3...4...  Saiidi

D.TkC.TkD.D.TkD.

Feed The Gods

...again, at Firedance somewhen back then   ;)

LYRICS:

feed the gods with love

make it juicy, make it sweet

feed the gods with love

with drummin' hands and dancin' feet

1...2...3...4...

D..k..T.C...D.Tk =>

D..k..T.C...TkTk

Manifest the Power

The first chant I ever made up :)
In the DiversiFire, at Firedance in ...2003?

LYRICS:

manifest the power of truth and love
manifest the power right now

manifest the power of truth and love
manifest the power right now

manifest the power of truth
manifest the power right now

manifest the power of love
manifest the power right now

1...2...3...4...   Maksum
D.T...T.D...T...