Cast The Circle

Honolulu

In the final few days just prior to the Hawaii Fire Tribe Winter Solstice Gathering I was busy plotting new offerings I could bring to the fire to "delight and show my friends how much I love them."  I was also thinking about a "during the night" ritual that was brewing up, and which I was working towards keeping highly participatory and inclusive to all.  Sometimes we have a real challenge in making the fire lighting ritual meet that same criteria, so I started riffing on a weaving song which everyone could sing in order to contribute energetically to the magic of such a moment. 

LYRICS:

together we cast the circle 'round
between heaven and holy ground
a sanctuary of love and light where
we revel in artful play all night

guardians of the watchtowers
east, south, west and north
we summon, honor and welcome you

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

D.CC.CC.DDkT

Makin' Magic

Honolulu

Whee! My long awaited live looping device, the RC-50 Loop Station, arrived at last. After a spin into the instruction manual, and wrangling with wiring a bit, I set down to play with my new music tool. I had been inspired to get the machine after realizing that if I was going to entice new people to the fire circle in Hawaii, I would likely have to go out an perform.  YouTube videos by Imogene Heap and Rico Loop helped me see the potential in terms of both instrumental and compositional layers, and of back-up vocals/harmonies.  This 3 part chant was composed within 10 minutes of "firing it up", as an act of sheer playfulness. 

LYRICS:

makin' magic with my friends

i feel like singin' a song today

happy!  happy, joyous!  happy!

A Capella

Takes Gold

Honolulu

Another in the family of chants fueled by the game of "singing about things we never sing about in the fire circle". I decided that the most insanely unlikely topic possible for a fire circle chant would be "banking" (!?!). This song is probably the most challenging chant I have written to date, and at the same time I think it may well have turned out to be the most clever. I was still having LOTS of fun singing the Burn the Lead chant, with all its alchemical metaphors. The original idea for the song started out at as a "third" part for that chant (and the first line still works well for that). But, in the end, the chant became a delightful statement on the value of investing oneself in a practice of some sort....

LYRICS:

it takes gold to make gold
persistence is the payment toward the premium
i invest myself in the currency of commitment
deposit and compound my interest every day
profit is gained by avoiding self inflation
appreciating assets and balancing my reserves

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

C.Dk.kCkD.D.C..

Burn the Lead

Honolulu

Still on the trail of topics we never sing about in the circle... here's a scotoma (blind spot): there were no songs about Alchemy!?!  This seemed incredible to me.  It's one thing to understand there being no songs about Atheism... but Alchemy is so deeply woven into the fabric of the expression of fire circle that I love.  If you have ever studied Alchemy, you know that the layers of intricacy are endless - so what a challenge to try to bring the essence of the process of refinement into a chant! "Burn the Lead" hints at the stages in a seven phase description of the Alchemical process.  I gleefully chomped at the bit until the Winter Solstice Gathering finally arrived and I could spring it on Spinner and Magnus, two of my favorite playmates and collaborators in the Alchemical Fire Circle.  This song is dedicated to the two of them in appreciation for the many riches they bring to my life, and to the lives of others.

On a related note, when I went hunting for an Alchemical image to include here, the one I liked the most turned out to be a work by Gaelyn Larrick, another friend in the Family of Fire! 

LYRICS:

burn the lead into fine ash
dissolve it in hidden waters
wind separates the chaff - what remains;
union in the fruitful earth

where the peacock tail reveals the subtle
awaiting within the gross
the elixir is distilled, obtaining
the illumination of the Sun
so I've begun to

principles of alchemy
planetary mythology
salt sulfur mercury
bring the gold on home in me

1...2...3...4...
C..kC..k.kD.C...

Atheist

Honolulu

One of my sources of inspiration for fire circle chants came from my friend Joshua.  I noticed the often unique topics his chants explore, and asked him how he came up with the ideas.  He explained that he has made a practice of writing chants specifically focusing on "what we don't address in the fire circle."  One evening, with that premise in mind, I started surfing the web looking for lists of cultural taboos. Aside from 85% being related to sex (!), one that caught my eye was atheism - it's apparently taboo in many cultures to NOT believe in "god" or "goddess".   Since the fire circle is meant to welcome all paths and religions, i realized that atheism was something that was never sung about - a sort of "anti-religion" that is not represented in the circle.  And, guess what - Joshua is a mystic; he's essentially an atheist. So, an atheist song for my incredible friend and ally! ...which turned out to be a pretty tall order, as most of what I read about atheism suggested that atheists usually define themselves by what they DON'T believe.  I fully enjoyed the learning process I went through in order to find a way to lovingly represent this philosophical perspective in song.  As a bonus, someone recently shared a wonderful reading by Penn (of Penn and Teller) on the same topic which you can read here.

LYRICS:

contemplating deity
isn't it enough to be
the beauty and wonder that exists
within you and me?

our world is full of love
nature, art and ecstasy
there's infinite imagination,
wisdom and mystery

maybe it's all up to me,
to shape the world I want to see
fill it with awe and presence!
i think i'll worship creativity

1...2...3...4...5...6...   Moroccan 6

D..k.kD...C.Dk.k.kD.C.C.

Don't Need Drugs

Honolulu

Taking a stand to have Alchemical Fire Circles be drug and alcohol free has been an adventure in itself. As the Alchemical Circle emphasizes refinement, risk taking, stepping out, participation, collaboration and “bringing it on,” the organizers stress that these events are places to explore states of consciousness such as deep creativity, intense focus, and mindful engagement. The sacraments that may be in use at a given all-night fire circle are often ingested with the intention to magnify the effects of trance, or to assist in deepening one’s internal focus for subjective or emotional work. These substances have dramatic affects on the content and structure of the experience. Depending on one’s perspective, this is either liberating or limiting to the interactive opportunities available in the Fire Circle. The Alchemical Circle is better served by a crystal clear, attentive and open witnessing that is unaffected by chemical influences. This allows celebrants to be more responsive to new opportunities in which they can engage with others, and collaborate through music, song, movement or service. The drug and alcohol free environment also encourages people to confront challenging real-life emotions such as shyness, fear, or hesitation without chemical intervention.

(Excerpt from "The Current Evolution of the Alchemical Fire Circle" - you might find it useful to read the entire article to help put this position into perspective.)

LYRICS:

we're baking, blazing, buzzing in bliss
wired on the wonders of the weird and the wild

we don’t need drugs to get high
'cause we're trippin on traveling through the twilight
pushers of passion and pleasure
stoned on the stars, and toasted on tenderness
we're just junkies of joy,
all lit up on laughter and love

1..2..3..4..
D.D.CC.DDkTk

LifeSong

30,000 feet, somewhere between Australia and Hawaii

I don't really recall much about what provoked this chant (ah, the delirium of long plane flights...)  I love it though - playful, easy to sing, invites people to juice up the energy.  Nice to have a song that lures people into the vocal magic. The melody is from a famous Brasilian samba tune, so thank you Brasil! (Those folks CERTAINLY know about singing all night.  If you've never been to Carnival in Rio or Bahia, best put that on your things to do in life list :)

LYRICS:

all around the world
every living thing
voices raised in harmony
it's the lifesong that we sing

we open up in song
and let the worries go
we pour our souls into the sound
and feel the magic grow

1...2...3...4... Saiidi
D...C...D.D...D.

Fantasy

EarthFire, Australia 

Birthed in the circle during a night shaped by an opening ritual about the union of the female and male. During a sweet, silent moment of circling the fire together Alena asked "What is it that we love about each other?". The responses meandered through a long slow exploration of the various qualities we value... and inevitably arrived at the physical, which rapidly escalated into the sexual. This chant popped out as a transition onwards to new adventures, before we completely collapsed into spasms of pornographic laughter!

LYRICS:

we are each other's fantasy
we long to reuinte
when we come together
we become the light

1..2..3..4..
D.TT.T.DD.D.

Snippets From The Road

It's August 30th, 2007 and I'm sitting on the rooftop patio of the hotel Acinar in Istanbul. In 3 days I will begin the long series of flights back to my home in Honolulu (where the photo above was taken the day I departed). This blog represents the musical manifestations of my journey of reflection and decision making that took place between May 15th and today along a fascinating path which ambled through the USA, the Czech Republic, Austria, Italy, Greece and Turkey.               ...go to the 1st chant

The 24 chants collected here as "Europe 2007" are the result of a wellness practice whereby my thoughts and feelings coagulated in rhythms and songs that became portals for energetic release, or for the invocation and clarification of new directions in my life. The title of the CD (eventually) - "Snippets from the Road" was chosen in recognition of the often much longer and more "detailed" musical expressions the Muse poured through me during the time a given chant was emerging. The notes and photos that accompany the songs are meant to give the listener a bit of a peek into the heart and mindset present at the time of each working, and may help imply the other lyrical layers which I either did not capture, or which are just a bit too personal for public broadcast. 

I have included notation for the rhythms I play to accompany the songs. These rhythms are either the ones I was playing at the time the song came through, or are the ones I now feel most effectively transmit the musical flavor present at the time of creation. My hope is that those of you who are percussionists will learn the rhythms, and that I will then have strong rhythmic allies when I bring the chant round the fire. When possible I have included the names of the rhythms (those unnamed are something I made up, and I welcome your help naming them).

The audio recordings here were made on my travel camera after I got home. They are pretty similar in quality and "vibe" to the rough recordings I made on my .mp3 player... that died on the road.  I'm working on more complete arrangements of the chants, which will appear here eventually.  For now, the only instrument is the Bendir that travelled with me.

The "go to the next chant" link " below the sound file will take you forward in chronological order to help keep the tale in order.  Clicking on the photos will give you full screen versions  :)

Many of the songs are informed by my passion for the Alchemical Fire Circle. (Also see Video or visit The ReSourcery). I am sharing these songs with my friends from that fellowship - in gratitude for the contributions of beauty, inspiration and sanity their presence in my life brings.

This music is dedicated with much love to Joshua Levin, Robin Lieberman, Deborah Nervig, Abigail and Jeff McBride, imani, Liz Greene, Tara Severns, Patricia Brubaker, Wayne Bow, Kevin Roddy, Kat McDivitt, Moondance, and Josselyn Price.

* CLICK HERE TO BEGIN THE 2007 EUROPEAN ADVENTURE! *

           ________________________________________________________

Alone

Istanbul

Unless some surprise happens in the next 48 hours, this song is the last of the cycle. It's now Septmber 1st, and I'll be heading towards home soon.

By the time I arrived in Istanbul, I had come to peace with my aloneness, and had given up all thoughts of making new friends, finding a lover or staying in places with a social focus. I checked into a cheap hotel, chosen mainly for the air conditioning! I had decided to embrace the Hermit archetype, at least for the time being. I spent some time reading various explainations and interpretations of the Hermit tarot card on the internet, and from the booklet which accompanies the Cosmic Tarot - my other summer companion besides my drum. All the key ideas which really spoke to me were woven into the song.

The decision to do the research and move into claiming the archetype happened via another magic I had been working throughout the summer. Each place I stayed for at least a full day, I gathered some small bit - a stone, a trinket, a small pendant, a shell... and always it was chosen to remind me of something I had learned in that place - the "message" I received as a result of that part of the pilgrimage.

Istanbul was the last stop on the journey, and so when I went to the Grand Bazaar, I was on the lookout for what would be the final piece of the puzzle. To my surprise, I found a tiny lamp, just like the Hermit holds in the tarot card. I have never seen anything like it! Here's what I wrote that evening...

"...a tiny gold lantern with a candle inside! (It's interesting to note that everything else I have chosen that was metal is silver...) It took some meditation to accept - and the final message is that I AM the Hermit. I am somewhere "between" in life. Between identifying with being young or old. Between in terms of being un/settled where I live, with regards to having a lover. Philosophically I'm in transition... the list goes on. The little candle inside reminds me to "come with my essence unveiled" and shine the light I am to the world. There are also 2 faint lines crossing behind the candle - to remind me that there are invisible forces who "have my back".

So... if you like, drop in for a visit or give me a ring sometime.  I'm settled into solitude and comuning with my Muse :)

(Of course, it occurs to me that in 48 hours I will be hanging out with good friends in Washinton D.C., then onward to Hawaii for 6 days of work in the schools, then to Earthfire in Australia, then I'll facilitate the Discovery program for 100 teens and 40 staff, and then co-present two corporate trainings. Finally I will return to Hawaii and then we'll see if I am still the Hermit. Certainly the archetype serves as a great closing sumnation for the work I have invested my summer in - Hermit on the path!

I have a dream of gathering you all together, on retreat somewhere for a week. I would be so delighted to have us play with the musical ideas here, and record the results "in the moment". That's the CD I would love to release! Part of the dream is that we would get together every now and then, and do the same for and with each other, contributing our considerable collective juice to each other's musical projects. Maybe a week before or after a Winter Solstice in Hawaii....?

The tale of Summer 2007 ends here... and many more chants have emerged since, which will all be posted to this blog eventually.

Much Love

m

(...the very last sign I saw in Europe while boarding the plane)

LYRICS:

it's a time for introspection
a time for deep reflection
i'm all alone but i'm at home with me
you see

i'm ruminating, taking stock
thinking 'bout my life
i'm settling into solitude
and communing with my muse

1..2..3..4..
D.C.C.C.DD.D    Soli

(There is a newer version of this chant here.)

Doing

Room 208, Hotel Akcinar, Istanbul, Turkey

An impulse, literally the first thought as I awoke. The message was to make a chant using the Werner Erhard aphorism which had come to mind as part of the "I Am The Miracle" experience in Uchisar. It took all of about 15 minutes, and was a great way start the day! For some reason I have never wanted to integrate it with a rhythm, so I guess it's an a capella offering.

LYRICS:

if god told you
what you were to do
you would be happy
doing it no matter what

what you're doing
is what god wants you to do

be happy

...go to the next chant!

I Am The Miracle

The abandoned rock-cut house next to the hotel, Uchisar, Turkey... and onwards to Istanbul

...the story of this song will take a bit longer, as this piece is the integration for my summer... and for my life in this moment (writing at the end of the trip). Rather than try to write about it after the fact, I am going to rely on notes from my diary"

I went over to the "rock house" next door and had quite an emotional time... I sat in the cool stillnss with the intention to come to some closure on my personal process for the summer, and instantly what came through were these words: "I am the miracle I have been looking for... I am the Gods gift to life". This triggered a flood of emotion immediately.... and this was followed by a long, tearful, 'In the River" drumming meditation as I felt around for what these words meant and why my reaction was so strong.

What came through (after realizing I needed to get still again in order to hear any answers, and a number of returns from crying by breathing and saying aloud "I am Listening") was:

* I am here to give the gifts that I am

* I need to come with my essence unveiled - to stop holding back from shyness, fear or "they won't be interested".

* I am here to do "Goddess work" - both the perpetuation of valuing the feminine, and of caring for, and being with and in nature

* I am to ask my friends what gifts I have that I could be giving more often.

* Werner's aphorism: "If god told you what you were to do, you would be happy doing it no matter what. What you're doing is what god wants you to do. Be happy."

* More Generosity

* and my "What If There Is Nothing Left To Say...." song.

... at that stage, there was no tune, other than a bit of a melody tenuously attached to the two lines above. The next day was a travel day (Uchisar to Istanbul), and I spent some of the plane time trying to grasp what it all meant.

The next morning the first segment of song arrived right at the end of my morning meditation - again with very powerful emotion. I sang the song over and over all day, pondering the meaning and nuance of each phrase. That afternoon I sent an email request to some of you asking the question I had been guided to pose. One response arrived within hours and that night became part of the 2nd segment. The other responses never arrived - but I suspect there are more verses to the song...

That's the nutshell version. 

LYRICS:

i am the miracle
that i've been searching for
i am a gift the gods have given
trusting 
in the here and now
with my essence unveiled
grateful and serving the dream

for i choose to be
generosity
vulnerable, present and true
to show how deeply i care
i will be there
offering softness too

I am still and listening

1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...
TkD.D..k.kD.D.TkD..k.kT.T..t.tT.    Joshua Sunset

...go to the next chant!

Deities

Walking along the road back to Uchisar, Turkey

Part of my intention for the journey was to establish some sort of connection with the Divine. During the summer I had been experimenting with talking with Spirit, and that was pretty new for me. At one point I wrote in my diary that: "the foundation for relationship with spirit or guides is belief, not evidence". With that in mind, I had been playing around with song ideas a number of times with the intention of creating a sort of mantra to reinforce my nascent beliefs. The phrase God-Goddess-Spirit-One had been worked a few times, but never seemed to flow into anything else.

It was sundown, and I had caught the very last dolmus (local bus) back towards Uchisar, which had dropped me off about 2K from the village. The road was empty of cars... of everything but nature (which in Cappadocia means it was VERY full where I was). What became the second half of the song slowly blossomed as I walked along until at one point I settled into this soft, gentle sort of rolling sing-song feel. I pulled out my recorder to capture it and immediately after doing so, the first half of the chant sprung out, both melody and word fully formed, all at once. All I had to do was remember it long enough to press record again! I can only assume that it had been brewing unconsciously for a while from all the bits I had worked with earlier, as I recognized some of the snippets. (Or... that God-Goddess-Spirit-One moves in mysterious ways!)

LYRICS:

oh god goddess spirit one
creator of the moon and sun
everywhere I look I see
It's you right in front of me

i hear you in every sound
i can feel you all around
your scent's in the air
you're there in every flavor

1...2...
D.Ck.kD.

...go to the next chant!

Wellness Prayer

Villa Cappadocia, Uchisar, Turkey

This chant came unexpectedly, again on the patio, at the end of a long practice session. I had been working through the (now long list) of new songs and their companion rhythms. As I was finishing up i started playing the rhythm at a pretty high tempo, and singing at what felt like half time. (The rhythm is one I really like that I made up somwhere along the line...). I didn't really have any particular intention to write a healing song, so all credit on this one goes to the Muse. I'm thankful to have it, because I am often concerned that people may think I am disinterested in the healing of these in need, due to my stance on the wellness work 'round the Fire. The energy that came through was sweet and very clear, and I ended up singing for a long long time, deep in prayer, with vivid imagery of people recieving light.  

LYRICS:

as we sing this prayer
out to the source of life
we're asking for healing
for all of those in need
we offer up our gratitude
for the gifts of health
we have received
and we add this thread to the tapestry
of wellness that we weave

1...2...3...4...
D.Dk..C.C.Dk..C.

(There's a more complete arrangement of this chant here.)

...go to the next chant!

Recreate Myself

Sunrise on the patio overlooking Pigeon Valley, Uchisar, Turkey

Cappadocia is easily one of the most exotic and profoundly beautiful places on our planet. The sensual landscape is filled with what the people there refer to as "fairy chimneys"; bizarre stone formations, and dwellings cut into the rocks. The place is mind altering to say the least. Uchisar was the last rural place I visited on my journey, and so I had set aside a week to simply sit, ruminate on my learnings and make the decisions I set for myself to resolve. I had a sense of being on the edge somehow - that many things were brewing just under the surface - just waiting for me to sit still and feel. The morning after I arrived, I came wide awake at about 5am with the insistent thought that I should go out and watch the sunrise.

I went to the high patio and settled into meditation, as it was just barely getting light in the sky. After a while, I noticed that in the background there was an odd sound - like a faint roaring, or a generator, or...? I had to release annoyance a few times at what seemed like an rude intrusion on the stillness.

When I opened my eyes, I could see that the sun was about to crest the horizon - and in the same instant saw a flicker of light in the deep shadows of the valley in the distance. At that moment nineteen hot air balloons lanuched from the valley and rose to greet the sun! The sound was the gas jets burning to fill the balloons. The whole scene was absolutely gorgeous - the sun, the multicolored balloons rising, the fantastic landscape glowing in rose, and orange and gold. I had never seen a hot air balloon before - and I teared up in delight at the reminder that there is a whole world of new exeriences out there waiting to be discovered. The song started to work its way out as I rose and began to walk down into the valley. I'm not quite sure what else to say - the song speaks pretty strongly for itself.

LYRICS:

today i recreate myself anew
for magic is who i am
i am endless possibility
i am one with the source i am

as i open my arms out wide to the world
embracing the mystery
i declare that i will live in the here and the now
and reinterpret all that history

Added in March, 2008

dedication to recreation

contemplation and experimentation

cultivation of appreciation

a foundation for revelation
1..2..3..4..
C.DD.TkDD.C.

...go to the next chant!

Vessels

Begun in Konya and finished in Uchisar, Turkey two days later

On my last night in Konya I attended the Sema ritual at the newly constructed Mevlana Cultural Center. 3 nights a week there is a "show", where 3 or 4 dervishes whirl, accompanied by live music. Once a month, there is a night where many more of the local dervishes come and do their thing. It's free, and the night I went there were probably a thousand people - almost all Turkish - there to witness. There were 11 musicians in the ensemble, and 14 dervishes. The ritual lasted nearly 2 hours, and seeing it up close revealed that behind the grace and beauty, there is an incredible degree of focus and physical exertion. As I watched them, I felt such a sense of admiration that a group of people would devote themselves so fully to a practice that has no apparent "product" aside from the intention to shower the blessings of Allah on the world around them.

As I walked across the parking lot after the ritual, I thought about my friends and I, turning round the fire for hours and hours, often 3 nights in a row - and remembered how I had seen in books, and on Mevlana related posters around town that the word "burning" was often used to describe the Sufi's experience in the ritual. I love that I am part of a tribe of people who turn in beauty and grace, celebrating life and love. Blessings on us all!

LYRICS:

when we find each other
this is what we do
we are vessels
that spirit flows through

turning and burning
drawing from above
burning and turning
radiating love


when we find the air
this is what we do
we are the vessels
words and chanting blow through

when we find the fire
this is what we do
we are the vessels
sound and music burn through

when we find the water
this is what we do
we are the vessels
dance and movement pour through

when we find the earth
this is what we do
we are the vessels
gifts of service work through

added March 2008:

we are the portals into the magic
we open up the doors into other dimensions
we're steppin through into fresh ways of being
aligning and refining, radiating love

1...2...3...4... Ayub (variation)
D..kD.k.Tk.kD.k.

...go to the next chant!

Jewels

In the city center park, Konya, Turkey

Over and over in my travels I saw just how the same people are everywhere - especially in the age of globalization. Modern appliances, clothing, make up, foods, playgrounds... and the ever popular music of the United States (sigh...) People laugh, cry, dream, work, play, love, raise children, get old, create art, dance, sing and make music everywhere... and of course the list goes on and on.

...and yet, some people somehow think we are different - usually based on externals like clothing, language, geographic location, religious practices... or skin color.

As I walked the streets of Konya I saw people from all over the world who had come to visit the Mevlana museum, touched by the poetic mysticism of Rumi - and I felt a deep sense of gratitude.

(...and you just gotta love a country with statues of musicians in the plazas, and where someone rides a bike like this!)

LYRICS:

ebony, amber, ruby and pearl
people are the multi-colored jewels of the world
we all have a place in the crown of the one
as we orbit in grace round the life-giving sun

we celebrate diversity ,
and invoke the power of unity
embracing our role as stewards of earth
working together towards planetary rebirth

1..2..3..4..     Booguninkun
D.C.DD.C.C.D

...go to the next chant!

Mind Solution

Lakeside, Egirdir, Turkey

I had started the day with a most yummy meditation on the breezy rooftop (yes, I had decided to stay in Egirdir for a few days!) and was feeling grateful for the experience. The frequency of juicy meditative experiences had been slowly increasing from "never" to "every now and then" - and now seemed to be "when you have had a good night's sleep AND do it first thing while you are most alert AND when you do it outdoors". Walking along the lake, I started riffing on the possible benefits of meditation and had lots of fun with the slightly manic segment...  I am far from being free from "mind pollution", but at the very worst the song functions as a declaration and affirmation of what I intend from meditation in the long run. I know meditation is supposd to be goal-less... but it seems that having such a nice goal in mind it can't hurt!

I also get a big kick out of the very spacious rhythm that I ended up choosing to accompany this chant. It takes some REAL being present for me to sing and play this rhythm at the same time - a meditation in itself!

LYRICS:

here is a solution for
the mind pollution:
Trust what you know
and go with the flow

the mind seems designed
to drive us crazy
to make us hyperactive
or make us lazy
we can find balance
and inspiration
by relaxing into
gentle meditation

1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...    Chiftitelli
D...t.K...t.K...D...D...T.......

...go to the next chant!

Little Things

Walking along the isthmus, Egirdir, Turkey

I had departed Olympos - and a visit with the Chimera - catching a morning bus for the 3 hour trip to Antalya, my next planned stop. Unfortunately, Antalya turned out to be a huge, urban sprawl - and I made a snap decision at the otogar (bus staion) to catch the next coach departing in 15 minutes for Konya. This was another 5 hour ride, but I figured I might as well move on. 3 hours later, I awoke from a nap as the bus stopped in Egirdir - which was a quiet little village at the south end of a HUGE lake, surrounded by mountains and cooled by a brisk, delightful breeze. Snap decision #2 for the day and I was off the bus then and there to seek lodging. I ended up sleeping on a 4th story roof top patio on an isthmus, surrounded by the lake with a 360 degree view! That night I walked the rest of the way out the isthmus to the tiny island on the end, where the supposed tourist scene was. It turned out to be 3 tiny restaurants and about 10 more pensions; basically nothing was happening. I later realized that Egirdir was unigue in all my travels - there was actually not even one tourist shop, or vaction geared business there. Just a small town with extra accommodations for people passing through. As I walked back from the little islet, I ate a pear (Turkish pears are consistently superb), was passed by a flock of little children laughing and babbling at high velocity (at least to my ears...) and then I encounterd the crab on the sidewalk! Everything in the song happened over the course of a few brief minutes and I was in just the right frame of mind to take a deep breath and marvel at the entertainment potential of the many seemingly mundane things all around me. I mean, how often does one encounter a big ole crab, on the sidewalk miles from any ocean? I didn't even know crabs lived in lakes!

LYRICS:

i'm loving the little things in life
groovin on tiny treasures
the sweetness of a pear
wind in my hair
that crab on the sidewalk
children as they laugh and talk
the scent of flowers in mountain air

1...2...3...4...
D..kC.C..kC.DkC.

...go to the next chant!

Travelling Alone

Somewhere lost in the hills on a motorbike near Datcha, Turkey

This was a strange period. I had a travelling companion for about a week who was in some ways a twin of my most recent lover. We first met in Kusadasi (my first stop in Turkey) and there was some interesting energy between us so we decided to travel together. Not long after arriving in Datcha, we settled in for our first in depth dialogue... and I discovered that she was 1) all and only about finding a husband, and 2) deeply Christian. Fortunately, she belongs to a class of open minded Christians, who are open to and accepting of other paths, so we were able easily maintain our friendship. This song evolved - once again while riding a motorcycle touring the back roads - as I reflected on the rare and uncommon nature of the people who have become my close friends and lovers. I am constantly amazed that I move daily through hundreds or even thousands of people, with whom I seem to have very little in common. Thank YOU for being the unique person you are!

LYRICS:

i'm travelling alone amidst thousands of people
i'm searching for my family in the teeming mass of life
i'm craving friends who savor deep connection,
live for inspiration
move in unique directions

1...2...3...4...
T..k..T.TkD.D...

...go to the next chant!

Percussion Discussion

Evdhilos Harbor, Ikaria


So, there I was waiting for the departure ferry... which was late. I'm sleepy and the obvious thing to do...? Make music! Out came my Kosika and a little rhythm-song session began. I ran through whatever song popped into my mind and tried to fit it, regardless of meter or feel, to the arbitrary groove of the Kosika. When my arms finally tired, I had a quick vision of a group of fire circle drummers arriving at tired - and being too far in trance to realize it and let go... I am looking forward with much glee to the first time I can spring this one on friends - and I can't wait to hear what layers they will add!

LYRICS:

it's a percussion discussion
come on, everybody speak!
it's a rhythmic chat
let's make it fat
and find out where we end up at

...go to the next chant!

Spirit Lover

Harborside near Armenistis, Ikaria, Greece

My time on Ikaria had been nurturing, eye opening and also full of deep personal work. I had realized that one song that I wanted was something to bring a sense of clear transition and let-go in my mind and heart with regards a recently changed intimate relationship. Although we had shared wonderful, clear and loving communication and had agreed on a revised framework for our connection, we had not had any time to actually live in that new way of being. I found that I was still feeling a deep attachment to her as a lover and knew that in order to build a strong foundation for our on-going friendship, I would need to do some final letting go. This is another of the songs that had many verses and the plural form shared here is what it finally resolved into - one that applies to all of us as lovers of spirit, growing over the years around the fires.

LYRICS:

spirit lovers
dancing friends
healing playmates
there's no end
to the knowing
and the growing
of what we may yet begin

may we laugh and cry
at the wonders of life
and provoke each other
to reach for new heights
and circle in stillness
reflecting the glow
connect with our eyes
because we know we're

round and around
go deeper down

oh wild creatures of the night
oh bright creatures of the light

1..2..3..4..
D.T.TT.D.D.D  Sunu

...go to the next chant!