Sunday, September 2, 2012

Magic and Music, part 2





Our last blog post on this subject was pretty general, and covered the overall topic rather well so this time we’re going into a specific example.

In a group I used to work with not long ago, in the beginning stage of our forming a group mind I awoke with the following lyrics pulsing in my brain:

I open myself to you, in Perfect Trust and Love
I open myself to you, so that We are One.


There was more, but it was specific to the group so I’m leaving that part out because it wouldn’t be appropriate to share.  However, as you can see from the words the context is Wiccan (because I am) and the intent is to open our energy up to the people we are sharing circle with to better facilitate the meshing that the ritual group mind requires.  The first time we met after the melody and words came to me, we stood in a circle holding hands, and I started off singing those two lines while looking into the eyes of the person on my left.  At the end of my round, I kept singing while she joined in and we both looked to the person on their left, and so on around the circle.  When the person on my right was singing it to me, and the whole group was singing it together, I have to say the energy was just amazing.  One of the gals in the circle said that she was almost sure she felt her hair blow back when it got to her as the focus.  I can say that it was a LOT of energy raised before we’d even started to get ready to begin the ritual, and the subsequent full moon was pretty intense for all of us.

It sounds rather dry, putting it in writing like this, unfortunately.  Later as I was thinking about how one would use the same idea and melody in solo work, I came up with this variation:

I open myself to Earth, to Fire, Wind and Rain.
I open my heart and mind, to join with you again.
I open myself to you, in Perfect Trust and Love.
I open myself to you, so that We are One.

And I’ve recorded it here, although the melody is pretty much the same.   
It works for me, pretty well as both a grounding/centering and an uplifting quick charge.  Please keep in mind, this is me singing it a cappella, and trying not to wake up the roommate.  Sorry if it’s a bit quiet, this is my first foray into singing into the computer microphone.

This is one small example of what I mean when I talk about making music magic have a purpose.  It’s why I’m taking my personal spiritual practice in this direction, it doesn’t just speak to my heart, it sings to it.  I’m envisioning songs of grounding, songs of healing, teaching songs, etc…. something longer than the simple chants we use, but that are simple enough for the non-singers to work with as well.

I’d love to hear your experiences with music and magic, and look forward to your responses and ideas.

I wish you harmony and blessings as always,
Alan

2 comments:

  1. I have always enjoyed your bardic talents, Alan! Singing and rhyming just add an extra "oomph" to any working, and I'm wanting to incorporate using melodies into my everyday life, too. It used to come so naturally when my children were little -- we had songs for cleaning up, putting on shoes, taking baths, going to sleep -- but I've stopped doing that now that they're grown.

    I think singing has such a sense of the sacred dimension attached to it because it requires consciously connecting to the breath and accessing a kind of focus that isn't used in speech. Every religious tradition uses sound and song in some aspect of ritual and worship, and it just makes sense to tap into that communal state of being, whether one is working solo or in a group.

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  2. I really liked this post, Alan! You have a great voice, too!:)

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