Walking With My Shadows

From behind me green eyes sparkle
And he licks his jagged teeth
Starts grabbing at my beating heart
But it is kept out of his reach
For my heart it is well guarded
By her blood red thorny rose
So back into the ethers
His shadowed form does go

As I turn another corner
Of my winding crooked way
A little faun is following me
But he’s being kept at bay
For my Guardian is holding me
In his huge protective arms
And his silken voice keeps telling me
To beware of his charms

My feet they keep on wandering
Through the darkly lit woodlands
Around me eyes are glistening
And making hungry plans
For the light that glows and shows the way
Is a magnet strong and true
Towards it are drawn many things
That would like to hold it to

For without a light a shadow
By the darkness is absorbed
So the hungry eyes keep watching me
And they take their shadowed form
Shrieking cries I hear as music
As I walk my crooked path
And I find that I am singing with them
And share my light of Art

So to me they start their whispering
Of their secrets and of skills
Of ancient deep pooled knowledge
From within these hallowed hills
As I work my Art I see them there
Holding circles guarding ways
They open up such mysteries
And spread them for my gaze

But to think they are all friendly
Would turn me into a feast
The dinner bell would sound aloft
And the hungry ones would eat
So I share my light with kindred
And they protect my fragile form
Together we are stronger than
The chasm, fire, and storm

From behind me green eyes sparkle
And he licks his jagged teeth
Starts grabbing at my beating heart
But it is kept out of his reach
For my heart it is well guarded
By her blood red thorny rose
So back into the ethers
His shadowed form does go

© AM (Xander) Hunter September 2022

Fairytales have Answers

Searching for answers I don’t know
What the questions are
When life is overwhelming me
And where to head is far
Directions spin like children’s toys
I am the dust of stars
Drifting through these endless days
Spreading near and far

My heart is filled with darkness and then
Sudden bursts of light
My arms hold the universe
I sing mist into night
Across the blackened sea me myself I
Sail over the moon
Night may hold eternity
But Dawn comes all too soon

Gather up my ponderings I
Enfold them in my breath
Give them to the winds of fate
My uncertain quest
Dancing on the swirling breeze they
Travel far and wide
While I await here patiently
On this eternal ride

A labyrinth of endless pain
Contains my question mark
Wrapped in soul I feel my way
Fight shadows in the dark
Endless turning pulls me free from
My embodied state
Shattered pieces lie before my
Shining three-fold gate

And when there’s nothing left but echoes
In the screaming winds
Deep waters swirling still
From where I might have been
A pile of scattered blackened ash that’s
Still warm from the spark
I find myself facing me
Reflections in the glass

In my quest for truth and wisdom I hold
Close the central part
That it is the journeying
Connecting mind to heart
I am the brightest flame above
The deepest darkest well
Shining in my loving arms
Myself my answers tell

Fairytales have answers
My fairytales have answers

What is your question?

© AM (Xander) Hunter August 2022

Heart of Our Dark One

For Aaron (Happy Solstice)

We dance in the woods
To the rhythm of the heart of Our Dark One
Our Bringer of Dreams
Our Raven Queen

We dance in the woods
To the rhythm of the heart of Our Dark One
Our Bringer of Dreams
Our Raven Queen

Howling our prayers
Into dark skies
We witness Their birth
And their demise

The other way around
The other way around

We raise our heads high
Honour Her new light
Eyes shimmering with
Shards of Her delight

Offerings to ground
Offerings to ground

Laughter tears through
This veil between
Our voices blend
As they weave

Old to Newly Found
Old to Newly Found

We dance in the woods
To the rhythm of the heart of Our Dark One
Our Bringer of Dreams
Our Raven Queen

We dance in the woods
To the rhythm of the heart of Our Dark One
Our Bringer of Dreams
Our Raven Queen

© AM (Xander) Hunter June 2022

My Requiem and I

A solstice song

My Requiem and I
Walked a crooked path
By and by
By and by
And as we walked along
We thought we heard a laugh
By and by
By and by
My Requiem and I
Followed this silver song
By and by
By and by
And like a river’s tide
It pulled us along
By and by
By and by
My Requiem and I
Came across a tree
By and by
By and by
There we left a kiss of gold
From the Honey Bee
By and by
By and by
My Requiem and I
Solstice Blessings bade
By and by
By and by
May the coming year ahead
Be sweet and joyous made
By and by
By and by
My Requiem and I
Walked a crooked path
By and by
By and by
And as we walked along
We thought we heard a laugh
By and by
By and by

© AM (Xander) Hunter December 2021

About the song

Spiral Bound

A spell crafting song and seal –
to be sung three times while spiraling around a tree – each time slightly faster than the last. The seal to be sung three times before slapping the blood into the sigil and sealing the spell.

As I dance beneath this tree
Around and around spiral bound

In my head a picture see
Around and around spiral bound

In my hand a needle thick
Around and around spiral bound

From my thumb some blood I prick
Around and around spiral bound

Trace my sigil on this bark
Around and around spiral bound

Place my will into this arc
Around and around spiral bound

By three times three
By land, sky and sea
By black, white and red
I seal this thread

© AM (Xander) Hunter December 2021

Dance Dance

Fire twirling in His hands
He dances life into these lands
Water falling from His hair
The song of life flows through the air

Dance dance
Dancing life into these lands
Dance dance
The song of life flows through these hands

She is veiled in mystery
From sky above through land to sea
Through all the Realms Her voice is heard
The song of life wrapped in Her wyrd

Dance dance
Dancing life into these lands
Dance dance
The song of life flows through these hands

Dance dance
Dancing life into these lands
Dance dance
The song of life flows through these hands

© AM Hunter November 2021

I am Blessed

Written during a WildWood Art Date

My Blood is Ara’s Divine spark
It leads from my veins to my thorny heart

My Breath is Grandfather calling me home
Pulling that from without to be in my bones

My Eye is Weaver’s knowing gaze
Bringing perception through the haze

My Heart is Our Lady’s loving hands
Shaping my Art, fearsome and grand

My Being is our Prince’s dancing heartbeat
Moving from my hands and through my feet

All together I am me
The best myself that I can be

I move in this world
And through the next

I’m a WildWood Witch and
I am blessed.

© AM (Xander Hunter) July 2022

Held Within

I hold a cross inside my heart
And it is the crossroads of my Art
Around its centre is a ring
And it’s the one I dance within

I hold a cross inside my heart
And it is the crossroads of my Art
Around its centre is a ring
it’s the one in which I dance within

Deep within it lies a Flame
And at its centre your Divine Name

I hold a cross inside my heart
And it is the crossroads of my Art
Around its centre is a ring
And it’s the one I dance within

I hold a cross inside my heart
And it is the crossroads of my Art
Around its centre is a ring
it’s the one in which I dance within

All that I was and ever shall be again
Lies here at the Centre
Held within your Flame

Listen to the Song

© Copyright AM (Xander) Hunter, May 2022

About the song

The Stranger in Green

A song for WildWood

On a faraway hill there once was a tree
As lonely and barren as that tree could be
Till one day came a Stranger all dressed in green
And they were a weaver of the seen and unseen

They looked at the tree and its hidden desires
That danced round that tree like green foxes of fire
Sparkling like starlight in the blackest of skies
Reminding that Stranger of the light in His eyes

So the Stranger stopped still and upturned their face
Called to our Weaver, the holder of fates
And Her answer came floating like feathers through air
To merge with the Stranger, their skin bones and hair

They started to dance, and they moved around slowly
Taking such care just like each step was holy
Touching down gently like a stag in the wood
Reminding that Stranger of their Man in Green Hood

From the base of that hill the Stranger did dance
Spiraling upwards between the three lands
And as sunrise came slowly to the edge of the sky
The Stranger and tree came to meet eye to eye

Its branches rose up, each one back lit in crimson
Its trunk was etched deeply with lines holding wisdom
Roots hugging Earth gently as a bear holds her cub
Reminding That Stranger of Her thorny heart’s rub

As birds heralded daylight the Stranger did sing
Voice echoing deeply like a silver bell’s ring
Its ethereal grace embraced the tree
Like twin snakes dancing in divine revelry

The tree started to glow as if it was on fire
The serpentine light flowing deeper and higher
Till it’s heart burst with an orange red flare
Reminding that stranger of mystery’s care

In the suns full bright gaze, the Tree stood so tall
Seeming together the One and the All
Then suddenly leaves ushered in life
Followed by fruit red and ripe for the knife

The stranger they laughed and it echoed with lightning
Crowning the Tree with its crooked gold shining
Drawing around it the old Lore and Good
Reminding that Stranger of the deep dark WildWood

On a faraway hill there once was a tree
As large and majestic as that tree could be
Till one day came a Stranger all dressed in green
And they were a weaver of the seen and unseen

© AM (Xander) Hunter May 2022

About the song