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

Dark Flame

With thanks to Maggie for the inspiration

With a flash of light
I illuminate the dark
It’s in the palm of my hand

I am the night
I am the moon and the stars
They wait at my command

And I wear my
Eternal cloak
And it’s painted with
The words I wrote
At the beginning of it all
At the beginning of it all

This Flame of Black
I have placed in your heart
It’s there to sing you my name

And when you feel you’ve cracked
I am there in every part
Of your fleshy domain

And I wear my
Eternal cloak
And it’s painted with
The words I wrote
At the beginning of it all
At the beginning of it all

You feel me there
I am at your very core
Come Darling take my hand

And now that you’re aware
Take me in your every pore
I will flow through you like sand

And I wear my
Eternal cloak
And it’s painted with
The words I wrote
At the beginning of it all
At the beginning of it all

And I wear my
Eternal cloak
And it’s painted with
The words I wrote
At the beginning of it all
At the beginning of it all

Listen to the song

Song – Dark Flame

(C) AM (Xander) Hunter February 2022

An exploration of intention and meaning: Lady on the Foreshore

Lady on the Foreshore came flooding out of me one morning in December 2020 when I began to open to a WildWood entity who has associations with the Sea.

At first, I thought it was a suicide song and that it was about a woman (who I saw in Victorian garb) shedding her worldly self and embracing the eternal by walking into the ocean. It seemed that she was battling some inner turmoil and her way out was to end her life.

But the entity I worked with told me that I could not be more wrong.

What the song is actually about is divination/oracular work: the ways in which people can and have looked into the tides, into everything that surrounds them in a coastal setting, for answers to questions that they are holding.

The cliffs form a container that holds space quite literally for the Lady standing on the sands below. They contain a range of different plants and rocks and birds and animals and other beings, all of whom add something to the working being done below. The song only briefly hints at this, but it is there between the lines, beneath the melody.

The Lady in the song uses a range of different methods for seeking answers.

She uses the motion of the waves and the sound of their coming into shore to move into a trance state whereby she may be shown a vision or receive knowledge in another way.

She counts the waves to provide her with a sense of when something is going to occur.
She uses the combination of wind and water to find direction: much in the same way that someone may use a pendulum.

She uses the wind scattering her footprints as a vehicle for breaking old habits that tie her down. The wind takes them so they may be transformed into something new. Or perhaps the waves take them.

She places her voice onto the gulls so that they can be her envoy and help her to be heard by those who reside in some other realm, such as the one above. Some things cannot be uttered aloud – they are too powerful or secret for that. Using the voice of the gulls enables them to be heard by those who need to hear them but not understood by those they are not intended for but who may overhear them.

She watches the clouds for a response: their shape, their colour, their movement are all signs that can be interpreted.

All of this is done at a particular time of day – sunset.

The sun makes a path on the waves. For someone who works with trance states, this path can be walked and lead somewhere of relevance.

So why did the song take me over a year to put on my blog? Because it isn’t finished. There’s a whole lot more that is yet to come.

The lady goes into the ocean by moonlight where more mysteries are revealed. But I haven’t received that part yet. I was waiting for it to come through, but it is not yet the right time.

So, think of Lady on the Foreshore as being Part One.

Hopefully Part Two is on its way.

© AM (Xander) Hunter January 2022

Lady on the Foreshore

Lady on the Foreshore
Staring out to sea
Searching in the water
What the future will be

Lady on the Foreshore
Counting the waves
Seeing in their motion
Her years and her days

Her footprints in the Sand
Are scattered by the wind
All her hopes and plans
The cliffs have fenced tight in

The words she could not utter
The gulls are screaming loud
The turmoil of her heart
Echoed by the clouds

Lady on the Foreshore
Reaches out her hand
Asking the water
To help her understand

Lady on the Foreshore
Arms spread out wide
Calls for an answer
Upon the rising tide

Her footprints in the Sand
Are scattered by the wind
All her hopes and plans
The cliffs have fenced tight in

The words she could not utter
The gulls are screaming loud
The turmoil of her heart
Echoed by the clouds

Lady on the Foreshore
Blows upon the spray
Watches the wind take it
And notices the way

Lady on the Foreshore
Raises up her head
Path open before her
She sees the sun to bed

Her footprints in the Sand
Are scattered by the wind
All her hopes and plans
The cliffs have fenced tight in

The words she could not utter
The gulls are screaming loud
The turmoil of her heart
Echoed by the clouds

Her footprints in the Sand
Are scattered by the wind
All her hopes and plans
The cliffs have fenced tight in

The words she could not utter
The gulls are screaming loud
The turmoil of her heart
Echoed by the clouds

Listen to the song

© AM (Xander) Hunter January 2022

Saint Brigid’s Chant

Written for the WildWood Imbolc Ritual 2021

Saint Brigid hear me call your name
I stand before you offering this flame
Take my fear, take my sorrow, take my pain
Forge it all into something I reclaim
That I reclaim

Saint Brigid hear me call your name
I stand before you offering this flame
Take my fear, take my sorrow, take my pain
Forge it all into something I reclaim
That I reclaim

Saint Brigid hear me call your name
I stand before you offering this flame
Take my fear, take my sorrow, take my pain
Forge it all into something I reclaim
That I reclaim

Saint Brigid hear me call your name
I stand before you offering this flame
Take my fear, take my sorrow, take my pain
Forge it all into something I reclaim
That I reclaim

Saint Brigid hear me call your name
I stand before you offering this flame
Take my fear, take my sorrow, take my pain
Forge it all into something I reclaim
That I reclaim

Listen to the song

© AM (Xander) Hunter July 2021

Performance of the chant
About the chant

My Foolish Child

My foolish Child
Your voice is
Mine
Yet you use it to
Bleat
And whine

Come sit
Beside me
Under this tree
Take my hand
Sweet Child
Let it be

This tearing inside
Your bleeding red
Hart
This scratching and
Biting to
Find your art

All is illusion
Yet all is right
Here
The wonders before us
The thorns
You fear

We are all shredded
But
We rise again
Face our
Dark shadows and
Horrors within

This flesh that
Repels you
Holds secrets my deer
Your task to
Unravel
While you are here

Too soon back
To the Infinite
You’ll head
With a mind
Full of fears
And a heart
Full of dread

Each treasure
Taking
Hiding away
Dropping deep down
Into some nameless
Bay

Closing a door
And locking it
Tight
Shrouding its location
Under cover of
Night

Not mapping out
Nor seeing it’s
Worth
Fooling yourself
That all’s well
On this Earth

But you forget me
That I am
In you
That we are
Entwined
We fated two

Your soul
And mine
In endless silver dance
Of spirals and
Serpents
And sweet happenstance

Whispered threads
Of who what
And where
Of when and of how
And all things
You dare

For every door
You
Lock away
I hold a key
All I need to do is
Say

It shall be opened
And open
It will
With things passing
Through it
For good or for ill

The hollows within you
Were once
In the hills
For you are my door
Through you my
Form spills

So foolish Child
Do you yet
Realise
You hold Earth
In your bones and
Stars in your eyes

A thing of wonder
Each part
Divine
An ocean of brightness
Our soul
Sublime

© AM (Xander) Hunter October 2020

It’s in the Shadows

A riddle

It’s in the shadows
Between the light and the dark
It’s in the shadows
Between the stone and the spark
It’s in the shadows
Between the Web and the Tree
It’s in the shadows
Between the bud and the seed

Waiting
Shrouded
Hidden
Clouded
Swirling and
Still
A breath away
If you will

It’s in the shadows
Between the light and the dark
It’s in the shadows
Between the stone and the spark
It’s in the shadows
Between the Web and the Tree
It’s in the shadows
Between the bud and the seed

Waiting
Shrouded
Hidden
Clouded
Swirling and
Still
A breath away
If you will

It’s in the shadows
Between the light and the dark
It’s in the shadows
Between the stone and the spark
It’s in the shadows
Between the Web and the Tree
It’s in the shadows
Between the bud and the seed

Waiting
Shrouded
Hidden
Clouded
Swirling and
Still
A breath away
If you will

Listen to the song

(c) AM (Xander) Hunter October 2020

Black Dragon

There’s a black dragon
Under my feet
It’s smoke framed face
Fills my sleep
There’s a black dragon
Circling my home
There’s a black dragon
Won’t leave me alone

Walking down the ragged track
Feeling kind of dreamy
Are those eyes upon my back
I hope that they don’t see me
I drop me down into the ground
To see what I could see there
Shadowed figure large and round
I think I should not be here

There’s a black dragon
Under my feet
It’s smoke framed face
Fills my sleep
There’s a black dragon
Screaming in pain
There’s a black dragon
And he’s calling my name

Calling my name
Calling my
Name

Listen to the song

(C) AM (Xander) Hunter September 2020