Floating through the silence I call out to thee Arms reaching widely To hold you to me I see you floating freely Upon my sea of stars Facing the blackness That’s hiding our hearts.
I breathe and it moves me I feel it flow through you Even in this stillness Between me and you I call but you don’t hear me You’re deaf, blind, and dumb Ignite the flame within you For I am that one.
Your flame smolders softly And sparks you into life You begin to move towards me Awakened, alight Body slowly forming From the dust of my stars Yet that ache continues Your gaze lost and sparse.
My fingers reach out to you I hold your hand in mine Two becoming one again Golden harp divine Our hearts sing to each other We are all and we are one Blazing together Brighter than the sun.
Alien This feeling Of otherness Separateness Being torn From some Memory Of union Oneness That was once But is no more It burns To touch this Stuff That houses my True Self Such ugly layers Thingness Heavy Dull Each movement Awkward Uncomfortable Unclean This messiness Is not me It is my prison Nothing more The flow So beautiful Enticing Haunting Laughing at my Misery Thickness clogging Solid Hard Nothing flows Anymore Except in the Heart of my mind’s Eye In that space I remember Re Member Myself Back to the Nothingness The void that is All Centre Everything In that space Between breath And death I am somehow Whole Myself In all my splendour Only here am I Truly me Everything else is The half-remembered Dream Of One who once Was starlight And infinite
The song is sung once for each direction cast; when casting below use the final verse reversing the order of branches and roots. The song is intended to be sung with motion – raising a hand, drawing a sigil, and empowering it before moving the energy to the next direction point
With our roots down low
And our branches up high
We raise one hand
Toward the sky
Draw a sigil in the air
Place a point of power there
Draw the circle round
Draw the circle round
Final verse
With our branches down low
And our roots up high
We raise one hand
Toward the sky
Draw a sigil in the air
Place a point of power there
Draw the circle round
Draw the circle round
Draw the circle round
Draw the circle round
Written for and dedicated to my beloved brother F on the renewal of his vows
Walk with me and take my hand And I’ll step you through the seasons on a tour Grande Spring and Summer Autumn and through winter too Such secrets that I hold and I’ll share them all with you
Walk with me and let’s go right now We can open up this door I will show you how It may not seem so now but I’m offering you a choice You can remain silent or you can find your voice
Persephone you whispered Persephone That’s what you called when you first encountered me You wanted truth and knowledge you wanted to be free So I held out my hand and I drew you to me
Walk with me through the realms I love The one that’s down below and the one that’s up above Take a look around and tell me what you see Tear that veil from your eyes and such visions are released
Walk with me through the darkest depths You think you’ve hit the bottom but you haven’t been there yet No matter how far you fall I always will be there Just hold out your hand and you’ll know how much I care
I remember long ago when I was like you were then All young and innocent till he snatched me from my mother’s heart Just like I snatched you from yours When you whispered
Persephone you whispered Persephone That’s what you called when you first encountered me You wanted truth and knowledge you wanted to be free So I held out my hand and I drew you to me
So walk with me and take my hand And I’ll step you through the seasons on a tour Grande Spring and Summer Autumn and through winter too Such secrets that I hold and I’ll share them all with you
Walk with me and let’s go right now We can open up this door I will show you how It may not seem so now but I’m offering you a choice You can remain silent or you can find your voice
Persephone you whispered Persephone That’s what you called when you first encountered me You wanted truth and knowledge you wanted to be free So I held out my hand and I drew you to me
Persephone you whispered Persephone That’s what you called when you first encountered me You wanted truth and knowledge you wanted to be free So I held out my hand and I drew you to me
Witchcamps are from the Reclaiming Tradition, and have been happening in Australia for around five years now. At CloudCatcher Witchcamp this year I joined Suzanne Sterling and Sue Dunwoody to learn more about chant writing and techniques for singing.
Over four sessions we learned about the importance of warming up and cooling down your voice, various tips for improving vocal range and stamina without damaging your voice, and different ways of constructing chants and small songs.
This includes:
• beginning with some lines of writing, choosing a line or two and using that to base a song around (see Compassion be here now) ;
• beginning with a tune and finding words for the tune (see Signs of Autumn);
• using trance as a basis for writing a song or chant (see Finding my voice);
• focusing on devotion to a deity (see Anpu/Anubis);
• basing a chant on a specific line obtained from elsewhere (see Step into the Mystery); and
• focusing on current events and what needs to be changed (see Chant for Change).
I love writing songs and singing, so the path was wonderful for me to explore my technique and push at some edges. I found myself feeling quite vulnerable doing this in front of people, which had an interesting impact on my voice. Best of all, I came away with several chants, some of which I quite like!
The Anpu devotional song I recorded at camp, and you can tell the difference if you listen to that song in comparison to the others.
Jackal-headed warrior
Guardian of my ways between
Thank you for how you
Protect my spirit
Keep me safe
How I honour all of your names
Both known and unknown to me
Accept this offering that I make
May fresh ones always come to thee
I am embracing fate
I am combating hate
My voice will ring out
Yours will not drown it out
Hear me above your scream
You will not shut down my dream
Compassion be here now
Compassion be here now
Green and Grey 
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