Last night we held our vigil and celebrated Solstice and the rebirth of the Sun. Today the Sun begins a new cycle of growth, death and rebirth and just as the Sun is starting a new journey through the seasons, I am embarking on a journey of my own -
Some Background -
Much of my Pagan practice centers around music and chants. I have chants for the seasons, chants for offerings and chants for supplications. Funnily enough, I am not actually that musically gifted but when it comes time to express the words in my heart, they always seem to fit best in song.
For many years, I would belt out my chants during my personal devotions but when it came time to lead a group though a Celebration of the seasons, I would read those same chants as a poem rather than singing them. The 'poems' weren't bad. They still had all the right words in all the right places. But those words were missing the power I would experience in my personal devotions. After reading the chant 'Blood of my Blood' by Rachel Hilton as a poem as part of our Samhain Celebration for several years, One year, I finally gathered my courage and lifted my voice in chant. The difference was.......a revelation. The children stopped fidgeting, the adults closed their eyes and stood tall, taking deep breaths, I could feel the power seeping out with each beat of my drum and with each line of the chant. It felt like the ancestor spirits were gathered, listening, pleased for their contributions to be acknowledged. From that point forward, I started using the same chants in group ritual that I use in my private practice. I am not an accomplished (or even 'good' by most standards) singer. If I joined a community choir, I would probably be the member asked to lip-sync 'watermelon, watermelon, watermelon' to make the choir look bigger without actually using my vocal chords. That's ok. Being a good singer has nothing to do with using chants or songs as part of your Pagan practice. In many ways, the challenges I face with my singing (not the best voice, a complete lack of rhythm, somewhat spotty memory for the words) actually helps make my songs a better offering. Every time I sing, it is an effort. I work to make sure I know the words. I work to try and stay in tune (hopefully it's the thought that counts 😏 ). I work to stay on tempo. And don't even get me started on the sheer mental effort I have to go through every time I am going to use in chant or song in public ritual. I believe the best offerings have an element of personal sacrifice, whether it's giving up something you want to keep or something you had to work hard to purchase or it's giving your own time and effort.
My Personal Challenge -
For the last several years, I have felt the need to memorize more of the chants I use. I probably have between 10-15 chants memorized that I can use if I find myself needing to raise my voice somewhere without my handy song book (or internet access) and an additional dozen or so that I have mostly memorized and can fudge through in a pinch. But many of those chants are specialized and linked to a specific season or issue. I would like to have a larger repertoire of songs/chants rattling around in my head ready to be pulled forth at need. Toward that end, I am giving myself a personal challenge. From Winter Solstice to Winter Solstice I would like to memorize a chant a week and hopefully, over the course of the year, add 52 new chants to my in-head playlist......Wish me luck
