Monday Music Break: Sound of the River

Happy Monday!  I've decided that I need bunny therapy today.  Well, I don't have access to actual bunnies, so I'll have to settle for virtual bunnies, and I'd like to share the love with you.  Here, have a pile of baby bunnies.  Was that a squee I heard?  Of course it was, it's a sea of baby bunnies!!  I feel better already.

Source: cuteoverload.com

Today's music break is Tina Malia's "Sound of the River."  I put on the Keep Music Pagan channel on YouTube and this song really vibed with me tonight.  I must still be really in tune with water from my time down the shore.  Even if it mostly a disaster, I did do some kick-ass magick before I left, and I think I'm still grooving off of that.

Happy 1st Blogiversary to Me!!

Today is marks 1 year since my 1st post on Blogger!  Thank you to all you wonderful people who have been reading my blog and helped me get here :)  Since this blog focuses primarily on pagan music, I am celebrating by posting some of my favorite songs by pagan artists.  Enjoy the pagan music extravaganza!!

"Storm" by S.J. Tucker:  This became one of my favorite songs the instant I heard it <3

"Drawing Down the Moon" by Gaia Consort": I love how poetic the lyrics are, and the contrast between the softer verses and the more driving chorus.

"Wild" by Cassandra Syndrome: This is atypical of their usual operatic metal sound, but it's so deliciously deep and dark and wild and free, I just love it :)

"The Great Selkie" by Avalon Rising: Traditional song with such a lovely arrangement.  I was introduced to this song many years ago and it's still one of my favorites!  (Sorry, all I have is a link to a sample, but I really wanted to share either this song or "God Walks Among Us," which is completely unavailable online apparently.)

Listen

"I Walk With the Goddess" by Kellianna: I just love this chant - complex enough to be interesting, but not too hard to forget.  And it's fun!

And that's it for now.  Hope you guys enjoyed all the great music!  Please feel free to continue the blogiversary pagan music extravaganza by linking up to your favorite pagan songs in the comment section :)

Inspiration in Dance

Dance inspires me so much.  I love to dance, though I have very little training - mostly I just love to move to the beat.  I really, really love to watch others dancing, too, especially trained dancers who do it well.  It's so inspiring, and sometimes churns a spark of creativity within me.  I think that's why I love watching shows like So You Think You Can Dance and Breaking Pointe so much (Allison's ridiculous drama on the latter show notwithstanding).  My favorite styles to watch are ballet, contemporary, and bollywood. 

I saw this performance on SYTYCD a few weeks ago, danced by Amelia and Will and choreographed by the utterly brilliant Sonya Tayeh.  It brought me to tears, and then it took my breath away.  When it was over I may have also screamed something like "OH MY GOD!!" a few times, and pounded the couch for emphasis.

 

Do you have a favorite style to dance, or to watch others dance?  Please share in the comments!

My upcoming 1-year bloggiversary

My 1st blogiversary* is coming up on August 14th, can you believe that?  I am astounded and blessed that I've gotten through a whole year writing in this blog, finding my voice and what it was I truly wanted to post about, and increasing my followers from 0 to 13 in just 12 months.

Remember when I hit 1000 views in April?  I was ecstatic.  I thought it would take forever to hit another 1000 views but already I am 7 views away from 2000 views! I'm really hoping to hit 2500 views by August 14th - think we can do it?

I'm still trying to decide how I would like celebrate my blogiversary.  Posting a new (non-Sabbat) chant?  A giveaway?  A pagan music break extravaganza??  I promise to figure it out soon.  I need to get some pretty critical real-life things dealt with first, like finding a place to live come September (Hopefully that happens on Saturday, keep your fingers crossed for me!).

I hope everyone had a good Lammas, full of fuzzy llamas and funny llamas, but not drama llamas.


*I actually had to look up how to spell this, because it's not as intuitive as you'd think.  Unfortunately there is no agreement in the blogosphere about 1 g vs. 2.  The exciting life of a writer!

For You (Lammas Song)

Hey Folks!  As promised, here is my Lammas chant, called "For You (Lammas Song)."  Please enjoy!  As usual, let me know what you think or if you have any problems with the player.

Lyrics:

This is your Lammas song
For those of you who danced for the sun
For those of you who sang in its warmth
For you who reveled in its light and its heat
For you I sing this Lammas song

Gather your community,
your family, friends, and loved ones
Pass the basket and the chalice
and savor the last days of the summer

Watch the Lughnasadh sun pass over,
its blessings of the harvest
a reminder of the winter to come

So for you who love the summer,
I sing this Lammas song.
 

I know, it's kind of a sad, mournful song.  You should go cheer yourself up by going back to this week's Monday Music Break about Lammas and llamas.

You are free to share my post and use my chants in ritual - and I would love to know that you do!  But please do not reproduce them in any way without permission.