Note: All of my Pagan ritual music is available for free and subject only to "bardic copyright": spread it as far and wide as possible, but please do not use it for profit. I welcome the folk process: elaborations, arrangements, re-harmonizations, extra lyrics, alternate versions, etc. are welcome and encouraged so long as they do not change the ethos of the original. If you teach these songs, record them, or include them in a compilation, please credit me as the composer.
This is a text score. There are no set notes, rhythms, or lyrics, but instead, instructions for structured improvization. It can be performed by any group, regardless of musical background, and every performance will be different. In ritual, they can be used for invocations and devocations, group meditation, raising or holding energy, building confidence in one's voice and body, or any other purpose.
Put a hand on your neck and feel your pulse. With your other hand, beat that same rhythm against your chest. This is difficult and will be inaccurate, and that’s OK. Remember your Beloved Dead (pets included!), and/or your ancestors of blood or land, and begin to whisper their names over and over in a loop (this can be either their given names or what you called them, like “Grandma,” whatever feels most comfortable). At any point, switch to humming a drone on any note, listening to those around you, then when you’re ready, return to whispering names. When the heartbeats of the group have aligned (or after a suitable amount of time), begin to sing “We honor you, we remember you, we love you” on any notes that make sense. Continue until everyone has joined and it becomes a song. Sing together as long as you need to.
