Naturalistic Paganism
Over the years, I have created rituals to celebrate the Wheel of the Year with my wife and children. Music has been an essential part of the experience. Without it, it would be much more difficult to create the sense of sacred time and space and to evoke the experience I desire for each ritual. So I want to share with you my playlist for each station on the Wheel of Year. Here’s the fourth list. Enjoy! And share your suggestions in the comments below.
Summer Solstice / Litha
Mythologically, at Litha, the Goddess and her Consort, the Oak King, consummate their union. Their consummation becomes a conflagration that will consume the Oak King. The fire casts a shadow across the land, foreshadowing the decline of the Oak King. Though the God of Light still reigns, the Dark God escapes his imprisonment and the Oak King begins his decline. In another version, the Dark Child is born at this time.
“Sunny” by Marvin Gaye
Mmm, Sunny, yesterday my heart was filled with rain.
Sunny, you smiled at me and really eased the pain.
Oh, the dark days are done, and the bright days are here,
My sunny one shines so sincere,
Sunny one so true, I love you.
Sunny, thank you for the sunshine bouquet.
Aw, Sunny, thank you for the love you’ve brought my way.
Aw, You gave to me your all and all,
Now I feel ten feet tall,
Ah, Sunny one so true, I love you.
Mmm, Sunny, thank you for the truth you’ve let me see.
Yeah, Sunny, thank you for the facts from A to Z.
Aw, My life was torn like wind blown sand,
Then a rock was formed when you held my hand.
Sunny one so true, I love you.
[Yes, Sunny, thank you for that smile upon your face.
Ah, Sunny, thank you for that gleam that glows with grace.
Ah, You’re my spark of nature’s fire,
You’re my sweet complete desire.
Sunny one so true, I love you.] (repeat)
“Shadows” by Woodland
Shadows, shadows dance away the fire,
from summer green to fallen leaves,
oh light the sylvan pyre;
for the day is red and ripe upon the branch,
leaves of autumn turn to gold,
shadows, shadows dance away the fire.
For there is a summer in each life,
until the shadows ride the samhain wind,
to a twilight celebration;
and there is a shadow to each light,
a dusk to every morning spring,
to a seasons celebration in the dark.
Shadows, shadows wash away our pain,
feel the harvest hour of letting go,
‘til the hearth’s alight again;
for the night is sweet
and ripe upon the vine,
she seeds dreams within her herbs,
and ancient grains of wisdom in her wine.
For there is a winter in each life,
‘til springtime blooms carry us,
to a maidens celebration;
and there is a fire in each night,
a sleep unto awakening,
to a seasons celebration in the light.
Shadows, shadows carry us to rest,
to roots of willow and beds of stone,
to hillsides where our ashes are blown.
Time, time, dance away the cold,
feel the starlight in the wintery hood,
the summers gift, the fire in the wood.
For there is a season to each life,
a hope for sorrow and despair,
shadows, shadows dance away the fire.
For there is a season to each life,
a gift of joy for every pain,
to a season’s celebration in the heart.
“Green and Grey” by Damh the Bard
Early one morning, around the first of May,
A man in black came walking, into a woodland glade,
Following the sounds of pipes on this beautiful Spring day,
High on the music that they made.
But what beheld him within that place?
A look of recognition fell across his face,
“Lucifer, oh Lucifer, why do you appear to me?
For I am a man of God, a priest.
(Chorus)
I’m no devil I’m Father to the land,
I have lived here since the Earth began,
Neither black nor white,
Priest hear what I say,
I’m green and grey.
The priest said, “Lucifer, Lucifer you lie so well,
I will pray unto my God, go back to the fires of Hell!
You fell from Heaven, and you fell from Grace.
You want dominion over this place.”
The Piper smiled, and to the priest he said,
“I was Lord of Animals, the Wild Hunt I led,
Until your God came here and with his jealous hand,
It was he who wanted dominion over this land.
The priest said, “All evil comes from your hand.”
The Piper said, “If evil is, it lies in the hearts of Man.”
“But you lead us, oh you tempt us, to rape, to steal, to kill!”
The Piper said, “Whatever happened to free will?”
Then the Grove lay empty, the priest told no one.
The blossom lay upon the thorn, the Piper’s tune was done.
And in the sunlit forest, the animals they bowed,
As the Piper lay his Goddess down.
Naturalistic Paganism 