Author Topic: Solstice Songs anyone??  (Read 13897 times)

Offline newyearsday

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Solstice Songs anyone??
« on: December 14, 2006, 11:27:18 pm »
I wonder if anyone knows of any songs that celebrate the Winter Solstice....I'm really into the book The Mists of Avalon, set 1500 hundred years ago during the reign of King Arthur, and it's making me want to research any ancient songs of more pagan or earth-based worship.

Thanks for any help you can provide!

Jenny
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Offline Ellemeno

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Re: Solstice Songs anyone??
« Reply #1 on: December 15, 2006, 10:34:37 am »
Light is returning
by Charlie Murphy

Light is returning, even though this is the darkest hour
No one can hold back the dawn.

One planet is turning, turning on a path around the Sun
Earth Mother is calling Her children home.

Let's keep it burning, let's keep the light of hope alive,
Make safe the journey through the storm.



(Jenny, I can sing it for you over the phone if you want, it's an easy peaceful melody.)

Offline Daniel

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Re: Solstice Songs anyone??
« Reply #2 on: December 15, 2006, 10:40:37 am »
What a beautiful song...

Its words are so remniscient of the ancient traditions of Yule. The yule log was kept burning through the darkest night of the year, to guide the Sun-child back from its journey through the Underworld.
Why do we consume what we consume?
Why do we believe what we believe?
Why do we accept what we accept?
You have a body, a mind, and a soul.... You have a responsibility.

Offline Kd5000

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Re: Solstice Songs anyone??
« Reply #3 on: December 15, 2006, 12:01:01 pm »
I used to have a book of Solstice poems.    Can't seem to find it anymore. 

"I say Live, Live because of the sun,
the dream, the excitable gift."

I remembered that line from a poem Anne Sexton wrote.  It was in the book.

Never heard of any Solstice songs. Wouldn't they have some on a Celtic CD?  You might want to conduct a search on AMAZON.com.

I couldn't get thru the THE MISTS OF AVALON. It came out in the mid 1980's I believe. I bought it during the early part of the summer thinking that this will last the whole season as the book was so thick.  It told the Arthurian story from the women's point of view, correct.

Maybe I should try WAR AND PEACE instead.  ;)

Offline Front-Ranger

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Re: Solstice Songs anyone??
« Reply #4 on: December 15, 2006, 12:06:37 pm »
I think George Winston has a CD called Winter that is very beautiful. Also, I am listening to Sting's Songs from the Labyrinth which features the lute compositions of John Dowland. Although they date from the late 1500s they seem very relevant to both the Christmas and the solstice somehow.

I have written more about this on Anything Goes under Music News.
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Offline newyearsday

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Re: Solstice Songs anyone??
« Reply #5 on: December 15, 2006, 01:16:33 pm »
Thanks, everyone. I was thinking, "I wonder if anyone will reply to this message," and then I've got all these great replies! Warms my heart. One reason I wanted songs with words (rather than instrumental music) is that my family has a big tradition of singing Christmas carols together for about an hour on Christmas Eve, and I wanted to put a little balance into the tradition with the Solstice songs.

Yes, Mists of Avalon is long, but I love it! I've got about 200 pages to go, and I'll be sad when it's over.

Elle, I might just take you up on that offer! It'd be a great chance to talk, too.

Jenny
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Offline Jeff Wrangler

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Re: Solstice Songs anyone??
« Reply #6 on: December 16, 2006, 01:57:01 pm »
Yes, Mists of Avalon is long, but I love it! I've got about 200 pages to go, and I'll be sad when it's over.

It's a great book. Marion Zimmer Bradley, the author, is one of the Founding Mothers of the Society for Creative Anachronism, the medieval/Renaissance re-enactment/recreation of which I'm a member.
"It is required of every man that the spirit within him should walk abroad among his fellow-men, and travel far and wide."--Charles Dickens.

Offline Front-Ranger

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Re: Solstice Songs anyone??
« Reply #7 on: December 16, 2006, 02:14:36 pm »
Would one of you like to start a book club thread about The Mists of Avalon? I just went up to my daughter's aerie to look for it, and I found High Priestess of Avalon and three or four other books with Avalon in the name, but no Mists of...I know we have it around here somewhere, as well as the movie, but my daughter informs me that the movie is far inferior to the book and besides, ew, it has Morgana having sex with her brother! That would certainly turn off my daughter completely!!
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Offline Jeff Wrangler

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Re: Solstice Songs anyone??
« Reply #8 on: December 16, 2006, 08:31:45 pm »
Spoiler Alert: The Mists of Avalon

I know we have it around here somewhere, as well as the movie, but my daughter informs me that the movie is far inferior to the book and besides, ew, it has Morgana having sex with her brother! That would certainly turn off my daughter completely!!

Well, so does the book. That's where the movie got it from. But it's not like she just decided to go out and have sex with her brother. It's a religious ritual, it's a very important plot point--and she doesn't know it's her brother when she's having sex with him. There's nothing creepy or icky about the way it's depicted, and I hope no one will let this be a deterrent to reading a really great novel.
"It is required of every man that the spirit within him should walk abroad among his fellow-men, and travel far and wide."--Charles Dickens.

Offline David In Indy

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Re: Solstice Songs anyone??
« Reply #9 on: December 16, 2006, 08:43:07 pm »
Winter Moon Rapture

cleanse my wounds in winter moon desire
this endless quest for sanctuary pure
as formless levithans swim avernian seas
crystal citadels call me in my dreams
desolate epochs, the statues they weep
through eons passing, the guardians still sleep
the towers of silence
a fortress of strength
this wealth of compassion
would ease my descent
my heart greets forests, once sacred, profane
the earth my mistress in pleasure and pain
seeking solace in the glory that was
of hidden shrines to gods now lost
amongst hopes ruins to find my true place
I orphaned of heritage a man of no race
cleanse my wounds in winter moon desire
this endless quest for sanctuary pure
drown nights sorrow, in rapture divine
enchantment delirium, and yet do I seek
winter moon rapture, the ebb of her light
but I cannot see, for the tears in my eyes
winter moon rapture, the ebb of her light


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