Creating Circles and Ceremonies: Rituals for All ... - reading...

76 Creating Circles & Ceremonies
Music & Ritual
By Julie Forest Middleton
The chant started low and slow, and as more of us learned it, we joined in. Someone added
a high harmony and someone else started a drum beat on the floor and quickly it gathered
steam and became rich and full. Then suddenly it caught fire and we were on our feet and
dancing as the fire filled us. The energy snaked around the Circle like braided silver; it rose
through us and around us, and when it reached its peak we shouted it off into the universe,
sending it out to our chosen destination. We whooped and hollered as we fell to the floor, and as
we calmed down, the priestess grounded the remaining energy back into the Earth.
Music and ritual—how does it work and why? What makes a chant work one time and not
the next? What can music do for your rituals? How do you teach songs and use music when your
group doesn’t like to sing?
What Singing Does and How It Does It
Think about the times you’ve sung with others around a campfire or at a sing-along during
a concert. Remember the feeling of cohesiveness and bonding that happened? When a group
sings together, it breathes together, and songs become breathing meditations. Singing together
focuses your energy and attention; it gets everyone’s energy moving in the same direction and
puts all of you in a “groove” together.
In ritual, music can do many things. It can invoke a Greater Being and speak to her or him
in prayer. It can also help to raise a cone of power. Music celebrates, grieves, soothes, heals,
trances, and connects all the disparate parts of the ritual together. Music also teaches: it carries
the word (liturgy) and provides a role model of how to best live our lives.
Has a song ever spoken to you so truly and deeply of your own experience that you cried?
Music touches our hearts and dissolves our defenses. It opens us up and allows Spirit to enter. It
speaks to the unconscious parts of ourselves (and to the collective unconscious) and brings
about healing and change.
When you begin designing a ritual, you first settle on your intention: what do you want this
ritual to do? And how do you want it to happen? Each song has a unique tone (which opens us
up), unique words (which teach), and a unique energy (which stirs us to change and/or heal). In
other words, each song has its own unique intention. So when you select songs for your ritual,
look at the intention and energy of each part of the ritual and pick songs that will enhance or add
to this energy and intention. A song is like a plant: if it’s appropriate in its setting it will thrive and
grow – and if it doesn’t grow there, it’s a weed. So ask yourself what you want a song to do at
a given point in the ritual. What energy do you want it to bring? How do you want people to feel
during and after the song? In short, what is your intention?
Chants
In Pagan rituals, chants are the songs most often used, as repetitive sounds awaken the
inner world of Spirit. Groups usually sing chants three or four times and then stop. Unfortunately,
this gives no chance for the energy of the song to develop and work. A chant is a short
song that needs to be sung over and over and over for a long time, until you’re totally bored –
and then you sing it some more! And it’s then that the magick happens. If you’re using a song to
invoke the Goddess, sing it long enough that the Goddess will hear it and come. Don’t stop
singing it until she does come (you’ll know when that happens). Likewise, if you’re using a chant
to raise a cone of power, sing it until it catches fire and takes off, and send it up and out at its
highest point. Or sing it until it doesn’t catch fire, in which case you’ll simply bring it to a close
and ground the energy. Sometimes it’s impossible to raise a cone (people are too tired or wrung out and
it just won’t happen), and that’s okay too. Don’t force something that’s not going to happen.