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This song started with a simple observation: Despite all the trouble with Covid-19, my daffodils were still blooming right on schedule, trees were budding, birds were migrating back to the area, and the world was still warming up. This gave me a comfort that I badly needed, and I wanted to share that comfort in song form.
This song arose from my understanding of Brighid as a hearth goddess, and three of her more famous symbols and aspects (the harp of inspiration, the cup of healing, and the hammer of the forge) come out of that role as the creator and protector of homes. Throughout the Indo-European range, a fire was what made a building a home at least as much as having, say, a bed, which makes sense as something humans have been using for warmth and protection since before we were modern humans.
As yet another new season comes around, it's time for another new song, this one with a Norse cultural focus. This started from the idea that while modern winters might feel fun as we stay safe and warm inside well-insulated homes celebrating with friends and family, for our ancestors there was always a fear lurking in the back of their minds: What if the world doesn't warm up again? What if next year's crop fails? What if I get caught outside in -20C weather? What if the sun doesn't come back after the long night, as foretold in Vafþrúðnismál? That sense of mortal peril is built into the season just as surely as fir trees and holly berries.
This song originated from two of the purposes of Samhain, at least in my local grove: First, to honor the final harvest of the last few plants before frost arrives, and to honor our beloved dead, especially those who left us in the last year. From there, it was a matter of looking at what last bits of value we can glean from the passing humans, just as we went through the garden looking for the last tubers and roots that we might eat.
A new season, a new song, this one for Stone Creed Grove's Eleusinia rite organized by yours truly. This song was written in honor of the deity most focused on in that ritual, Persephone, who takes her journey from our world to take up her winter role as queen of the Underworld.