Blog Entry No.2: When Music and Religion collide

Blessed be everyone!  Now, this will be a blog about my particular religion/spiritual beliefs known as Wicca. Some may have never heard of it, or they think of the wicked witch of the west. While yes, Wicca can be associated with 'witch craft', please go through this blog with an open mind and an open heart. I hope you learn some interesting things about me and more importantly, you learn more about Wicca practices and it's influence on music. 

 

So you might be asking yourself, what is Wicca and what does it have to do with music? Wicca is a form of modern Paganism. Some call it Pagan witchcraft but with that said, Wicca music takes a lot of influence in pagan folklore and beliefs. Many of the topics include Mother Nature (most commonly referred to as The Goddess), The Circle (which represents the circle of life), the Elements (fire, earth, water, air). If you listen to it, it does take on elements of music that can be found in traditional northern Europe such as Ireland, Scotland, and England. Music is used to celebrate the passing of time, such as Mabon which is coming up to celebrate the fall equinox, used to bring us closer to nature through chants, or used to bring us inner peace through mediation. 

This chant is easily named 'The Earth, The Air, The Fire, The Water'. Nature is beauty and the four elements are a big part of that. It is just the same lyrics over and over again, many Wicca chants are repetitive so they are easier to remember. While most songs are not a Capella like this one, having the same lyrics with different harmonies is really popular. As you listen, you will also hear the inclusion of vocables! One thing you will notice in a lot of Wicca music is that it is mostly women singing. It's not very often you will here a male voice in the songs and chants. It's not to say that men are excluded, goodness no. It is simply more common to hear women singing as the main focus of Wicca is to love and respect Mother Earth.

This song is called 'May the Circle be open'. The idea that life is a circle is a really popular belief in Wicca. Just like we learned during the Native American Unit, the Circle is life. The Earth revolves around the sun in a circle, water is evaporated only for it to come back down in rain. We go through the Circle of Life. We come from the Earth when we are born from our mothers and when we pass, we return to the Earth. When you say 'May the Circle be open but never unbroken' you are basically opening yourself up to others, including people in your circle and forming new bonds that never break. In this song, you can hear flutes in the background as well as a mandolin.  

I have here 'The Earth is our Mother'. I chose this song/chant because it includes drums. I'm sure by now that you've noticed that the one constant in all of the songs are vocals. You can have songs with no drums, song with no flutes or strings, even a song with no instruments at all. However, you will always have songs with vocals. This song also has vocables, those are very reoccurring. The message behind this song is that the earth is our mother. Just like a mother, she takes care of us but in return we also have to take care of her. 

Last but not least, I have a band that is fairly popular in the Wicca community called Blackmore's Night. Blackmore's night is a band that songs folk music and a lot of their songs have Pagan/Wicca influences. This is more of a modern take on the music compared to chants which could be compared to singing church hymns. I picked one of my favorite songs to listen to by them called 'Dancer and the Moon'. It makes me want to dance and it's a fun song. I wanted to end a more upbeat note so I don't bore you all to sleep. 

Well, this has been a glimpse into my religion/philosophy/beliefs. I don't, by any means, claim to be an expert on Wicca. I still have a lot to learn, but I'm glad I got to do this blog because I've never actually sat down and analyzed the music, the chants, the songs. I think in doing so, it helped me learn more so I hoped you learned something interesting today too.