pagan

Damh the bard

Damh the Bard

Damh The Bard

damh

You can't rush a tree ...

bard

Pagan

Damnh the Bard

Druidic

From Tuatha Dea's The Tribe album that features songs with guest Pagan musicians. Viva The Tribe!

Tuatha Dea - Irish Handfasting Featuring Damh The Bard

Sons And Daughters (of Robin Hood)

Blank Realm are back in 2014 with a new album 'Grassed Inn'.

iTunes

Blank Realm - Falling Down The Stairs

Hills they are Hollow

(Damh the Bard)

I wrote this on the same day as Grimspound, during my visit to Dartmoor. This song was written whilst sitting in the stone circle at Merrivale on Dartmoor and, like the Song of Awen, really sums up my view of Spirit.

As I walk upon this green land,
This land that love,
I see figures of chalk,
Carved into the hillsides above.
Cerne Abbas a man so proud,
And the Long Man opens wide the gates of his world,
And invites you to step inside.

(Chorus)
And the hills they are hollow and home to the Fey,
Who dance on Midsummer’s Eve,
Some people don’t understand when I say,
These are the things I believe.
These are the tings I believe.

There is an old circle of stones,
That stands on the moor,
Every moss-covered face,
Tells the secrets of ancient lore.
The Tors stand as guardians,
Witnesses to the Rites of Nature’s Gods,
Of Darkness and of Light.

Let’s sing of the mystery,
Of Sacred Land,
See the shapes in the corn,
Made by invisible hands,
Secrets of the Pagan Ways,
Lie all around,
Written upon the Earth,
In rock and Sacred Mound!

The Hills They Are Hollow from The Hills They Are Hollow

Isis Unveiled

(Damh the Bard)

There was no denying it, for the first time in many years I was being visited by a Goddess from another land. Isis had always been a Goddess who had inspired me, but I had never written a song for her until this time. I had just bought a new mandola and was ‘noodling’ around with it, just playing around with notes, when this middle-eastern style riff came from out of nowhere. I continued playing, and it was like it had a life of its own, moving into a very nice key change – the Awen was flowing, and a song was on the way….

I put the mandolin down, and went to one of my altars to collect my figure of Isis – she is standing, one winged-arm outstretched, the other pointing to the ground. I placed her in on the table in front of me, and continued to play the tune. Before long the words were flowing, and her story was being told – from the game that formed her, to the reconstruction of Osiris, I saw a shadow formed by the light of the full moon, and within that shadow I watched as Set emerged from the darkness. I saw a coffin, floating down the nile, I saw her tears of joy falling onto the desert sand, bringing new live from the barren soil. I was exhausted when it was done, but also very much at peace – a story told, a Goddess honoured.

Play the game create the time,
With every move and line,
Jackal God against the Moon,
And the game will be over soon.
Can you hear the Earth sighing?
As he turns towards the sky,
The time of Ra is ending,
And the Sun begins to die.

Chorus
Can you feel it changing?
Can you see her in the night?
Can you feel it changing?

Sky and Earth they are as one,
Conceive daughter and sons,
Sister, lover, Goddess, Queen,
Mother to every living being,
Your light creates a shadow,
As you show your face unveiled,
Your brother Set betrays you,
There’s a coffin on the Nile.

Fourteen pieces to the wind,
To all parts of the land,
Scattered widely she will find,
And make a lover from her hands,
The rain, her tears of gladness,
Fall to the fertile ground,
And Set caught in his madness,
To the desert he is bound.

Isis Unveiled from Spirit of Albion

Pagan Ways

(Damh the Bard)

In the Summer of 2007 I had a direct run in with modern popular culture when the Trinny and Suzanna show organised a stunt where 100 women, dressed in white plastic suits, climbed all over theLong Man of Wilmington for a stunt to visually turn him into a woman. Each year our old sites are vandalised and damaged and many local Sussex people thought that this was a bad image to show to 7,000,000 viewers so we protested against the event. When I returned home, this song appeared.

Take a look at your TV screen,
It’s a window bright and clean,
Another wife swapped,
What does it all mean?
Elder Brother you’re never wrong,
Show weak people acting strong,
So I look outside,
To see the green.

(Chorus)
Do you dream of drinking from the Grail?
That the truth is held within a tale,
And Arthur sleeps now, ready to return?
Do you know that Jack lives in the Green,
That things are never as they seem,
And life is more than the money that your earn.

Rhiannon rides her horse,
It’s just a tale of course,
An old story,
Of times gone by.
But sit with me on this hill,
See how things become so still,
And who is that Lady,
Riding high?

Spring has come and have you seen,
The Morris dancers on the green?
Just a bit of fun,
To pass the days.
But there is magic in their dance,
The season’s blessed and not by chance,
So I raise my glass,
To our Pagan Ways.

Pagan Ways from The Cauldron Born

Hal an Tow

(Traditional)

Hal an Tow is based on a traditional Cornish May Day song (sung in Helston on the 8th May) with Hal and Tow possibly meaning ‘Hoist the Roof’.

Take no scorn to wear the horn
it was the crest when you were born
Your father’s father wore it
Your father wore it, too

{Chorus}
Hal-an-tow
Jolly-rum-ba-low
We were up
long before the day-o
To welcome in the summer
To welcome in the May-O
For Summer is a coming in
and Winter’s gone away-O

Robin Hood and Little John
Have both gone to the Fair-O
and we will to the Merry Green-Wood
to hunt the buck and hare-O

What happened to the Spaniard
That made so brave the boast-O
That they would eat the feathered goose,
And we would eat the roast-O

The Lord and Lady bless you
With all their power and might-O
And bring their peace upon us
Bring peace by day and night-O

Hal An Tow from Tales from the Crow Man

Antlered Crown and Standing Stone

(Damh the Bard)

A rousing anthem dedicated to the male principle of nature – the Pagan Horned God. Continuing the theme of previous songs such as Green and Grey, Noon of the Soltice and Pipes of Pan. This is a song to honour Cernunnos, Pan, Herne, and the Green Man.

I am the face within the leaves,
I’m the voice within the trees,
I am boy, I am man,
The face of the changing land,
And I have been your constant guide,
From your caves on the mountainside,
We have walked hand in hand.

And everywhere that I have been,
My passing turns the grey to green,
The birds sing to the dawn,
And the land has awoken,
Oh my lady lays with me,
And our love weaves a tapestry,
Eternal threads, unbroken.

(Chorus)
I am lover, I am father,
I am Horned God and King,
I’m the life in all of nature,
That is reborn every Spring.
Call of stag and cry of eagle,
I am Child of Barleycorn,
And I am the antlered crown,
And standing stone.

I am the oats the corn and grain,
A bearded man with a crooked cane,
Cut me down, I must die,
For the land to be born again.
But don’t you cry and don’t you grieve,
For soon the Wild Hunt I will lead,
On the night of Samhain.

The air is cold, the sky is grey,
Where am I this Winter’s day,
Bones of trees, fallen leaves,
The time of the Winter Queen,
But through the wind and snow and rain,
Know that a part of me remains,
Holly stands, evergreen.

Antlered Crown And Standing Stone from Antlered Crown And Standing Stone

Lady of the Silver Wheel - Live - from As Nature Intended

The Wheel

(Damh the Bard)

This song is a love song between the God and Goddess. It tells of the God’s birth, their meeting, their love within the Greenwood, and his death, at her hands, in the corn fields. But he waits in the earth for her to return, and together they will rule in the Otherworld, until his rebirth in the Spring.

As the sunrise
on the shortest day
my crying greets the dawn.
Tears of dew form on the web
As I am reborn.
Feel new life spring
from the Earth,
As the Mother of All Life
gives birth.
Though I am a child
I will soon become a man.

Feel the warmth upon your skin,
Sense the animal inside.
As every creature on the land,
Feels the rising tide.
The natural rhythms
of the land,
As the Goddess takes my hand,
Into the Forest Green
with the Horned Man.

The waves of corn
have turned to gold,
My time is drawing near.
I see my Lady smile at me,
Inside I feel no fear.
As She raises the scythe
above Her head.
Blood spills on the Earth
as I fall dead,
In the Otherworld
I guard Her throne
’til She returns

The Wheel from Spirit of Albion

Song of Awen

Awen is the ‘flowing spirit’ of Bardic inspiration and creativity. I wanted to write a song that summed up how I felt about the beauty, and wonder, of the natural world. A song that filled me up every time I heard the lyrics, as it told of how the Gods show themselves to us everyday through the world of nature.Song of Awen was the result.

(Damh the Bard)

See me as the Sun on the mountaintop,
Feel me in the power of the seas.
Hear me in the laughter of the stream,
Power of nature, power of the trees.

Bridge:
It is you who are broken,
You are part of me,
Some of you have awoken,
But others might never be free.

Chorus:
This is my song, this is my voice,
These are my words, this is my choice.
Hear me now, take heed of my words.
Love me now, and your spirit will fly.

Hear me in the howling of the wolf,
My voice is the song of the Bards,
I am the power that helps the salmon leap,
I am the very first breath of a child.

I am the wild, and I am the tame,
I am the calm and I am the storm.
I am the sound of your beating heart,
I am your blood and I am your bone.

Bridge 2:
It is you who are broken,
You are part of me,
There is no seperation,
So dance, sing and be free.

Song Of Awen from Herne's Apprentice

Land, Sky and Sea
(Damh the Bard)

The ancient Celtic peoples seemed to have revered three elements instead of the usual four found in the Western Magical tradition – these being Land, Sky and Sea. I’m sure that fire would have featured somewhere because we know that they also revered the Sun. But here’s a song that speaks of the Wild Places, and my connection to them.

You are the rock, and you are the stone,
Rivers your blood, mountains your bone.
You are the Source, of all I’ll ever know,
Forever my Mother, forever my home.

(Chorus)
Oh this town is so cold,
Neon magicians they offer the fools their gold.
For there is a place I’d rather be,
In your wild places with the Land and the Sky and the Sea

Every step, follows those gone before,
Mystics and Saints, down to the shore,
Echoing waves, and the curlew’s cry,
A call out your name, and hear your reply.

Cynical thoughts, and lies that distort,
All that is true, all that is true,
They disappear, when I feel that you’re near,
When I’m with you, when I’m with you.

Land Sky And Sea from The Cauldron Born

This song appears on Omnia's 'world of omnia' (2009)

Tine Bealtaine - World of Omnia (2009)

My Persephone recently made the Jango Airplay Top Ten. (Week of Sept 13, 2011.) 
http://jangoairplay.blogspot.com/2011/09/jango-airplay-top-10_13.html

About the song and why I wrote it:
My Persephone is about loss and transition on many levels. It's about losing someone you love, losing a part of yourself or letting go of a remarkable time in your life. My Persephone is also about trees, nature, seasons - transitions in the world around us, positive changes and the collective loss we are experiencing around the world, a loss due to a failure to protect and value the environment.

If the only constant in life is change… then I think trees are the best symbol the world has of change. I think people are a lot like trees. In the fall, we slow down, turn inwards and gather strength from our roots so we’re ready to burst onto the scene in the Spring. Trees are so giving and yet they have no voice. My Persephone is dedicated to everyone who loves trees.

I also wrote the song to raise money for my children's tree planting programs: The ChariTREE Foundation (charitree.ca) and Love Trees (lovetrees.ca)

And then there is the myth of Persephone: 
I chose Persephone because she represents everyone who is connected to the wonder of nature - and trees. There are many versions of the Persephone story but I like this one. In Greek mythology, Persephone is the goddess of the Spring. She is the daughter of Demeter, mother nature - the goddess of the harvest. Everyone loved Persephone, even Hades wanted her for himself. One day, when she was collecting flowers, the earth suddenly opened and Hades abducted her to the underworld.

Bringing the world back to life: 
Demeter wandered the earth so broken-hearted, that she withdrew herself and the earth fell into a deep sleep. Persephone's father, Zeus, sent Hermes down to Hades to demand the release of Persephone. Hades reluctantly agreed, but before she went back he tricked Persephone into eating a pomegranate seed. The seed bound her to underworld for half of every year. The other months she returned to her grieving mother. When Persephone was in Hades, Demeter refused to let anything grow and fall and winter began. When persephone returns each Spring, Demeter brings the world back to life.

My Persephone

lyricist, executive producer – andrea koehle jones 
composer, vocals, piano – shannon robinson 
engineer, mixer, producer - jordan wiberg

Album photo by Andrea Koehle Jones

My Persephone

Spirits of the Earth - Spirits of the Earth (Live in the Studio)

This is my most popular track Internationally!

Kellianna - I Walk with the Goddess

Spirits of the Earth - In a Field

Kie - Beltane Fires

Last track from The Rise of the Oak King Sessions.  Dream away.

Spirits of the Earth - Rise Of The Oak King

Cold and bright the solstice dawn breaks through the heol-stone gate,
Time out of mind the stones have stood marking the zenith and the nadir of the sun’s journey across the sky.
Cut by our ancient hands, with stone on stone they were shaped and pulled from the earth’s embrace,
Mile on mile moved and with magic raised upon this sacred land.
And at this time of the Solstice,
The Holly King waits within the Stones.
He waits in darkness, and stillness,
For the coming of the dawn,
The rising of the Sun,
And the footsteps of his Oaken-leafed brother.
Whilst the Awen……is sung.

Brother, what is your name?

To which the Oak King replies,
Not hard to answer!
I am Hafgan, Lord of the Waxing Year,
I am the King of Oak,
I bring bud to leaf,
Bring life to the Earth,
I banish the cold of Winter,
And welcome the warmth of Spring,
And you my brother, what is your name?

To which the Holly King replies,
Not hard to answer!
I am Arawn, Lord of the Waning Year,
I am the King of Holly,
I strip bare your leaf-ridden trees,
I bring darkness to this land,
……and peace,
I banish the warmth of Summer
And welcome the iciness of Winter.
Brother, where do you come from?

To which the Oak King replies,
Not hard to answer!
I come from Annwn, the Otherworld.
And at the time of your greatest power I am born into this world of Abred,
Called by the singing of the Birds of Rhiannon,
The warmth of my breath, and my seed, awakens the life within my Queen,
And the land is bathed in the beauty of our love,
Whilst Annwn is ruled by Winter and Ice,
So Abred blossoms, caressed by the heat of my gazing eye.
And you my brother, where do you come from?

To which the Holly King replies,
Not hard to answer!
I come from Annwn, the Otherworld,
And at the time of your greatest power I am born into this world of Abred,
I ride on Rhiannon’s horse to claim my throne,
Laughing with the Wild Hunt I ride through the night sky,
My cold breath will make way for the coming of the Cailleach,
And the land will be bathed in the beauty of ice and darkness,
Whilst Annwn blossoms, in your heat,
So Abred will have peace, reflection, and renewal,
Guarded by Orion of the Silver Belt.
Brother, what art do you perform?

To which the Oak King replies,
Not hard to answer!
I lift the saddened heart,
Bring life to death,
Shape the hidden green,
Give flight to birds and insects,
My Bards sing upon their wing,
My orchestra plays music within the wind,
Life returns, and in that space where thought becomes dream,
Lovers walk upon the warm earth,
And lay under the stars, and the Sun, together.
And you my Brother, what art do you perform?

To which the Holly King replies,
Not hard to answer!
I give space to thought,
Bring renewal from death,
Bring rest to life, transformation to your crown of green,
I light the inner fire, and the hearth,
And quicken the heart of the beast,
My Bards are the stillness of the winter sky,
The reflection on the water,
The tears of the ice,
Life returns to that place where dreams are forgathered,
Lovers lie before the flickering fires in their homes,
And new life is nourished as my Lady strips bare the branches,
And lays her cloak across the land.
And I am here my Brother, to take my crown.

Then take this crown, but know this –
Even though you begin your rule,
My heat will grow,
My fire will ripen the fruit,
Turn the fields from green to gold,
And warm the oceans.
For although you take the power of light.
I retain the power of heat,
Until your Lady joins you,
At Samhain.

Colloquy of the Oak and Holly King

Damh the Bard – is a modern-day Bard whose spirituality and love of folk tradition is expressed
through his music, storytelling and poetry. Drawing on the Bardic tradition, his performances are both entertaining and educational, speaking directly to the heart, and never without a good splash of humour.

With seven outstanding albums, and singing and speaking engagements all over the world, Damh has become one of the most popular contemporary pagan musicians – a musical storyteller who works within the world of myth: where the Faerie really do dance on Midsummer’s Eve, where the trees talk, and the Hollow Hills take you into the realms of Annwn, where the Goddess rides her horse, guiding you to magic, and the Horned God of old calls to you from the shadows of the Greenwood.

Along with his musical concerts, Damh has also given talks, run workshops and participated in panel discussions at conferences and camps in the UK, Europe, Australia, Canada and the USA, with his favourite topics including Druidry, Awen and the creative quest, magick, treelore, and Arthurian lore.

Damh is the current Pendragon of the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids, and hosts their monthly podcast, DruidCast.