freedom

Lisbonne

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

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

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

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

Samhain Eve

(Damh the Bard)

Modern Halloween can seem a little commercial these days, but there was a time when, for some, this night was filled with fear. Some of the old Celtic tales tell of the way that, at Samhain, the veil between the world is at its thinnest. The Faerie, and the dead walk this earth once more. So let’s bring a bit more of the fear-factor into this sacred night, but not a fear borne of fright, but of awe.

Close the door, keep out the storm,
Far away, far away,
Keep the need-fires burning til dawn,
Oh, leave my soul.
For the cold will come this night,
From far away, far away,
Frost will fall ,and ice will bite,
Oh leave my soul.

Bridge 1:
Oh leave my soul,
Please pass me by when the evening falls,
Oh blessed are we,
The Taker of Souls we shall see.
On Samhain Eve.

I can hear the Hunter’s hounds
Far away, far away,
I will cast the Circle round,
Oh leave my soul.
Raven-witch I feel your breath,
Far away, far away,
Bringing with you Summer’s death,
Oh leave my soul.

Sunrise, the tolling bell,
Far away, far away,
Breaks the Raven-witches spell,
Oh blessed are we.
The leaves of the Oaken King,
Fade away, fade away,
Feed the seeds that will come in Spring
Oh blessed are we.

Bridge 2:
Oh blessed are we,
Summer will come with the May on the tree,
Oh hail to the Queen,,
And under the Sun we shall sing,
To call in the Spring.

Samhain Eve from Hills they are Hollow

Orientale

Le Petit bal de la Marine Valse par Jérémie Congrega

Der Kleine Ball Des Seewesens Waltz - J.Congrega

This is a song about my first and only trip to Europe.  It's happy and upbeat.  But perhaps that's not really what it's about.  Maybe it's about those moments that, when we look back, we say are the key moments that were the beginning of all that followed.  There are so many moments to choose from but we select a very few and give them meaning.  
At least that's what I had in mind when I wrote it.


Lyrics:

On my way
Finally underway
Started with the very first step I took
On that particular day
I didn't know
What was ahead for me
Knew the where the flight was heading
Didn't know where it was taking me
Only me and my
Special friend
Wondering though a couple capitals
Until our partnership came to an end

Just a start
There’s got to be a start
Choose any day you can
Until the start
It's always the time
The time before it all began

I believed
Our love was strong
But in the end I guess it didn’t really
Last very long
But it was the first
Path I knew
It hurt when it ended
Like those kind of things always do
But I kept moving on
Hoping to find
If not another path to follow
At least I'd have a damn good time 

Pulling out
Of the station
Heading for
Another nation
Losing heart
Leaving Spain
Time to start  
All over again
It’s not clear
How I got here
But anyway
I’m here today

Whatever time there is
Is all the time we have
No way to make it last
Looking back
It’s never the same
Once today’s become the past

I started down
A strange and winding road
But i left that road and found another
So many years ago
I think about
How it seems to me
That while I kept starting over and over
I ended up where I needed to be

Somehow it all
Works itself out
Never seems to be a plan
Now it’s a memory
From another time
The time before it all began

Before It All Began

In this episode, Michaela Boehm and Steve James share a Q&A excerpt from the first installment of their Sexual Yoga Special Instruction Series. Topics include:

•Steve on the relationship between tension, stretching, and mobility
•Healing major surgery trauma through movement
•The mechanics of acquiring effortless skill 
•How somatic learning can inform your everyday life 
•The role of confusion in learning
•Michaela on the shock-therapy approach to personal growth
•Why sometimes you have to live out your strong attractions
•How to make your own distinctions 
•Leveraging the body for psychological payoffs
•Pushing your edge and the self image
•The spiritual hamster wheel 
•Energetic conductivity and resistance
•Sensitivity and discrimination 
•The human energy system and full body orgasms 
•Identifying resistance in the system
•The glass ceiling of tension in sexual yoga
•Upping the pleasure threshold
•The effect of initial sexual experiences on future pleasure 
•How to unblock orgasm problems in a woman
•Clitoral vs G-spot orgasms
•Using the G-spot to unlock whole body pleasure
•Relaxed or limp?
•The role of tension in pleasure
•Working with unconscious relationship dynamics
•God sex and co-dependency 
•Can I be intimate with abandonment issues?
•Intimacy and fundamental loss 
•How can I practice sexual conductivity in the body without a partner?

...

For instant access courses, events, and teacher training: www.michaelaboehm.com

To order Michaela's book "The Wild Woman's Way": https://amzn.to/3FJEBEa

Music by Steve James: https://www.guruviking.com/

Podcast #10: Human Energy System, Unblocking Pleasure, & Whole Body Ecstasy

Room

Green Garden

This song is about an Ancient Queen who dies in battle and the story begins at her death. 
From Lady Moon CD 2004

Warrior Queen

i heard this song for the first time in florida. loved it so much, i wanted to sing it. its powerful. 

Freedom (cover)- Spiral Rhythm

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.

The Hills They Are Hollow from The Hills They Are Hollow

Damh the Bard

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