A Healing Circle at Beltane

This post is dedicated to my crowsister Donna Pauline.
Remembering you, the magic and the love. -“The Other Dona”

Sister Dearest, I was thinking of you and our walks along the river path. Walking, talking, sharing secrets. And singing, of course. Singing the tunes we sang with our CrowSisters. The Crow Women had developed a repertoire of tunes for life events, rituals, festivals and more. Remembering festivals, we came to a pause, quiet, then together we both said, “Beltane!”. Smiling and laughing we recalled one special Beltane.

Remember? We were chatting with some of the Beltane festival tribe, and one woman shyly mentioned a health challenge she was dealing with. There in the golden light of sunset, the eve before the raising of the maypole, we responded to her need with the healing magic of song.

We, the Crow Women, held hands forming a circle around the woman who was offered the song. It began as a small circle, just us and her companions. This is a short tune, easy to learn. Others joined in singing, and the circle grew. Once the circle sounded comfortable with singing, the Crow Women added harmony and toning and other creative embellishments. Filled with song, I closed my eyes. Did you close yours?

I am a circle, I am healing you.
You are a circle, you are healing me.
Unite us, be one, unite us, be as one.

Something full was beginning, I felt it, you said you did too. As we all sang, the singers became the song. The flow was continuous, no breaks, one phrase flowing into the next—we became one. The harmonies we created wafted above us creating their own harmonies. Layers of soothing warmth, bright and gentle, the sphere of song holding us.

The song chose its own ending, a seamless “Om”. Then there was silence. I opened my eyes; the circle had almost doubled while we sang. I looked at you, your face aglow and smiling. Yes, we knew it, true magic.

The next day, when the community toned to the newly-raised maypole, we felt the echoes of the healing energy of the night before. The vibrations still in our bodies, we offered that healing to all present. Did they feel it, I wonder?

We Crows have sung this same song many times, before and since. That May Beltane was transformative; something rare and precious had occurred. When we later recorded the song on our first album, we sought to recreate that spontaneous healing moment, right there in the studio. Listen, can you hear it?

Some of us have moved far from the CrowNest, but on those occasions when we flock together, it’s a pleasure to sing the magic together, and to remember the moment when it was born.

The fiber art depicted in this post is by post author Donamarie Fleming, whose art graces the covers of both of our previous albums.
At the time of this writing, the artwork in this post is for sale. For more information about her work you can contact her at donaraven11@gmail.com

The Crow Women learned Healing Circle Song from the cassette tape Earth Dance Celebrates Songs of the Sacred Wheel. It is listed as “author unknown”. If you know the composer, let us know. We’d love to give them credit.