Alane Crowomyn is a pagan songwriter. She’s the producer for the Crow Women’s albums and a singer in the band. She is also a singer-songwriter in the duo Pan Fried, cooking up pagan folk music with her partner Jeff Hibshman.
She a co-producer of The Red Album: Pagan Voices for Reproductive Rights. Both her bands; the Crow Women and Pan Fried, have songs on the album. It brings together many voices, all upraised in protest of the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
Alane served as choir director at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Durango 2015-2018 and completed a 3-year program of the UUA to become a Certified Music Leader. She holds a Ph.D. in social psychology from Princeton University and worked for several decades as a college professor. The courses Dr. Brown taught included the Psychology of Music, Creativity & Expressive Art Therapies, Group Dynamics, and the Psychology of Religion.
She has regularly taught workshops on pagan music for 25 years, at festivals including Magical Mountain Mabon and Beltane Southwest in New Mexico, at Dragonfest and Beltania in Colorado, at Heartland Pagan Music Festival in Kansas, at Firetribe events in Nevada and Hawaii, and at Wisteria in Ohio. She’s a blogger and the Editor in Chief of the Pagan Song website and is currently in the process of writing a book on pagan music. Alane and the Crow Women are available for workshops, rituals and performances at festivals and other events–if interested, contact them through the Crow Women Facebook page.
Thirty-two of her songs and chants have been recorded by the Crow Women.
- She is the author of 3 songs on the Crow Women’s album Crow Goddess. They are Web of Wonder, Chalice to Blade and Sing Up the Stone.
- Alane wrote 18 of the songs on Crow Magic,our second album: The Law of Three, You’re a Woman Now, Dance of Dreams, Belly Pot, Crow Lullaby, Sing Ho for the Mead, I Am Flame, Ecomancy, The Handparting Song, The Croning Song, You Have a Place Here, Farewell My Familiar, She Calls, Mooncycle, Suncycle, Bless Our Mead, Deep Well Woman, and Circle of Healing.
- The Crowz’ third album, Seasons, A Pagan Journey Around the Wheel, includes 10 songs written by Alane: Imbolc Vows, Womb of Brighid, Nine Sacred Woods, Bring the Rain, Celebrate Summer, At Lammas, A Pagan Grace, Balance in All Things, In Our Bones, and A Long, Long Night.
- Several of Alane’s songs will be included in the Crow Women’s 4th album, which they are cuurently recording. Titles include Bring Me a Pagan Man, Rising Sap and The Elder God is Wise.
Alane loves to brew up songs, ceremonies and mead. She lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Alane’s blog posts:
Rehearsing with Kazoos
If the delicate fluting of the kazoo is part of your vision for a song you are arranging, you may find yourself faced with the prospect of running a rehearsal that includes kazoos. I have had this delightful experience. I would like to offer my reflections for all of you...
Five Years of Pagan Song
Well, what do you know, the Pagan Song blog is now 5 years old! Pagan Song: Music for your Magic started out as a band site for the Crow Women. We began publishing in February of 2019. At the end of the first year, I wrote a post reviewing what...
Cast a Spell on Doubt
The heart of spellwork is creating a clear intention. Out of the muddle of our contradictory desires, we pluck this dream, clothe it in specifics, and set it on the altar. Magic has power because it requires a clear choice. “I want love, now” or “I want freedom, now”. I...
The Red Album: Crow Women’s Story
We’re the Crow Women, a Goddess-focused women’s circle that has had a long, rich life as a pagan coven as well as a parallel identity as an award-winning pagan choir. We’re feminists, and that informs our political actions, our spiritual practice and our music. When a group of pagan musicians...
Sing “Ho!” for Beltane mead
Today I am toasting the arrival of the Beltane season with some mead I made two years ago. Remember those strange times? It was April of 2020 and we were holed up in our homes. I was very, very single at that time, so it was rather an isolating experience...
Three Years of Pagan Song
Wow, this blog has now been alive and growing for 3 years! It’s time to celebrate our birthday with our annual year-in-review post. (My reflection on year one is here and year two is here.) We started Pagan Song in February of 2019. We’ve now published a total of 188...
Ending: Group Development, part 8
All things have a lifecycle. Groups and organizations are no exception. A coven, a pagan organization, or a pagan band is like a person. It is born, it grows, it lives for a time, and, eventually, it dies. Its life may be short or long, but it cannot last forever...
Singing at Winter Solstice
Now is the time when the darkness is deepest. The nights are long, and the further north you live, the more intense the difference is. Winter Solstice brings us to the peak of the power of darkness. As pagans, we know that this darkness is holy. Singing at Winter Solstice...
Ah, Stability: Group Development, part 7
This is installment seven of my eight-part series on pagan group psychology. Whether the group is a band of pagan musicians, a circle, or a festival community, it will follow the general patterns of human groups, passing through a series of predictable phases. We have considered the psychology typical of...
My Web of Wonder
When it’s time to release a loved one to the Summerland, or heaven, or Valhalla, or wherever you believe we go upon death (if anywhere) perhaps you’ll use my song Web of Wonder in the funeral rite. It’s on the Crow Women’s first album: Crow Goddess. In this post, I’ll...
Weaving Patterns: Group Development, part 6
All groups go through a predictable arc of development. Pagan bands, covens and study groups are no exception. In this series, we give advice for leadership for each stage. We offer ideas for pagan rituals that work for your group, meeting it at the place it’s currently at, and helping...
Pagan Music Retreat 2021
Do you like reading about pagan music here on this website? Think how much more fun it would be to learn about music and magic live and in person! Imagine yourself gathering with a group of people who love pagan chant–singing pagan songs together while learning how to weave them...
A Theatrical Ostara Ritual
Looking for ideas for your Spring Equinox ritual? Look no further, for today I’ll share the Crow Women’s rather theatrical Ostara ritual, complete with the script for a fun little play to perform in the midst of the ritual. And, of course, there are lots of pagan chants in the...
Two Years of Pagan Song
Our blog has been going strong for 2 years now. Happy birthday to us! Our first post went live in February of 2019. Over the past 24 months we’ve published 138 posts, written by 12 different authors. We’re realizing our dream to be one of the best pagan music websites...
Songs to Brighid for Imbolc
Whether you call it Candlemas or Imbolc (or Imbolg or Imbolic or Brignassa), the Sabbat between Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox is a wonderful day to honor the Goddess Brighid (a.k.a. Brede or Bridget). Spelling aside, the Lady who is the patron of poets, smiths, bards and healers features in...
Befriending the Dark Goddess
She Calls is a song about making peace with mortality. The “she” in this song is the Dark Goddess. The song is about listening to her call, and hearing the secrets she whispers about grace and serenity in the “dusk of lifetime”. It’s a quiet little song that came to...
My Pagan Music Book
I’m deep into the process of writing a book on pagan music. I want to tell you, dear Pagan Song readers, about the wisdom I’ve been writing about and how you can use it to enrich your magical practice through music. I’d love to get your suggestions in the comments...
Flightiness: Group Development, part 5
A new pagan group has been together for several months and things just seem to be getting more disorganized. Instead of diligently getting started on time at rituals and classes, the members chat and joke around. A sign that the group is degrading? No. It’s a sign that it has...
Power Struggles: Group Development, Part 4
Groups are born and grow just as people do. In our previous discussion of group evolution over time, we’ve looked at newly formed groups, in posts on bonding, on dependency and on anxiety. In this post and the next one, I’ll talk about the second phase of group development. The...
God Chants for Fall Equinox
Celebrations for Fall Equinox honor the sacrifice of the Male Deity. Whether he is in an animal form such as the Stag, or in a plant form, such as the Grain King, the theme of his death in service to life is central to this Sabbat. Here are some pagan...
Celebrate Summer!
Summer Solstice (also known as Litha), the longest day of the year, is such a bittersweet day. The sun is at the peak of its power, yet at this moment its decline begins, and the days to come will become shorter and shorter as the year advances toward autumn. The...
Anxiety in New Groups: Group Development, Part 3
In this series on the evolution of groups over time, we’ve been examining the features common at the beginning of a group. This first stage is called the forming stage and has very predictable dynamics. When a pagan circle (or class or performance group) first forms, several dynamics are apparent...
I Was the May Queen
I was the May Queen. It was a Beltane more than two decades ago, now. I remember standing in the circle while the reigning May couple strolled along, gazing at possible successors. I was humming as if a deep chord was playing me, using my nervous system for strings. I...
One Year of Pagan Song
Happy birthday to our blog! In February of 2019, the Crow Women started this online enterprise: our website Pagan Song. It seemed like the next logical step in our growth as a pagan band. What an adventure this has been! In the 1990s we sang for ourselves and at regional...
Chants for Winter Solstice rituals
Winter solstice certainly gives us something to sing about! In this post, I’ll share several of my favorite chants for Winter Solstice rituals. Some of these songs help us appreciate the beauty of the darkness, on this night when the dark is at its height of power. Others celebrate the...
Dependency in a New Pagan Circle: Group Development, part 2
This article will focus on issues of dependency in a new pagan circle. In a previous post, I wrote about the qualities of new groups. Pagan circles, covens and study groups function in the same way as any other group, and will tend to develop over time in a predictable...
Babalon’s Blood (black cherry) Mead for Samhain
Babalon’s Blood is a rich black cherry mead. Read on to follow along with the process as Sylvia and I make a splendid batch. This dark red mead is named for the goddess Babalon, a powerful deity of sexuality and power. One of my favorite chants by Sharon Knight honors...
Bring Balance at Fall Equinox
I composed my song Balance in All Things for use in group rituals for either fall equinox or spring equinox. That vision came to life this autumn in a Mabon ritual to bring balance. In this post, I’ll share that ceremony, with how-to instructions for you, dear reader. I hope...
Hail to the Maidens!
While unpacking, I found this battered photograph of the Crow Women, and memories flooded back. In the picture we stand in front of the lake, smiles turned toward the camera as the sun sets. We are ready to set out to serve as Amazons. We are younger in the photo–women...
Forming a New Pagan Circle: Group Development, Part 1
In this series of posts, we’ll take a journey through the stages of group development that all groups go through. A pagan circle is like any other group—it follows predictable patterns of human behavior. I taught a class on group dynamics throughout the 28 years when I worked as a...
Art Therapy for Pagans: Self-Soothing Image Book
Healing is an art, and art is healing. You can harness the power of many art forms to support your well-being. Today I’ll share one method I taught my students during the 25 years when I offered a college course on Expressive Arts Therapies. The technique we’ll explore is creating...
Moon Goddess Magic: A Singing Ritual
Moon magic is one of my favorite types of magic! In this article, I’ll lay out a ritual I led for the Crow Women that revolved around some of my favorite pagan moon songs. You realize that, in addition to being a musical group, the Crow Women are a very...
Chants for the Lammas Feast
The Wiccan holiday of Lammas is upon us, so let’s decide what to sing! Lammas is the first of the three harvest festivals celebrated by modern pagans and Goddess worshipers. Lammas is also called Lughnassad, for the Celtic god Lugh. It’s the festival of the first harvest, as Mabon (fall...
Pagan Music Tips: Planning a Rehearsal Period
Right now, the Crow Women are practicing for our concert at Covenant of the Goddess‘ annual meeting. The weekend gathering is called Merry Meet, and includes Grand Council, where COG’s witchy business is conducted. We’ll be the featured band in the Saturday night entertainment, where the delegates can relax and...
Party Games for Pagans: Fill in the Blank
I like to throw a party every quarter of the year for my pagan and like-minded friends. I usually include some kind of party game. It sounds goofy, but games at a party are fun and bring everyone together. I like activities that get everyone involved. My spring party is...
Ecomancy: Our Goddess of Water
The Crow Women began working with dedications to the elements many years ago, as explained in a previous post about this aspect of our priestess training tradition. After due deliberation, each of us chose our first element to work on. I could have chosen one of the elements I feel...
The Five Elements in Magic and Song
The elements of air, fire, earth, water and spirit are central symbols in Wicca. Here on Pagan Song, we are excited to be launching a series of posts on the elements. In the Crow Women circle, the elements have been the vehicle for our training in Wicca for many years...
Pomona’s Promise Pear Mead
Today I had the pleasure of inventing a new recipe for mead with Sylvia, mead mistress extraordinaire. She had a lot of gallon bags of pears in her freezer; gifts from friends with pear trees who know that brewers are always happy to accept ingredients for mead. (Brewers who have...
Spirit Animal Chants: A Workshop
This past weekend at Ardantane, we went on a weekend-long musical journey. We explored many ways music expresses and enhances earth-based spirituality. Today’s post will focus on one of several workshops I taught there: How to Write a Chant for your Spirit Animal. Ardantane is a wonderful place for connecting...
I Am the Kitchen of the Goddess
Happy Mother’s Day! Earth spirituality often depicts the earth as a mother: the source of nourishment, healing and comfort. From “give thanks to the Mother Goddess” to “the earth is our mother, we must take care of her”, images of the divine mother abound in pagan songs. One of the...
Seasons: A Pagan Journey Around the Wheel
Happy Beltane! Today we release our third album! You can purchase it from us right here on this website! Here’s what band members have to say on this exciting day. Why now? Why release an album in 2019? Crow Women began as a women’s Goddess Spirituality circle in 1992. Many...
Pomegranate Port Mead
Welcome to the first installment of our series on brewing for pagan ceremonies. Our featured brewer this time is Sylvia, who showed me how to make a pomegranate mead for the autumn holidays. Sylvia emphasized the importance of sterilizing everything. Sometimes she uses an oxygen cleaner, such as One Step...
3 Tips for Catching a Song
So, you’d like to write a song. Here are just a few tips to get you going. 1. Sing to your pet, plant or baby What you need to begin is an uncritical audience. For me it’s my cat, Talisman. I often sing to him when I get up in...
A Weekend of Pagan Song
Want to spend a weekend immersing yourself in pagan music? A chance to soak in a creative cauldron of song is coming up May 17, 18 & 19, 2019. I’ll be leading a Pagan Music Retreat at Ardantane Pagan Learning Center in lovely Jemez Canyon, north of Albuquerque, New Mexico...
Album 3 Title Revealed!
The Crow Women have been in the recording studio on and off for the past 10 months, working on our upcoming new album. Our previous CD, Crow Magic, was released in the summer of 2012. It had two main themes. One was rites of passage, including songs for baby blessings...
The Law of Three
The opening track on our album Crow Magic is titled The Law of Three. It’s a little chant with a big message: The Law of Three says what I give out, then, the world gives back and the world gives back and the world gives back to me It’s the...
Our website is hatched
This is an exciting moment; the launching of pagansong.com! For many years I have taught workshops at pagan festivals on how to use music in ritual. Many of the songs I share in my workshops were recorded by the Crow Women, an amazing group of women I have circled with...