Breaths of the Ancestors

Honoring our ancestors brings us into deeper connection with ourselves. The song Breaths is an illustration of this connection. As I move into the Crone goddess phase of my lifetime, this song is teaching me how to navigate this journey. Come with me and explore the history of this song and how it reflects Wiccan spirituality.

Listen more often to things than to beings
Listen more often to things than to beings
‘Tis the ancestor’s word
When the fire’s voice is heard
‘Tis the ancestor’s word
In the voice of the waters
Ah-ahh, wshh, ahh-wshh

Story of the Song

On our first album, Crow Goddess, we recorded a haunting vocal composition we learned from listening to  Sweet Honey in the Rock. On our album we feature the exquisite voice of our dear, departed Donna Pauline. We had sung the song for a while at festivals, rituals and wakes, and we fell in love with the imagery in the song, adapted from the beautiful poem by Senegalese poet Birago Diop. Here is more about the poem and the song as it was written and performed after his death. Diop was known for retelling stories of his African ancestors in French. His work was to spread the values and messages in the folk tales, and his belief was that these were of more importance than the assimilation of African people into European culture.

Dr. Ysaye Barnwell, who is a former member of Sweet Honey in the Rock, wrote the music and adapted the poem for Breaths. She is an eloquent spokesperson for the power of community singing. Her Ted Talk is powerful and inspiring.

The music, which is as haunting as the lyrics, includes some musical onomatopoeia that we loved, including Ah! and Wsh! The sounds of breaths. I was interested in tracking down the story of this song, and in sharing what it has meant to the Crow Women.

Sweet Honey in the Rock may have  first recorded this song on their 1981 album “Good News.” It appears also on a later compilation titled Breaths.  When Crow Women decided we wanted to record it on our first album, Alane reached out for permission and made the arrangements for the recording rights. Sweet Honey was inspired by Barnwell to include American Sign Language interpretation in their performances, which they do beautifully in the Kennedy Center performance and demonstration  with their former member Shirley Childress Saxton.

Inspiration and Culture

Crow Women is an a capella group made up of women, like Sweet Honey in the Rock. A capella is music that is without instrumental accompaniment, as is most of our music. Sweet Honey’s mission is to educate, entertain and empower audiences through their music. Crow Women have a similar mission. We are rooted in the cultures of modern Wicca and paganism. In the Kennedy Center demonstration, Dr. Ysaye Barnwell describes how we are inspired by the creativity of others, like we Crow Women were by their beautiful a cappella singing. The song Do What the Spirit Say Do which Sweet Honey performs in the Kennedy Center video, says it all. 

In paganism, we seek the stories of our ancestors as guidance through our own journeys. This song reflects our desires for connection and wholeness through nature and the ancestors’ words.

Ancestor Connections

Those who have died
Have never, never left
The dead are not under the earth
They are in the rustling trees
They are in the groaning woods
They are in the crying grass
They are in the moaning rocks
The dead are not under the earth

The inspiration I get from this song is to connect with my ancestors through nature. In the song, Barnwell uses the line “It’s the ancestors’ breath/ when the fire’s voice is heard/ It’s the ancestors’ breath/ in the voice of the water.” I long for ancestor connections in many ways. Having been adopted as an infant, I don’t know much about the ancestors of my bloodline. This mystery has always engaged my imagination! My adopted family has many stories I am learning, and when I read what my ancestors have written I can feel a closeness through time. Blood is not the only way we are connected.

As a white person growing up in the US, I have not learned much about my ancestral culture. This seems to me a huge hole in my being, and may partly account for why I am drawn to Wicca. I love that we can seek and find cultural connections with our earth-based religion through the traditions and stories we share. 

Those who have died
Have never, never left
The dead have a pact with the living
They are in the woman’s breast
They are in the wailing child
They are with us in the home
They are with us in the crowd
The dead have a pact with the living

Listening to our recording of Breaths now, I feel a connection with my younger self, as well as with Donna Pauline, now one of our mighty dead. What pact do the dead have with the living? I long to learn more of these mysteries and connections through my journey as Crone. Watch for my next post on this journey as I am experiencing it…