Bring the Rain

As a child I loved playing in the monsoon rains of my childhood home of Colorado, splashing in the puddles and helping the earth worms back to their dark earthy homes after they were washed out onto the street. As an adult I have also run out into the spring rain with joyful thankfulness and elation given that we have a deficit of water here.

With brush fires burning near my home in Richmond, California, I long for the sweet sound of rain, which most likely won’t return until the fall. However, its never to early to do the magic of invocation. One of the songs I sing on the Crow Women’s album Seasons, called Bring the Rain, does this quite well. The author of the song, Alane, says this about writing this song,

“When I wrote Bring the Rain, I was inspired by a tradition in my local pagan community. We gather outdoors for the summer solstice day, and stay in sacred space all that long, long day. I live in New Mexico, and in June it’s very hot. Things are really baking by mid-afternoon. That’s when the Rain Goddess comes. Someone is chosen to dress up as Her. She enters the circle, and dances around and around, embodying water. Then, when she feels the moment is right, she signals for the hoses to be turned on. Yes, a couple of garden hoses bring the rain! They are pointed upward and the water arcs down into the circle. The assembled people dance with the Goddess of the Rain, welcome water cooling their skin. The ground turns to mud and squishes between our toes. We dedicate that delight to a prayer for real rain–for the monsoons to come and wet the parched desert land.”

Since I recorded this song with the Crow Women it is hard to think of rain without this song playing in my head, it captures the sound and even the smell of rain so well, which to me is the best magic, feeling it deeply in our own bodies as we make our desires known through song! It invokes such a strong visceral experience for me in part due to the percussion magic created by Issa Noor. In working with Issa on this song, Alane says, “We had a wonderful time going through his many percussion instruments to find the ones that sounded watery. Issa also provided the thunder and rain sound effect. Be sure to listen carefully to the recording to hear how the chant calls the rain–and the rainstorm arrives!”

I also love the connection the song makes between the rain and the ocean. I live close to the ocean now and can see the cycles of the weather more directly as the cool fog rolls in regularly on summer days, pulled by the heat of inland areas. Alane says “My favorite line of the song is “fill the sky with the power of the ocean”. I like that image of the thunderstorm containing the force of the sea. Besides, it’s true. The water cycle depends on evaporation from the oceans fueling clouds and rain.”

Like many of our songs, This song can work well in ritual, or anytime one wants to invoke rain or honor the needs of the green plants of summer. Alane says, “I wrote the song to be used at a solstice event, but the song doesn’t mention the solstice. It’s my hope that people will use the song in ceremony whenever they wish to pray for rain. That might be actual rain, or the rain of spirit that quenches the thirst for the sacred. I hope pagankin will use it when they want to “bring the green”, in whatever form they desire it.”

Tips for using the song in ritual or a drum circle:

• Note that it’s in waltz time. You’ll need to stop the drumming if it’s been in 4/4 time, then restart in 3/4 time. That can be a nice break from the relentless duple meter of most pagan chants. Plus, dancing to a triple meter opens up different dance expressions. It’s very fitting for the sensuality of dancing the element of water.
• The song is constructed with 2 parts. There’s the drone, which is super simple and easy for a group to learn on the fly. Then there’s the wordier rain prayer, which will work better if learned in advance. The two parts interlock nicely. Harmony is a good addition if you have people who can sing harmony–learn what’s on this track, or make up your own.

I hope you find this song as meaningful and useful as I do. It was one of my favorites to sing and record, and I appreciate Alane’s talent for writing and producing a song that captures the spirit of the rain goddess quenching our thirst during the hot days of summer.

For more information about the Crow Women pagan choir, and access to all the blog posts by Melanie and the other 9 crowsingers who have written for Pagan Song, you can visit the Crow Women author page here on Pagan Song.

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