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 into a magical musical web. Imagine yourself walking the land in beautiful Jemez Canyon in New Mexico, singing with the wind and sandstone, and returning to shape the experience into an original chant, with support and instruction through every step of the process. Imagine yourself in a ritual of dedication to the Goddess of Music, one you have helped to design.
All this and more will be part of the Pagan Music retreat at Ardantane Pagan Learning Center, September 30 through October 3, 2021. It’s taught by yours truly, Alane. (You can learn more about my music, and read my past blog posts, on my Pagan Song bio page.) The retreat is limited to 12 students, so if you want to be part of this creative cauldron, register today. The cost is $130 for the retreat only or $160 for the retreat with lodging on the Ardantane campus (limited availability).
Merry meet, before the retreat
Your musical journey will begin even before you step foot on the red sands of Ardantane. Participants will be invited to join a private Facebook group just for those registered for this retreat. Each day of the month leading up to the retreat, Alane will post one of the songs we’ll be working with during the retreat. You’ll be able to get familiar with the music in advance. This way, once we’ve gathered together in October we can move right into practicing ways to use the songs in pagan fire circles and rituals. The Facebook group is also an opportunity to get to know the other people who’ll be at the retreat this year.
Participation in the Facebook group isn’t required to be part of the retreat, but it’s recommended.
Pagan chants in fire circles
One of the tracks I’ll be posting in the Facebook group is Born of the Elements Medley. This recording blends six pagan chants together, just we’ll do at our Friday evening fire circle. Earlier in the day, there will be a hands-on (mouths-on?) workshop about all the techniques involved in creating a fantastic fire circle. Some things we’ll practice include choosing a key, laying chants over one another, harmony, and vocal technique. We’ll also work on drum circle leadership skills, such as how to get a chant going and how to guide its trajectory with a group, so as to create a truly magical experience for the singers, dancers and drummers.
Using music in pagan ritual
The mainstay of this Pagan Song blog and website is to give practical advice for using music in magical practice. The same is true of the Pagan Music Retreat. We’ll dig into the ways music can enhance each step of the ritual process. We’ll demonstrate how music can be used to set intention and mood and how it can be incorporated into the process of casting circle and calling directions. We’ll practice songs for invoking, for raising energy and for spellworking. We’ll look at meta considerations as well, such as supporting the arc of the ritual with the songs you choose and the way you do them. Through all of this, we’ll consider how a theme song can be woven all the way through a ritual to give continuity and strengthen the magic.
This retreat is all about experiential learning, so, of course, we’ll design a richly musical ritual together that reflects what we’ve learned. We’ll do the ritual together on Saturday evening.
This year the ritual will provide each of us the opportunity to dedicate spiritually to the path of music. As a group, we’ll work with the goddess Sarasvati. Individuals can choose to dedicate to Her, to dedicate to another spirit or deity, or not to dedicate, as they will. Modern neopaganism is a religion of individual responsibilty and freedom, after all.
The dedication ritual will take place out on the beautiful land of Ardantane. Bring your ritual garb for an outdoor ceremony.
Your spiritual path of music
Music is a vehicle for deep spiritual experiences. One of the methods we’ll work with is spiritsong, which was created by Shawna Carol. Whether you attend this year’s retreat or not, I highly recommend you read her book The Way of Song, which explains spiritsong in a very accessible way.
We’ll have a session or two at the retreat when we’ll create sacred space through vocalizing without words–by spiritsinging. It’s a beautiful way to open up and let what’s within you emerge. Very therapeutic, too.
You’ll have time to connect with yourself by singing on the land, perhaps while walking one of the labyrinths on the Ardantane campus. This solitary time prepares you to write your own original chant. You can read about how this unfolded for the students in a previous year’s retreat in this blog post.
Connecting with one another through pagan chant
From the beginnings in the pre-retreat Facebook group, through the workshops and rituals of the retreat, your experience will be enriched by blending your voice with the voices of the other humans (and critters and spirits) who share this musical journey with you. There’ll be time to swap chants with one another, so come ready to teach a couple of your favorites, if you like. We’ll also have a light-hearted group musical improvization workshop where you can drop into the group mind and bring the unexpected to the surface. And sometimes, the downright silly will bust out. Mirth and reverence, pagankin, mirth and reverence.
Past participants have said:
“Alane sparkles as she teaches about this art that she loves so much. Music is her gift to the pagan community–and we love how much she loves to teach!”
“I enjoyed learning the bones (rules) that hold up a good fire circle.”
“Loved the synergy of creative people sharing their ideas and experience.”
“I found my soul’s voice in Spirit Song and I reclaimed it this weekend”
“Marvelous weekend. I learned so much from Alane’s experience using music in a spiritual practice. We explored sound and music in ways that challenged and inspired me”
“I’d definitely come again. Working with the group was actually a really moving experience, and I really got a lot out of participating.”
“Thank you, Alane, for really helping me find my true voice.”
“This program should be offered again and again!”
These quotes are from evaluation forms of Alane’s previous pagan music retreat at Ardantane. Used with permission.
Your trip to New Mexico
We provide driving directions when you register–the campus is off Route 4, halfway between the Jemez Indian Pueblo and the cute little town of Jemez Springs. (Both are worth a visit.) The nearest airport is the Albuquerque International Sunport. We can assist you with transportation from there to Ardantane. It’s about an hour away.
This retreat coincides with the Albuquerque International Baloon Fiesta which runs nine days, October 2-11. If you’re coming from outside the Albuquerque area, consider staying in the city for a few days after the retreat, and watch another kind of magic–hundreds of hot air baloons filling the sky!
During the retreat, you can stay on the Ardantane campus (limited availablity of beds), or in a B&B nearby. Details on several choices for lodging are included in your confirmation of registration letter. If you have questions in the meantime, you can call Ardantane at 505-469-7777.
Pandemic considerations
We’re moving forward with plans for this retreat, as it seems likely that it will be safe to hold it by October. However, the future remains uncertain. Depending on the course of the pandemic, it might not be able to happen this year.
Nevertheless, there is no financial risk to you in registering. If the Pagan Music Retreat is cancelled, full refunds will given, or can be applied to the following year: your choice. The Ardantane Board of Directors will give final approval for the event closer to the date, depending on the course of the pandemic and vaccinations.
Assuming the event does receive final confirmation, the Board might require proof of vaccinations, masks and/or social distancing of the participants. We recommend that you reserve your space at the retreat now, as we are hopeful that early Ocober will prove feasible. There’s no risk for you in registering for the event (full refunds) but you might want to wait to make nonrefundable travel plans until we confirm.
Register today!
The 2021 Pagan Music Retreat is a unique opportunity to enhance your skills as a pagan priestess or priest by adding to your musical toolbox. You’ll also become a musical asset to any fire circle you’re a part of. Perhaps most important, this retreat can deepen your connection to nature and to the spirit within you, through song.
The retreat is a small group experience. That strengthens the intimacy and impact, but it also means there may not be space for everyone who would like to enroll. (At the time of this writing, some of the seats have already been claimed.) To register, click this link to get to the retreat on the Ardantane website. Or, you can go to www.ardantane.org, click on “calendar of courses and events”. In “events in”, choose October 2021, and then on the calendar, choose “Pagan Music Retreat with Alane Brown”. However you get there, you’ll find additional information about the event, and most importantly, you can click the friendly blue box to “get tickets”.
I hope you’ll decide to be part of the 2021 Pagan Music Retreat. I’d love for you to bring your perspectives and experience to enrich the retreat for everyone, including me! I’m passionate about pagan music, and there’s nothing I enjoy more than immersing myself in days of it. If you agree, I hope you’ll sign up. See you at Ardantane!
For more information about the Crow Women pagan choir, and access to all the blog posts by Alane and the other 9 crowsingers who have written for Pagan Song, you can visit the Crow Women author page here on Pagan Song.
Please subscribe to the Pagan Song blog, to receive our blog post each week. Don’t miss any of the musical magic!
Visit our homepage to see the full list of the musicians who write for the Pagan Song blog.
Pagan Song has a fan club on Patreon. Join for as little as $3 a month for exclusive features! Click for info.
What an opportunity! I have had the privilege of singing and leading ritual with Alane, and she is a blessing to the pagan community. I have also led chanting workshops at several pagan gatherings for many years, but this is my first opportunity to attend a 4-day retreat that is focused on pagan perspectives. How exciting!
I’m so glad you’ve registered for the retreat! It’s always fun to make music with you. Be sure to bring your guitar–I’ll be including the chords along with the lyrics on the handouts for this event. I’ll be playing ukulele, as usual. Good times!
Where can I get notified about future iterations of this retreat?
If we do it in 2022, it will be announced here on Pagan Song. If you subscribe to the blog, you’ll get the announcement. It’ll also be listed under events on this site.