How I Found “New Religion”

I am a musician with a mission statement:  To make people feel something, and to focus on hope, even within the saddest songs.  How do you write of joy when you do not feel it yourself?  How do you deal with writer’s block and stagnancy?  How do you cease treading that killing loop that says your creativity is pointless?  I have no idea what will work for you, but let me tell you what worked for me this summer and the music that I found on the other side.

These last 18 months, I have struggled.  I have compassion fatigue.  I am weary of lighting candles.  I am tired of being strong, constantly correcting myself when I display anything short of a full-on smile in the Zoom conference.  I am overwhelmed by the sorrow of witnessing so much division, and feel even more grief from watching friends and neighbors twisting their religious principles to justify behavior that is literally killing folks. 

I knew that a change of environment was a possible remedy.  I plotted to spend three days away from my tiny bedroom, all my electronic devices, and my personal spiral of doom.  It was the height of summer in Florida and camping was not an option, though it could have been at any other time of year.  I found a very affordable airbnb in Cedar Key, Florida, and booked the dates before I could talk myself out of it. 

The tiny – and very spare – cottage was precisely what I needed.  Owned and operated by a whimsical, local artist, there was color and joy EVERYWHERE – bright turquoise walls within, a front porch and yard filled with one-of-a-kind glass baubles, a riot of native plants in bloom.  Upon arriving, I blessed that tiny space, asked for healing, and brought in my guitar.  Nowhere in that tiny space was there room to park my grief, to place my anger, to allow my sorrow to swallow me up.  I had to let those things go and return consciously to my more natural state of an open heart.

A Song is Born

Within a couple of hours, guitar in my lap, the idea of a “new” religion, an inviting and inclusive spirituality, rather than an exclusionary fundamentalism, came through.

no burdens to bear – no crosses to burn – no catechismal hate for children to learn

I wrote this first line recalling my own Catholic 1^st Grade lessons from the Baltimore Catechism – hard line Dogma for which I had many questions.  I learned early on that “good Catholics do not ask questions like that.”  Lost in that memory of being a “bad” person – at 5 years old – because even then I could not reconcile the teachings of the only Church I knew, I could understand how people might cling to a doctrine that did not serve them.  But I knew that this song needed to move as soon as possible from that confusion to a place that my community and I make possible through love in action.  And so …

No lines in the sand – the sands they have shifted – new ground to stand where we are all lifted

As the song found its place on the page, I wanted to be clear.  I wanted to express no doubt about this invitation: what is was not, and what is certainly was.

No prayers for redemption – no original sin – no going back to where we have been

Light of Divine Love – shines on our vision – We are sacred without – We are sacred within

I often write pages of free flowing, stream of consciousness thought-lines before discovering what a song is about.  New Religion was no different.  I discovered two moods within this song.  The first was  an invitation into a new sacred space that would welcome all.  The second mood was celebratory, an eruption of singing and drumming within that inclusive space. 

By the time I had written the chant,

Come out of your exile
Fathers, daughters, sons and mothers
There was only ever one rule
Love yourself and love each other

I could hear the Pagan choir and that drum circle in my head.

A Song Comes Alive

At home, I opened my Digital Audio Workstation and recorded the bones of the song – the chords, the primary vocals.  As I worked, I recalled the morning birdsong I heard at the cottage, and sought out field recordings that would “wake” and greet the listener even before the actual song began. 

If this song is a ritual, the birdsong at the opening of “New Religion” is the casting of sacred space; it is also the release of that liminal space at the end.  That birdsong affects my non-Pagan listeners, as well, with many of them noting that the birds immediately set them in a different space and time. You can listen to the song here on my Bandcamp site.

I also heard a full Pagan chorus in my head, and reached out to my community, asking them to lend their voices and energy to that chant at the end.  Current technology meant that we could all remain completely safe and distanced as each contributor individually recorded tracks, some professionally and some simply on their iPhones, and emailed them to me.  Each voice built upon the last until I was blessed with my “vision” for this song come to life.  I have so much gratitude for every voice, every soul, and one very special sax player who doodled around the edges like some ribbon tied and curled at the top of this musical gift.  You might recognize quite a few of the folks who contributed.

Sax: Rachel Welch

Choir: Alba Paglia Kauffman, Alexian, Debe Fisher, Dru Ann Welch, eric.a.casey, Ginger Ackley, James Mahaffey, Jesse Guggino, Laura Perry, Leah Clark, Meren King, Michael Rashas, MJ Dellucci, Nikki Kirby, Opal Luna, Pulsar27, Vicki Scotti of Hecate’s Wheel, and Zane Ratcliffe

A Song Shared With Community

I love chants that inspire a call to action and celebrate our Pagan community.  Both Spiral Dance’s “Rise Up” and Spiral Rhythm’s “Come and Dance” inspire me to join them in the music.  This is the very feeling that I hope to have evoked with the Pagan chorus and drum circle at the end of “New Religion.”  

Because I wrote this song May 2021 and my tour is still on hold, I have not yet had an opportunity to share it live.  I do want my community to sing it with me, and I plan to share the chant lyrics so that folks can sing right along.  I am looking forward to the evolution of this song at live concerts as we share our vision.

You can listen to “New Religion” at https://mamagina.bandcamp.com/track/new-religion

As is the case with so many of my songs, “New Religion” is also an expression of my higher self reaching through me, inspiring me to be better, to align with the Divine, reminding me to be compassionate and inclusive.  This work often requires that I reach beyond my current experience, change my environment within AND without, and consciously make space for the song that is being revealed. 

Are you stuck creatively?  Try a change of environment for 2 or 3 days and get offline.  You might just find more than you were seeking.

Mama Gina

• www.patreon.com/mamagina
• mamaginamusic.com

For more information about Mama Gina, including her collected articles here on Pagan Song, her bio, and links to Gina’s sites on the web, check out Gina’s page on Pagan Song.

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