I have been asked to write about and share songs and stories about changes, marriage, death, divorce, becoming a sage or crone, giving birth….All inevitable changes that happen in our lives.
This 1st song I’m sharing with you is called “At the Crossroads” and from my new album “There Beneath the Stars”.
Sometimes in life the changes that we need the most are the ones we least want to make….
Times of Change: “At the Crossroads”
Heaven will just have to wait
Stealing from the collection plate
You did not know the collection was for you
Breaking hearts and telling lies
Jesus was your alibi
Now you just can’t tell the lying from the truth
(chorus)
Standing at the crossroads
In the middle of your life
Strait ahead’s a hard road
And you can’t go left or right
Finally see the horizon line
But now you’re running out of time
Trying to find a different point of view
Is it all just black and white
Or shades of grey that steal your sight
Like clouds that hide the sky from you, your deepest blue
(Chorus) (Bridge)
And you can’t go back to where you were
Standing at the crossroads
The truck stop you are waiting in
Coffee’s cold, your welcome’s thin
You don’t know where to go but you’re moving on….
(Chorus)“At the Crossroads” by Brian Henke
Handfasting: “Mist and Smoke”
Mist and Smoke is a song I wrote in between Pagan Unity Festival and Caldera Fest in 2026. I was camped all by myself at a state campground in Tennessee and had managed to get a campfire going as the evening mists were rolling in, so the mist and smoke were swirling and rolling together as one.
My friends Kathy and Chris from the band Tuatha Dea were going to be married at PSG a few weeks later and I was going to be playing the ceremony for them, so I wrote this song for them, taking the energy of the mist and smoke slowly swirling together and these 2 beautiful and different people becoming as one….
Woodsong sing firelight
Goddess in the smoke arise
Daylight fade twilight
Silent mist of starry night
With love I finally see
Marriage of the mist and smoke
Fill my heart with love and hope
Green and blue will fade to grey
Beauty take my breath away
With love I finally see
The forest for the trees
God and Goddess, man and wife
Mist and smoke creating life
Stars will dance and rain will fall
Take the time to feel them all
With love I finally see
The forest for the trees
Mist and smoke are dancing together as one
Love and hope, the Moon and the Sun
Are shining on you…..(repeat 3 times)“Mist and the Smoke” 4/22/16 Brian Henke
“Jack o’ the Green”
“Jack o’ the Green” is from my latest CD and is a story love, changing from one form to the next, birth and the continuation of life and life’s story.
For some a change this huge is death. In this case it’s going from being the guardian tree to human and then back again.
She found an angel asleep in the grass
His hair red and gold in the sun
She wasn’t the bravest or boldest lass
But thought that he might be the one
So, she kissed him then she told him her name
He opened his eyes and he smiled
He said
My name is Jack o the Green
And you’re the best part of a beautiful dream
I feel I’ve been sleeping for hundreds of years
Singing a song with the wind
They walked down to the river
His touch gentle fire on her skin
They swam there in the river
Made love in the sun and the wind
They lay in the sand, watching clouds drifting by
And he whispered a song in her ear
I am Jack o the Green
You’re the best part of a beautiful dream
A dream I will dream forever and then
Dream it all over again
They walked back to the meadow
Where he’d been asleep in the grass
As the Moon rose bright in the sky
He said this day was not meant to last
He raised his arms high to the sky
And sang to the wind
I am the oak, the guardian tree
I am Jack o the Green
One year later on Samhain morn
Holding a babe in her arms
She walked to the tree in the meadow
Leaves red and gold in the sun
She held her babe up to the tree and she smiled
And sang to her tree and her son
His name is Jack o the Green
Named for his father before him
He’s the next part of a beautiful dream
Someday he’ll raise his arms high to the sky
And sing
I am Jack o the Green
My name is Jack o the Green
Named for my father before me
And I will sing songs with the rain and the wind and dream
I am Jack o the Green
Named for my father before me
I will sing songs for the rain and the wind and dream
I am Jack o the Green
I am Jack o the Green“Jack o’ the Green” by Brian Henke
Here is one last wedding song. ”The Faerie King and Miller’s Daughter”
I was joined by a whole bunch of amazingly talented musicians and singers on this one: Sharon Knight, Vicki Scotti, Lynda Millard and Maevyn Stone.
“The Faerie King and Miller’s Daughter”
The Faerie King and miller’s daughter
Dancing with the clouds
In a song of wind on water
As the willow bows
Spirit them away
In between Sun and shadow
You can see them dance
Oak and flower in the garden
Spinning in a trance
Spirit them away
Forever and a day
The Faerie King and miller’s daughter
On their wedding day
Sighing wind and children’s laughter
A wedding of the Fae
Spirit them away
Fire and Air, Earth and Water
A wedding of the Fae
Dance and sing forever after
Forever and a day
Spirit them away
Spirit them away“The Faerie King and Miller’s Daughter” by Brian Henke
I am writing this as Summer is slowly coming to an end. Many stores are already carrying Halloween candy and decorations on the shelves with back to school stuff.
Occasionally, here in Northeast Ohio, we get a day where the high temperature is in the high 60’s or low 70’s.
The tomatoes and beans are ready (Mmmm tomato sandwiches!) and apple season is coming soon….
The passage of Summer to Fall is so achingly beautiful….Soon there will be walks in the woods with sunlight illuminating the reds and golds of the season through the trees.
My “Grandpa” sweater and favorite faded blue jean jacket will be worn way more often and I’ll be looking forward to and traveling to Fall/Samhain fests all over.
“Feast of the Dying Sun”
Darkness falls, the Feast of the Dying Sun
Let your darkest desires, fires all burn as one
Spirits sing, Feast of the Dying Sun
Dead and living in harmony dance to the heart and drum
Stars and Moon and Sun
Fairy folk and Angels who fell from grace
Gather now for the feast here in this sacred place
Stars and Moon and Sun
Spin your song as one
Red leaves fall, Feast of the Dying Sun
A feast for all of the creatures buried beneath the ground
Stars and Moon and Sun
Spin your song as one
Darkness falls…..Feast of the Dying Sun“Feast of the Dying Sun”
For more information about Brian Henke, including his collected articles here on Pagan Song, his bio, and links to Brian’s sites on the web, check out Brian Henke’s page on Pagan Song.
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