Music and Grief
Music is evocative. Music is magical. Music is emotional. It helps us express what we cannot express through words alone. It can help us celebrate our lives.
And music can help us grieve.
Listen to our Crow Women albums Crow Goddess and Crow Magic, and in almost every song, you will hear the strong, clear, magical voice of our coven sister Donna Pauline. Donna was a force of nature—a fiercely loyal friend and mother, a wise and powerful priestess, a gifted cook and mead maker and a Voice.
On January 21, 2018, Donna passed to the Summerlands. But she left us her music.
Have you ever known someone who filled space even in their absence? That was Donna. She had a power and a presence that even death could diminish but not extinguish.
A Voice That Lingers
The song “Your Voice Still Lingers” (on our latest album Seasons) honors the ongoing presence of our mighty dead. With Donna, it is her gorgeous singing voice and a rich, unrestrained laugh that seems to linger on. Different people leave different marks on the world and on our lives, but those we love do leave a mark.
I like to think of “Your Voice Still Lingers” as Donna’s final gift to our circle and to the pagan community. Because of all the myriad benefits and applications of music, one of its most important is the power to bring people together. While grief is personal and unique to each individual, it can also be isolating. Through the power of song, we express our personal experience of grief communally.
As we honor Donna Pauline on the anniversary of her passing, I am reminded that though pagans don’t have a standard liturgy for funerals or memorials, we have many long-time traditions that we can pull from to celebrate and remember those we love who have crossed before us.
- Storytelling
- Playing music loved by the person
- Sharing the person’s favorite food or drink
- Building memorial altars
- Bringing out keepsakes or objects treasured by the person
- And of course, song…
Music for the Mighty Dead
We hope that “Your Voice Still Lingers” will be a song that can support your grief and be used in your pagan celebrations of life. But some other notable songs that you may want to have in your repertoire include:
“We Do Not Die” by Velvet Hammer
“Weave and Spin/On the Same Wheel We Spin” by Reclaiming and Friends
“Breaths” by Birago Diop & Ysaya Barnwell (Sung by Crow Women)
And our Crow favorite–“The Roots of My Heart” by Cynthia Crossen (Sung by the Crow Women)
Thus we honor and celebrate your mighty dead as we raise a glass of mead to our own dearest Donna Pauline. Blessed Be!
Though Donna Pauline passed away prior to the recording and production of Seasons, her singing is featured on several songs on the album. So there is proof that her voice still lingers…
Thank you for this, Tara. I still miss Donna often, both as a co-conspirator in our musical magic, and as one of the best friends I have ever had.
Thank you, Tara! When I hear the word Pagan, I always picture and mentally hear Donna. She was and still is a force of Nature, whose voice will still linger, not only as long as those of us fortunate enough to know her still live, but (thanks to the Crows’ albums) as long as those albums still bring her voice to the world.
Raise a glass of mead, and celebrate her life and glorious voice!
Azrael Arynn K
I miss her as well and also remember how important “Webb of Wonder” was when it was written to help the community grieve my Albert!
Yes! Web of Wonder is another great song to honor our beloved dead. This post is a beautiful tribute. Thank you.
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