Anyone who has hung around with me for even a moment knows that I constantly talk about how Music and Magic travel together. From my own experience, I’ve discovered paths of joy, healing, and peace, insights into the deeper ways of the Elements, and connections with every phase of Life. Music has provided ways to lift me from the mundane, adding so much beauty and peace regardless of the chaos and negativity I might encounter.
The amazing part is how easy it has been to allow this Magic into my life. You don’t have to be a musician or an artist for this to happen. This Music Magic is something that is open and free to every one of us!
Music Magic
So, just where does Music Magic come from? The answer is all around you, as it has been from the very first moments of your life! All you have to do is listen … feel … allow it to flow! Start with a simple vocalization: humming just a single tone. Start softly and let it rise and fall naturally.
Recently, humming has been in the health news. It has been found to have immediate and powerful healing effects on the human body, such as reducing stress, lowering blood pressure, stimulating the vagus nerve, and providing a good influx of the “feel good” brain chemicals. For more information, try doing a search on the phrase “healing humming.” It is amazing how humming can make so many great changes!
For myself, I have been on this incredible journey of discovery, being taught by the Muse, Herself, about the Magick of Musick. Songs and tones and rhythms come from everywhere, all the time. But the unexpected tunes, the surprise sounds, the impromptu gifts that happen to reach my ears – these often lead my spirit into places of deep beauty and healing, opening me to concepts I had not yet played with.
So now, I offer you two songs, a tune, and three stories.
Heartbeat of the Earth
As the last breath of the winter whispers farewell to the spring breeze, a young woman waits beneath her favorite tree. Her hands caress the growing life within her belly, so close to the time of birth, of being held.
From the depths of beginning, the new life she carries floats and flows, its whole universe ordered by the original heartbeat of the Mother, the sacred Rhythm of the Earth. The tiny heart blends its faster pace with the mother’s, the first harmony of existence that will be remembered – and longed for in all its life.
Everything is Rhythm and Harmony in the First Song!
Butterfly, Butterfly, Please Tell Me True
On a lazy midsummer afternoon, a child sits near the garden as their grandmother sits on the porch, comfortably rocking back and forth. The gentle creak-creak of the weathered old chair blends with the trilling of cicada calls punctuated now and then by the caw of a crow or bark of a fox.
The little one has arranged the treasures acquired on yesterday’s walk to the lakeshore – shiny rocks, shells of the freshwater mollusks that make such yummy stews, an old coin, some fading flowers … all turned out of the favorite wooden box cherished for exactly this moment.
The box is turned upside down like a small table as the youngling waves a small stick over the findings, singing a thank you song like they have heard their Nana chant many times. The small wand is tapped on the box, making the rocks and shells jump in answer to the taps. The rhythm draws in the imagination. Each shell and rock produce a slightly different tone and soon there is a new song born of a moment of peace and joy,
A brightly colored butterfly seems to dance along with the music. Looking up, the child grins and greets the Fairy that has become part of the Song!
The Sounds of the City, Sifting Through Trees (with a nod to Simon and Garfunkel’s song Old Friends)
The man rises from his seat on the bus. It is time to start his daily job in the city. It’s a mundane necessity to be endured. Life plods on and the world seems a bit grey and faded. Even his family life seems to have become locked into the grind, never getting a break from the relentless dull. Sure, jobs are necessary but he wonders what the point is.
He ducks his head quickly as a brightly colored bird seems to appear out of nowhere, flying so close its wings almost touch his head! The bird perches on the awning of one of the shops he passes every day without really noticing, singing a beautiful song that touches his soul. He stops right in the middle of the sidewalk, listening … opening … smiling as the rest of the people flow around him.
In that moment, the sounds of the city seem to join in, bit by bit. Engine rumbles and thumps of tires, patter of shoes on concrete, whistles and honks, doors shutting and opening, voices calling out hellos and come look!
For a magical space, maybe for just the measure of a breath, he can hear it all blending together in a magnificent symphony of sounds that meld the city’s song with the memory of the times he was just a boy and could hear the music the wind made as it touched the golden wheat fields on his grandfather’s farm.
In that breath, he suddenly has a sense of connection to everything. He can feel his parents and grandparents close by. He is aware in that instant of all the love and beauty that goes along with the daily mundanity, everything that makes life worth living!
And for a moment – for that moment – all was right with the world.
Connections … Always There!
One of my favorite sayings is that “Music is a shortcut to Spirit.” It really is! When a song hits your heart, when it makes you laugh out loud or releases tears that have been held back – all that exists in that moment is you, the Music, and Spirit. If you have a prayer to pray, chant it – sing it! If you need help, sing it – drum it – stomp it! If you feel alone or sad, let your voice give that a reality so that it can be expressed.
Side Quest!
Expressed – think about that word for a moment. “EX” means out. “PRESS” means to push. Right? When we hold feelings inside – especially the negative ones – they will fester and sicken our spirit and our body, as well. We must EXPRESS them … Press them OUT where they become material and not just phantasms of the mind. Then we can begin to deal with them, and heal with them. So, if you need to deal with loneliness, sadness, grief, even anger – try just vocalising. Re-read what I said about humming. No words or melody needed … just sounds. Let it out!
So, my friends, these are my words for you:
Listen.
Hum.
Feel.
Sing.
Know that you have always been part of the Great Song.
YOU have always been part of the Magic of Music!
For more information about Ginger Ackley, including her collected articles here on Pagan Song, her bio, and links to Ginger’s sites on the web, check out Ginger’s page on Pagan Song.
Feature image based on Nature Guitar by Tilly Williams. Rainbow butterfly and Sunny Music Banner are graphics in public domain.
For more Pagan Song posts on healing and music, check out Music Saved My Life and other posts on Music as Therapy.
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