Last night, my Women's Drumming and Goddess Chanting Circle met for our annual Winter Solstice celebration. (The Circle meets on the first Wednesday evening of every month, which is why our festive partying seems so early!) Anyway, we had our usual singalong of Solstice songs and chants, including several "reclaimed" Christmas carols. Lyrics for such reclaimed carols are widely available on the Internet.
I thought I'd share one with you today which is a particular Circle favourite:
God Rest Ye Merry, Pagan Folk
God rest ye merry, pagan folk,
Let nothing you dismay.
Remember that the sun returns
Upon this Solstice day.
The growing dark is ending now
And Spring is on its way!
Chorus
Oh, tidings of comfort and joy,
Comfort and joy!
Oh, tidings of comfort and joy!
The Goddess rest ye merry, too,
And keep you safe from harm.
Remember that we live within
The circle of Her arms.
And may Her love give years to come
A very special charm!
Chorus
Wonderful!! {{claps hands with delight}}
ReplyDeleteLove it! Sharing!
ReplyDeleteOh, awesome! I want to find a good pagan CD of Yule music for the season. Any suggestions? That's so awesome that you have a drumming/chanting circle--I'm jealous! Alas, I'll live vicariously through your fun.
ReplyDeleteI like this version! It is light and carefree and positive. Nice change.
ReplyDeleteJim
Brilliant!! I *love* this Christmas song anyways and *love* the reclaimed version!
ReplyDeleteHmmm....I'll have to check out other songs now....
beautiful.. would love to be in the arms of the goddess comforted and protected from all harm....
ReplyDeleteCute!
ReplyDeleteOh man..I am learning that song and I'm going to go around the apts caroling and singing it..ha..I just love it..now are those the original words and the Christians took the song and changed it?..bastids.
ReplyDeleteI love this version. Thanks for sharing it.
ReplyDeleteMary
Very big smile of the frog queens face. I think I am going to go home tonight and give that a try at the piano :)
ReplyDeleteCheers!
wunderbra! ;)
ReplyDeleteI have seen them before & I love them!!! not sure if it will go down well if I start singing the words at midnight Mass though ;)
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing! :)
ReplyDeleteJust picture me singing this out loud to my cats and my dog, who think anything that comes out of my mouth is miraculous and are the best audience ever! I love the Goddess lyrics...do you have others that have been adapted?
ReplyDeleteAnd I really enjoyed your Wikileaks comment, Debra...you're always so sharp!
I like it!! This is my first Christmas since leaving Christianity and I'm having a hard time getting away from all the Christocentric music. Love it!
ReplyDeleteKathy -- Speaking as a Pagan who was raised Christian, let me tell you that you don't have to give up Christmas music if you don't want to! You don't have to agree with the lyrics of a song to enjoy it.
ReplyDelete:)
Beautiful. Thanks!
ReplyDelete~i'll be singing this the rest of the night...hehehe...l♥ve it! thank you for sharing this with us...warm wishes and brightest blessings~
ReplyDeleteDear Friend,
ReplyDeleteNAMASTE!
Good Morning From India!
HAPPY DECEMBER!
I love this season,
The time to forgive and forget.
To spread love and cheer,
Thnks a lot for sharing the beautiful song......
Wishing you a beautiful day ahead,
Sasneham,
Anu
"Let nothing you display" would have been cheekier.
ReplyDeleteOh, I like that. Very much. That means there's only 19 days til we start moving closer to Spring. I can deal with that.
ReplyDelete"The Goddess rest ye merry, too,
ReplyDeleteAnd keep you safe from harm.
Remember that we live within
The circle of Her arms." So beautiful!!!
Love, love, love it!
ReplyDeleteSounds like a very cool drum circle!
Oh yeah! Love it!
ReplyDeleteI love this idea!
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing this. I love to hear all the different ways people observe the various holidays at this time of year. There's such a push from certain groups to put the focus back on the Christian tradition, but I really feel that our celebrations are richer when we embrace and honour the varied backgrounds that make us who we are as a nation!!
ReplyDeleteStepping off of soapbox now...