Hi folks! Meren King, independent pagan singer/songwriter from North Central Florida here.

So, I am a Bard and a Storyteller, and get to share all the lovely tales of magic and wonder, singing the old pagan standards and teaching songs with folks at concerts and festivals, but as a Bard I also have a duty to call things out when they’re not the best, and to let folks know that they are not alone if they are struggling in this world.

There is so much going on here in Florida, and in this country, and around the world against members of the LGBTQIA+ communities that it just breaks the heart and angers my soul.

As a pan-pagan person, as a divergent person, I see the world around me and I understand what’s happening to folks like me and like you, and it chaps my hide because I believe that everyone has the right to truly be themselves, whomever that may be, and to worship however their heart and soul leads them.

So we have to speak out and we have to stand up for each other, whether we are one of the folks being oppressed or not.

We need to stand up for every human and their rights to bodily autonomy, whatever form that may take.

We are queer all the way and we are here to stay, no matter how much certain political parties wish to legislate us out of existence.

These actions taken by politicians will not stand, and those of us in the LGBTQIA+ and Pagan communities must stand up for ourselves and for each other. We've been fighting since Stonewall, and we will continue to fight!

Written in May of 2023, this song is in direct protest to these medieval laws, and all proceeds from the sale of this song will go to Equality Florida, who fights every day for the rights of ALL Floridians, and All people, to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. 

This is "Can't Erase Us": https://merenking.bandcamp.com/track/cant-erase-us

https://youtu.be/JfXUeBCp-Qw?si=pRyyhbvjd8xTAiaD

This is the first album of a - hopefully - series on occultism, paganism, dark ambient and ritualistic music. Each album will have a specific theme/approach, i.e., dedicated to different entities. This one in particular s dedicated to Azazel, and meditation-oriented . I am currently working on another one, which I hope it can be online - for free again - in one week. Please check it out. Suggestions, comments and requests are deeply appreciated. Thank you!

https://youtube.com/@thedancinggoatofficial?si=27t2bVbJTmC_v1D5

Hi, thought I'd see if anyone remembers this. Back in the 80s, I came across a song which I believed was simply called "Herne", written by Jennifer Holding. I am not sure if the recording I heard was sung by Ms. Holding or by someone else. I have not been able to track down any recording of this song. If you know of it, please comment and let me know? Thank you!

Hi there,

I am a PhD student working in the domains of philosophy and esotericism; I am also a musician-singer, and I have undertaken the endeavor to transform philosophy and esotericism into music. I share with you my musical exposition of the early alchemist, Zosimos of Panopolis.

Zosimos of Panopolis (fl. 300 ce) can be cited as the most significant Greco Egyptian alchemist. In his text “Of Virtue, Lessons 1-3,” Zosimos recounts a series of psychedelic and disturbing dreams that he interprets as alchemical allegories. I have endeavored to present a thorough yet concise musical summary of its contents herein. You will encounter the alchemical lexicon here expressed in raw, primal form. This text is actually mind-blowing, and my exposition endeavors to be both fun and didactic. Hope you enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTjZ4uVgS94

https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_ludi3QMRalk3hCJa_UUHIRqp-aOVLAN9s&si=63QNfwM1WmqGOXfx

Hi, I have a couple ideas for songs about norse paganism. I'm very new but I feel inspired to write. I have a music background but honestly I'm not that good, I would like to collaborate with someone, and when we have lyrics that are good enough, we can share them for others to play them as they wish.

I'm not sharing my draft here because I don't think is good enough yet, can DM me if you might be interested in helping, thanks.

I love Herr Mannelig, but I always feel bad for the troll.

Then I had a mad idea... Why not write a response to the song? Give it a happy ending?

Continuing the story, it happens there was a simple woodcutter who saw the troll proposing to and being cruelly rejected by the other young man. In his eyes, the troll woman was as fair as any other woman he'd seen, and approaching her as she wept, this is what came next:

"Bergatroll" (The woodcutter's response)

Early one morning, before the sun was high, A simple man walked up the gray mountains. He saw a troll woman with sorrow in her eyes, Who sang of her promises, longing for a reply.

(ref.) Mountain troll, mountain troll, will you betroth yourself to me? All I need is your heart, given gladly. You can only answer yes or no, Do you wish to, or do you not?

I do not thank you for horses, so strong and white, I only wish for your hand to be mine. Let us walk together in the peace of the woods, And find love, so simple and fine.

Not for grinding mills, in the whisper of the wind, But I seek a breeze that leads us where we belong. By your side, in joy, in sorrow or laughter, To live with you is my greatest treasure.

Not for a sword, so strong and sharp, I do not fight against the world's storm. But by your side, I shall stand so strong, And care for your heart, warm as a spring morning.

Not for a shirt, of silk so fine, But for the warmth of your hand in mine. Dressed in love, we shall be strong, And build a future that cannot be torn.

“O woodcutter, simple, your heart is so true, No knight could ever compare to you. If love you offer, then love I shall give, And with you, in the wild, I'll live.”

So they found each other, in the depths of the woods, And lived with love, in days and years. The troll and the human, two worlds as one, United in nature’s embrace.

For funsies I tried translating this into Swedish:

Bergatroll (Skogshuggarens Svar)

Tidigt en morgon, innan solen var högt, En enkel man gick upp i bergen grått. Han såg en trollkvinna med sorg i sin blick, Som sjöng sina löften, och väntade på svar.

(ref.) Bergatroll, bergatroll, vill du lova dig till mig? Allt jag behöver är ditt hjärta, givet med glädje. Du kan bara svara ja eller nej, Vill du, eller vill du ej?

Tackar ej för hästar, så starka och vita, Jag önskar blott att din hand blir min. Låt oss vandra tillsammans, i skogarnas frid, Och finna kärlek, så enkel och fin.

Ej för malande kvarnar, i vindarnas sus, Men jag söker en vind, som för oss dit vi hör. Vid din sida, i glädje, i sorg eller skratt, Att leva med dig är min största skatt.

Ej för ett svärd, som är starkt och skarpt, Jag strider ej mot världens storm. Men vid din sida ska jag stå så stark, Och vårda ditt hjärta, varmt som en vårmorgon.

Ej för en skjorta, av silke så fin, Men för värmen av din hand i min. Klädd i kärlek, ska vi vara starka, Och bygga en framtid, som ej kan sargas.

"O skogshuggare enkel, ditt hjärta är så sant, Ingen riddare kan mäta sig mot dig, minsann. Om kärlek du bjuder, så kärlek jag ger, Och med dig, i vildmarken jag lever."

Så fann de varandra, i skogarnas djup, Och levde med kärlek, i dagar och år. Trollen och människan, två världar i en, Som förenades i naturens barm.

Disclaimers:

I don't speak a lick of Swedish. I used AI to help me adjust the lyrics I wrote so that they would preserve the meter and rhyme of the original Swedish song. My aim was to make my version as similar in sound and structure to the original as possible.

Thoughts?

Good evening!

Does anyone have any recommendations regarding Anglo Saxon/ early English inspired music? (Besides Aelfric Avery)

Thanks!

 Hi there,

I am a folk singer/musician and PhD student (writing my dissertation on philosophy and esotericism) who has taken on the endeavor to transform philosophy into music, aestheticize knowledge. Enclosed is my musical exposition of the mystical aspects of Platonic philosophy, especially the aspects which the Neoplatonists would reinterpret in their understanding of the mystical ascent. The song primarily follows the trajectory of the Phaedrus and the Symposium, but also references the Republic, Meno, Phaedo, Critias, and the Timaeus.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1_DeeQ3YLE

I created a lot of hand drawn animations for it, and included a lot of alchemical imagery, as many alchemists did indeed interpret Plato alchemically. I also created a number of animations of the images from the great Neo/Platonist Renaissance magi Robert Fludd, my own artwork, one of Athanasius Kircher’s illustrations, an image from the alchemical treatise the Rosarium Philosophorum, and images from ancient Greek art (the sirens and Eros) that I adapted. Yes, sirens in the ancient Greek context were envisioned as avian rather than aquatic humanoids! The chariot animation was created using the still frames of a film of a horse running (it took awhile to make!).

Some nuances: the line “drinking from the lake of memory” is an allusion to Orphism, as Plato’s theory of anamnesis derives from the Orphic cult. I am also dressed in Egyptian-style attire at one point, a subtle reference to Plato’s debt to the ancient Egyptian religion.

I have been studying and writing about Plato in an academic context for more than 12 years now, I’ve read and written about these texts a lot over the years, and I feel a very deep philosophical affinity with Plato’s philosophy. Though a rationalized mysticism, Plato preserves the knowledge of mythic traditions and mystery cults. In addition to my own knowledge and experience working with this philosophical material, I took inspiration from the books of the late Algis Uzdavinys, one of my favorite scholars, in the construction of the narrative, specifically his texts The Golden Chain and Orpheus and the Roots of Platonism. I also include citations at the end, citing the sources for these lyrics to give it a bit more scholarly weight. I just finished writing about eleven thousand words on Plato for my PhD thesis concomitantly as I constructed this creative artifact, so sharing this feels like a personal culmination. I hope you enjoy this experimental didactic production! As Socrates relates, philosophy is the best music (Phaedo 61a).

Thought I'd drop this here.
https://youtu.be/Nx5loJuiHGc?si=VSkaXkPt8H6HO4X6

Played a Nordic folk DJ set on a festival

Includes music of such artists as Heilung, Danheim, Bjorth, etc

https://on.soundcloud.com/nU8J4

Kind of stuff like love for others, looking beyond yourself, and other related things?

https://youtu.be/uePMxjmi44M?si=BLlSjZ4c_Jhqszqf