Friday 27 February 2009

Folk Music

I have been thinking a lot lately about Paganism and music. What is Pagan and not? Is it just overtly Pagan musicians that make Pagan music?

I have this theory you see, I am a lifelong folk music lover and I see so much in English folk music that has Pagan overtones to it.

Even in the music that is not Pagan influenced there is something in the beat of it that says to me that this is music for me as a Pagan. The equivalent of a hymn in church.

3 comments:

Gnarf said...

yay! comments work again =)

do you play any instruments? Do you sing? Or write folk songs?

Just wondering....

pangur-ban said...

I promise you you do not want to hear me sing lol.When I was a child I used to sing in choirs and then my voice broke. I also played in Brass bands when younger but I have not played now for about thirty years.

Unknown said...

A friend of mine have taken to going to a local "authentic Irish pub" (owned and operated by people with real Irish accents) where they have Irish musicians that jam every Thursday and Sunday.

The music makes me cry. It speaks to my soul. My heart beat becomes the rhythm of the feet stomping on the wooden floor boards.

I thought about it after coming home last Sunday night and I realized that although I probably wouldn't want to get too close to any of the people in the pub because anytime you talk to Irish people religion comes up (my whole family is Irish and very strongly Irish-Roman-Catholic), I can somehow still feel like I am in touch with something much older that we have in common through their music.

For me, listening to the old music is like going to church - I feel like I'm communing with something older and larger, and deeper than myself that goes back, back, back to my ancient ancestors.