you fill up my senses
like a night in the forest
like the mountains in springtime
like a walk in the rain
like a storm in the desert
like a sleepy blue ocean
you fill up my sense
come fill me again...
What is this? A hymn to the Earth Mother? A call to the Elements? A ritual chant?
No, it's actually an excerpt from Annie's Song, a love song written and performed by the late, grate John Denver, folk musician of the 70s.
This has long been one of my favorite songs for a really long time. Whenever it came on, even when I was young in the 70s, it would be like this wave of wonder and awe for nature would wash over me.
I'm really big on using music and drama in ritual; this is my trad and as a creative person it really speaks to me to pull in poetry and songs and artwork and enactments when designing or planning a ritual. I occasionally use Annie's Song when the focus is on nature/the Earth... 'come fill me again' I call out to the planet, the seasons, the elements, as I revel in all of its beauty through Denver's lyrics and sway to the simple tune.
In the past I've also used in my ritual poetry (often the Romantic poets-- Wordsworth, Burns, Keats, but also from Chaucer to Shakespeare; I love Yeats especially, though he seems to defy categorization as well).
Heck, one of my favorite songs to sing with my kids during Sabbats came from the original Charlotte's Web film, and we've even worked scenes from E.B. White's book into our seasonal enactment (Charlotte's death scene reworked into a seasonal enactment being very powerful, and much more appropriate for children than myths like the Rape of Persephone).
My Tip for You Today: Don't just limit yourself to Pagan sources, to Pagan-specific tools and rituals and songs and poetry.
You can find a lot of beauty and inspiration for your rituals in places that are not necessarily Pagan-specific.
Look around-- the world is more Pagan than you realize.
By the By, I highly recommend watching this video from Youtube: gorgeous images of nature set to this beautiful song... and for you youngin's out there who have never heard Annie's Song, listen to the beautiful lyrics as well.
Where do you get spiritual inspiration?
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