Boy howdy - can you believe it’s only been 21 days of this new administration so far? This is so brutal. But as DC commented last week, it’s “not so much a marathon as a collective relay race. Everybody takes a turn, then steps off to rest while others run for a while, and then rejoins the fight when they're rested and ready to do more.”
Part of this is, of course, remembering our spiritual practices and spiritual connections. I didn’t realize when I suggested this occasional Monday conversation thing how much my spirit was going to need the time to connect with others about how worship feeds our spirits - I’m buoyed by your thoughts and it reminds me how important these things are to me too. I don’t just read and forget - off and on since post #2, I have been thinking about something Lynette said:
“Songs are spells.”
Now I’ve long said that we sing our theology - what we sing about, the words we use, the ways we sing together, matters. But now I’ve been thinking about that idea that songs are spells - with the understanding that spells are ceremonial acts that focus energy to achieve a goal, often with proscribed words/actions. In other words, they’re prayers or meditations or rituals - depending on the language and practice of your faith tradition.
So if we accept the general definition of ‘spell’ to expand into non-witchy traditions… what does it mean to you that a song is a spell? And, as Lynette asked, What spells are we casting when we sing together?
Can’t wait to hear your thoughts! Let the conversation commence!
In Judaism (the faith I was born into) all prayers are sung. And when we read Torah or Haftorah out loud in synagogue, it is also sung. And so I am thinking of how God created all of creation by speaking it into being. And when this is read in synagogue it is sung.
I think that when we sing we are creating in a sense. We are not only sending the words out into the world, but the melody as well. And this gets internalized--it's a big way that we learn. For example, when I get lost in alphabetical order, I sing the alphabet song in my head. I don't just say the letters, I sing them. It's internalized that way.
So when we're learning theology, when we're singing our theology, that's how we're focusing our minds. We aren't literally able to sing something into being, but by internalizing it, it informs how we act and interact in the world. This is why I will not put hymns with bad theology in the services I lead. I'll use hymns I don't particularly care for myself as long as the theology is good. But there's no way I'll use a hymn with bad theology because I don't want folks to internalize that and carry it into the world.
“songs are spells” Yes of course they are! Spells in the traditional ‘witchy’ sense change or transform a person or situation, right? When we sing together there are physiological changes in the body and when sung together — the group. It is a known fact— I’m sure we all know this already but naming it here is to bring it to mind—- that singing releases endorphins that increase feelings of connection and bonding. That hormone Oxytocin creates bonds between parent and child — it also does the same with others. There are other endorphins that are released that are mood uplifting.
The most effective “spells” I’ve personally found resonating with folks in my congregation are songs by Elizabeth Norton and Lea Morris. I’ve noticed a physical shift after the congregation sings their pieces. I’m not saying that other composers don’t engender this shift they can and do, but these stand out to me.