Heathen Carols for the Winter Holiday
One of the things I loved most about Christmas as a child was the music—singing while making holiday treats, bundling up and going caroling with neighbors, and yes, even the school Christmas Concert, with all of us kids hyped up on sugar and singing with varying degrees of attention to our choir teacher’s direction.
As a grown up Heathen, I’ve wished for non-Christmas carols to fill my mouth and ears at this time of year. My talents do not lie in music composition or songwriting, so that wish has gone mostly unfulfilled.
However, this year is different! And for once, unlike most of 2020, it’s different in a good way!
You can now listen to the recording of the Homebrewed Book of Pagan Carols, produced by Leigh Ann Hussey (may her memory be green) with the Black Oak Coven, online or download!
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/0jgRbbEgnOjwKCIDctT6Y3
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mltH8bED9WelyDJVNPPOy8hRWjecybbUo
iTunes/Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/album/the-homebrewed-book-of-pagan-carols-vol-1-winter/id1510046721
Black Oak Coven is more Celtic-oriented, so some of the lyrics refer to Celtic deities, and The Lady and The Lord, rather than Norse deities. Feel free to substitute your own names/lyrics!
Winifred Hodge Rose has a page with Norse-specific lyrics to a some of these tunes, and other seasonal songs, on her blog at Yuletide Songs.
[Image description: A pentacle shape inside a garland with different flowers, fruits, and plants representing the four seasons, and the words “The Homebrewed Book of Pagan Carols, Volume 1: Winter”, all on a light green background.]
