Chants from

Beverly Frederick

Beverly Frederick is a yoga instructor living in Hawaii. Now that's a good gig!
In her younger days she was a professional dancer, but her career was ended by a painful illness.
That's when she turned to yoga and alternative spirituality.
She developed her own yoga therapy for people suffering from chronic pain.
In the late '80s Beverly met Starhawk and soon began teaching classes for the Reclaiming Community.
In 1987 she recorded "Through the Darkness", a CD with 21 chants and songs, which you will find below.
This CD set a new artistic and recording quality for music from Reclaiming.

***

 Beverly Frederick has also produced other CDs, including:
"In the Arms of the Wild"-- dedicated to environmental protestor Julia Wild;
"Sea Sutras"-- 8 Sanskrit chants with ocean sounds to accompany yoga;
and "Yoga Therapy", an instructional/musical CD designed to teach yoga (with poster).
You can buy all of these CDs at her website http://www.beverlyfrederick.org/chantcds.html

***

The chants below come from a her CD  called Through the Darkness,
which features the vocals and violin talent of Beverly Frederick.  
While there are not as many well-known chants,
it does contains some very lovely and touching tunes,
such as "Companion of the Earth", "To the Crossroads", "Holy Well and Sacred Flame"
and of course, Starhawk's "Through the Darkness" .
And for those of you of bardic persuasions, there are renditions
of old English ballads on the CD: "Tam Lin" and "True Thomas".

Through the Darkness
“Every Step* is Sacred/The Midwife's Song”
“Round the Tree of Life We Go”
  “From Your Silence”
 “Lugh Return”  
“Goddess of the Sun”
“Through the Darkness”
 “Companion of the Earth, God Invocation”
"To the Crossroads"
  “Tam Lin”
“Weaver Weaver”
“Is, Was and Shall Be”
 “Catch Me”
 “Come Away”
“Faery Queen Invocation”
 “True Thomas”
 “Brid”
 “Holy Well & Sacred Flame”
“The Elements Reel/Farewell”
 
Chords below provided by Cernowain Greenman July blue moon  2004 ce


“Every Step* is Sacred/The Midwife's Song”
by Calla Unsworth

(capo iv)
     Am        G      Am      Em
We turn the wheel to welcome her
Am     G      Am
Every step* is sacred
Am   G     Am      Em
Opening we welcome her
Am     G      Am
Every step is sacred
Am     G       Am        Em
As we walk this ancient path
Am     G      Am
Every step is sacred
Am        G      Am      Em
We are stronger than we know
Am      G     Am
Every step is sacred

  * the CD substitutes “breath” for “step”


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“Round the Tree of Life We Go”
by San Mueller

(capo i)
dm                 C      dm
Round the tree of life we go
 dm                  C        dm
Twisting, turning, quick and slow
 dm              C      dm
Winding, winding to and fro
  dm             C       dm
Beginnings into endings flow



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“From Your Silence”
by Jeffrey Alphonsus Mooney

(capo ii)
 Em               Am   D    Em
From your silence you will sing
 Em                D         Em
From your burdens grow your wings


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"Lugh Return”
by July Lewis & Beverly Frederick

(capo ii)
 Am G    Am    G            Am   G Am G
Winter Child, Summer King, Lugh returning
Am G    Am    G            Am   G Am G
Winter Child, Summer King, Lugh returning
 Am      G        Am       G
Born of darkness Child of Light
 Am      G        Am   G   Am
Born of darkness Child of Light

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"Goddess of the Sun”
by Mer/Mary DeDanan

 Em
From her dark bed she arises
 D2         A  Em
Goddess of the Sun
 Em
From her dark bed she arises
 D2         A  Em
Goddess of the Sun


descant--
 Em                    D2(A) Em
Fill us with your song of    joy


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"Through the Darkness”
by Starhawk

(capo i)
dm   C dm dm   C dm
Hold on,  hold on
dm               C
Through the darkness
           dm
Until the dawn

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"Companion of the Earth, God Invocation”
by Allen Stinson & Beverly Frederick

(capo iii) (or, alternate key in Em--  Em, D, C, B7)
  Am          G          F              E
Grandfather, Father, Companion of the Earth
    Am      G  F   E
We call you
  Am          G          F              E
Grandfather, Father, Companion of the Earth
Am      G  F   E
We call you
  Am          G          F              E
Grandfather, Father, Companion of the Earth
  Am          G          F              E
Grandfather, Father, Companion of the Earth
  Am          G          F              E
Grandfather, Father, Companion of the Earth
   Am       G  F               E
We call you,     speak to our hearts
   Am       G  F                   E
We call you,     flow through our veins
    Am       G    F              E
We call you,  Protector of the trees
    Am      G  F   E
We call you.
 


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“To the Crossroads”
by Starhawk

(capo i) (suggested alternate key: Dm with Dm, C, F)
Am                G      Am
To the crossroads I must go
    Am          G  Am
To find a world unseen
 Am              C
Fear and wonder will I know
    G
And be a bridge between

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“Tam Lin”  
Traditional, adapted by Beverly Frederick
(based R.J. Stewart's version of 1692 c.e.)


        Am               G      Am
1. The King forbade his maidens all
              G        Am
who wore gold in their hair
                   C
To come and go by Carterhall,
          G
For the young Tam Lin is there.


2. And those that go by Carterhall
From them he takes a fee,
Either mantles or their rings
Or else their maidenhead!

3. Janet kilted her green mantle
(just) above her knee,
And she has gone to Carterhall
Just as fast as she could flee.

4. She had not pulled a double rose,
A rose, but three or four,
When up & spoke young TamLin
'Lady, please, pull no more!'

5. 'How dare you pull those flowers!
How dare you break those wands!
How dare you come to Carterhall
Withouten my command?'

6. (She says) 'Carterhall it tis my own
My Father gave it me,
And I will come and go by here
Without any leave of thee!'

7. (There were) 4 and 20 ladies gay
All sitting down at chess,
When in come the young Janet,
As green as any glass.

8. Up and spake her father dear,
He spake up meek and mild,
'My dear, Janet,' he cried,
'I fear you go with child!'

9. 'And if I do go with child,
It is myself to blame!
There's not a knight in all your hall
Shall give my child its name!'

10. Janet kilted her green mantle
(Just) above her knee,
And she ran off to Carterhall
For to pull the Scathing Tree.

11. 'How dare you pull that herb?’
said young Tam Lin,
’For to kill the bonny babe
That we got us between!'

12. 'You must tell to me, Tam Lin,
Now you must tell to me,
Were you once a mortal knight
Or mortal hall did see?'

13. 'I was once a mortal knight
I was hunting here one day,
I did fall off from my horse,
Fairy Queen stole me away.

14. 'Tomorrow night is Halloween,
The Fairy Folk do ride;
Those that would their true love win
At Miles Cross they must hide!

15. 'First you let pass the black horse
Then you let pass the brown,
Run up to the milk white steed
And pull the rider down.

16. 'First they'll turn me in your arms
Into a lion wild.
Hold me close and fear me not
As you would hold your child.

17. 'Next they'll turn me in your arms
Into a snake or adder,
Hold me close and fear me not,
I am your child's father.

18. 'Then they'll turn me in your arms
Into a red-hot bar of iron,
Throw me into well
And throw me in with speed.

19. 'Last they'll turn me in your arms
Into a naked knight
Wrap me up in your mantle,
And hold me close from sight.'

20. So well she did what he did say
She did her true love win,
She wrapped him up in her mantle,
As blythe as any bird.

21. Up and spake the Fairy Queen,
An ancient Queen cried she:
'If I'd have known of this Tam Lin,
That some lady'd borrowed thee,

22. 'If I'd have known of this Tam Lin,
Before we came from home,
I'd have plucked out thy heart
And put in one a heart of stone...
One of my very own!’

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“Weaver Weaver”
by Starhawk

(capo iii)
 C G/B   Am G    C     G     C
Weaver, Weaver, Weave her thread
  F          C      C  Am   G
Whole and strong into your web
 C G/B   Am G    C    G   C
Healer, healer, heal her pain
    G           C  G     C
In love may she return again

       G                C
3.And may she find the hidden way
   G             C     G   C   G7
Beyond the gates of night and day
    C    G/B   Am   G    C   G   C
To that sweet land where apples grow
     F       C       C Am    G
And endless healing waters flow
 


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“Is, Was and Shall Be”
by Beverly Frederick

(capo iii)
 Am                 Am2 Am   G   Am
Three from the hall beneath the tree
G            Am
Is, Was and Shall Be.
Am                 Am2  Am  G   Am
Come Wyrd sisters swoop to the ground
 G                        Am
Loosen the web that binds us down
Am                     Am2 Am  G   Am
Join with the hands of the Weaver Three
G             Am
Is, Was and Shall Be
 


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“Catch Me” by Suzanne Sterling
 G     C      G    Am G7
Catch me, oh catch me
   dm                       G7
Caress me with your silver fingers
 dm                 G7
Fill me with your light
 G      Em     Am
Goddess in the sky
 G        E7        Am
Will you dance with me?
 

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“Come Away” by Starhawk
(capo iv)

 Am            G     Am
Come away, oh human child
             G       Am
Come take me by the hand
              C
To the water and the wild
G
In another land


Am                G     Am
You will shed no human tear
             G     Am
Nor hear no human cry
              C
You shall in beauty dwell
     G
And you will never die

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“Faery Queen Invocation”
by Beverly Frederick & Mer/Mary DeDanan

(Note: This song is in Cm. I am still working out the chords.
Drop me a line if you can help. Thanks!)


O Lady of the Ferny Brae
We call to you to come to us
To  hold us close and hear us say
Asleep and awake, oh how we dream of you
 
Oh Lady of the fleet white steed
We call you to come to us
To honor you, all wildness freed
Asleep and awake, oh how we dream of you
 
Oh Lady of the rising mist
We call you to come to us
To hold us near and share your kiss
Asleep and awake, oh how we dream of you


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“True Thomas” Traditional

 capo ii    Am*=hammer on chord

     Em   Am*       Em           Am
1. True Thomas lay on a grassy bank
       C           G
And beheld a lady gay
   Am*
A lady that was so brisk
     G
and very very bold
        Am*        Em         Am
Came a-riding o’er the ferny brae.


2. Her skirt was of the grass-green silk,
Her mantle of velvet fine
And on every lock of
her fine horse’s mane
Hung fifty silver bells and nine.

3. True Thomas he took off his hat
And bowed low down to his knee
'All hail Virgin,
Queen of Heaven,
For your like on Earth I ne’er did see.'

4. 'O no, True Thomas' said she
That name belongs not to me,
I am but the Queen
of fair Elfenland
who has come for to visit with thee.

5. 'And you must come with me, Thomas,
True Thomas you must come with me,
You must serve me seven years
For good or ill
as may chance to be'

6. She turned about her milk-white steed
And took up True Thomas behind
And whene’er the bridle rang,
the steed flew swifter than
the wind that sang in kind

7. For forty days and nights
They wade thru blood to the knee,
And they saw neither sun
nor shining moon,
but heard only the roar of the sea

8. The road wore further on
until they came to a tree
'Light down, lady fair,
I’ll pull of that fruit
for thee, for thee, for thee'.

9. 'O no, True Thomas', said she,
'That fruit may not be touched by thee,
For all the plagues
that e’er were heard
are on the fruit of this country.'

10. ‘But I have bread here in my lap
likewise a spot of red wine;
And before we go a-further on
We may rest and you may dine’

11. When he had eaten his fill
She said ‘Lay your head on my knee
And before then we climb
yon high, high hill
I will show you wonders three.

12. ‘O do you see that narrow road,
beset with thorn and brier?
That is the road
of righteousness,
Though after it few enquire.

13. ‘And do see you that broad, broad road,
That lies upon that lily land?
That is the way
of wickedness,
Though some call it the road to heav’n.

14. ‘And do you see that bonny road,
That lies upon the fernie bro?
That is the way
to fair Elfenland,
and together there you and I go.

15. ‘But Thomas you must hold your tongue
Whate’er ye may hear or see,
For, if one were heard
you chance to speak,
You will ne’er get back to your country."

16. He's got him an elven coat,
And likewise shoes of velvet green
And till seven years
True Thomas ne’er on earth
was heard or seen.

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“Brid”
Traditional Scottish adapted by Beverly Frederick
music by Sparky T. Rabbit

Am       Dm
Welcome Brid
            C
Oh Brid is come
  Am     C Dm
Brid is welcome

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“Holy Well and Sacred Flame”
Reclaiming Traditional Call and Response

(capo iv)
Am        Em   C  G   Am
Holy Well and Sacred Flame
 

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“The Elements Reel/Farewell”
by Vermont Witchcampers

 C            dm          C             G
Farewell the center, the earth and the water
 C            dm           C          G    C
Farewell the fire and the air that’s all around.


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