One of the things that I have noticed over the years is that Pagan music seems to be hard to find. However, there are many artists out there whose music has pagan overtones, and with ITunes, Amazon’s music service and many other music services out there, new and old music is finding its way back into rituals, prayer work, and just to listen to when you need some extra energy.
Here is a list of artists you might not have heard of, or perhaps had never thought about in a pagan light before.
Serpentine (Serpentine Arborvitae) – Rock the Goddess
I found this album in the late 90’s. The song “Rock the Goddess” was I think her best work. I have also found many of the other songs on the album to be compelling, although they have a significantly different feel to them. Her music is what I put on when I want to feel inspired and powerful. .
I was happy to find out that this was only one of the many albums produced by Serpentine. Many more songs are available on ITunes. I’m still finding new gems for my collection as I go through them.
Gypsy – Enchantress
This album is much older. I remember listening to it in 1992-3. I had it on cassette back then, but in 2001 it was put onto ITunes. I think this album has a solid place in pagan music, just for the fact that it was groundbreaking – no one had published anything like it before. Gypsy’s music is soothing, but I find I can only listen to it so long. Then it goes away in my collection to be pulled out another time.
Emerald Rose
This is a traditional Celtic group that has written a lot of pagan themed music. One of my favorites is ‘Never Underestimate (A woman with the Goddess in her Eyes)’. I love their music around this time of the year – it feels like their music just screams springtime and growth.
Inkubus Sukkubus
While I love Emerald Rose in the spring, I ADORE listening to Inkubus Sukkubus in the fall. Their songs scream Pagan, Magick, Power and all things Gothic. This is the type of music that I use when I’m having just too much mundanity in a day. There have been many times that I would get in my Jeep and just blast this music for a bit of a ‘change in the scenery’ so to speak. They have many albums with many different and hauntingly beautiful songs on them, and I think there is something for everyone here.
Todd Alan
This is another singer that I think has a significant place in Pagan music. I still on occasion listen to some of his music, and every time I do, I feel the power in his words. That is one thing that Todd is very good at doing – his songs engage you in a way that fills your spirit with song.
Type O Negative – October Rust
This was my favorite album from this band, and the one that started getting them some big attention in the rock music scene. It’s actually a lot softer than their other albums, and contains two songs with significant pagan influence – ‘Be my Druidess’, which is about the Great Rite in Wiccan Tradition, and ‘Green Man’. Unfortunately this is a band that burned out pretty quickly for many reasons, the biggest of which being Peter Steele, the Band’s lead singer and bass player, died of a heart attack six years ago.
Halestorm – Into the Wild Life
I just started getting into this group. The first song I heard of theirs was ‘I am the Fire’ off their new album ‘Into the Wild Life’. As I was already working with Loki significantly when I heard it, it’s no wonder this song grabbed me. Since then I’ve explored more of their new album and found songs full of empowerment. These are what I listen to when I’m on a run and don’t think I can give anymore – I let the energy of the music just flow into me and it always helps to carry me over the finish line. I also find that one of Halestorm’s songs pop up when I’m just feeling down, depressed about something, or are just getting too fixated on a mundane issue in my life. It’s sorta like Loki is poking at me saying ‘hey, there is more to life than this’, and I sincerely appreciate the poke.
Disturbed – Immortalized
This is another recent album. And while the band doesn’t have directly pagan undertones in their music (well, they might on older albums, I just became aware of this band recently), I have found Songs like ‘The Light’ and ‘The Vengeful One’ and ‘The Brave and the Bold’ off of their album Immortalized fit a pagan tone quite nicely. Again, these are songs I listen to for empowerment, something I don’t think we get enough of in this day and age.
Another note about this album, the song ‘Who Taught You How to Hate’ seems to fit in with the current US Presidential race very well.
For Ritual music, I am a fan of R. Carlos Nakai’s gorgeous flute music. I also have songs by artists Gandalf, Deuter, George Winston and David Lanz in my ritual playlist. These I find work well for meditation too.
Finally, I highly recommend an album called “The Prayer Cycle” by Jonathan Elias. This is a nine part choral symphony in 12 languages. Each movement in itself is a prayer that is powerful, strong and yet beautifully delicate in its composition. There have been many times the album has moved me to tears with its beauty and intricacy. If ever you feel you have lost hope, this gorgeous symphony might help to bring that back to you.
So that’s what I’m listening to right now. I’m certain there is much more out there. I’d love to hear what other music people are listening to as well.