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www.shamansociety.org 31 There are certain songlines that when they visit us instantly open inti- macy with the spirits. In the singing the spirits are here and now and we are not alone. We are held and no invocation or smudging is required. Song as the old tales say becomes a doorway to a place of wonder. The side of the hill has opened the power of Music has come the Three Noble Strains have touched the world once more. As shamanic people we need those quick connections both for the simple pleasure of connection and for the as- sistance and strength to face to endure to pass through difficulty or frustration. Sometimes when the Song Spirits gift us in this way the song becomes an ally in and of itself. We are given a guide who will travel with us through many life mo- ments rather than just a passing moment. Once upon a time when songlines opened with such greater presence I would drop everything and run to find my little battery operated hand-held cassette recorder. Now when they ar- To do so meant that the bringer of song the bard would be caught up in the power of the strains also. Not just for effect but for the rich gift of consciousness that each strain brings with it. Invoking the flow of each Noble Strain into the world evoking the flow in each listener bringing the listener and the world together for a moment in time and thus free the dreaming capacity of each listener to flow free once more. Songlines Although it is a glorious thing to play an instrumentexternal strings keys frets and pipes are not required for human beings to express themselves through song. This wondrous body each of us wears is the most exquisite instru- ment in creation. As the story of Boand and Uaithne reminds us We live music. We are music. Our media saturation has made us hyper-sensitive to skill and technique. It tends to silence those who will never have a five-octave vocal range that makes peoples hair stand on end. Our richness of media has resulted in many classifica- tions and genres of music each with their own niche audience. But with the spirits there is no genre of music. Music isnt pop or rap or folk or new ageit is the sound of the moment the glorious song of praise an embracing and honoring of what is. I would venture to say that any who have worked with the spirits for any length of time have found themselves spontaneously expressing through rhythm and melody the simple flow of sound rising and falling. In an in- stant the mindthat rational clawing judgmental part of the mind anyhowis soothed and quiet. The majority of these are just spontaneous sung or hummed expressions of a given moment. They dont need to be caught or remembered or ever repeated. But sometimes there is such an expression a jolt of wonder and power and emotion that we need to let it come and put down roots within us invite it to dwell with uslet it sing us.