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Through a Sylvan Doorway

by Spiral Dance

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    Step through the Sylvan Doorway into the realm of the Goddess and the Green Man, where the horned one walks the leaf-dappled pathways and bright Áine dances in the greenwood at Midsummer.
    Feel the spirit of the trees and hear the stones whisper in a land where the Fae will sing you into another time and space.
    Come closer to the fire as the shadows lengthen and the beauty of the night surrounds you; dance to the tunes of your ancestors, hear the legend of Odin’s Wild Hunt and dark tales of immortal desire. And then remember the wise ones who have gone before.
    Spiral Dance bids you welcome.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Through a Sylvan Doorway via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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1.
Green shadows bow to the rising sun By the way the ancient track way runs Cool mist dances in the morning light And skips around the stones He walks upon the forest path The antlered one with oaken staff Stories lie where his feet pass Among the roots and rocks and bones The legend whispers through the leaves Visions in the sunlight weave The waking of the day reveals Where the magick lies On the threshold between the worlds he stands Guardian of these hidden lands The greenwood’s call at his command ‘Tween water earth and sky Spirits of the wild the ancient folk Who dwell beneath the leafy cloak Of Eucalypt Red Gum Elm and Oak And dance the shadowed pathway Hear the dreaming lines they sing In this realm of the woodland king You know the Green Man’s song will bring You through the sylvan doorway
2.
Fae Dance 04:41
In a ruby sunset Hidden in the darkling leaves The winds of night will take you Into a twilight dream Step onto the old path To where it may be leading Flames leap to firing life Rising and receding Beneath the cool earth New life’s beginning Cold of dark and warmth of light The barrier is thinning Glowing in the firelight This magick place before us Come dance and set your spirit free Sing the long night’s chorus Dance dance weave and spin Do you know the place you’re in? This is where it all begins In this land so wild and fae Come closer to the fire bright Flames will give you second sight Welcome to this endless night For you’ve come to the land of faerie Dark strangers bid you welcome To the forest of your dreams Time waits in stillness And nothing’s as it seems Come trace the labyrinth Reality has ceased to be A Rowan staff beats the time And sings with energy The night sighs deeply It has a secret to tell On a Jasmine scented breeze Her voice will weave the spell Her song will carve a rune Her spirit will sing the rhyme And with an endless rhythm You’ll dance the tune of time Sister of the greenwood Of earth and sky Spirits of the sacred grove This realm within you bide The wild folk beat their drums A call to the knowing Dancing to the ancient beat Feel your wildness flowing Weave the moon steal the stars Think not of morning But now it’s time to sing you home A new day is dawning There’s only embers left From the fire that stirred your soul And the sylvan echo Of her voice from long ago
3.
The crane the wolf the bear and the boar No longer dwell upon these shores You say the Goddess and God have gone I tell you they live on in the cities and hills And in circles of stone The voices of the Old Ways The Spirit of Albion is calling you home An isle so fair an isle so green Known by many names Feel the pulse the pulse of the land The blood boils within your veins Someone go down to the Holy Well And raise the Spirits there Lay a feather on a stone With a flame and a lock of hair From Manwydden’s crashing sea To the moor and the Highland Glen From the Faerie Hills home of the Sidhe To the veins of the Broad and the Fen Someone go down to the Holy Trees Of Oak and Ash and Thorn Utter a charm in the verse of three Till the Summer King is born Ride the white horses carved into the hills Walk to the Hanging Stones Bow to the might of Cerne Abbass’ height Feel the peace in the Ancestors’ homes Someone go down to Wilmington Where the Giant guards the way Step into the Otherworld into the womb Where centuries pass like a day
4.
As the sun sank on the twelfth day And the night wind screamed Across the threshold of time I felt them ride It wasn’t something I dreamed And through the hidden gateway I know the storm will come I’ve heard the roll of thunder it’s the beating of their drum And I have seen the storm clouds torn and tossed across the sky ‘Tis wild the hunt and darkly fey That rides the wind from Asgard’s way From icy peaks to lonesome moor The spirit chase will pass your door And within this unearthly night take you The warning heed the cry Behind locked doors you must stay for the hunt is wild And darkly fey As the moon rose on the twelfth night and the sky was torn By a screaming gale a Valkyries wail and the host was born And on the back of wild eyed she wolves Odin’s troop did ride Across the veil of midnight with their bleak hounds by their side Beware the voices of the lost souls they’ll call you as you dream In the last hours of that dread night as to your bed you keep Hold close your heart hold close your mind they’ll steal them As you sleep For the fey ones are riding and the wild hunt has come But soon will leave for the shadowed hills With the rising of the sun No more to ride on hallowed ground Till twelfth night comes again
5.
They're tunes, silly!
6.
It came to my hearing not so long ago Of a woman lived under the wild rivers flow With reeds for her blanket and reeds for her bed And the visions of power grew wild in her head Oh Grainne, Oh Bóinne, Oh Brighid my queen I bring you the gifts of the visions I’ve seen I bring you my body, my voice and my hand To keep the old magick held deep in your land She came to the bank with the moon in her hair She came from the old water dragon’s dark lair And there from the bank saw the mound shining bright With the first star of rising with bright silver light From the mound shone a vision of bright blazing gold With the serpents and spirals from the mysteries old And from her body birthed from her in song Came the visions in symbols she’s carried so long
7.
Rise Up 07:43
Rise up rise up rise up rise up Rise up old Mother Moon will you rise Rise up rise up – light the skies up – Rise up old Mother Moon will you rise Between the worlds we stand, the word’s been spoken Circle’s cast and it can’t be broken Call in the power from each direction We’ll soon be dancing in the arms of the night Weave a circle cradled in crystal Lady of the Silver Wheel I see you rising And with moon tide we’ll greet the night bride Beneath the big sky bathe in her light Fly on dark wings from the East Whisper night wind your breath is so sweet The energy and flames of desire From the North send us fire From the West bring us water A cool gift from the river God’s daughter And the pulse of the great South Land Hail to you earth where we stand Whisper Mother Moon shimmer through the dark sky Ride through the night and show me where your secrets lie Dressed in the stars you’ll wear a silver gown Invoke the Goddess and we’ll draw the magick down
8.
I’ll tell to you a tale of a winter’s dreaming A sad and dark tale of endless night without a dawn When frost lay on bare branches Beneath moonlight’s silver gleaming And in the shifting shadows a cursed love was born On the breath of velvet wings Between night and waking To feed an ancient hunger to the village he was bound For a single candle flickered When all should be sleeping And through a frosty window pane The sloe eyed one he found In the moving candlelight She knew that he was watching A cold and pale stare that chilled her To the very bone For in his dark mind a sweet memory echoed Of jeweled eyes and painted lips A love he once had known Come away come away come away And take the night with me Just one touch and I’ll go with you Just one kiss and you’ll be mine Just one taste and I’m bound to you Until the end of time So cold was his touch and deep was his thirsting The rhythm of her danced in the hollow of his veins And pulsing through her being The need for him growing A rush of life eternal when the taste of blood is wine Caught within an earthly dream With the bright moon’s staring In the stillness borne of ages she gifted him with life His was the song that was sung in the beginning The need for sweet release in the blessing of the night In the chill of the dawn Did you hear the wild wolves calling? You awakened from the dream To know that he had flown And now that the morning And the grave has come between you Too late the days returning and your heart lies all alone For at the next moonrise she will make the journey To satisfy the hunger and to leave this mortal plain Down the corridor of darkness to where he is waiting To the winter’s dreaming and the endless night again
9.
Witch’ s Tree Five miles in from the cold North Sea Just a stones throw from the River Tees Stand the ruins of the church of the Trinity Long long time passing And by the ruins of the church of the Trinity There’s stood for many centuries The proud and dark Witch’s Tree from A long long time ago As folk lore tells it has been said South of the village a woman lived With healing in her hands and knowledge to give Long long time passing And she’d go to where the great oaks stood Down into the timeless wood To gather herbs when the moon was full A long long time ago And to the village on a summers day Ring a rosy came the plague ‘Evil is upon us’ she heard them say Long long time passing The healer woman they sought to blame And to her cottage in anger came To burn the witch with a holy flame A long long time ago In their madness they will blame her Violate and shame her So to the church on sacred ground In desperation she did flee But the holy man would not hear her And barred the great doors to her And with the evil of the Roman church Denied her sanctuary To the iron gate with burning torches high In fury they screamed, ‘The witch must die!’ Her life to take in vain they tried Long long time passing But supreme magick she did conjure From Mother Earth to make her stronger A tree she formed forever longer A long long time ago In the year of 1983 Vandals burned the Trinity But not the proud Witch’s Tree It still stands from long ago
10.
Sing a song of summer a pocket full of Thyme There are four and twenty magpies perched upon the line There’s home brewed beer for drinking Enough to make you sigh There’s cherries from the orchard And there’s berries from the vine There’s jugs upon the table filled with ruby wine And the briar and the bramble around each other climb Come away come away see what we’ll find In the green wood at Midsummer time Bright Áine waits with her Hazel wand in hand There’s Meadowsweet and Rue Growing where she stands She’ll be stepping out with the horned man There’s plenty bees a buzzing and the air is warm and sweet We’re dancing in a ring of stone the earth beneath our feet Mother Nature’s in her glory feel the rhythm of her beat Come away come away see what we’ll find In the green wood at Midsummer time Come Jack come Herne come Robin Goodfellow Step out the measure with you we will follow Come Pan come Puck come the Green Knight We’re off to the woods on Midsummer night There’s faces in the leaves their green beards hanging down Old Woodwise has laid his cloak upon the ground And the Oak King is wearing his bright summer crown We’ll dance the solstice in with the coming of the light The wheel again has turned and now is at its height And sweet scented summer shows us all is bright Come away come away see what we’ll find In the green wood at midsummer time So come let’s celebrate ‘neath bark and leaf and limb With honey cakes and mead it’s now time to begin To reel in nature’s lust and we’ll sing the summer in Come away come away see what we’ll find In the green wood at Midsummer time
11.
There’s darkness moving ‘round us they’ve sown a savage seed It flies on wings of fury it takes with hands of greed They’ve come to drain the lifeblood that flows within our lands They’ve come to track the ley lines where our emblems stand And they say we must accept their final crushing blow But the tribes have come together so the answer’s surely no Their dark minds will not heed us they’ve sealed us with their fate But it seems that they’ve forgotten there’s a guardian at every gate So now the time has come to sing the stones to sleep To camouflage their power and the secrets that they keep Until a new dawning of our ancient rites When we will come together to awaken the sacred sites The stones speak in whispers voices from the mother’s womb There’s a warning from the night wind of impending doom You claim peace is not an answer but invasion is a must So do we watch while you turn Mother Earth into a barren husk If you face us with extinction we need to know why And how you make the distinction of who will live And who will die You’ll break apart the harmonies and tear away our kin So we’ll call upon the guardians from above below within
12.
I shall tell you tales of heroes And Gods who walked as men On mountains where the wild wind blows Or across the darkling fen I shall tell you tales that minstrels told Of vengeful queens and warriors bold Of kings who sleep and ne’er grow old In caves their dreams residing I shall tell you tales of outlaws And hounds that roam the night Of secret realms through hidden doors Where ancient giants fight I shall tell you tales of long-lost lands Buried now ‘neath shifting sands Where dancing maids have long held hands In stone their spirits writhing So come gather by the fire Let the moonlight be our stage The stars shall be our choir And the darkness be our page Bring forth the souls of days gone by With a thousand tales they’ll fill the sky Till the glowing embers fade and die And the night’s cloak folds around us
13.
Feet of Clay 04:31
Priestess with her robes of blue and green And her eyes ablaze she leads our praise Of heavens’ queen And she with her flaws and her feet of clay Leads us in the dance the spiral dance Of the Goddess way And she chants Isis Eros Pan and Aphrodite The priest casts off his very words and his human ways He leads our praise of the Horned God And he with all his peacock stance and his feet of clay He leads the way in the Labyrinth dance And he chants Isis Eros Pan and Aphrodite The dancers we stumble through our lives but The Goddess glows she helps us grow See through our lives And we in perfect dance with chance with our feet of clay We find our way in the spiral dance And we chant Isis Eros Pan and Aphrodite Growth is not sudden or complete it comes with time Its cause to find we cannot cheat The labyrinth through which we all must run See through the mists the path that twists But it brings us home And we chant Isis Eros Pan and Aphrodite
14.
We’ll follow the old track way down to the river Through knee long dew wet grass the robes of the dusk At the pict stone we’ll leave the best milk and some butter For the Old God who lives in the gold barley husk Three willows there are that do grow by the river Wild magick is locked in their knotted tree roots We’ll gather together and summon that wildness And dream of the Corn God’s bright green barley shoots Oh honey comb maiden brown apple tree mother We call on your power and sing you Wassail Your radiant brow lights the dim days of winter The sheaves that you cradle vow bread and brown ale And low the old Inn and the lights and the fire And the fiddler’s old tune and the shuffling of feet Soon for us shall be quiet and rest and desire And tomorrow’s uprising to deeds shall be sweet The willow spreads leaf quilts upon the dark river A summer brown hare bids the full moon farewell See there the far lights of the village are shining Where blacksmiths and bards have their own tales to tell We’ll stop at the circle of stones near the river Where a bonfire is burning its embers to ash The pipes and the drums send us weaving and wheeling A dance to reflect the blue night’s starry sash Oh Hazelnut gardener old man of the forest We call on your power and sing you Wassail Your radiant brow is the life of the greenwood The seeds that you sow are the heart of the ale And low the old Inn and the lights and the fire And the fiddler’s old tune and the shuffling of feet Soon for us shall be quiet and rest and desire And tomorrow’s uprising to deeds shall be sweet We’ll follow the old track away from the river To ale and good company to butter and bread We’ll toast at the hearthside the long days of summer And wend in the darkness our way home to bed Our Lady of Leaf Bud now stands in the shadows Her gown stained with blackberries rosehips and blood The Green Man stands proud In his crown of ripe acorns That soon shall be hidden beneath winter’s hood Oh Queen of the three crowns Oh mistletoe flower We call on your blessing and sing you Wassail The air’s getting cold and the night’s getting longer But the King of the Wheel spins a magical tale And low the old Inn and the lights and the fire And the fiddler’s old tune and the shuffling of feet Soon for us shall be quiet and rest and desire And tomorrow’s uprising to deeds shall be sweet
15.
In the village of Kildorey lived a maiden young and fair Her eyes they shone like diamonds She had long and golden hair A countryman came riding up to her Daddy’s gate Mounted on a milk white stallion He came at the stroke of eight I’ve come to court your daughter Mary Of the golden hair I have gold and I have silver I have lands beyond compare I will buy her silks and satins And a gold ring for her hand I will build for her a mansion She’ll have servants to command Step it out Mary my fine daughter Step it out Mary if you can Step it out Mary my fine daughter Show your legs to the countryman Oh kind sir I love a soldier I’ve pledged to him my hand I don’t want your gold nor silver I don’t want your wealth nor land Mary’s father spoke up sharply You must do as you are told You will marry him on Sunday You will wear that ring of gold In the village of Kildorey There’s a deep stream running by They found Mary there at midnight She had drowned with the soldier boy In the cottage there is music You can hear her Daddy say Step it out Mary my fine daughter Sunday is your wedding day
16.
No words, just music!

about

Step through the Sylvan Doorway into the realm of the Goddess and the Green Man, where the horned one walks the leaf-dappled pathways and bright Áine dances in the greenwood at Midsummer.
Feel the spirit of the trees and hear the stones whisper in a land where the Fae will sing you into another time and space.
Come closer to the fire as the shadows lengthen and the beauty of the night surrounds you; dance to the tunes of your ancestors, hear the legend of Odin’s Wild Hunt and dark tales of immortal desire. And then remember the wise ones who have gone before.
Spiral Dance bids you welcome.

credits

released July 15, 2012

Spiral Dance are:
Adrienne Piggott - Lead Vocals
Nick Carter - Electric and Acoustic Guitars, Backing Vocals
Paul Gooding - Diatonic Accordions, Backing Vocals
Featuring:
David Bentley on bass, Ingrid Hapke on violin and cello, and Rick Kearsley on drums

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Spiral Dance Adelaide, Australia

With a combination of haunting vocals, intoxicating guitar riffs and groovy accordion lines, underpinned with potent bass and dynamic percussion, Spiral Dance presents an eclectic blend of traditional folk-rock with powerful self-penned songs and tunes. Rousing melodies intertwine with tales of Magick, myth and legend - music that will rock your ancestors! ... more

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