As I begin this particular blog entry I am listening to Spiritchaser -






- the last album (released in 1996) from the incomparable duo known as Dead Can Dance .

From the back of the CD insert comes this quote, excerpted from Harmonies of Heaven and Earth by Joscelyn Godwin:

"In most musical instruments the resonator is made of wood while the actual sound generator is of animal origin. In cultures where music is still used as a magical force, the making of an instrument always involves the sacrifice of a living being. That being's soul then becomes part of the instrument and in the tones that come forth, the 'singing dead', who are ever present with us, make themselves heard."

While those few words are full of thought snacks, it is the concept of music as a magical force that interests me here. Not many of us these days are using music to raise the dead or to communicate with enitities beyond our vibrational plane. Music is used, however, to induce certain moods, to create atmosphere in personal interior and exterior space. Think of a favorite song or piece of music and consider the effect that music has on you. Does it make you happy? Sad? Bouncy? Serene? If it has any effect at all it is working a change within you, coloring your perception for at least the duration of the piece. Depending on your definition of magic , this may or may not fit the bill. I think we would all agree, however, that if music has the power to change you - your mind, your mood - for even a moment, then it is a force of some kind. Personally, I have no problems accepting music, some types of music more so than others certainly, as a magical force - my definition of magic (in a nutshell) being the working of change, via the agencies of imagination and will, in oneself and the world at large. Music provides an ideal medium for the focus of imagination and the channeling of will if one is willing and able to use it as a tool to do so.

My tastes in music have changed and grown over the years. My earliest interest in "real" music was influenced by my mother who, at that time (mid 1970's), seemed to be listening to "lite rock". For a time my ears followed hers. At some point in my early teens I heard Electric Funeral by that definitive heavy metal band, Black Sabbath and my brain, under the influence of Ozzy's haunted wail and Tony Iommi's volume 11 swirling guitar riffage, melted and reassembled into something altogether different. Most of my teenage years were spent banging my head to heavy metal and strumming air guitar to "classic" rock. From these narrow musical confines I stepped into punk rock and various types of alternative music which ultimately led to a grand expansion of my musical mind. These days when somebody asks me the impossible question, "What kind of music do you like?", I typically reply, "It depends what mood I'm in".

So, what magical forces have you been listening to?