Beth's Pagan Chant "Top Ten" Lists

Well, okay, most of the lists are not a full "ten", but no matter. These lists reflect my own preferences and opinions only, and are based on my own CD collection (which is slightly biased toward Reclaiming artists) and my personal experience. So take them with a grain of salt and a sense of humor.

Some of the chants listed here are on my Chants Page. If you want to know more about the Pagan recording artists mentioned here, you may want to check out my reviews of Pagan chant CDs.

1. We All Come From the Goddess
   Z Budapest
   On Reclaiming's Chants CD. There are several popular God versions of this chant which have also gained wide currency.
2. Isis Astarte
   Deena Metzger & Caitlin Mullen
   This popular Goddess chant has also been used (in slightly different forms) as a refrain for two songs, "When God Was A Woman" and "The Burning Times." The chant itself is recorded on Reclaiming's Chants CD.
3. Hoof and Horn
   Ian Corrigan
   Definitely the most well-known God chant among Pagans. Often sung together with one of the two previous chants. Also on Reclaiming's Chants CD.
4. Blood of the Ancients
   Ellen Klaver
   Recorded on Charlie Murphy and Jamie Sieber's Canticles of Light, among other places. The tune and words have sometimes mutated a little, but stay fairly close to the original.
5. The Earth Is Our Mother
   Native American Traditional
   Is this chant really a traditional Native chant? I don't know, and you probably don't either. It sounds more Native than many other chants I hear passed off as "Native". Either way, it's being sung by Pagans all over the country. KIVA has a lovely recording on Mother Wisdom, and the chant is also on Libana's album A Circle is Cast.
6. We Are A Circle
   Rick Hamouris
   Few people actually know all the verses to this chant (I definitely don't), but you'll find them on Rick and Deborah Hamouris' CD Welcome to Annwfn. The chorus is recorded on Reclaiming's Chants CD.
7. Kore Chant (She Changes Everything She Touches)
   Starhawk
   Again, most people don't know all the verses, which are in The Spiral Dance and on Reclaiming's Chants CD. Libana has an unusual recording on a Circle is Cast of the words set to a different tune, which I think is really cool.
8. Spiraling Into the Center
   Lorna Kohler
   There seems to be some debate about who wrote this chant, but this is the most reliable information I have. It's recorded on Victoria McCarthy's CD Flight of the Hawk, as well as Beverly Frederick's In the Arms of the Wild (where it's credited to Shekhinah Mountainwater).
9. The River is Flowing
   Diana Hildebrand-Hull
   A version of this chant is recorded on Victoria McCarthy's CD Flight of the Hawk. It's a little different than the version I learned, which you can hear here.
10. Earth My Body
    Author Unknown
    This chant has been recorded by Moving Breath on She Changes and by Spiral Rhythm on I Am (with a great descant!). Michelle Mays also recorded this chant. You can hear the melody here.

1. Brigid
   She's got this one wrapped up. Personally, I blame Reclaiming. But no matter who's responsible, I own recordings of six chants dedicated to Brigid, some with more than one recording: Holy Well and Sacred Flame (Beverly Frederick; Assembly of the Sacred Wheel); Brid (Lunacy; Beverly Frederick); Holy Water, Sacred Flame (Anne Hill); Sweet Brigid (Moonrise); and Way to the Well (see below). Beverly Frederick has also recorded an instrumental piece and a wordless vocal piece to Brigid, while Ruth Barrett has recorded a spoken invocation. I also know two Brigid chants written by friends of mine.
2. Inanna
   Starhawk is the writer of the popular "Barge of Heaven" (see below). Reclaiming also performs the chant "Inanna" on Second Chants, and Beverly Frederick has written and recorded "Inanna (Take Us"). ALisa Starkweather's chant "I'm Going Down Like Inanna" is super catchy. Not to mention cameos in "She Touches Me Deeply" (not recorded) and "Isis Astarte."
3. Hekate
   Let's put aside for a moment my pet peeve about how chants do not accurately represent this Goddess, who was NOT a crone or a "dark mother". She is one of the names in the famous "Isis Astarte" and is also paired with the (COMPLETELY DISSIMILAR!) Celtic Goddess Cerridwen in "Hecate, Cerridwen" and a verse of "Silver Shining Wheel," both performed by Reclaiming. She is also in "She Touches Me Deeply" (not recorded). Ruth Barrett has a song "Hecate", although I don't have the CD and haven't heard it.
4. Persephone/ Kore
   Mostly this is because of the very well-known Kore chant, "She changes everything she touches," written by Starhawk. Libana also recorded an unusual and lovely version of this chant. There's a cheerful spring chant ("Persephone Song") written and performed by Anne Hill.
5. Lugh
   Awwww yeah. At least there's one God on the list (don't get me started on that topic). Okay, from Beverly Frederick we have "Lugh Return" (recorded on Through the Darkness), and then Reclaiming also has "Sun King", i.e. "This is the wake of Lugh the Sun King" (on Chants). Um, that's not very many chants, is it? Everybody go write some God chants so this list can be reasonably balanced!

1. Way to the Well
   This chant by Starhawk, set to the tune of a South African freedom song, has been recorded at least four times:
   Lunacy, on "Hand of Desire"; Beverly Frederick, on "In the Arms of the Wild"; Chants for Peace Project, on "Home to the River of Love"; and Ruth Barrett, on "The Year Is A Dancing Woman" (Vol. 1).
2. Barge of Heaven
   This chant by Starhawk, adapted from the Sumerian Inanna texts, has also been recorded at least four times:
   Lunacy, on "Lunacy"; Moonrise, on "Songs of Love, Magic, and Other Mysteries"; Reclaiming, on "Second Chants"; and a group called Tathata (I'm not familiar with them - you can look here).
3. Light Is Returning
   This song/chant by Charlie Murphy has been recorded at least three times:
   Charlie Murphy & Jami Sieber, on "Canticles of Light"; MotherTongue, on "Fire Dance" and "This Winter's Night"; and Chants for Peace Project, on "Home to the River of Love".

1. Jai Ma
   Hindu Traditional
   Recorded on KIVA's album "Mother Wisdom"
2. Chango
   Recorded by Lunacy on "Hand of Desire"
3. Divine Mother
   Paramahansa Yogananda
   Recorded by Beverly Frederick on "In the Arms of the Wild"

Top 3 Types of Pagan CDs We Don't Need More Of:

1. CDs of Goddess chants.
2. CDs that are not labeled as "CDs of Goddess chants" but do not include any God chants.
3. CDs with one token God chant and ten Goddess chants.