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© 2016 by Laurie Lovekraft
Am G Am
Circle round the balefire, friends
Am G Am
Circle round, it never ends
Am G Am
All is holy, prayer is song
Am G Am
Spirit rising, you belong
History & Lore
Laurie:
I wrote Circle Round the Balefire in 1998 when I was living under the redwoods in the wilds of West Sonoma County, California. It all came out in one smooth flow.
I had been doing a lot of public and private rituals in nature and loved the feeling of circling in community around a nighttime fire – a group of witches and Pagans joining hands in the dark around a glowing bonfire while singing, dancing, and raising energy.
I’m now living in an urban area and when I sing this chant it reminds me of quiet times under the woods beneath the stars (when I could see the stars!).
Hear more of Laurie’s music at <www.Lovekraft.com>
George:
This was a fun song for us to arrange (Laurie’s original version will be on our bonus disk – visit CampfireChants.org).
Paul arrived early for rehearsal one afternoon, set up his conga, and started drumming tumbao rhythm. I fooled around with a Keith Richards’ type guitar figure.
We weren’t sure we had anything until we shared it with the others. Right away a couple of people started dancing – always a good sign on a song about dancing around a fire!
The first time we played this version around a bonfire was at Mysteries of Samhain 2015, as part of a ritual that ended with 30 minutes of dancing. Balefire wasn’t on the set-list, but it seemed perfect. I grabbed my duct-taped campfire guitar, Gwion picked up the rhythm on a djembe, and it fit right into the dance groove.
Thus mote it ever be!
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Photo courtesy of Trillium / RQ Archives
