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© 2016 by Starhawk
Dm
Weave and spin, weave and spin
C Dm
This is how the work begins
Dm
Mend and heal, mend and heal
C Dm
Take the dream, and make it real
Verse 3:
On the same wheel we spin
Into life and out again
One is many, many one
Brewing in Her cauldron
Descant:
Strand by strand, hand over hand
Thread by thread, we weave a web
History & Lore
Interview with Starhawk by Reclaiming Quarterly
Starhawk: This chant came from a multicultural ritual we did in 1993 at the Hall of Flowers.
RQ: Right, this was one of several Ancestors of Many Cultures rituals co-sponsored by Reclaiming and other Bay Area groups.
Starhawk: We came up with this idea of weaving a basket. We had altars to many different ancestries and different cultures. Each altar had different strips of cloth. You could go to the altar and tell your story or hear a story, and take a strip of cloth.
As part of the ritual we tied the strips together and danced the spiral. We danced into the center and wove a multi-colored basket of our visions.
RQ: This song is really versatile. It can be the first chant you sing at a camp, or the last one – “This is how the work begins,” or “Take the dream and make it real.’”
Starhawk: Yeah, it just kind of fell together that way. I wanted something around weaving.
RQ: What about the other lyrics?
Starhawk: Strand by Strand comes from Powerful Song (on Second Chants). It came out of BC Witchcamp, I think Pandora wrote it, possibly with somebody else. It works really well with Weave and Spin.
RQ: What about the other verse we sing, “On the same wheel we spin”?
Starhawk: That’s something I wrote for the Pagan Book of Living and Dying. It’s the same tune as Weave and Spin – but I tend to write a lot of things to the same tune! It goes with the chant We Are of the Body of the Earth.
RQ: That’s funny – so we paired it with the wrong chant? Were there more verses?
Starhawk: No, just those two.
* * *
George:
This might have been the first song chosen for this album – ever since I first sang it at the 1993 ritual, I’ve wanted to record it.
Weave and Spin pops up regularly at Bay Area rituals. In recent years, it has been the closing spiral dance song at Teen Earth Magic, where the line “Take the dream and make it real” captures our aim – to take our magic back into the world.
Listen to the album free on YouTube and Spotify
Image: Weave and Spin was written for a 1993 multicultural ritual co-sponsored by Reclaiming and other Bay Area groups. Flyer courtesy of Reclaiming archives.
Campfire Chants 