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© 2016 by Suzanne Sterling & Jeffrey Alphonsus Mooney
E A E
I am breathing, I am open, I am willing
E F# – B7
I am stepping out into the unknown
E A E
I am walking, though uncertain, I am willing
E A E
To listen to the yearning in my soul
E A E
Cuz if my soul says so, I do as my soul says
E F# B7
If my soul says so, I do as my soul says
E A E
If my soul says so, I do as my soul says
E A E
I listen to the yearning in my soul
Chord progression by Magic Brook – see below
History & Lore
Suzanne:
I started writing this chant for a Witchcamp at Diana’s Grove many many years ago. I was with Alphonsus, Dawn Isadora, and Thorn Coyle and we were talking about the myth. I cannot remember dates or themes after all the years of teaching at camps but it must have been about taking leaps of faith and going toward the Unknown!
I wrote the verses, and Alphonsus created the “If my soul says so” line. We added it to the verses… and voilá!
It’s been sung in a lot of different camp settings. I hope that it has helped people to live authentic truthful moments and take risks that speak to their own souls.
Alphonsus:
Sometimes creating a chant for a ritual a good focus. Is your writing relevant for tonight’s ritual?
Maybe a single line is. It’s thinking about how your creativity helps serve the point of the ritual.
Suzanne and I had each had luck writing with the word Soul. She had those beautiful lyrics, and I had this one great line: “If my soul says so, I do as my soul says.”
I didn’t write that line for camp. I was lifting it from my past writing. I had that line, and I tried singing it with hers.
There’s always a nice warm feeling to hear people sing it. When I hear those lines, I feel there’s liberation in them.
But I also feel in my body that I don’t always do as my soul says.
And then there’s the private, behind-the-scenes version: “If my soul says so, you do as my soul says!”
So I go back to what my own soul says. Its scary. In a way it’s a dare. Am I doing what my soul says? How do I know? Sometimes doing what your soul says will kick your ass.
George:
The song began life as a chant around 2000 – a striking version can be heard on Suzanne’s album Wings – see next page – and is part of the bonus disc to this album.
Magic Brook, around 2005, put chords behind the chant and defined it as a song for his album The Great Blues Sea. Brook’s version (also on the bonus disk) is in a jazz idiom – but the underlying bass line lends itself to a folk treatment, and it quickly morphed into a campfire classic.
In 2006-07, I taught at Lorely Camp in Western Europe. The tri-lingual camp welcomed simple, repetitive songs and chants, and the refrain of My Soul became a favorite (along with Let It Be and Get Up Stand Up!).
The first time the Loreley Teens Path sang My Soul, my co-teachers Petra and Anje translated it into German, French, and Dutch – then we all sang it in multi-accented English.
Recording: Our Vocalist’s Latest Avatar
The melody proved challenging for a group effort. Luckily, we had in our chorus Max Ventura, who sang on two previous Reclaiming albums.
Let It Begin Now: Music from the Spiral Dance (recorded in the early 1990s) features a younger Max sharing lead vocals on the 18-minute title song.
And on Second Chants (1997) she sang a soaring descant for Anne Hill and Starhawk’s song, When We Are Gone, which is perhaps the favorite elements-devocation song at San Francisco rituals. Whenever we use the song in a ritual, a few sopranos sing Max’s part.
Campfire Chants 