Pagan-themed music?

[With Motion]

I know I'm not very active in the guild other than lurking, or even the M&R forum, anymore (name change from Eshmasesh btw), but it's mostly because I've reached a point in my life where music has become more important to me than anything else. So, I never really do much in regards to religion in general outside of occasionally studying things on my own.

But recently, I've come accross pagan-themed music which has caught my interest, partially because it's really good and partially for the subject matter.

The first is Pagan Poetry by Bjork. The song itself is about "a woman preparing herself for marriage and for her lover".The beginning of the video was made from Bjork taking personal footage of her having sex with her boyfriend, but with very heavy filtering. It kind of reminds me of Wicca, and I can't help but wonder if Bjork was thinking of pagan fertility religions in this track as well.

The second is Pagan Dream Machine by Entheogenic. Entheogenic is a psybient artist, which definitely shows in this track. From what I gather (from reading wikipedia xP ), entheogens are psychedelic drugs which are used in a religious context. Other than that, it's a bit harder to dissect this track, but it's really beautiful regardless.

Anyone else know of songs with "Pagan" themes, or maybe artists that are pagans themselves?  

[Starlock]

Wendy Rule. Emerald Rose.

First couple that come to mind off the top of my head. There are actually quite a few Neopagan artists out there. WitchVox has some listings.  

[With Motion]

Starlock

Wendy Rule. Emerald Rose.

First couple that come to mind off the top of my head. There are actually quite a few Neopagan artists out there. WitchVox has some listings.

I didn't think of using witchvox. I'll get to that once I get out of the lab I'm posting from right now whee  

[PhantomPhoenix0]

Depending on what branch of paganism you're looking at, there's always the Folk Metal and Viking Metal groups. The music can get a bit heavy at times, so it might not be your cup of tea, but some bands actually keep a cleaner tone (Tyr for example).

As for paganism within the bands, I dont know about all the bands, but I know that Heri Joensen (lead singer of Tyr) is Asatru, and I think Terji Skibenæs (also of Tyr) is as well. You will definately find a few people in the Folk/Viking Metal scene that also take it a little too far, but they're the minority from what I can tell. An example of this is one song (dont remember which song, or which artist) that has the general message of Anti-Christianity, Pro-Odin confused

I'd suggest Tyr, Einseferum, Einherjer, Thyrfing (they seem to focus a little more on the Viking side of things), and Moonsorrow. Tyr is the best of them in my opinion, so I'd check them out first if you havent.  

[With Motion]

PhantomPhoenix0

Depending on what branch of paganism you're looking at, there's always the Folk Metal and Viking Metal groups. The music can get a bit heavy at times, so it might not be your cup of tea, but some bands actually keep a cleaner tone (Tyr for example).

As for paganism within the bands, I dont know about all the bands, but I know that Heri Joensen (lead singer of Tyr) is Asatru, and I think Terji Skibenæs (also of Tyr) is as well. You will definately find a few people in the Folk/Viking Metal scene that also take it a little too far, but they're the minority from what I can tell. An example of this is one song (dont remember which song, or which artist) that has the general message of Anti-Christianity, Pro-Odin confused

I'd suggest Tyr, Einseferum, Einherjer, Thyrfing (they seem to focus a little more on the Viking side of things), and Moonsorrow. Tyr is the best of them in my opinion, so I'd check them out first if you havent.

"Heavy" music doesn't intimidate me slightly (nothing gets much heavier than power electronics), I just prefer ambient, chilled music by far.

I'm not really into metal but i'm definitely interested. i'll look up Tyr first.  

[Sivirs]

Heh, there's plenty, all across the genre board. As already noted, the highest concentrations seem to fall in various ethnic folk groups and heavy metal groups, but there are plenty of exceptions, too.

Just off the top of my head...

Faith and the Muse
Hedningarna
Garmarna
Current 93
Death in June
Sopor Aeternus
Unto Ashes
Arcana
Inna Zhelannaya
Rhea's Obsession
Ruslana
Sol Invictus
Swartalf
The Tea Party
The Legendary Pink Dots
Love is Colder than Death
Coph Nia
The Changelings

Those are just the ones with very heavy and frequent Pagan themes. If you widen the list to artists who just have a song here and there that's Paganish, or artists who have songs that COULD be Pagan in the right context, the numbers go way, way up.  

[With Motion]

Sivirs

Heh, there's plenty, all across the genre board. As already noted, the highest concentrations seem to fall in various ethnic folk groups and heavy metal groups, but there are plenty of exceptions, too.

Just off the top of my head...

Faith and the Muse
Hedningarna
Garmarna
Current 93
Death in June
Sopor Aeternus
Unto Ashes
Arcana
Inna Zhelannaya
Rhea's Obsession
Ruslana
Sol Invictus
Swartalf
The Tea Party
The Legendary Pink Dots
Love is Colder than Death
Coph Nia
The Changelings

Those are just the ones with very heavy and frequent Pagan themes. If you widen the list to artists who just have a song here and there that's Paganish, or artists who have songs that COULD be Pagan in the right context, the numbers go way, way up.

I never knew that about the bolded ones. I guess I'm really oblivious. o_O

I have so much to listen to now, and so little time! Oh... and could LaVeyan satanism count as paganism? because I know Boyd Rice is. Seems like it would be a stretch though...  

[Sivirs]

With Motion

I never knew that about the bolded ones. I guess I'm really oblivious. o_O

David Tibet (Current 93) is big into the occult, especially bizarre Christian mysticism and Ceremonial Magic stuff. Check out the lyrics to lots of the songs - references to the apocalypse, to random gnostic concepts (one of the albums is titled Thunder Perfect Mind), to shamanism, etc... chock full. Also, when I saw them in concert a few years ago, the show started at 8 but they didn't go onstage 'til EXACTLY 11:11. Made for a very cranky me, because it was a standing room only venue and I have back problems and can't really stand for more than a half hour to an hour without feeling it.

Death in June has similar themes in their songs, although they seem to focus more on the Germanic stuff, primarily runes. They've also collaborated with David Tibet. Unlike Tibet, I don't know if the guy himself IS actually some breed of Pagan (or offbeat Christian) or just inspired by the Eddas.

TLPD is a little less obvious, so you may feel totally free to disagree with me on their stuff being occult-influenced, but considering how many times I've run into songs of theirs (both under TLPD and The Tear Garden) that talk about witchcraft, runes, premonitions, tarot cards, creepy nightmarish astral beasties, gods and demons... well, I felt justified in including them because even if it's an unintentional recurring theme, I feel like it's there.

The easiest way to find more Pagan groups when you're just randomly searching, though, is by checking out the influences and favorite groups OF Pagan groups, so you may wanna search through personal websites and Wikipedia pages of groups you already know and like, and see who they know and like.  

[Ethermus Prime]

I'm going to be short, rather then go on a long diatribe about the Band and their Music...as their themes go all over the place. The Lyricist is the founding member of a very prominent Occult Society (Dragon Rouge)....

Theiron. Symphonic Metal Awesomeness  

[With Motion]

Sivirs

David Tibet (Current 93) is big into the occult, especially bizarre Christian mysticism and Ceremonial Magic stuff. Check out the lyrics to lots of the songs - references to the apocalypse, to random gnostic concepts (one of the albums is titled Thunder Perfect Mind), to shamanism, etc... chock full. Also, when I saw them in concert a few years ago, the show started at 8 but they didn't go onstage 'til EXACTLY 11:11. Made for a very cranky me, because it was a standing room only venue and I have back problems and can't really stand for more than a half hour to an hour without feeling it.

Wikipedia says he was "renamed 'Tibet' by Genesis P-Orridge sometime prior to forming the group". Would you happen to know anything about David's relationship to Genesis? I love Throbbing Gristle eek

The Neofolk recs are excellent by the way.  

[Sivirs]

With Motion

Wikipedia says he was "renamed 'Tibet' by Genesis P-Orridge sometime prior to forming the group". Would you happen to know anything about David's relationship to Genesis? I love Throbbing Gristle eek

The Neofolk recs are excellent by the way.

Sadly no, I actually have no clue. I tend to stick mostly to the music itself and never find out much about the artists unless someone tells me or I'm interested in finding out the background/inspiration of a particular song/album I like.

Glad you like 'em! You can also find some surprisingly cool stuff in alt country sometimes. Catherine Irwin's "Hex" (lyrics here) is awesomely creepy, although I like Neko Case's cover of it better, and Neko Case's "Furnace Room Lullaby" (lyrics, which some people might know from the fab movie The Gift with Cate Blanchett) is pretty awesome too. Catherine Irwin also did a nice witchcrafty-sounding cover of "The Power of my Love." Just a few examples there.

Oh! Right, back to more folksy stuff, there's also Daemonia Nymphae for Hellenic music. They just do instrumentals though.

(Big music geek here, if you haven't already guessed ;D)  

[With Motion]

Sivirs

With Motion

Wikipedia says he was "renamed 'Tibet' by Genesis P-Orridge sometime prior to forming the group". Would you happen to know anything about David's relationship to Genesis? I love Throbbing Gristle eek

The Neofolk recs are excellent by the way.

Sadly no, I actually have no clue. I tend to stick mostly to the music itself and never find out much about the artists unless someone tells me or I'm interested in finding out the background/inspiration of a particular song/album I like.

Glad you like 'em! You can also find some surprisingly cool stuff in alt country sometimes. Catherine Irwin's "Hex" (lyrics here) is awesomely creepy, although I like Neko Case's cover of it better, and Neko Case's "Furnace Room Lullaby" (lyrics, which some people might know from the fab movie The Gift with Cate Blanchett) is pretty awesome too. Catherine Irwin also did a nice witchcrafty-sounding cover of "The Power of my Love." Just a few examples there.

Oh! Right, back to more folksy stuff, there's also Daemonia Nymphae for Hellenic music. They just do instrumentals though.

(Big music geek here, if you haven't already guessed ;D)

I'm glad you're a music geek, like me. =3 I'm the exact same way with artists, if I really love them I'll research them endlessly. I usually focus on completely different artists from these, though.

I greatly prefer instrumental tracks to ones with lyrics. i can't focus on words while I listen, if I ever want to have a clue what's being said I have to look it up. Although, the prospect of cool country music intrigues me O_O  

[Sivirs]

With Motion

I greatly prefer instrumental tracks to ones with lyrics.

Have you listened to Coil at all? They're almost exclusively instrumental experimental weirdness, and they're thematically similar to Current 93 (David Tibet and Jon Balance were close friends until Mr. Balance's suicide a few years ago), but a little more down the Enochian and Chaos Magic route. You might like them, if they're not too weird for you (but then, if you already listen to C93 and Death in June, they probably aren't).  

[With Motion]

Sivirs

With Motion

I greatly prefer instrumental tracks to ones with lyrics.

Have you listened to Coil at all? They're almost exclusively instrumental experimental weirdness, and they're thematically similar to Current 93 (David Tibet and Jon Balance were close friends until Mr. Balance's suicide a few years ago), but a little more down the Enochian and Chaos Magic route. You might like them, if they're not too weird for you (but then, if you already listen to C93 and Death in June, they probably aren't).

I've heard the name before. I can't remember if I've listened to them or not, though. I'll find some stuff by them today.

I've never heard the term 'Enochian' before. What does that mean?  

[Sivirs]

With Motion

I've never heard the term 'Enochian' before. What does that mean?

Here's the Wikipedia page for Enochian magic. I'm not sure how accurate it is, since I don't know too much about it past basic concepts/history, but it should be good enough for a basic summary.