Dark Song

• First verse: A “call-and-response” section, where the chant leader sings the “call” solo, and then some or all of the women sing the “response” in the close harmony style typical of the Carpathian musical tradition. The repeated response—Ai, Emä Maγe—is an invocation of the source of power for the healing ritual: “Oh, Mother Nature.”

• First chorus: This section is filled with clapping, dancing, ancient horns and other means used to invoke and heighten the energies upon which the ritual is drawing.

• Second verse

• Second chorus

• Closing invocation: In this closing part, two song leaders, in close harmony, take all the energy gathered by the earlier portions of the song/ritual and focus it entirely on the healing purpose.

What you will be listening to are brief tastes of what would typically be a significantly longer ritual, in which the verse and chorus parts are developed and repeated many times, to be closed by a single rendition of the closing invocation.

Sarna Pusm O Maγet (Song to Heal the Earth)

First verse

Ai, Emä Maγe,
Oh, Mother Nature,
Me sívadbin lańaak.
We are your beloved daughters.
Me tappadak, me pusmak o maγet.
We dance to heal the earth.
Me sarnadak, me pusmak o hanyet.
We sing to heal the earth.
Sielanket jutta tedet it,
We join with you now,
Sívank és akaratank és sielank juttanak.
Our hearts and minds and spirits become one.

Second verse

Ai, Emä Maγe,
Oh, Mother Nature,
Me sívadbin lańaak.
We are your beloved daughters.
Me andak arwadet emänked és me kaŋank o
We pay homage to our mother and call upon the
Põhi és Lõuna, Ida és Lääs.
North and South, East and West.
Pide és aldyn és myös belső.
Above and below and within as well.
Gondank o maγenak pusm hän ku olen jama.
Our love of the land heals that which is in need.
Juttanak teval it,
We join with you now,
Maγe maγeval.
Earth to earth.
O pirä elidak weńća.
The circle of life is complete.

To hear this chant, visit christinefeehan.com/members/.

7. CARPATHIAN CHANTING TECHNIQUE

As with their healing techniques, the actual “chanting technique” of the Carpathians has much in common with the other shamanistic traditions of the Central Asian steppes. The primary mode of chanting was throat chanting using overtones. Modern examples of this manner of singing can still be found in the Mongolian, Tuvan and Tibetan traditions. You can find an audio example of the Gyuto Tibetan Buddhist monks engaged in throat chanting at christinefeehan.com/carpathian_chanting/.

As with Tuva, note on the map the geographical proximity of Tibet to Kazakhstan and the Southern Urals.

The beginning part of the Tibetan chant emphasizes synchronizing all the voices around a single tone, aimed at healing a particular “chakra” of the body. This is fairly typical of the Gyuto throat-chanting tradition, but it is not a significant part of the Carpathian tradition. Nonetheless, it serves as an interesting contrast.

The part of the Gyuto chanting example that is most similar to the Carpathian style of chanting is the midsection, where the men are chanting the words together with great force. The purpose here is not to generate a “healing tone” that will affect a particular “chakra,” but rather to generate as much power as possible for initiating “out-of-body” travel, and for fighting the demonic forces that the healer/traveler must face and overcome.