The Lamentation Soundscape

The Lamentation Soundscape

Òran Caoine (The Keening Song by Mae McKenna) in the Breathe theme.

 

By Stefan Chmelik

 

Introduction

Recognition of our grief is vital to healing. Lamentation, the passionate expression of grief or sorrow, is a healthy and traditional response. It's a vital opportunity for individuals and communities to transform feelings from despair to hope. That is the intention of the Lamentation Soundscape, created in collaboration with unique Gaelic and Irish artists.

 

As 95 year old activist Joanna Macy puts it:

“Grief and laughter are both natural responses”

 

The death of brother Máirtín Ó Tuathail has further convinced me of the real need for the healthy expression of grief. There are deep and longstanding rituals and ceremonies across all cultures to ease the process of transformation due to endings and loss, natural and inevitable events that we are no longer taught to see as natural, inevitable and healthy. This theme explores concepts of yearning, soul love, loss, grief and transformation.

Keening as an expression of lamentation that harks back to Ireland and the folk tale of Brighid weeping and crying over the death of her son; then in Wales with the folk tale of Branwen and her son, and grief for the loss of the people. These goddesses were made into figures of compassion and mercy, not unlike Quan Yin in China. 

Dr Clarissa Pinkola Estes, Mestiza Latina poet and psychoanalyst, talks about the Buddhist Black Tara, and the Gaelic/Celtic Ban-Sìth (‘Banshee’, Ban-Sìthean (plural), Ban-Sidhe in Irish Gaelic) a woman of the spirit land that forewarns of doom for those that don't heed her warning to change their path. In this time of environmental and social upheaval, we ignore the warning of the Ban-Sìth at our peril.

Òran Caoine (The Keening Song by Mae McKenna)

(pronounced Awran coonya)

 

This new Soundscape dives deep into the heart of the loss and grief over the devastation that our planet is facing. Rather than simply being 'about' grief, this Soundscape takes us on a direct journey into the tears, into heartwrenching mythologies of lamentation and woe. 

Wailing and Keening, also seen as a form of sean-nós singing (‘shan-nohsss’ is unaccompanied singing), a form of vocal lament in the Gaelic-Celtic tradition. Parallels can be found in many other cultures, notably in the Middle East, and in ancient cultures and referenced in their literature. 

Myths and stories are powerful things and we need them more than ever now, as they carry the wisdom and learning of our ancestors. Like so many female entities, the Ban-Sìth (banshee) has not been well understood or treated kindly by history. The Ban-Sìthean (plural of ‘banshee’ in Gaelic) is often seen as a scary, evil and murderous apparition. But this image is fanciful and does not depict Gaelic-Celtic tradition. 

The Ban-Sìth is a figure of compassion and forewarning, not the malevolent spirit of popular culture. A female spirit, ‘fairy woman’, or ‘she-fairy’ who forewarns death through ‘keening’ or lamentation. Her cry prepares the family for the impending loss. And this characteristic cry serves as a poignant reminder of the shared grief that death brings. 

The mythology of the Banshee resonates with me as more than a scary apparition; and it seems to me that the ‘family’ or ‘house’ that is talked about is an analogy for the community of all humans living on this Earth. Therefore, we are lamenting the threat of ultimate destruction. Perhaps the solution to this grief, which we reach through lamentation, is love?

So, the Ban-Sìth does not bring death, but is a portent of it, she will warn people through wailing, that peril may ensue unless another path is chosen. We would do well to listen to her warnings.

This Soundscape invokes themes of Cianalas (homesickness) and Cumha (lament), by way of an offering to A’ Chaoineag (The Wailing Woman, a kind of banshee).

In this case the ‘death’ is that of a system that is no longer sustainable, and the Ban-Sìth serves as a spiritual messenger forewarning the family of humankind that a change, tipping point, or end is coming. For us today, we lament the apparent death of the world around us.

This soundscape explores collective grief for our changing world, expressing sorrow for what we are losing whilst standing at the threshold of an uncertain future. The piece's harmonic passages serve as a musical embrace, embodying the eternal truth that what we love endures within us, transcending physical loss. Transforming our grief into wisdom and kindling hope that enables us to take action.

 

About the Artist:

Mae McKenna is a veteran vocalist and recording artist with 5 decades of experience and a legend of Celtic traditional and popular music. Her work as a session musician has enriched countless recordings across genres. Currently she focuses on reawakening humanity's connection to nature as a living entity through music and contemporary animist practices rooted in indigenous wisdom.

Her back catalogue includes:

Everything That Touches Me (1975, Transatlantic (UK) TRA 321)

Walk On Water (1976, Transatlantic (UK) TRA 345) 

She has worked with Sting, Ultravox, Living In A Box, Scritti Politti ABC, Wet Wet Wet, Kylie Minogue, Jason Donovan, Cliff Richard and Donna Summer. Her work also includes recordings with Camel (1991, Dust And Dreams), Jerry Donahue - The Backroom Boys And Girls (1990, Close Encounters) and she most recently collaborated with Miriam Stockley in the Adiemus-style Shabala (1998, Virgin Rhythm Nation (Germany) 846321)

 

Mae says:

“I’ve tried to convey general loss with the music. Loss of Loved ones, loss of environment, loss of connection. I’ve then tempered that with the sweetness of whatever is held in the heart with love, lives forever.”

 

I’ve used two Scotts-Gaelic phrases in this song:

“Cumaidh mi thusa nam chridhe “ - “I hold you in my heart”

“Ann mo Chridh is m’anam a ghnath” - “In my heart and soul always/forever”                                                

This is a very old phrase and may be closer to the older than the modern Irish.

The rest is made up of syllables used for flow in Gaelic songs that don’t have a meaning.

Mae: 'Fonn is still used in Scottish Gaelic to mean both those things as well as mood and pleasure, desires and fondness’

More info on Mae McKenna: http://www.heartvox.com 

 

 

Sensately Yours, 

Stefan

Stefan Chmelik is co-founder of and inventor of the Sensate stress reduction system, which is based on his over three decades of clinical experience working with anxiety, stress and trauma.

Addendum:

Hiraeth (Gaelic/Celtic Lamentation) .

‘Hiraeth is an untranslatable Welsh word that describes a longing for a home, a place, or a feeling that no longer exists or never existed.’Describes a sense of yearning for imagined places, feelings, and people – a glimpse into and connection to the people and things that existed long ago.

"Cianalas" (Scots Gaelic) has a similar meaning to Hiraeth. A deep seated sense of belonging to the place where your roots lie. Normally attributed to the Outer Hebrides. There is no sadness or melancholy in cianalas, only the realisation of what is truly important in life. Sometimes translated simply as ‘homesickness’, “A Lewis man would be homesick in heaven”

Neither word translates directly into English.

Related articles:

We discuss the importance of the bittersweet & melancholy as the emotion of transformation in this article

References: 

Irish sean-nós singing, Here.

Josh Shrei episode of The Emerald about Lamentation (“I wish it could have been another way” Ep69) with Laments by Peia Luzzi: https://peiasong.com/.

"The Lament of the Old Woman of Beare", a 10th Century Irish Poem. With echoes of the Caileach. Animation Here. Words Here. 

More on Lamentation, Here. 

Lament in Ancient Chinese Culture, Here. 

Lament in ancient literature: Briseis’ Lament, The Iliad, Here. 

Women Who Run With The Wolves, Dr Clarissa Pinkola Estés, Here. 

On the Spellings of Ban-Sith/ Ban-Sidhe: Oxford reference ‘Ban-Sith’, Here; Britannica, ‘Banshee’, Here.