Wednesday, June 29, 2016

My Music Video for This is the Thing


This it the Thing
We cannot be together for circumspect reasons.
This is the thing
This unrequited longing for all of my wishing.
This is the thing
You know that I love her and I hold what is dear
This is the thing, all of my thoughts are returning to you
Yes all of my thoughts are returning
And I continue to stand resilient to giving in
like some besieged castle in the warring of my night
Like some besieged castle.
This it the thing
You know that I love her and I hold what is dear
This is the thing
All of my thoughts are returning to you.
All of my thoughts are returning to you.
And little by little you're breaking my defences down
And I'm giving over to the natural
And little by little you're breaking my defences down
And I'm giving over to the natural
And I continue to stand resilient to giving in
like some besieged castle in the warring of my night
Like some besieged castle.


Friday, June 3, 2016

This Is The Thing


 


This it the thing
We cannot be together for circumspect reasons.
This is the thing
This unrequited longing for all of my wishing.
This is the thing
You know that I love her and I hold what is dear
This is the thing, all of my thoughts are returning to you
Yes all of my thoughts are returning
And I continue to stand resilient to giving in
like some besieged castle in the warring of my night
Like some besieged castle.
This it the thing
You know that I love her and I hold what is dear
This is the thing
All of my thoughts are returning to you.
All of my thoughts are returning to you.
And little by little you're breaking my defences down
And I'm giving over to the natural
And little by little you're breaking my defences down
And I'm giving over to the natural
And I continue to stand resilient to giving in
like some besieged castle in the warring of my night
Like some besieged castle.


Tuesday, May 31, 2016

Beautiful new album


This is an album I am listening to with reverence at the moment.


Ancient People

Last weekend I went away, to our piece of land in the Cederberg.
It is deep in the Mountains,  that borders the Kouebokkeveld and Karoo.
It is an ancient land, surrounded by bushman paintings.
I am fascinated by the first people, the Khoi San.
I grew up here as a child, I learnt to fish and canoe  here with my Dad.
This is a very special place for me, my spiritual home.
It feels like I am returning home.
The following article courtesy of:
http://www.africancraftsmarket.com/Bushman-people
The ‘Bushmen’ are the oldest inhabitants of southern Africa, where they are commonly known as Bushmen, San, Khwe or as the Basarwa. They have been resident in and around the Kalahari Desert for at least 20,000 years which spans areas of South Africa, Botswana, Namibia and Angola. The terms San, Khwe, Bushmen, and Basarwa have all been used to refer to hunter-gatherer peoples of southern Africa. They speak a variety of languages, all of which incorporate ‘click’ sounds represented in writing by symbols such as! or /. Genetic evidence suggests they are one of the oldest, if not the oldest, peoples in the world. They were hunter-gatherers, hunting with bows and arrows, trapping small animals and eating edible roots and berries.
They lived in rock shelters, in the open or in crude shelters of twigs and grass or animal skins. They made no pottery, rather using ostrich eggshells or animal parts for storing and holding liquids. For these reasons, animals and nature are central features in the Bushman’s religious tradition, folklore, art and rituals.The Bushman are small in statue and usually have large bottoms hence the term “Bushman bum.
The most important southern Bushmen spiritual being was /Kaggen, the trickster-deity. He created many things, and appears in numerous myths where he can be foolish or wise, tiresome or helpful.The word ‘/Kaggen’ can be translated as ‘mantis’, this lead to the belief that the Bushmen worshipped the praying mantis. However, /Kaggen is not a praying mantis: the mantis is only one of his manifestations. He can also turn into an eland, a hare, a snake or a vulture; he can assume many forms. When he is not in one of his animal forms, /Kaggen lives his life of an ordinary Bushman, hunting, fighting and getting into scraps. The Bushmen’s beliefs go beyond that. The eland is their most spiritual animal and appears in four rituals:1-boys’ first kill,2-girls’ puberty,3-marriage and 4-trance dance.
A ritual is held where the boy is told how to track an eland and how the eland will fall once shot with an arrow. He becomes an adult when he kills his first large antelope, preferably an eland. The eland is skinned and the fat from the eland’s’ throat and collar bone is made into a broth. This broth has great potency. In the girls’ puberty rituals, a young girl is isolated in her hut at her first menstruation. The women of the tribe perform the Eland Bull Dance where they imitate the mating behavior of the eland cows. A man will play the part of the eland bull, usually with horns on his head. This ritual will keep the girl beautiful, free from hunger and thirst and peaceful. As part of the marriage ritual, the man gives the fat from the eland’s’ heart to the girls’ parents. At a later stage the girl is anointed with eland fat. In the trance dance, the eland is considered the most potent of all animals, and the shamans aspire to possess eland potency. The modern Bushmen of the Kalahari believe in two gods: one who lives in the east and one from the west. ‘Medicine People’ or shamans protect everyone from these spirits and sickness. A shaman is someone who enters a trance in order to heal people, protect them from evil spirits and sickness, foretell the future, control the weather, ensure good hunting and generally try to look after the well being of their group.
The Bushmen are well known for their rock art paintings of stickmen figure hunting and gathering. These bushman paintings have become important historical finds as they have given historians key data in the lives and times that the Bushman has been around as well as the movement of African people. The bushman are not notorious for their craft but are more known for their paintings and rock art. They do however make traditional arts and crafts today such as eggshell jewelry, bows and arrows, dancing and fire sticks and dancing skirts. They are also making exquisite textiles and ceramics that have been hand painted with traditional images.






Ancient Places

I went away to my special place last weekend - we are building a house there.
Some pics and some wisdom from that weekend.
 






Winter

This is a book I am reading at the moment. 
My good friend and teacher is going through some trouble. 
Autumn. 
Reminder of life's heartbeat.




Monday, May 9, 2016

Video



Last month we shot my music video for 'This is the Thing'. We shot it in the forest where I live.
I can't wait to see it. I'm working with the talented Mark Jackson



The Journey

I've picked up my drum again.
This time in a different way, the Journey of healing.




Tuesday, March 1, 2016

Keep me Wild

The name of my Album is Keep me Wild.
Some People think that it's me that wants to be kept wild, But  I wrote it about the Earth - It is the Earth that wants to be kept Wild.
It is the voice of Humanity that wants to be kept Wild.
And it is the voice of Nature and Animals
that wants to be kept Wild.

I go to the forest every day.
It helps me gain perspective and get out of my head.
It helps me to connect with nature every day. To ground.
To realise how important it is.
That is the secret.




Saturday, February 27, 2016

Singing bowls

A Wonderful gift, 3 Singing bowls. honestly my guy supports my dreams and is my champion. I couldn't be more grateful. These bowls are beautiful. I can't wait to use them. Thank you xx


Sound Meditation

I did this great Sound Meditation and Yoga with Retief, a wonderful soul.



Chris Tokalon - Celebrate Sound

Beautiful Sound Journey with Chris.



Sound Journey

I left the world of commercial music and started my Sound Journey.
This means alot of things. Understudying, observing and listening.
It is different to be a passive listener rather than the entertainer in the spot light.
I have been given singing bowls and added them to my collection.
I have been going on many Sound Journeys. Teachers are everywhere.
This, last night, with Mirja.



Wednesday, February 24, 2016

Perspectives

A Movement Medicine practice facilitated by Jayne Bullen. Shamballah Tea house.


I wanted to tell you about a dance I did with Jayne. She is my favourite teacher because she is so Authentic.
There is no ego with her. This is the most important thing I hold value in. I went in knowing absolutely nothing about the practice and came out a different person. How do you describe a thing so deep and rich in ceremony. You go in feeling one way and come out feeling completely another.
There are major shifts that happen that you don't even know about.
Whatever you need to get out of it - you do.


I went in disconnected and I came out connected. That's the only way I can describe it.
I went in knowing no one and very shy, and I came out feeling like I'd connected on a heart level with myself,  and everyone, on a deep and gentle level.
The music guided me through, a sound journey of highs and lows, music from all over the world. Nidhi drummed beautifully throughout.
Jayne asked us to set an intention - if there was something we wanted to make better, or let go. The music and dance help you to change/ shift your perspective. the music and whatever happened in that room, broke me. What I received from that dance was 'work on your 'I don't feel worthy' issues.' 'DAnce though your pain.' At some point I started crying, tears were streaming down my face. I thought 'how do I carry on?' I managed to keep dancing. I had no idea what was happening, why was this happening to me! I observed the patterns in my life.  Someone held the space while I cried. We shared what we wanted to let go of. I realised I was carrying around so much in my relationship then, and I didn't want to carry it around anymore. Feeling consumed by my other, I needed to find balance. I accepted that I needed to come and go as I please, that it was all I was capable of then. Love me for who I am, accept me for who I am. So much has changed since then since I danced this dance - everything has come into place and settled. But I needed this dance then. I am grateful for the music, for the journey, for the women in that room, the compassion and the honesty. For connecting with myself, my rhythm, my wisdom, my shaman, and shifting my perspective.
Movement is Medicine.