I have been writing healing prayers as song since I got my first guitar at the age of twelve. As a child and youth, I found no greater way than singing to express the depths of my awe and wonder for life, love, and all of creation. As I relate in my book, Sanctuaries of Childhood:
“When my mother sang to me, I could feel her love for me in every word. When I sang with her, the golden thread of song wove a swift tapestry of affection between us. As we lifted our voices together, the Divine Spirit I call ‘God’ sang with us, sang through us, was even perhaps the music itself.”
Healing Rhythms of Family Life
Like my mother before me, singing was a mainstay of my parenting from the time my children were infants. My spouse Andrew and I found that allowing music to flow through our every day was a potent tool to inspire healing, joy, cooperation, and listening to one another with open hearts and minds. My first book, Seven Times the Sun: Guiding Your Child Through the Rhythms of the Day, includes a collection of songs to inspire everyday rhythms and rituals of healing. After many requests from parents and teachers, I recorded these songs so others could learn them by ear. CDs can be purchased at our online shop.
The Healing Quest
In decades past, I had the privilege of singing in the women’s trio Avalon a cappella with my dear friend Mary Thienes Schunemann who died from cancer in 2007 at the age of 46. Here I offer a free download of two of my original songs from our final concert, “Celtic Quest” from the only CD we had the opportunity to record together before Mary’s death. May these songs bring healing to your day.
Set the Spirit Free ©1999 by Shea Darian
Vocals: Shea Darian, Mary Thienes Schunemann & Amy Chevalier
To find the grail,
Become the grail
Serve the grail
In birth and love, marriage and death, communion and praise,
In these our sacred days, so common to the touch,
May we become a holy vessel.
~ Shea Darian, Excerpt from “The Quest”
Photo of Mary Thienes Schunemann, Hawaii (2006)
Spirit of Old Ireland ©1999 by Shea Darian
Vocals: Shea Darian, Mary Thienes Schunemann & Amy Chevalier
In the end we shall have had enough of cynicism, skepticism and humbug, and we shall want to live more musically.
Vincent Van Gogh
Thank you for sharing uplifting and inspiring music and your wisdom and insights. So very grateful for you.