The Use of Chants
by Blayze

Most of us are familiar with chanting as a magickal tool as it is one of the techniques for raising energy. We see chants published in books, as part of spells or rituals, we hear them at gatherings and see them used in movies and television shows. But what chants work when, and why?

This article aims to show you different types of chants and their most appropriate use from a technical perspective. Now, I know that for many, intuition is the basis for what chants or inspired utterances are used, but when you hit that great wall of ritual or writer’s block, having some idea of the technical background of chants can be very helpful in creating the best possible result. Not all chants, even those beloved of ritual organisers, work for every purpose. A chant for mourning the descent of a God may not be appropriate for a handfasting… or then again… 

Before we examine different styles of chants we will look at examples of situations where chants are used, such as in ritual, spells and prayer. Ritual chants can explain and empower the central theme and purpose, they can inspire group understanding or allow access to a mystery. These chants can also be employed as a storytelling device or to induce an altered state of awareness in the participants. Chants can also be used to preface a ritual, to set the scene and the mood by inspiring a transitional phase between the mundane and ritual worlds. So what makes a ritual chant? Well, chanting within ritual usually serves one of the above purposes as well as raising energy. Classic examples of ritual chants would be those used to empower a Sabbat or festival ritual. These chants raise energy at the same time as they describe what the ritual is celebrating and provide insight into the mystery of the event. Two traditional Wiccan chants illustrate this effect perfectly. For Lammas or Mabon there is a chant describing the harvests and descent into the dark time of year; 

“Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter, all things pass, all things fade, all things die”.

For Imbolc there is a chant, which encompasses the return of light to the world;

“Thus we banish Winter, thus we welcome Spring, we say farewell to what is dead and greet each living thing”

Here is a chant for Samhain, written by Rhiannon from Clan na Duir, that I feel really contains the essence of the ritual;

“By stone of stone and bone of bone, seeds and blood and souls are sown”

Simple and repetitive chants can work well for transitions into ritual. This is a chant that was taught to me at a gathering in 1995, I don’t know who the author is but we have chanted this many times as we walk through the bush to our ritual site. Every second line is repeated as a link to the next line, here I will just give the actual phrases used;

“We are the flow, we are the ebb, 
We are the weavers, we are the web.
We are the spiders, we are the thread,
We are the witches, back from the dead.”

Chanting in spell-work serves to raise and focus energy as well as defining the goal of the spell itself. The chants can be just a wordless sound or intoning, but if you have a goal for the spell, why not incorporate that goal into the chant itself. This will make it easier to focus upon the outcome and the reason for chanting. The best results are achieved by writing the chant to fit the particular goal, but there are some standard spell chants that work very well for more general outcomes. Two standard spell chants that I use regularly are for healing and as an empowerment for cord magick.

“This is the spell that we intone, flesh to flesh and bone to bone, sinew to sinew and vein to vein, each one to its own again” 

This chant has a great rhythm to it and encourages stamping and movement to add to the raising of power, especially within a group situation. The other spell chant is used when spinning a cord for a magical purpose as well as when raising energy into the cord via a wheel dance. We often use this chant when a couple is spinning their handfasting cord.

“Made to measure, wrought to bind, blessed be this cord entwined”

Prayer chants are used to raise energy to carry the prayer to deity as well as being tools of simple praise and worship. They are wonderful to work with either alone or with a group as their repetition invokes a trance-like state. Prayer chants are usually simple in structure as they are designed to allow the intent or worshipful state to shine through. There is nothing like being part of a circle of people all chanting in praise of a divine aspect and feeling the energy and harmony released. Often a prayer chant will consist of names of Gods or Goddesses of a certain aspect such as the refrain from Charlie Murphy’s song “The Burning Times”, which is used by many pagans to access the divine within ritual.
This refrain is used to invoke the feminine principal and there is also a male version that is used in counterpoint but is not part of Murphy’s original song.

“Isis, Astarte, Diana, Hecate, Demeter, Kali, Inanna”.  

Another female oriented counterpoint used with this chant is;

“I am a strong woman, I am a story woman, I am a healer, my soul will never die”.

The male version is;

“Dionysus, Cernunnos, Ahura-Mazda, Manatu, Loki, Ra, Brahma” 

with the counterpoint of;

“I am a hunter, I am a warrior, I am a song man, my soul will never die”.

Another often used prayer chant is in praise of the elements and both the mother and father deity aspects. I have no idea who wrote the “Mother” and the “Elements” verses but, the “Father” verse was written by Ollie from Eldergrove in 1995;

“Mother I feel you under my feet, Mother I feel your heart beating
Heya heya heya heya heya heya ho, heya heya heya heya hey ho

Father I feel you up in the sky, Father I feel your power burning
Heya heya heya heya heya heya ho, heya heya heya heya hey ho

Earth my body, Water my blood, Air my breath and Fire my spirit
Heya heya heya heya heya heya ho, heya heya heya heya hey ho”

Many years ago, Hawthorne and myself were working on a ritual for a Wemoon gathering centring on spinning, weaving and spider Goddesses. This is the prayer chant that we wrote as a centrepiece for the ritual. When spoken in a kind of tonal chant it rolls off the tongue and becomes a wall of sound. Those who have heard it will know what I mean;

“Arachne, Moraea, Ariadne, Athena, Illythia, Aradia, Arianrhod”.

We have looked at examples of chants used in ritual, spells and prayer and if you look closely at these examples you will see that they employ certain rhythms and formats that work well for each of these situations. Chants fall into categories of; spoken short, spoken long, intoning (such as names or chords and notes) and short musical chants. All of these styles rely heavily on musical principles of beat, rhythm, tempo, and pitch. 

In chanting, the beat is what creates the emphasis on certain words. You will find that you will stamp, dance or move in a certain way whilst chanting. The beat for the Healing Rune has the emphasis on every last beat of three such as one, two, THREE, one, two THREE, one, two THREE. “This is the SPELL, that we in-TONE, flesh to FLESH and bone to BONE…” It gives a really solid feel to the chant. The spinning chant flows with the accent on nearly every first syllable; “aRACHne, MORaea, A-riande, A-thena, ilLYTHia, aRADia, A-rianRHOD. 

The rhythm of the chant will help to evoke certain emotions or power especially when it flows over and around the main beat. This is especially prevalent when the Goddess and God chants are used in counterpoint (against) each other and with the four chants working at once, especially when harmonies are used, the effect is uplifting and spectacular.

The tempo or speed is very important in chanting. If the chant is not intended to release energy the speed of the chant can stay the same. However if energy release is intended you will find that the chant will get faster and faster with each repetition until it just becomes a blur of words, a final shout, and then a release. It is very important to be aware of this build up of energy and release it when it has reached its peak. Participants will often feel the need to speed up but if someone is controlling the focus of the energy, then they will need to set the pace and have the others follow, otherwise you will have people speeding up at different times and that produces an entirely different effect. As speeding up a chant allows energy to be released, slowing down a chant can have the effect of grounding the energy which can also be very effective, especially if used at the end of a ritual or working.

Pitch is often used in conjunction with tempo where, as the chant becomes faster, it also moves higher up the scale, ending in a high pitched shout. Conversely if the chant is slowing down, the pitch of the chant becomes lower and lower and softer and softer until it naturally disappears. Chordal chanting is another method that uses pitch and tone to wonderful effect. Everyone starts by intoning one note and then several people will change to another complimentary note (usually a third above for those of you who are musically inclined) and then another note is intoned on top of that. This provides a build-up of musical energy and when it is in perfect harmony the energy raised can be incredible. The alternative is to start everyone on the same note and then move slowly up the scale ending in a howl. This is a great energy building and releasing technique.

The writing and adapting of chants would make an entirely separate article involving the techniques of poetry and rhyme as well as purpose and rhythm. However, you can have fun playing around with the tempo and beat of those chants you like to use. See how these techniques change the purpose of the chant. Examine why and how you use the chant in context of spells, ritual and prayer and by all means experiment with writing your own.

May your chanting carry you to magickal and mystical heights.