The Bardic History of Four Winds
1994-1997Before the spirit powers of the universe, before the sacred beings standing in the four directions who watch, guide and guard. In days past, the ancient bards, coming before their Lords and peers would recite their history and noble deeds. To honor the Bardic Way, find here our own deeds and history.
1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997
1993 - Prelude
The Vision.
A childhood love of singing and good times in amatuer school and holiday choruses and summer and scout camp singing, lead Brooklyn native Kurt Griffith a.k.a. Talking Stone to becoming empowered to follow a Lakota Medicine Path. He receives teachings which suggest to him that music and song are the common ground between the nations, an insight affirmed in his second Prayer Fast in the woods of upstate New york. He is acknowledged and encouraged by his teachers as a ceremonial singer. In the most native Spiritual traditions, druming, sacred songs and chants are an integral part of their spirituality, and the Lakota are no exception. He meets many people exploring the world of song, chant and drum, encountering many varied peoples, traditions and a wide vareity of sacred and celebratory music.
Yule 1993.
With his wife Heather a solitary Wiccan, they explore the Pagan Community. Bwtewwn their chosen paths and their Epsichopal/Agnostic/Baptist and Jewish family backgrounds respectively, they share a broad spiritual perspective. They meet many people and share many experiences. In 1993 Kurt crafts a Yule Ritual for the Pagan networking organization New Moon New York composed entirely of song and chant as a giveaway for the respect shown to him and Native ways.
1994 - A Vision In Sound
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Genesis - March 11th, 1994.
The people who assisted him in that effort felt the call of the spirit winds and strongly encouraged Kurt to continue singing and teaching regularly. On the eve of that spring, Kaitlin Creed, Athena, Thunder Magewind and T.J. Jamieson convinced him to begin meetings. The name Four Winds Earth Chorus was gifted through prayer and the project was underway.
Full Moon.
Four Wind's first event was a Full Moon Ritual for New Moon New York in June of 1994. A bit over a dozen singers and a couple of drummers came together and created another sonic ritual, Her Power Comes OIn Dreamtime that was enthusiastically received. In it we unveiled an original composition, Grandmother's Dreamtime that has been so well received by Members, Cirle participants and audiences that the song often preceeds us into Circles throughout the Northeast.
Bizarre Bazaar.
Heather, with Kaitlin assisting and tagged as Stage Manager, created a benefit event for New Moon, a combination Craft Faire, Flea market, Cabaret and Concert. Among other invited performers, Four Winds puts itself forward to present the "Pagan Top Ten Plus" a double set of well-know, ro at least well-liked Pagan and Earth Centered songs and chants. The ones that may not have been classics, we felt ought to be!. Real Magic hogs their time slot and cuts short Four Winds' second set. Kurt nearly falls off the shallow stage during a tricky bit of drumming. But rough spots not withstanding, response was positive, affirming the vision. While some had more praise for our enthusiasm than our skill, it was still our first real applause.
The Witch's Ball 1994.
From left field came an invitation to support the midnight ritual at Enchantment's Witches' Ball. The set is informal, the stage small. We are an unknown quantity, and the majority of the chorus is kept off stage until we prove our sonic worth on the very first piece. After which a pleasntly surprised Mistress of the House triumphantly ushered us onto stage. A percussion intensive interpretation of Thunder Beings, rocks the house with slammin' improvs from Thunder and Steve Cohen. The crowd goes wild. We are hooked.
Winter Solstice at Centerfold.
We volunteer to provide New Moon' s Open Yule. As a warmup, we go before a mainstream audience as part of an interfaith Winter Solstice show at the Upper West Side venue, Centerfold Coffeehouse. We are nervous, but into the effort. Audience response cheers us up except for the one couple who were spooked by The Witch's Song. Confidence rises second night. Savage weather keeps the audience, and the gate, small. We take home our first twenty bucks.
New Moon Yule 1994.
Toughened up at Centerfold, we discover the difference between ritual and performance in no uncertain terms. We present essentially a revised and more polished version of the original Yule ritual that hooked the founding members. The spirit power rises, supporting Lead Drummer Thunder through the flu, and the enthusiasm of the chorus and circle takes the roof off the place.
1995 - Finding Our Voice
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Knitting Factory - Spring Equinox.
A Chumash Indian from California comes across Kurt's Lakota Lodge Circle seeking a purification sweat while gathering Native support for 1994's Global Peace Walk. New Moon, Earthwalk and Four Winds sign on. Jezibel puts together a double benefit for the Walk and New Moon. Many new members by this time and stage fright is a real issue. Still, we join fellow performers on stage and unveil, Circles, Gaia, Carry Us Home and Sakura. We raise a fair amount for both organizations.
Teaching the Grove.
In May of 1995, the chorus guests at Enchantments' Wiccan Grove, introducing musical elements of ritual. A change of pace and a good time as we manifest another aspect of the mission. Some grove students are attracted to the chorus and sign on. We return the following spring.
Moving into PCC.
The group has grown to a size that meeting in living rooms became impractical. The Pagan Owned 14th Street Video Haven opens it's basement room as the Pagan Community Center. The affordable space makes us one of the first resident groups by midsummer. In August it's tag, you're it, Core Members Jezibel and Athena are drafted as Line Producer and Assistant Choral Director.
A Need to Record.
We recognize the need to record, at least a demo tape, to help us secure invitations to a broader range of venues. While much discussed, the technical challenges and financial hurdles have continued to remain daunting.
Samhain 1995.
Kaitlin & Kurt completely take leave of their senses and volunteer Four Winds to create a choral Open Celebration of Samhain for New Moon New York. Our most ambitious effort to date, with plenty of new and original material, pageantry, and ceremony, amid public skepticism over the concept. Over the summer and fall, Members struggle with Chippewa, Nigerian, Scots Gaelic and getting "off-book" for the ritual. The event, Those who Have Gone Before, A Choral Honoring of The Ancestors is a triumph, with responses such as "tremendously moving", "beautiful", and "most magickal" from attendees. Many critics are silenced.
Caroling.
For fun and funds for PCC, we go into the New York City Subways, hat in hand, singing traditional and alternative holiday fare. Fun, but some stations off-limits except for MTA sanctioned Music Underground folk. Fifty dollar kick for PCC.
St Clemen's Coffeehouse.
We kick in with local Bard Patricia Kelly and the poets, Magnus Dia, Mince Pye and Jezibel for another Fund raiser for New Moon. Still hot from Samhain, the chorus knocks out it's best performance to date. The peasants dance in the aisles.
1996 - Seeking the Sacred Sound
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Magickal Medley.
We return to Centerfold to be part of a spring show. Something about the place, with tornados and downpours in and around the city; we play to a half-filled house. Still, we unveil When God Was A Woman, and the always-rockin drum and dance anthem Gaia pries the people out of their seats.
In the Park.
Symbolic of a lull in our energy, our Central Park Bardic was part communications breakdown, confrontation with uptight authorities and plea to the spirits. Member participation drops amid personnel difficulties. Passerby smile but don't stuff our basket.
Spreading the Word
. We present our first workshop, The Bardic Path in August of 1996. A fund Raiser for the Pagan Community Center, it is a financial and artistic success. Follow-up events vary in success, but are a fulfilling break from performance. However, some Members seem to have become over-focused on performing, forsaking other goals of the Chorus, including regular practice, study and teaching.
The Witches' Ball 1996.
Fall has people returning. Just in time, as the Winds are solicited for the Witches' Ball 1996, A Benefit for People With AIDS, picked up from Enchantments by The Center. We work with the newly formed Shadowfolk Coven and Pagan Elder Dr. Leo Louis Martello to powerful effect. We share the stage with Shaman, Caledonia, and Rhythm Alive! Despite logistic glitches, schedule snafus, iffy-strange tech support and typical NYC wyrdness, the evening is a complete smash, raising over three thousand dollars for NYC victims of AIDS and HIV.
1997 - Growing into the Future
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On the Bardic Road.
The effort of Witches' Ball takes its toll, with the majority of members laid low with sickness and deferred life. People trickle back over the next months. The Director proclaims the back end of December time off for health. As befitting the season, the next weeks are a period of study and renewal. We return to teaching and in February, as we approach the eve of our fourth year, gathered to celebrate and rededicate ourselves to Four Wind's mission in a powerful and moving Bardic Ritual of Rededication.
- I hear the Voice of the Winds.
I hear the Call of the Spirits...
I lift my voice in joy and Praise,
To Honor the Powers, the People and Ways.
To awaken my mind, to open my heart,
to lift my spirit
I here pledge my voice, body, hands and spiritThree Years Song.
In March, we find ourselves celebrating three years of song, chant and joyus noise. We honor our Third Anniversary with what else? A Bardic Circle. We are poised to attack yet another project, Manhattan Magick. The call of the stage draws us forward again.
Manhattan Magick.
We cruise into May a stretch of intense rehearsal and mild logistic chaos, we prepare for Manhattan Macgick, an Urban Celebration of Earth Spirituality. The event is an a all-day festival and bazarr, with music food and vendors. The event is a multiple benefit for New Moon, The Pagan Community Center and Four Winds, with all the implied logistic challenges. We are at the Angel Orensanz Center For The Arts a magestic gothic former Temple in the borderlands between New York's SOHO and the Lower East Side being converted into an arts center. We take our turn on stage with Judith Zweiman, Sarah Stockwell, Real Magic and Imani Buchanan's reinvented Rhythm Alive!, Circle, Skin and Bone, who also provide a powerful and entrancing evening ritual leading into their drum-pounding, foot-stomping get-up-and-dance finale.
Everything done for the first time creates the unknown and unexpected. The event is an artistic success, with all our guests performing well, and we present (heard this one before?) our best performance to date, despite some stage direction issues, but I digress. However, attendance is about half of what we would have liked. Some vendors do well, others... well, less well. At the end of the day, the books are so perilously close to the break-even mark that nobody really wants to look to closely. The all-Volunteer staff from the three organizations are a bit disappointed in light of the outstanding effort they raised, but their energy and cheerful service is deeply appreciated. And everybody loved the music!
Honoring The Bards.
We're back at Enchantment's but this time out we are the choral support for a full -out sonic ritual honoring the Bardic Traditions. It's long ride, over two hours, with a record-breaking seventeen songs, all out in the courtyard sun. We tough it out and the people dig it. In the process, we perform Real Magic's very silly The Dagda's Club in front of other people for the first time.
VH Goin' South.
July, 1997 14th Street Video Haven, anter a long history of landlord trouble (Gee, like that's so rare in New York!), pulls up stakes and heads downtown to reopen as Video Haven Movie Magic on 4th avenue and 10th Street. However, this forces the closing of the Pagan Community Center for the forseable future, a community resource that will be sorely missed. The two year experiment allowed access to space for a broad cross-section of resource starved groups and circles and was a forurm for teachings, rituals, performances and celebration. However, for the moment we are gypsies again.
For details and our ad for Rehearsal Space, please see: News Items: 20 July 1997 on the NEWS page.
Upstairs @ Cooper Square.
One Brother whose socks we blew off at Manhattan Magick invited us to ClubNET Cafe @Cooper ETC. to offer a possible space-for-play deal. We round up a posse and make an impromtu performance on Open Mike Night. They dig us, but realize that our sonic power (!) makes rehearsing in their space not feasible. (Oh, well...) But we made some new friends, and have a standing invitation to perform and teach. In the meantime, we decide to keep on kepin' on.
See our current Rehearsal and Events Schedule.
The Winds are calling, the horizon beckons...