SoNG: Altar Dreams

Altar Dreams

by WEFPJ Average Dyke Band - Helen (aka Helen Freidman or Freedwomon)

PeHP Source: ADB Songsheets 1985-87

I see you at your altar of seashells and stones
Majikal treasures with stories to tell of places you've come from 
and faces you've seen
Each one a part of you, touching you 
You have grown so much stronger

Julie at her altar lights candles and scents
Earth rhythms sway her to fly in a trance
Circling 'round and 'round in her room
Spinning and swirling high drawn by the moon 
She dances

Painting water colors by candlelight
The shades blend like memories, stream in her mind
She closes her eyes for a moment's dream
Lost in the space of a vision she's seen getting clearer

Julie at her altar makes amulets to heal
With crystal and lavender, sweet sage and chamomile
She makes them for lovers and friends close and dear
Wimmin who are a part of her life,
their love has freed her flowing spirit

* The Average Dyke Band (ADB) sprang up at the Women's Encampment for a Future of Peace & Justice in the summer of 1985.  The theory they put into action was that songs, singing, and musical instrumentation were not the domain of an exclusive, talented few. They had found that far too many of their sisters fell silent musically because somewhere along the way they were told they didn't have a good voice, couldn't carry a tune, couldn't keep a beat. The ADB, then, was the musical counterpart to WEFPJ's consensus process philosophy and practice - every woman's voice would be heard. They were inclusive, they were average, and they had a damn good time.