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“Mysterious and reverent” “A near angelic voice” – Albuquerque Weekly Alibi “Her lyrics are deeply personal and poetic” – Mayne Island Islander “Music to lift your soul” – Volcano Gazette

Honey and Holy Water-Listen

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Yearning

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Honey and Holy Water

Photo & Cover Art: Leigh Hilbert

Yearning

Photo:Melissa Schelling ©Melissa Schelling

"Today I listened to your CD "Yearning" and (it)... reminded me that there is beauty in the world". -Ron Clark, Alburqueque, New Mexico

Only This Moment

Photo: Carol McOuat

“The passion of cello and the sweetness of the Celtic harp…draw out unexpected depths of feeling from one another.”
– Mayne Island Islander

Listen to song samples here: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/oonamcouat

or whole songs here: http://www.reverbnation.comww.reverbnation.com/oonamcouat

Soothing, grooving, eco-Celt, organic and emotive, Honey and Holy Water flows with urgency and wonder. It's been 40 years since Woodstock (the only cover on the CD.) The honey bees are disappearing. The oceans are in peril. Will we make it back to the garden before the jig is up?

Produced and engineered on Salt Spring Island, British Columbia by Daryl Chonka and mastered at Randy Bachman's The Barn, the CD features stellar performances by wild cellist Corbin Keep, wise cellist Jami Sieber, woodwinds whiz Richard Lee, homegrown percussionist Chris Bertin, fiddlers Zav Rokeby-Thomas and Michael Fox and singers James Mujuru and Desmond Sutherland, with Chonka adding bass, guitar, piano, didg and beats. Some of the tracks were recorded in Hawaii and Brazil adding to the cross-cultural flow of this project.

From the fun and funky re-creation of the trad tune Drowsy Maggie to The Wild Ones' heartfelt plea for preservation, through the broken-open love song, Where the Emptiness is Full, this album navigates mystery and loss with purity and grace while encouraging us to cherish what might yet be saved.

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Like a walk in an ancient forest or a visit to a crumbling castle, this album is both peaceful and evocative, awakening deep layers of memory and feeling. Oona’s original songs address modern themes while suspending the listener in a timeless state of grace. Harp, voice and violin interweave with woodwind virtuoso Richard Lee on recorder, flute, pennywhistle and saxophone, inviting you to meet your heart’s longing.

Total CD Length: 21:49

All words and music by Oona McOuat

Listen to: Crumbling Castle:

Oona’s ethereal voice and harp meet the wild cello of composer Corbin Keep on this dance through shadow and light. The artists explore the complexity of our emotional lives from moment to moment as they soar between heaven and earth. Cuts include “Of Eternity” a poem written by Sufi mystic Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi and set to music by Corbin. Listeners have described this duo as “inspirational” “breathtaking” and “an overwhelming success”.

Total CD Length: 19:01

All words and music by Oona McOuat & Corbin Keep except lyrics for “Of Eternity” are written by Rumi

Listen to: Breathe into the Heart of This Dance:

Lyrics for Honey and Holy Water:

1. Mystery
2. Africa
3. Crystal Maiden of the Lake
4. Ancient Mother
5. Drowsy Maggie (instrumental)
6. Green Mountain
7. Woodstock
8. This is a Prayer
9. Honey and Holy Water (instrumental)
10. The Wild Ones
11. Where the Emptiness is Full

Written in Waipio Valley, Hawaii...

1. Mystery

For this moment in time,
there's no clock upon the wall,
We wake with the sunrise,
Make love with the moon.
All the mystery of Eden
like the magic in your eyes,
fills me with a pure believing
makes me glad to be alive.

Oh Mystery
in you and me,
Like sky and sea
Like Earth and tree.
Oh waterfall
of flowing love,
Pass through our hearts
and show us we are one with all,
with all.

I can hear the Mother calling
she wants to lead her children home,
When we connect with joy and beauty
we give her healing from our souls.

Oh Mystery
in you and me,
Like sky and sea
Like Earth and tree.
Oh waterfall
of flowing love,
Pass through our hearts
and show us we are one with all,
with all.

We are one, we are one, we are one, we are one with all,
We are one, we are one, we are one, we are one with all,
We are one, we are one, we are one, we are one with all,
There's a Mystery, in you and me
Oh Mystery, sweet mystery in you and me oh can't you see
Mystery, Sweet mystery.
There's a mystery.

Photo: Leigh Hilbert

Written for Mamello Mokholokoe, the founder of Phelisanong, a residential center for HIV-AIDS orphans and vulnerable children in Lesotho...

2. Africa

You walk alone
Through the heat and the dust,
Body weary
But your spirit strong,
Night is falling,
You make your bed
By the side of the road,
May sleep restore your power to heal and help you pray

Ah aha, Ah aha, Ah aha Africa

Their hungry wishes
Like loaves and fishes
Need a miracle now
The road is a river, you rise up and walk towards
a new day.
The same sun rises
On you and my land of plenty,
Its fingers of light
Become an outstretched hand we take in ours, and pray

Ah aha,rAh aha, Ah aha Africa.

You are bleeding
You are needing
Faith rooted in action now.
You are falling
I hear you calling
Africa

Ah aha, Ah aha, Ah aha Africa.

Zimbabwean singer James Mujuru recording his vocals for "Africa". James based his improvised lyrics on traditional Zimbabwean poetry and folklore

Written for Natives everywhere committed to preserving the sanctity of the land they live on...

3. Crystal Maiden of the Lake

We could be together crystal maiden of the lake
and watch the waters silver under the moon's wake,
Or sail away forever to the fairylands,
Leave behind the sorrow of these parched and windblown sands.

Although I long to soar on the nighttime's velvet wings
and travel to the places where my soul softly sings,
I'm bound to stand upon this shore a teardrop in my eye
to protect the land from human hands for whose misdeeds I cry.

Then I will stand beside you until the dark grows light
to comfort and cheer you through this silent, lingering night,
Maybe together we can call the dawn
and awaken all the earthly ways to an ancient healing song.

Photo: Kmax

4. Ancient Mother

Ancient Mother,
I hear you calling.
Ancient Mother,
I hear your song.
Ancient Mother,
I hear your laughter.
Ancient Mother,
I taste your tears.

Hecate, Demeter, Isis, Astarte,
Diana, Pele, Cerredwin, Kali,
Yemaya, Ishtar, Gaia. (repeat)

O la mama wa ha su kola
O la mama wa ha su wam
O la mama kow wey ha ha ha ha
O la mama ta te kayee.

Hecate, Demeter, Isis, Astarte,
Diana, Pele, Cerredwin, Kali,
Yemaya, Ishtar, Gaia. (repeat)

Ancient Mother,
I hear you calling.
Ancient Mother,
I hear your song.
Ancient Mother,
I hear your laughter.
Ancient Mother,
I taste your tears.
Ancient Mother,
I taste your tears.
Ancient Mother,
I taste your tears.

-Traditional

Photo: Stocks Photographs

6. Green Mountain

There's a light that shines over Green Mountain,
Sparklin' like the morning dew.
Shimmering clouds over Green Mountain,
Soft as my memory of you.

I know you'll return
to this island kissed by the sea,
Until you do,
The light of Green Mountain
will shelter and comfort me.

Dusk enfolds the curves of Green Mountain,
Holdin' her in gentleness and ease.
Your caress lives on inside me,
My body sings a deep and ancient peace.

I know you'll return
to this island kissed by the sea,
Until you do,
The light of Green Mountain
will shelter and comfort me.

Moon will rise over Green Mountain
whispering a lullaby so sweet,
Tender words linger between us,
Two solitudes the mystery will greet.

I know you'll return
to this island kissed by the sea,
Until you do,
The light of Green Mountain
will shelter and comfort me.
Until you do,
The light of Green Mountain
will shelter and comfort me.

Photo: Scarlett Faerie

7. Woodstock

I came upon a child of God
He was walking along the road,
And I asked him, where are you going?
This he told me.
Said I'm going down to Yasgur's farm
gonna join in a rock 'n' roll band,
Got to get back to the land
and get my soul free.

We are stardust,
We are golden,
and we've got to get ourselves
back to the garden.

Then can I walk beside you
I have come here to lose the smog,
and I feel just like a cog in something turning,
Well maybe it's just the time of year
or maybe it's the time of man,
I don't know who l am
but life is for learning.

We are stardust,
We are golden,
and we've got to get ourselves
back to the garden.

By the time we got to Woodstock
we were half a million strong,
And everywhere there was song and celebration.
And I dreamt I saw the bombers
Riding shotgun in the sky,
Turning into butterflies
above the nations.

We are stardust,
We are golden,
Caught in the devil's bargain,
And we've got to get ourselves
Back to the garden
Yes we've got to get ourselves
back to the garden.

8. This is a Prayer

This is a prayer
for those hidden places,
This is a prayer
for the pain that runs so deep,
This is a prayer
for that which is to come,
May it be sweet.
This is a prayer.

This is a prayer
for this body so sacred so wounded,
This is a prayer
for my innocence that sleeps,
This is a prayer
for that yearning to be whole
and complete.
This is a prayer.

There's a power greater than words
dormant somewhere inside.
Masked behind this gentleness
There's a rage.

This is a prayer
for the truth that never died,
This is a prayer
For the lies that I won't see,
This is a prayer
for the trust to just let go
and be.
This is a prayer.

Photo: Leigh Hilbert

10. The Wild Ones

I'm the wild one that runs with the wind
Thought I could rest here with you my friend
But here they come, here they come.

Pushing for progress, no forests left to weep,
no cradle for the Mother to rock her babe to sleep.
Thought there'd always be a place for me,
where I could drink the peace and hear the sea.
But their chains are getting closer
and I am tired,
I am tired.

I'm the wild one that runs with the wind
Thought I could rest here with you my friend
But here they come, here they come.

If I leave before sunrise perhaps they'll never know,
and I'll find a place they haven't where the dreamers' seeds are sown.
I'll send them visions from the deep,
of the way it was before their sleep,
robbed them of the beauty
and tamed their souls,
tamed their souls.

I'm the wild one that runs with the wind
Thought I could rest here with you my friend
But here they come, here they come.
Here they come, here they come
here they come, here they come.

Photo: Leigh Hilbert

11. Where the Emptiness is Full

Was it all as easy as that for you,
This turning away, this tearing apart
of our shared heart?
Surrender knows what the mind can't grasp,
That all transforms and nothing lasts
the same.

I bleed, I bruise,
I love, I lose
my way back home to you.

Hold me in your grace
So I can cry til I'm empty
Guide me to the place,
Where the emptiness is full.

When darkness falls and silence comes,
I sense you near and can almost hear
your beating heart.
And if energy is all we are
Perhaps the hands of time will heal this scar
and I'll fly free

I bleed, I bruise,
I love, I lose
my way back home to you.

Hold me in your grace
So I can cry til I'm empty
Guide me to the place
Where the emptiness is full.

Photo: Leigh Hilbert

Lyrics

Lyrics for Honey and Holy Water

Lyrics for Yearning:

1. Green Trees
2. Drought
3. Solitude
4. Crumbling Castle

Lyrics for Only This Moment

1. Breathe into the Heart of this Dance
2. Of Eternity
3. Wash Away
4. Only This Moment

Lyrics for You Live On a tribute to Cher Bear

Lyrics for: Magic is Nigh

Yearning Lyrics

1.Green Trees

Story of the land
Journey of the sea
Secrets of the wind
Wrapped up inside of me
in this body of time.

Green trees of home
I hear you calling,
Your voice, like a sweet caress
fills me with longing.
The forest softly stirs with secrets moist and ancient
Will they fall upon deaf ears?
Or are all your sons and daughters
feeling you reach into their hearts.

Green trees of home
the change is starting,
The cities intensify
as you stand guarding
what’s left of the Mother jewel.

I come from a land of rushing rivers and snow-capped peaks
where beauty still graces the path of she who seeks,
This country, it’s a part of my body I can touch I can taste
across the distance, she says if you want to be with me come home soon
and prepare for the change.

Green trees of home,
is it time for my returning,
The thought of being by your side
fills me with yearning,
Green trees of home,
Green trees.

Story of the land,
Journey of the sea,
Secrets of the wind,
Wrapped up inside of me,
in this body of time.

2.Drought

Have I lost part of my soul
or was it never mine for taking?
Still I thirst like this cloudless sky
for what will wash away the aching.
You know I believe when I see it in your eyes
but there’s a place inside that wants to run away
and hide.

Journey of reclaiming
See if I can name the pieces that are gone,
Creep past the doubt that’s guarding
the secret cave that’s harbouring
all my yearning to be strong,
Find the one who lives alone there and lead her to a field
where she lifts her voice in song,
This drought’s been too long.

There is a wound, a feral child
Sheltered by fear from storms and rain she is wild,
How will she grow, this child, this seed
without water and light to recognize her need?
She sees the earth is parched and dry
hungering for tears she’s never learned how to cry.

Raingiver brings hope
Raingiver brings release
Raingiver brings life
Raingiver brings peace.

Photo: Leigh Hilbert

3.Solitude

Solitude
I’ve made you a stranger,
I was afraid of the magic that we made.
I long to be with the bittersweet perfume
of Solitude, just you and me
alone here in the room of my heart.

Sometimes
when I’m alone with the sound of the rain I hear you,
The voice of a friend I once knew
but I cast away from your shore,
Now I want to be with you once more.

Solitude
I’ve made you a stranger,
I was afraid of the magic that we made.
I long to be with the bittersweet perfume
of Solitude, just you and me
alone here in the room of my heart.

It seems that the moments fly
the important things can pass right by
Like drinking silence, watching breath
finding feelings that never left,
Chasing memories, soothing fears
tracing dreams, shedding tears.

Solitude
I’ve made you a stranger,
I was afraid of the magic that we made.
I long to be with the bittersweet perfume
of Solitude, just you and me
alone here in the room of my heart,
alone here in the room of my heart.

© 1998 Oona McOuat

4.Crumbling Castle

There’s a hole in my heart
like a crumbling castle,
There’s a place deep inside
where old melodies play,
I drift through time
Want to know what is mine
and what will wash away.

The sea comes to claim
this crumbling castle,
The walls tumble down
and let in the light,
An ancient call
rings through these hollow halls
I am their ears.

Witness to the past
I know some things last
beyond the tangible,
Circle of stone
Mist calling
I am falling
into the whole.

I long to return
to this crumbling castle,
To live out my days
in this place between the worlds.

Photo: Wilda Collins

Only This Moment - Lyrics

Written while swimming with wild dolphins....
1. Breathe Into the Heart of This Dance

Exhale dark
Inhale light,
The pain of the world
inside me tonight

And I just breathe into the heart of this dance
the spinning, the winning, the bruising, the losing,
Breathe into the heart of this dance
where the clichés swirl with a feeling of dread…
Is this our last chance?

What is the sound
of a heart as it breaks?
How can I soothe
a soul that aches

If I don’t breathe into the heart of this dance
the spinning, the winning, the bruising, the losing
Breathe into the heart of this dance
where the clichés swirl with a feeling of dread …
Is this our last chance?

You touch me
in places
Deeper than the ocean’s floor,
Beyond words, beyond feelings
You heal me to the core.

Eternity
Rests right here,
It’s the choices we make
that summon fear

So just breathe into the heart of this dance
the spinning, the winning, the bruising, the losing
Breathe into the heart of this dance
where the clichés swirl with a feeling of dread…
is this our last chance?

Words and Music: Oona McOuat

Photo: Leigh Hilbert

2.Of Eternity

We are the mirror
As well as the face in it
We are tasting
The taste this minute
Of Eternity.

We are pain and what cures pain both.

We are the mirror
As well as the face in it
We are tasting the taste this minute
Of Eternity.

Words: Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi
Music: Corbin Keep

Photo: Leigh Hilbert

3.Wash Away

I’ve been waiting a thousand years or more just to find you
Timing is everything they say
Only the truth won’t
wash away.

Hearts don’t lie
but who am I
To presume I know the meaning of all things.
Too moody, impatient
hungering for the pure and ancient,
If I could build a boat I’d float
on this ocean of deep emotion,
And wash away, wash away.

Beneath this world of lines and facts
there is a circle,
Embracing everything
No right or wrong
Deep as the soul’s song.

Hearts don’t lie
but who am I
To presume I know the meaning of all things.
The sky is the sea and the moon is my heart
I’m calling to you ’cross the infinite dark,
I will build a boat and float
on this ocean of deep emotion
And wash away, wash away.

Words and Music : Oona McOuat

Photo: Leigh Hilbert

4.Only This Moment

Shimmering pool of water
Symphony of frogs
Singing to flowers in the moonlight
Warm summer‘s breath is drawn
To touch this beauty
Free from all thought
Unknowing, glowing in mystery’s freedom.

Only this moment
Only this moment
Only this moment
Forever here.

Summer’s end exhaled
Another season, another time
What was held, what we knew then has gone
This longing, this sadness
Welling memories
Give way, allowing, connecting, bursting, present again.

Only this moment
Only this moment
Only this moment
Forever here.

Words and Music: Corbin Keep

Photo: Leigh Hilbert

You Live On

Cher Bear

Photo: Paul Daulquist

You came when I was thirsting,
a river that flowed from the Source,
Destiny, your silver beauty
put my life on course.
I knew that time was a trickster
but I fell into his dance,
Believing now was forever,
lost in the sweetness of our trance.

Chorus:
With every breath, with every word,
with every bird's song I have heard,
with every feather, every touch,
every stone you loved so much,
With every wind that says you're gone,
I greet the dawn
and you live on.

There are those who remember
a sacred light that can't be named.
Autumn nights by your fire,
Awakening my flame.
Moon and mystery are calling,
Daughter, your journey is not done
a part of me is there with youorbiting this wounded Earth,
You'll always be my sun

Chorus:
With every breath, with every word,
with every bird's song I have heard,
with every feather, every touch,
every stone you loved so much,
With every wind that says you're gone,
I greet the dawn
and you live on.

© 2003 Oona McOuat

Magic is Nigh

Twas in the Springtime of the year,
a crescent moon shone bright and clear.
She stood beneath a starry sky,
The wind in the trees whispered

Magic is nigh,
Magic is nigh,
Magic is nigh.

She said it's been a year and a day
since my True Love went away
to earn his fortune by his song,
surely moon it can't be long.

I've made my cottage warm and snug,
From the finest silk I weave a rug,
My garden's filled with blooms so bright,
Still I sleep alone at night.

But Magic is nigh,
Magic is nigh,
Magic is nigh.

The wind picked up and circled round,
A gentle mist cloaked the ground.
She opened her hands to the heavens above
releasing her longing for her Love.

The branches bent to comb her hair
Owl and deer gathered there,
placed a crown of flowers on her head,
rubbed her lips with berries red.

Chanting magic is nigh,
Magic is nigh,
Magic is nigh.

Floating through the tender night
The sweetest music took flight.
A velvet cape danced in the air,
She turned and saw her True Love there.

He said your longing called me forth
like flute of South, drum of North
The deer has brought me here to you
I can stay until the morning dew.

'Cause magic is nigh,
Magic is nigh,
Magic is nigh.

She yearned to cling, she longed to weep,
Throw her self at his feet
crying promise me that here you'll stay,
Together we will greet the day.

But she looked him squarely in the eye,
saying you are free and so am I
when daylight comes I'll let you go
although my heart will miss you so.

Still magic is nigh,
Magic is nigh,
Magic is nigh.

He said a strange enchantment's haunted me
Kept me wandering restlessly,
There's a riddle at the heart of the spell
You'll free me if you answer it well.

If you are the moon, I am the sun
Our journeys' separate, purpose one.
How can we share this endless sky,
yet keep our wings so both can fly?

And remember, magic is nigh,
Magic is nigh,
Magic is nigh.

And the wind, her friend, whispered the answer to the riddle in her ear and she knew:
We must stay true to our own light
Only then can love take flight,
And the spell that bound him fell away,
He said you've set me free, now I can stay.

He wrapped her in his arms so strong,
softly humming his sweet song.
Lavender and wood smoke filled the air
Owl and deer encircled them there.

Singing magic is nigh,
Magic is nigh,
Magic is nigh.

'Twas in the Springtime of the year,
a crescent moon shone bright and clear.
She stood beneath a starry sky,
The wind in the trees whispered magic is Nigh.

© 2002 Oona McOuat

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