Samhain, by Yvonne Aburrow
The tide's on the ebb and the darkness grows
The wheel of the year turns into the night
Light me a candle to mirror the stars
For the darkness gives birth to the light.
We dance in the twilight through autumn leaves
And the smoke of the bonfires drifts over the land
Light me a candle to echo my heart
For my soul is aflame with desire.
Riding out on the host-paths they come from the West
And their cries can be heard on the wuthering wind.
Light me a candle to honour the dead
For death shall make way for rebirth.
The Winter King stands in the gateway of dreams
And offers the fruit of his dark domain
Open the door and let the dead in
Let the feast of winter begin.
Samhain 1995
Tune: "O Jesus I have promised". There are two tunes for this song - a horrible dirgy one called Llanfyllin, Thornbury or Nyland (apparently a Finnish folk song) which seems to be the more common tune, and a lovely soaring one which is seldom used. So I figured, if the Christians don't want it, I would steal it. Here's a rather cheesy Hammond-organ-type rendition of it (the only one I could find on the web). We used to sing this hymn at school, and I really liked the tune, even if it is probably rather happy-clappy. To get the lovely soaring feeling, it either has to be sung very fast, or fairly slowly, slightly liltingly. This gives a nice Samhain feeling.