A Late Samhain

Last night we gathered in Minneapolis to celebrate Samhain, it was a night a ritual and feasting. I had the runes I made blessed in circle, and the song that we sang is apparently a traditional American Halloween tune, and the words are this:

Ghost of John

Have you seen the Ghost of John?
Long white bones and the rest all gone,
Ooh, ooh!
Wouldn’t it be chilly with no skin on?

So I looked online trying to find if there's any hint of an author of it, as it is taught with a variety of melodies on grade school playgrounds across the U.S. I did find a version that says it's the Ghost of Tom, and is attributed to Martha Grubb, and it includes chords:

Em                Am       Em
Have you seen the ghost of Tom?
Em                        Am       Em
Long white bones with the skin all gone
Em               Am
Ooooooooh Oooooh Oooooooh
Em                    B     Em  D      Em
Wouldn’t it be chilly with  no  flesh  on?

It may be included in the following school song book: McGraw-Hill Share The Music Grade 4 Teacher's Edition by Rene Boyer-White , but I have no way of knowing as there is no listing or info on this.

Norse Magic

OK, so it's been quite a while since I updated the blog. I'm busy exploring who and what I am all about, finding my center. One place I'm looking for that is through my ancestral myths and legends. I'm half Norwegian on my father's side and half Finnish on my mother's side. So I'm reading up on Norse mythology, and studying Volva Staving with Kari Tauring to tap into my subconscious to see what I can stir up.

I recently saw Kari with Drew Miller (of Boiled in Lead fame) Live at the Capri:



It was a really magical night, and I already picked up the CD for this one.