One of the most popular Hindu mantras, dedicated to Vishnu as Lord Krishna. (As I understand it, Krishna is considered an incarnation of Vishnu, one of the principal Hindu deities. In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna reveals his divine form to Arjuna as this assemblage of manifestations of Vishnu.)

Pam’s original tune for it is quite lovely. Here she is singing it with a small group in a sound healing workshop in 2011.

Photo: Avatars of Vishnu by Flickr user https://www.flickr.com/photos/jurvetson/378256/in/photostream/, thanks also to Wikimedia Commons.

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Video

We recorded this song in 2020 near Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia.

Sheet music

Lyrics

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Pamela found value in singing it, out loud and in English, to her own tune – and then in presenting it to others.

There’s no law in the universe to prevent you or anyone from creating your own tune to sing a mantra. You are THAT.

Or you can sing Pamela’s tune:

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Sheet music

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Om tare tuttare ture swaha (or soha) invokes the Green Tara, a female Bodhisatva or Buddha of compassion and action, a protector who comes to our aid to relieve us of physical, emotional and spiritual suffering. Translations abound. (My very quick research indicates that “soha” is the Tibetan version.)

This is kirtan. Teach it to a group, call and response. Watch the rhythm: 3+3+2 = 8. Percussion can mark the beat. Repeat ad infinitum. Let the trance develop. After they get it, encourage them choose their harmonies in the moment.

Sheetmusic

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• Sarasvati (Saraswati), Hindu goddess of learning, wisdom, music, and aesthetics;
• Mother Mary, revered by Christians for her grace and compassion;
• the Hindu goddess Kali, destroyer of evil; and
• Mother Earth, provider of of our physical lives.

I think Pam had a soft spot for Sarasvati, understandably. There were several figures and images of the music goddess around her apartment.

I never heard her perform this song, but I can imagine her encouraging the audience to sing along as she repeated the last four measures over and over again. If you have memories of this, please contact me.

Video

The friends who helped me make this video are: Miranda Lever (piano, voice, direction), and singers Ruth Lillington, Tracy Murdoch and Kristen Martell.

Sheet music

Lyrics

Om, Sarasvati, Mother of Song
When you move through my spirit, I have to sing along.
Joy ripples through me as I send my songs soaring through the air,
Lifting folks from their cares.

Om, Mother Mary, Holder of Hearts.
Your warm arms enwrap us wherever we are.
Show us how to create love on earth
As we open our hearts for this moment of rebirth.

Om Mother Kali, teach us how to let go
Of old shadows inside us
So a new path can guide us home.

Om Mother Earth, you cradle us all.
We drink of your waters.
We thank you for all of the richness you provide us:
The food that we eat; the company beside us;
For air that we breathe;
For wisdom to stand on our feet to say:

Om, Divine Mother, be home in our hearts.
Om, Divine Mother, be home in our hearts.

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A song to Ganesha, also known as Ganesh or Ganapati, the Hindu god with the elephant head, the remover of obstacles.

The recording is of Pamela teaching her setting of this mantra to a group, date unknown.

Audio

Sheet music

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These chants are in Hebrew-Aramaic, and when I read these to my father [who studied Biblical languages in theological college], he was very interested in what I was doing.

The nature of chants is that they are repeated, over and over again. They are used in ecstatic singing, they are used to lift the vibration. Certainly as I have sung them walking the dog or whatever, at periods when I’m down or confused at times, I have found more peace in singing them.

Bnai Elohim

Bnai Elohim,
Kodoish, kodoish, kodoish,
Bnai Elohim Adonai tsebayoth

I was told it’s actually something to say three times if you feel there are evil spirits following you around, to banish them from the space. Basically, it’s names for God. The translation::

Sons and daughters of Light,
Holy, Holy, Holy, Hosts of the Light.

Eloha Elohim

This next one is “Eloha Elohim”: again, names for God. Then “Allaha” and “Allah” – other names in Arabic for God.

Translation:

Creator of Light in the Highest
I AM That

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PDF version (music and words)

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My forensic guess is that Pamela made the recording below several years after she had moved from Perth to Ottawa, so the song wasn’t fresh in her mind. This was take #4. In earlier takes, she stumbled over typos in her sketchy notes, so I figure she paused and typed out the full verses as given with the tune below. This time she got the words right, so please ignore the inconsistencies in the chords and the catches in her voice. Determination and perfectionism have limits!

She used the song at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Ottawa in 2018, and on other occasions. I have a recording of it at a singing workshop, date and location unknown. Fill me in if you remember.

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