Listening to teh musics
A while ago I posted a video from Old Blind Dogs, called "Cruel Sister". It's a traditional song, depressing, violent, and beautiful as only the Celts can do it. Here are a couple of other versions of the song, in the interest of musical comparison.
The first is from Anastassia Papisova, the 'first to independently master the Celtic (Irish) harp in Russia'. I love her voice, but (as was pointed out in the comments) she does leave out half the song.
Though the Old Blind Dogs version isn't whole, and depending on who you ask is also in the wrong order as well, it is slightly more noticeable in this version. Lovely still to listen to!
The second is from the folk rock band The Pentangle, from the 1960's/70's. The sound is definitely evocative of that period. It suits the song the way they sing it, but I can't help but hear the traditionalist voices in my head that say, yes, but this is a traditional song, and it sounds more itself when played in a traditional style. While still beautiful, it loses a little of the haunting quality.
These are my two favourites with these particular lyrics. There are other versions, naturally; for instance, a song called "The Bonny Swans" by Loreena McKennitt tells the same story. Perhaps in another entry I shall compare versions...but that would make this one too long.
I've been having thoughts tending towards what I want to study for my postgraduate degrees. The tricky thing is that what I want to write my dissertation about (witchcraft, mysticism, along these lines) will lead me into an area of study that is largely...not academic. Or at least, the part of it that is (secret societies, fraternities...think Dan Brown's ANGELS AND DEMONS or DA VINCI CODE) isn't what I'm interested in.
I have stumbled across this: Mysticism and Western Esotericism as a Master's and the University of Amsterdam, taught in English. (http://www.studeren.uva.nl/ma-mysticism-and-western-esotericism/) This is, at the moment, the only programme of its kind. It's also one of the closest comprehensive courses to what I would ideally love to study.
This presents us with a bit of a question, naturally. Because I would like to do my Ph.D. in the UK or Ireland, that would mean going to Amsterdam for a year and coming back. Now, in theory that's no issue. But, as I've mentioned before, I've moved around a lot in Aberdeen, I'll be moving again soon- I'm tired of moving. Since witchcraft is a very folkloric thing, its practice is extremely localized, which is why staying within, or very close to, a particular geographic folklore cloud is optimal. At least I still have time, and profs to pester, before this becomes a necessary decision. I like to have at least a clear set of choices for future decision-making, and sometimes I need to remind myself that planning the future too vigilantly is an easy way to create unnecessary stress. The next two years are, partially, designed to make the decision more clear in any case, in an academic sense at least.
Erik going back to the Ph.D. grind, and me not starting uni again for another 4 weeks or so has got me in an academically ruminative state of mind. One of those "I shall worry about something I can at the moment do nothing about!" mental meanderings. It is at least useful for when I will actually need to compile this information, some of it will already be there. At least that's what I tell myself.
The first is from Anastassia Papisova, the 'first to independently master the Celtic (Irish) harp in Russia'. I love her voice, but (as was pointed out in the comments) she does leave out half the song.
Click to viewThough the Old Blind Dogs version isn't whole, and depending on who you ask is also in the wrong order as well, it is slightly more noticeable in this version. Lovely still to listen to!
The second is from the folk rock band The Pentangle, from the 1960's/70's. The sound is definitely evocative of that period. It suits the song the way they sing it, but I can't help but hear the traditionalist voices in my head that say, yes, but this is a traditional song, and it sounds more itself when played in a traditional style. While still beautiful, it loses a little of the haunting quality.
These are my two favourites with these particular lyrics. There are other versions, naturally; for instance, a song called "The Bonny Swans" by Loreena McKennitt tells the same story. Perhaps in another entry I shall compare versions...but that would make this one too long.
I've been having thoughts tending towards what I want to study for my postgraduate degrees. The tricky thing is that what I want to write my dissertation about (witchcraft, mysticism, along these lines) will lead me into an area of study that is largely...not academic. Or at least, the part of it that is (secret societies, fraternities...think Dan Brown's ANGELS AND DEMONS or DA VINCI CODE) isn't what I'm interested in.
I have stumbled across this: Mysticism and Western Esotericism as a Master's and the University of Amsterdam, taught in English. (http://www.studeren.uva.nl/ma-mysticism-and-western-esotericism/) This is, at the moment, the only programme of its kind. It's also one of the closest comprehensive courses to what I would ideally love to study.
This presents us with a bit of a question, naturally. Because I would like to do my Ph.D. in the UK or Ireland, that would mean going to Amsterdam for a year and coming back. Now, in theory that's no issue. But, as I've mentioned before, I've moved around a lot in Aberdeen, I'll be moving again soon- I'm tired of moving. Since witchcraft is a very folkloric thing, its practice is extremely localized, which is why staying within, or very close to, a particular geographic folklore cloud is optimal. At least I still have time, and profs to pester, before this becomes a necessary decision. I like to have at least a clear set of choices for future decision-making, and sometimes I need to remind myself that planning the future too vigilantly is an easy way to create unnecessary stress. The next two years are, partially, designed to make the decision more clear in any case, in an academic sense at least.
Erik going back to the Ph.D. grind, and me not starting uni again for another 4 weeks or so has got me in an academically ruminative state of mind. One of those "I shall worry about something I can at the moment do nothing about!" mental meanderings. It is at least useful for when I will actually need to compile this information, some of it will already be there. At least that's what I tell myself.