My iPod has turned out to be my daily divinatory tool. Slipping the white earbuds in, with my 700 some songs on shuffle, I take a reading of the first three songs that come up, trusting that they’ll either reflect my inner state, or predict the currents of the day. Right after my birthday, when spirits were running high, and the lusty current was really running through me, Super Freak, by Rick James, came up several times in a week, as well as Wild Wild Life, by the Talking Heads. Sympathy for the Devil got frequent airplay during the weeks when I found myself absurdly engaged in the discussion of “Lucifer – friend or foe?” Believe it or not, just as I was writing this, with my iPod clicked into the stereo – my beloved Leonard Cohen just started in on The Road to Hell.
Today, with triangles still on my mind, my three song reading was an emotional bull’s-eye. Janis belted out “Piece of My Heart”, then Alanis Morisette hissed “You Oughta Know”, followed up by “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?” by Culture Club. I laughed out loud during Piece of My Heart, but by Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?, I was sobbing. (right now Buildings and Bridges, by Ani di Franco is playing – I love this world!) As I sobbed, I felt another onion skin like layer being removed from what has held me close on my particular position in triangles. Love is far and away the primary focus of most songs. Of love songs, I would bet at least a third are about some aspect of triangulating. The power of three is mighty.
Something new is about to emerge, I can feel it. As I sobbed, Melissa Ethridge started to sing “I Want to Be In Love”. I don’t remember downloading this song, I don’t even like her or the song. But the iPod spirits feel it’s necessary that I listen to her sing about the mistakes she’s made and invoke the love she now feel she deserves. . It seems like there are countless songs on this iPod that I didn’t have a hand in downloading, but I now trust are now part of the soundtrack of my life. More than once, while I’ve been at the gym, I’ve found myself singing along to “I Like Big Butts”. The Mysterious Ones clearly want me to remember that working out isn’t about size, but about strength.
The longer I am a witch, the closer I pay attention to the richness of each moment, the perfection of each song supposedly randomly playing, the way the multi-verse reaches out to dance with you if you just hold out your dance card.
“Both Sides Now”, by Joni Mitchell, is now playing. Somehow, this seems absolutely perfect.
2 comments:
I never heard the music of Joni Mitchell until recently and now I've got all her stuff, and Janis Joplin's. Both Sides Now is an amazing album. As I get older, I discover older artists for the first time because I don't connect to most of the music being made today. x
Using your iPod as a divinatory tool is an amazing idea.On long journeys, I use the game function on mine. It plays songs and you have to choose which one is playing from a list. The quicker you move, the more points you make. It's kind of a musical Tetris in that regard, going faster and faster. Simple but clever. x
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