The Words of "SHE IS HERE"

1. Hold You Near

Lyrics by Alison Newvine

Music by Alison Newvine and Kathleen Neville-Fritz

I lift up my voice up my voice to Devi, to the Mother who created all

I lift up my voice to Devi. And she says, “Come with your singing”

“Come with your singing and I will hold you near.”

I lift up my voice in sorrow, to the Mother who mends all wounds

I lift up my voice in sorrow. And she says, “Come with your crying”

“Come with your crying and I will hold you near.”

I call out in anger, to the Mother who heals all harm

I call out in anger. And she says, “Come with your shouting”

“Come with your shouting and I will hold you near.”

I lift up my voice in praise, to the Mother who created all

I lift up my voice in praise. And she says, “Come rejoicing”

“Come rejoicing and I will hold you near.”

2. Paint Us Into Being

Lyrics by Alison Newvine

Music by Alison Newvine and Dionne Kohler

Paint us into being, your brush stroke gives us life

Sing us into being, with the drum beat we arise

Out of the depths of the blue sea roll the waves of the sweet Earth

I see Her body before me opening wide as She gives birth

Grandmother wise, you are watching your hands and your eyes are upon us

Like the child in your arms we are listening, patient and loving you guide us

Let flow from our depths what’s been waiting, this ancient power withing us

Sustaining, destroying, creating, we radiate love and justice

Paint us into being, your brush stroke gives us life

Sing us into being, with the drum beat we arise

Paint us into being

3. More and More

Lyrics and Music by Kathleen Neville-Fritz

They told me love was everywhere I was going

But then I found right where I wanted it to be

They told me I would have to trust without knowing

Oh, but I knew, I knew just how much I couldn’t see

Oh, I knew I could never see any other way for things to be

Between you and me

Now the saint inside me wants nothing to do with your mansions

But the wanderer can no longer cling to your poor

It was midnight when I stepped out into that ocean

Never afraid til the day the winds took me back to shore

Ooh, and I prayed I would drown before I go there and lost

This fire forever more and more…

And more and more is what I cannot give you

When with every turn of the Earth you’re asking for a brand new me

More and more is what I’m coming to need now

Ooh, Love, you’re no longer there where we used to meet

Yeah and all I need isn’t coming anymore now from where it used to be

An old man with a long white beard fell out of the sky today

But the autopsy revealed he’d never been alive

But I saw God as She quietly turned and walked away

Into the city while the bishops and politicians kept up their fights

Ooh, and I followed after Her laughing and we lost ourselves

Playing hide and seek in the foggy lights…

And more and more is all I I know how to give you

When with every turn of the Earth you’re asking for a brand new me

More and more is what I’m coming to need now

Ooh, Love, you’re no longer there where we used to meet

Yeah and all I need isn’t coming anymore now from where it used to be

Tell Me

Lyrics and Music by Dionne Kohler

I was walking along the beach, no one there

Looking for a way to talk to you, I got down on my knees

As I closed my eyes, closed my eyes, and I cried inside as I said

Tell me which way do I go. I’ve seen so much I believe you will show me more

When the sun comes up love will be here waiting tomorrow

Sun comes up, love will be here tomorrow, on the beach

Follow….follow….see…Its love you find within you

Some say hidden, somewhere out there

To believe, yes, it makes me wonder

Yes, I believe love has filled my heart with thunder

Oh, tell me is this the way I go? Is love a way to go?

Oh, will you tell me so I may know. Oh, tell me, do I go?

Oh, tell me, Love, yes, what way do I go?

Tell me which way do I go. Tell me which way do I go

When the sun comes up love will be here waiting tomorrow

Sun comes up, love will be here tomorrow

Sun comes up, love will be here tomorrow, on the beach

On the beach

HerLove

Lyrics and Music by Alison Newvine

She saw me at the crossroads, she heard me call out in my need

She poured her radiance upon me, and I become her seed

She placed me on her path, like lightening I’m remade

Now I’m filling with her tenderness and strength and I will never be the same

Divine One, Beloved One, I hear my heartbeat in your call

Beautiful One, Loving Mother, Loving All

What no one else can see you touch and love in me

I’ve traveled for so long to find the voice to sing your song

Divine One, Beloved One, I hear my heartbeat in your call

Beautiful One, Loving Mother, Loving All

How can I know where this will lead?

All I need to know is you are here with me

This is the most amazing grace

To see Her Love face to face

I met you at the crossroads, you called upon me to be strong

I’m still filling with your radiance and love and I am hear to sing your song

Divine One, Beloved One, I hear my heartbeat in your call

Beautiful One, Loving Mother, Loving All

A Blind Woman Decides She’s Not a Sinner

Lyrics and Music by Kathleen Neville-Fritz

This song is based on the story of the man born blind whom Jesus heals in the ninth chapter of John’s gospel. In that story, the religious authorities pressure the healed man to take back his story and call Jesus a sinner. The one who has been healed must trust his own experience of the goodness of God/dess and resist being bullied into calling good evil. Similarly, in patriarchal religious traditions, women must learn to trust our own experience of God/dess’ liberating goodness, resisting the voices that would convince us our experience is not valid or that we are inherently “blind” or sinful. This song tells the story of a woman claiming that empowerment.

In the second verse, the speaker also sings in the voice of Mary Magdalene.

Day after day I hear you speak

You say you’re talking about you but you mean it for me

And all that I need I hear you throw it away

Like grass on the fire, you must be the wise ones

You know where I’ve been and what I’ve seen

You know better than me, my own memory

Well, I could tell you a story, but do I dare to speak?

If I’ve made mistakes, well, you’ll say it’s cause I’m weak

You name your temptations and you tell me their mine

And that I have to rely on you to be my eyes

Cause you know you’ve never been blind

Well, I live by the feel of longing to know what its like to be real

And if I couldn’t keep all my love had to give

Surely I know its no sin, no sin to have lived

Could you be jealous of the lover I knew?

I heard you been wishing you could keep him all for you

You pry and you question and ask what went on

In a quiet hotel, in a garden at dawn

When the one thing I ever did wrong was trying too hard to hold on

See, I live by the feel of longing to know what its like to be real

And if I couldn’t keep all my love had to give

Surely I know its no sin, no sin to have lived

Well, its better to have loved and have lost and have messed up

Than never to have loved at all

So excuse me but I think I’ll just have to get up

From where you sat me down against this wall

And all of the wires that you strung at my feet

Well, I think I just might have to FALL….

Just to live by the feel of longing to know what its like to be real

And if I couldn’t keep all my love had to give

Surely I know its no sin, no sin to have lived

So get out of my temple, get out of my head

I’m kicking you out of my prayers and out of my bed

See, I may be blind but I know what I’ve lived

And longing to see, I’ll wash in the water

The one who has sent you and me

Said that I’ll be in him, and he’ll be in me…

And I believe

Look Into the Eyes

Lyrics and Music by Dionne Kohler

They have no idea the pain and fear that is surrounding her

They don’t see her cry or hear her scream

There’s a force that is drowning me, drowning me, drowning me

If you want to know the whole story

Look into the eyes of someone in fear

Look into the eyes of a young woman in fear

Look into the eyes of a child in fear

Her silence shatters me

Her closed mouth says everything

What do you hear there?

I hear this happens to one in every three

How can this happen to one in every three? One in every three.

This is not the whole story

Life moves on, her mind grows strong

Her heart finds song

We all know she’s not alone,. (You’re not alone.)

Yeah, yeah, her voice is screaming through me

Look into the eyes

Look into the eyes of a child in fear

Look into the eyes

Amma

Lyrics and Music by Kathleen Neville-Fritz

Dedicated with love to Amma, my first real image of Goddess.

(Devi Mahadevi – Kali Mahakali)

I can’t believe that this is real

I can’t believe how good you are to me, how good I am in your eyes

(Devi Mahadevi)

I can’t believe the only thing you want

The light of your eyes, the fire of your soul

Is to hold me in your arms and call me darling

(Devi Mahadevi – Kali Mahakali)

Mother I feel so full of fear

Seems like all I hear is what I’m not supposed to do, to want, to be

(Kali, Mahakali)

Then I come to your embrace, only longing to draw near

To see love face to face and see myself the way that you see me

(Adi Parashakti Te Namaste)

You are all good, you are every good

Mother of Creation and Source of Love

Destroyer of Evil, Mistress of Time

Breaking down the walls between your heart and mine

If yours is the world that I’m living in, what should I fear?

Goddess loves her children, oooh…

And Goddess is here

(Devi Mahadevi – Kali Mahakali)

Mother teach me to be like you

When I can’t even breathe for fear, oh help me to remember I am here

(Kali, Mahakali)

Because you loved me I have life

You formed me from the Earth and the sea and the sky

A perfect child in your eyes

Oh Mother teach me to love as you do. With everything, with everything I am

And your love, your love is all I’ll ever need, if you’ll take my hand

I’ll live as you created me to be

(Adi Parashakti Te Namaste)

You are all good, you are every good

Mother of Creation and Source of Love

Destroyer of Evil, Mistress of Time

Breaking down the walls between your heart and mine

If yours are the arms that I’m resting in what should I fear?

Goddess loves her children, oooh…

And Goddess is here

(Adi Parashakti Te Namaste…)

Ma Durga

Lyrics and Music by Alison Newvine

The Goddess Durga is one of the fiercest Hindu Goddesses. She is the Protector of all that is peaceful and good and She actively fights against forces of evil and harm. She is the Destroyer of the illusions that keep in place systems of oppression and harm.

Ma Durga

Mother of the Dark, you shatter all our lies

Invincible One, help us to see with your eyes

Mother of the Dark, you hear every child’s cry

You saw me, you held me, there’s still more

Oh Mother hear them cry

Once the world was made of love

Then God stormed in from somewhere far above

Now we rape and kill in his holy name

And you are still here to hold us in our shame

Mother hear me cry

What will it take to see our poor?

We’re full but ever wanting more and more and more

Bombs raining down from one God’s sky

Oh mother hear me cry

Oh Mother there’s so much pain

And I can’t hold it anymore

If I hear one more story of children burned alive

I won’t be able to go on anymore

What will it take for us to see?

To end this suffering?

We need you now to shatter our illusions

Oh Mother hear me cry

Ma Durga

Oh Mother hear me cry

She Will Arise

Lyrics and Music by Alison Newvine

She will arise

Six thousands years She has been discarded

This is the century of Her rebirth

If we only knew Her power

She is arising inside of you

You can feel Her

You can hear Her voice whispering in your ear

Most sacred one, adoring one

Be near me now and forever more

She is arising

Kundalini Mantra Medley

Lyrics from Sikh Holy Book “Siri Guru Granth Sahib” (Gurmukhi language)

Music by Dionne Kohler and Alison Newvine

Ananda bayall mayree maieh. Satiguru Satiguru may paiah

Oh my mother, oh, mother I am in ecstasy for I have found the light within me

Ananda bayall mayree maieh Satiguru Satiguru may paiah

Ong Namo Guru Dev Namo

Ad Guray Nameh, Jugad Guray Nameh

Sat Guray Nameh, Siri Guru Dayvay Nameh

Ong Namo Guru Dev Namo

Wahe Guru, Wahe Guru, Wahe Guru, Wahe Jio

Ong Namo Guru Dev Namo Wahe Guru

Spirit Walk

Lyrics and Music by Dionne Kohler

The eagle within me speaks of peace and courage

The mountain within me speaks of strength and solitude

Blue skies, mountains, the child and the rain…

Mother Of Us All

Lyrics and Music by Kathleen Neville-Fritz

Dedicated with love to my grandmother, Barbara Jean Fritz (1922-2013)

Hail Holy Queen, Mother of mercy, blessed are you

Our life, our sweetness and our hope

Oh clement, oh loving, oh sweet and tender one

To you we cry, to you we run, as we mourn and weep

For you are the Mother of us All, you are the Mother of us All

Grandmother, I drove to your house today

I never saw the old road that way before

Summer’s warmth and autumn’s fire reminded me of the way

It always felt to know that you’d be waiting at your door

With a hug, a kiss, a coffee, a crossword or a game of bridge

All the news we all could tell you no one wanted more to hear

Now I’m standing in your empty place

Off a plane that came five hours too late

And the one thing that I didn’t get to say

Was, “Hail Nana, Holy Queen, Hail Barbara Jean, Mother of us All.”

You never went to college but your love and wisdom taught us

Grandpa’s partner and his equal in love until your death

Turn toward us oh Mother, your eyes of mercy

And show us the face of the Goddess

For you are the Mother of us All (Seven children say that…)

You are the Mother of us All (Eighteen grandkids, five great grandbabies)

You are the Mother of us All

Hail Mother, full of grace, the Goddess is with you

(A rosary every day, a card every birthday, 91 years of a life lived in love)

Blessed are you and blessed are all the fruits of your womb

(You ran the race, you kept the faith, and because of the woman you became, all of us have known that we are loved)

Pray for your children (Holy Mother)

Bless your children

Now and at the hour of our death (until we see you again, we say…)

Hail Nana, Holy Queen,

Hail Barbara Jean, Mother of us all

You are the Mother of us all

Rakhe Goddess

Lyrics from Sikh Holy Book “Siri Guru Granth Sahib” (Gurmukhi language)

Music by Alison Newvine

Instrumental Introduction by Dionne Kohler

Goddess herself is looking out for us

Goddess gives us her life and she takes care of us

Goddess is merciful and never forgets us

Goddess is guiding us and giving us help

Goddess does not allow true harm to come to us

I take comfort in the thought of Goddess

When I remember her I feel happiness

And all my pain departs and I can be at peace

Rakhe Rakhanahar aap ubariun

Gurkee pairee paieh kajasavariun

Hoa ap dayal mano na visariun

Sadah janah keh sunga bahvajal atariun

Sawkhet ah nindik ah dusht ah kin maheh bidarium

Tis sahib key tayk Nanak ah maneh maheh

Jis simrat sukh ho eh sagalay dukh eh jai

Goddess gives us her light and she takes care of us

She Is Here

Lyrics and Music by Kathleen Neville-Fritz

She is here, She is here, our Mother, She is here

She embraces us, She embraces us, our Mother, She embraces us

Return, return again to me, to the God who gave you life

Return, return to my arms, rest in my light

I give you new life

She is here, She is here, our Mother, She is here

For I have known the paths I laid before you

Before ever you were born

I have known each road that you will travel

Let me lead you on

I bring you to your home

She is here, She is here, our Mother, She is here

For I am all, all in all that is, what have you to fear?

I am all that was, that is, that shall be

Trust yourself to me, my love will make you free!

She is here, She is here, our Mother, She is here