The other day, while tidying up my YouTube channel, I stumbled across a video I had posted over 12 years ago. It was an intuitive and impromptu sounding session with my 27-inch frame drum, a long-time companion + guide. At the time, I had recently lost a dear friend to cancer, (yet again) and this was my way of honouring through sound, the many friends I had lost, who had passed away, not far apart from each other…
above photo, weaver sounding through her frame drum, ‘sky dog’… …
In that video, I was sounding my grief through a chant that came to me during a ceremony years earlier. What struck me as I rewatched, was a list I was keeping in the video notes I had forgotten about—names of over 25 beautiful souls, friends, and family members who had passed since 2012. I had dedicated that chant to them, as a way to honour their lives and remember them.
I recall being in that ceremony where I was invited to allow something come through my spirit drum. Now, I’m not one to easily ‘channel’ in front of others, being on the shy side. But this time, I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and simply listened to receive. What emerged seemed an ancient melody, rising deep from the earth into the base of my spine, and then out through my mouth. I was outside, cross-legged, in a circle of people around me. My drum, like a huge microphone, amplified the sounds that poured out of me. I let go, becoming a vessel for something far greater than myself.
As I continued, tears flowed, and words slowly emerged…
“We all come from the stars… and to the stars we shall return… on a bridge of rainbow light… we’re coming home, to who we are…”
I remember the moment being a profound release, as if an old, buried sadness had finally found voice. My teacher and friends were curious about where that big sound had come from. Honestly, I didn’t know. It felt as though I had tapped into something surreal + beyond myself, perhaps a collective mourning, a grief that wasn’t just mine?
Years later, as I explored my ancestry, I learned about the tradition known as keening—a ancient communal practice of vocal lamentation to express and process grief.
Keening or “to keen” is a vocal lament traditionally associated with mourning the dead, particularly in Irish and Scottish Celtic cultures. It was a way to express grief openly and communally, often led by women during funerals and wakes. Though the practice has diminished over time, its roots run deep in history, serving as a sacred act to honour the dead and connect with the divine.
Across various cultures, keening played a vital role in funeral and death rites. In Ireland, for example, keening (known as ‘caoineadh’ in Gaelic) was often led by professional mourners, or ‘bean chaointe,’ during wakes and funerals. While this tradition is strongly associated with Celtic customs, similar practices can be found globally, including in the Middle East, South America, Africa, and among Indigenous peoples including North America.
An early encounter with a collective "keening" took place during my first sweat lodge ceremony in Shuswap Territory, BC. Guided by Elder Joan, that experience of vocal expression felt incredibly healing and powerful. Together with my sisters, we released our emotions in the comforting embrace of the moon lodge, sweating out layers of grief we hadn't realized were even there—all through the shared sound of our voices. I was greatly moved by that first sweat.
Then, years later, my partner and I once participated in a community funeral for a beloved woman who had tragically died in a float-plane accident. Our community was shaken, and her devastated partner organized a pagan ceremonial wake + funeral.
The ritual began with over a hundred of us lining both sides of the street. In silence, we watched as a small procession, led by a veiled woman keening a loud Irish lament as her kin carried her simple wooden coffin over their heads. The sound of her voice, raw with grief, was a visceral powerful expression of sorrow, expressed on all our behalf. As a community, we stood as sacred witnesses, holding space for her, for them and for each other.
The experience was deeply healing, a moment of profound community connection that I shall never forget.
And so, it seems that as we get older, more and more dear folk pass away to the light… it’s just what it is, I guess… and possibly it’s time for me to sound/drum out my grief yet again and time to add to that list on my youtube post…
Below is that video, if you wish to view… i invite you to join in and keen with me + let your sorrow go back to the earth where She will transform it back into light!
Who is remembered, lives—deep in our hearts!
with brightest blessings + much love, weaver x (((💜))) 💨