Paganistan: Notes from the Secret Commonwealth

In Which One Midwest Man-in-Black Confers, Converses & Otherwise Hob-Nobs with his Fellow Hob-Men (& -Women) Concerning the Sundry Ways of the Famed but Ill-Starred Tribe of Witches.

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No Night Could Be Darker Than This Night

Posted by on in Culture Blogs

Singer-songwriter Sparky T. Rabbit (1954-2014) wrote this song/chant for Midwinter's Eve at Yule 2010. It is one of the last pieces that he ever wrote.

The words appear here for the first time. It has never been recorded. I come to know it only because it was written as a companion piece for the first public telling of my story Midwest Nativity.

No Night Could Be Darker Than This Night has become a foundational part of our Yule Eve liturgy. We sing it in the dark at the very beginning of the rite; then we kindle the fire.

Simultaneously restrained and shocking, this evocative and poignant song beautifully articulates the stillness and mystery that is Mother Night.

 

No Night Could Be Darker Than This Night

 

No night could be darker than this night, no night.
No night could be darker than this night, no night.
Oo-oo-oo-oo, oo-oo-oo-oo
No night could be darker than this night, no night.

No snow could be whiter than this snow, no snow.
No snow could be whiter than this snow, no snow.
Oo-oo-oo-oo, oo-oo-oo-oo
No snow could be whiter than this snow, no snow.


No blood could be redder than this blood, no blood.
No blood could be redder than this blood, no blood.
Oo-oo-oo-oo, oo-oo-oo-oo
No blood could be redder than this blood, no blood.

No night could be darker than this night, no night.
No night could be darker than this night, no night.
Oo-oo-oo-oo, oo-oo-oo-oo
No night could be darker than this night, no night.

 

Last modified on
Poet, scholar and storyteller Steven Posch was raised in the hardwood forests of western Pennsylvania by white-tailed deer. (That's the story, anyway.) He emigrated to Paganistan in 1979 and by sheer dint of personality has become one of Lake Country's foremost men-in-black. He is current keeper of the Minnesota Ooser.

Comments

  • Anne Newkirk Niven
    Anne Newkirk Niven Wednesday, 20 December 2017

    Sent chills up my spine, Steven!

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