I love singing this song -- it is a comforting lullaby that was sung to me often by my mother when I was a small child. I joyfully sing it when I have concerts in the Summer season and consider it a sweet medicine song. 

“Oh, yo' daddy's rich and yo' ma is good-lookin'.

So hush, little baby, don't you cry.”

Though Gershwin's lyrics written in 1934 may be outdated for our modern times, I interpret these lines as, ... you are safe and your mother loves you and everything is going to be alright! 

“One of these mornin's you goin' to rise up singin'.

Then you'll spread yo' wings an' you'll take the sky. 

But till that mornin', there's a nothin' can harm you 

With Daddy an' Mammy standin’ by”

To me this means ... baby, there will come a time when you will have the courage to leap and fly -- but until that time, you are safe; your guides, guardians, angels -- your gods -- are by your side, watching over you.

Although I have been singing semi-professionally for over 20 years, it is only in recent years since I found my teacher Silvia Nakkach, that I truly began to understand the healing powers of the voice. She has taught me that singing calls in the Divine and connects you to the other realms. A song can serve as a prayer, an offering that heals the body with its resonance. The voice can even bring liberation; as well as expel grief and suffering. More often than not I sing, hum or chant to move through my troubles. I encourage you to try it.

At the Kate's Magik Retreat last month in Sedona, we used grounding Anointing Oils such as Meditations and Trance along with Creativity and Performance to anchor ourselves in trust and set the stage to sing our medicine songs. Heart notes such as Healing of the Heart (Rose and Lavender) and Moon Goddess (Jasmine) were used for anointing to give us the trust and love to “spread our wings and take to the sky”.

Ultimately the scent of the Bastet Perfume Saraswati which is dedicated to the Hindu Goddess of poetry, music and wisdom was used to help us step into the flow and trust ourselves to fall freely in and out of tune. 

On this note, I leave you with my best wishes for a glorious Summer along with heartfelt blessings for the Summer Solstice. This month I am off to the old country to visit my mother in Switzerland and then spend some much needed time recharging at the same sacred sites that have been calling me for the past few years. I will post pictures from time-to-time and conjure up more magik for new product lines and Bastet Perfumes.

How will you sing and take time to smell the flowers this summer? Let me know in the comments below...