It’s midnight under the light of a full moon. You’re walking through a mystical forest. A bear roars in the distance, and you’re momentarily startled. The air feels electrically charged.
Fireflies sparkle like faeries, helping to light the way, beckoning you deeper.
You’re starting to hear music ahead. It’s an incredibly funky groove! You catch glimpses of a fire surrounded by shadowy figures.
As you enter the clearing, you see a group of people dancing ecstatically to the irresistible music. You join in.
The dancing goes on and on for hours, and you enter a trance-like state.
You are now enlightened.
OK, well, maybe not that last part ha ha (It’s an infinite journey, isn’t it?)
Anyway, this would be a great way to experience this song! If anyone actually has this experience, please let me know!
Aad Guray Nameh
The song is called “Aad Guray Nameh”, and the lyrics are a mantra written about 400 years ago by Guru Ajan, the fifth Guru of the Sikh religion. It’s often called the Mangala Charan Mantra, and the language is Gurmukhi -
Aad Guray Nameh
Jugaad Guray Nameh
Sat Guray Nameh
Siri Guru Dayvay Nameh
The words are translated as -
I bow to the primal Wisdom
I bow to the Wisdom of all the ages
I bow to the true Wisdom
I bow to the great unseen Wisdom
Wisdom could also be translated as Guru. Before starting any task, you can use this mantra to ask your favorite Guru (whoever that might be) for guidance. This mantra is also sometimes used to invoke protection.
Ajeet
Ajeet wrote the music for this song. She’s one of my favorite chant artists (although she uses English lyrics for most of her songs these days), and so I’ll probably be writing about her more in this newsletter.
This is a bit of a lunar-themed post for me, and the moon has played an important role in Ajeet’s music, especially her Lunar EP.
At the end of this post, I’ll include a playlist of some of my favorite Ajeet songs, and I’ll also include a chant music playlist, called Mantras for Positive Energy, that I’ve been curating on Spotify for a couple of years.
So, invite your friends over and light up a bonfire…
Here is “Aad Guray Nameh”:
Credits
Thomas Barquee - background vocals
Dave Cornette - drums
Jeff “H” Harrington - lead vocal, bass, guitar, synthesizer, recording / mixing / mastering
Note: For songs like this, which I haven’t released yet - I’ll be releasing them to Substack at least two months before releasing them elsewhere. Also, there is a download button next to the audio above, so feel free to download the song!
Playlists
Ajeet playlist on Spotify:
Mantras for Positive Energy playlist on Spotify:
Thank you @Edie Marie Webb for the restack!
This was lovely. My husband is Punjabi Sikh and music is such a staple in our household. I will be sharing this one with him later. Thank you! 🙏