Like a siren's, a singing voice that is sultry, deep and dark echoes across the ocean. Wendy Rule is a witch, a Scorpio and a gifted vocalist hailing from Australia. I was first introduced to her singing over a year ago while listening to Internet-based pagan radio.
Wendy Rule's latest offering, titled Deity, defies categorization. At times New Age, at other times rock, this solid album is a showcase for Wendy's powerful voice. In Australia, she was dubbed "like Enya, but with balls!" I myself found her style refreshingly unique. She has a tenor sound, yet with a full vibrato that she effectively uses to carry the emotional content of her lyrics. Musically, the piano, guitar and cello create a sound accessible to any audience.
In a rousing tribute to the three-fold Goddess, the title track "Deity" instantly brings shivers to the spine. During the chorus, Wendy belts out the words like a resounding invocation:
I am the Maiden
I am the Mother
I am the Crone
I am the Sea
I am the Sky
I am the Blood
Never alone
It is no surprise that Wendy's lyrics are full of Craft imagery. She has been a practitioner of Wicca for several years and as the Craft has been an inspiration to her life, that inspiration is reflected in her songs.
Wendy herself writes on her Web site, www.wendyrule.com, "We all acquire labels as we move through the world. They are things to be wary of, as it is way too easy to delineate where we begin and end using these hooks. But they are also useful little things. If not for labels, then I couldn't call myself a Musician, or a Scorpio, or a Witch. But Beware! They are gifts from our culture that carry a price; the price of projection and prejudice. I am proud to be able to call myself a Witch, but also see my goal in this life as peeling back the labels and tasting the wine from the cleanskin bottle without knowing its source. So there's my warning. Judge me only after you have tasted the wine!"
Wendy embraces all aspects of the life experience, those that are light and fun and those that are more challenging and hidden. She evokes images of mythology and mystery. In "Oh How I Dreamed," she sings:
You would scream despair and dry the teeming land
And reach beneath the Earth, offer me you hand
And save me
See the gaping wound
The blood on which I float
Your love is both the poison
And the antidote
That saves me
That saves me
We have all heard the term "spiritual" applied to music, usually as part of Southern Christian belief systems. For the first time in my life, I felt that I too had music that I could describe as "spiritual." As I drove along in my car, with the T-top roof open to the evening sky, I listened to "Deity" over and over. I am enraptured mostly at just hearing any song that so closely captures the feelings and essences that I can share with Wendy as a fellow student of witchcraft. When she sings of the Goddess, a tingling courses through my veins. For these songs are tribute to the Wiccan deities, and therefore tribute to the deity within all of us.
Wendy is highly noted as a live performer as well. At times she uses theatrical visuals and costuming to create ethereal scenes, while at the other times she is comfortable seated with the acoustic guitar.
I highly recommend this album. It has appeal for a wide range of musical tastes, and pagans will easily pick up on the references to Wiccan philosophy and inspirational mythology. This album, the live recording Wendy Rule Live and the earlier EP Zero are released only in Australia so far but are available as imports. Ask for it at your local CD shop or order it via the Internet. You can find Wendy Rule listed as an import on www.amazon.com, but if you're wise, save yourself 20 percent off of Amazon's price and order it directly from Australia yourself at Greg's Music World: www.musicworld.com.au.
[Home Page | Other Articles in This Issue | FAQ | Local Resources]