Biography
"The task of the troubadour has always been to listen to the wind and anticipate the future, to discern the fine nuances of a spiritual age and to play the dual roles of receiver and transmitter."
"To participate in a beautiful song - whether to listen to it, compose it, or perform it - is to step out of the demands of linear time and approach the essence of who we really are."
"My many years as a songwriter and performer have encouraged me to go ahead and petition the hidden spirit within nature to reveal its inspirations and imaginations..."
* * * * *
SUSAN RAVEN is a singer, songwriter, author and speaker. She is also a long time student of Anthroposophy and an experienced workshop facilitator. She has worked with the exercises prescribed by Rudolf Steiner for seeing into the supersensible realms, and has trained with Dorian Schmidt, director of the Biodynamic Research Institute, in methods of supersensible perception.
Susan has spent the last 16 years living in the remote hills of mid-Wales, deepening her understanding of the Elemental Kingdom and gradually developing the faculty for perceiving this formative world and its inhabitants. In her work she speaks openly of her transformative experiences and she has introduced spiritual-scientific concepts of the etheric world to many people over the years.
Susan is author of the book 'Nature Spirits: The Remembrance: A guide to the Elemental Kingdom', featured in the Cygnus magazine, Nexus, Star & Furrow and Caduceus.
My musical career started when my mother gave me a Spanish guitar at the age of 13 and showed me how to play her favourite Bob Dylan songs. Peter Gabriel, Donovan and David Bowie were the heroes of my early teens. These three quintessentially British master craftsmen were my inspiration and my aspiration; they fired my imagination and awoke my nascent musical intuition. I chose to play a 12-string guitar because this was David Bowie's preferred instrument and it has remained my key instrument in the writing process. It is a whole band in one instrument; to record two or three tracks of 12-string at different capo positions and to focus on the harmonics resounding between the tracks, is my tried and tested route to creating the most moving arrangements for a song.
Throughout the 90's I played the acoustica clubs of London, honing my live performance skills and working with many talented musicians, including David Rhodes from the Peter Gabriel band, Hilaire Penda from the Salif Keita band, the film soundtrack composer David Ferguson, Brian Gulland from Gryphon, and the producer John Ravenhall, to name but a few. While writing, performing and promoting my music in London's vibrant music scene, I also worked as a tour director, introducing students from North America to the mysteries and beauty of our sacred sites in Celtic Britain. It was during this decade that I discovered the powerful esoteric teachings of that great scientist, philosopher and seer, Rudolf Steiner.
I have promoted and celebrated Rudolf Steiner's lectures on the Elemental Kingdom at conferences and festivals around the United Kingdom for many years. Along with the spiritual/consciousness teachings of Dr.Steiner, I have followed a personal path of spiritual research which has led me to many transformative and enlightened teachers, including Dennis Klocek, the alchemist and director of Consciousness Studies at Rudolf Steiner College, Sacramento, and Dorian Schmidt, director of the Biodynamic Research Institute, Darmstadt. I have also derived much insight and inspiration from the work of scientific pioneers and alchemists like Nassim Haramein and Bruce Lipton. All these high-calibre teachers have helped me to access a finer creative hunting ground in the imaginal realms, and this has enabled me to enrich my songcraft with ever deeper colour, wisdom and pathos, and to hone my workshops with ever deeper insight.
In the writing and singing of a song, I have found that a personal, truthful disclosure can be crafted with insightful care, and given emotive and powerful impetus by the musical arrangements beneath it. The sounding of chords and tones has always offered us a sublime and powerful vocabulary with which to convey the language of an open heart; add to this a vibrant and reciprocal relationship with the intelligence in nature, and one can access a truly boundless source of inspiration.
For many years I have performed my music at venues and festivals around Britain and have developed a loyal fan-base of followers who connect deeply with the lyrical and melodic content of my music. My songs are played on BBC radio, a wide range of local radio stations in the Midlands and Wales, and many internet stations around the world. You can listen to my songs under "Books+Music" on the top navigation bar. Your reactions and responses are always truly appreciated, so please visit my guestbook, I look forward to hearing from you.
Wishing you well on your path
Susan