Dec 06 | Panagia Track #2: Anima Sola

Here’s the second track of “Panagia,” this year’s Advent devotional music project! It’s called “Anima Sola.”

This is the first song I wrote for guitar, although the original lyrics, while similar, have since been lost. I’ve been fascinated for years by the image of the Anima Sola, or “Lonely Soul,” which I first saw printed on the side of a devotional candle I bought in a Voodoo shop in New Orleans. The image of a female soul chained and reaching out to grasp her liberator stuck with me. I wanted to balance that sense of initiative, desire, and drive with a sense of humility, which is why the soul goes from being a desired equal to being a willing servant who admits vulnerability to being a lover, willingly allowing herself to be vulnerable through trust in the beloved. St. John of the Cross has been a spiritual mentor to me as well, so I threw in a reference to his masterpiece The Dark Night of the Soul. I’ve always tried my best to see the difficult parts of life as an opportunity to draw myself closer to the one who holds me through the night.

Stay tuned for the next track, which drops this Sunday at 10am!