Wura A Narrative

This is musical storytelling of a thunderbird from one of my short oral stories inspired by my painting Aura, The Thunderbird. This is part of my new oral storytelling music project. Written from source or stream of consciousness.

Wura in Yoruba means gold. The Yoruba spirituality and culture immensely impacted the Americas, especially in Colombia, Brazil, Cuba, the Caribbean, and the Gulf of Mexico. Gold was found up and down the Magdelena River, Mississippi River, and the Caribbean sea. Gold was a big part of Indigenous cultures, so I blended these aspects with respect to spirituality, culture, and the metaphysical realm in this piece. A thunderbird in my culture is sacred and similar to a phoenix. I have even had dreams I was a thunderbird. While participating in the artist residency in Cundinamarca, Colombia, there was always lighting flashing without rain, which signifies Thunderbirds are around.