Saying Goodbye to Odetta

Dear Friend and Reader,

ODETTA HOLMES is as prominent in the minds of American songwriters as the river bed is to the water. She was the bedrock upon which many famous musicians like Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin, and Joan Baez to name a few, built their careers as songwriters who capture the struggle of the human spirit. She passed away on December 2, 2008 at the age of 77 due to heart disease.

A Capricorn with a Taurus moon, Odetta’s voice resonated with an earthy richness that struck the listener immediately, grounding them and drawing them into the stories she told. She made her career as a folk singer spreading the word about the struggle of African Americans during the scourge of prejudice that plagued our nation in the 1950s and 1960s. She had been trained classically as an opera singer from the age of 13, but as she began her career as a singer in a puppet show, she fell in with the troupe performing Finnian’s Rainbow and shifted her interests to singing folk songs and spirituals. She found considerable popularity as a folk singer, and it’s no wonder. I just took a listen to one of her songs, and it felt to me like pouring medicinal honey on a sore.

Looking at her chart, a few points come to mind that illustrate her devotion to her heritage and her power as a vocalist.

I mentioned that she has her Sun in Capricorn, as well as her Saturn and Mercury. Saturn in Capricorn is a strong reverence for the past and I don’t mean simply one lifetime. Much of her career was spent singing African folk songs. Mercury, the voice, is opposite Pluto. What does this mean? She had a powerful voice, which I am sure everyone who has listened to Odetta will agree with. And she used this power to draw people back to their roots: the roots of humanity. She challenged her listeners and her non-listeners alike to understand that blood is red; that’s the only color that matters.

So thanks Odetta, for all that you’ve taught us, and for the inspiration you passed on to the next generation of folk singers. Without you, Dylan wouldn’t have picked up an acoustic guitar. If that’s not a tribute to your power, I don’t know what is.

Blessed Be,

Genevieve