A Healing Song from Georgia

During 2020, as Planina slowly came to terms with the idea that we wouldn’t be singing and dancing together for a long time, we looked for ways to stay connected with each other and our community. One way is to present distanced performances of songs, and for our first such performance, we’ve chosen a healing song from the Imereti region of the Republic of Georgia: Bat’onebis Simghera.

Bat'onebo / Bat’onebi is a Georgian word that means “lords.” In the context of this and other songs from the region, the word is used to refer to illnesses that come to children usually only once, like chicken pox or measles. In olden times, such an illness in the household would signal the presence of spirit lords. Instead of saying, “I have measles,” they would say, “I have the lords.” An anxious mother watching over a sick child would invite these lords into the house and do her best to please them, so as to have a positive outcome from the disease.

We’ve offered a translation of the lyrics in the description that accompanies the YouTube video. We hope you will find comfort and heart in this timeless lullaby. Special thanks to Kelly Maxwell, audio engineer.