This is an interview with Loreena McKennitt (and a few others) on the Dutch TV show "Spirit, Songs & Show", a documentary about spirituality in pop music.

Broadcast in the series "Werelden" on NED 1, November 17, 1994, 21:45 by the IKON (Inter Church Broadcasting Corporation, Netherlands).

Interviewer: Paul Hegeman

Loreena McKennitt interview transcribed by Henk Van Wulpen

And I think now is the particular time when people are confronted with their own...the possible loss of their own identity, the possible loss of their own ability to express themselves. And also feeling they have this real yearning towards being spiritually  engaged. Organized religions perhaps don't really serve that need and they're looking for something to hang on to.

(All Soul's Night excerpt)

Human beings as a species have a need to be spiritually engaged. And that religions as structures have been created in response to that need. And as many structures --political structures, religious structures or whatever-- they have been open to evolution, to change, sometimes manipulation and distortion. And even within the boundaries of Christianity in the contemporary sense there are many variations of Christianity and many variations and interpretations of the Bible.

So... and my second personal conclusion was that I derived my own spiritual sustenance from the natural world. I also came across an inclination of that there is an association between creativity and spirituality. And when I reflect upon our contemporary society where people seem to be more and more restricted in their jobs that do not allow or tap into or allow an opportunity for them to tap into their own creativity, they become, I feel in some way, spiritually deprived. But for my own part, I find that that is why the music, for me, is a very spiritual experience. These stages are sanctuaries in the same way that my garden is a sanctuary. *laughs*

(All Soul's Night excerpt)

But I have a feeling that the human species has really segregated itself from the rest of the natural world. I think we've become very self-centered and self-fascinated by our own creations that we've lost our own connection to and our sense of integration with the natural world. When you look at earlier cultures or even some contemporary cultures where people have woven their identity and their own survival with the natural world, the cycles of the seasons, the animals. And sometimes they express that by weaving --let's say-- the images of animals in their garments or cloaks. Or native North Americans who embodied them in their totem poles or in their masks. That there are many subtle ways, but very integrated ways within the cultures that people have re minded themselves that they are part of the natural world. For me, I really believe that, and I believe it so strongly that when I feel I'm in need of my spiritual sustenance, I head straight to the country, you know. *laughs*

(Lady Of Shalott excerpt)

There's a question that I prefer to be in a rural culture as opposed to an urban one. I can visit urban cultures all around the world and find them very interesting and fascinating but the culture for me, almost anywhere in the world, is a rural one.

(Lady Of Shalott excerpt)

We're still living in a time where there are religious wars being fought all over the world. And one has to.. it's.. I think it's a very relevant and contemporary question to ask : Who and what is God? What is religion? What is spirituality? And how do th e two differ from each other? And I think there is a distinction between being spiritually engaged and being a so-called religious person. Sometimes being a religious person is being indoctrinated by a political point of view, which has nothing to do with love and compassion, and a sense of integration with the living world and a sense of equality and liberty.

(Santiago excerpt)

In the same way that I've tried to live my life with few expectations, I try to live it with no regrets, and also wishing that I was some other place. I think the real challenge, and it's a spiritual challenge, is you say "You live now", "This is the society you're born in". The challenge is you find the truth and the sustenance within your own environment.

(All Soul's Night excerpt)