Heilung’s album **Drif** is a ritualistic, concept-driven record whose opening single “Anoana” sets the tone with a video about birth, initiation, and the cycle of life, land, and tribe. The “Anoana” video in particular focuses on women, ancestors, and nature as a living, spiritual force rather than giving a literal plot explanation.[1][2][3][4] ## Drif in brief - *Drif* (often translated as “gathering”) is described as a collective ritual of **healing**, tying into the band name Heilung (“healing” in German).[1] - The album broadens Heilung’s usual northern European focus by including elements and influences from other ancient cultures, such as Middle Eastern and Indian traditions, while still feeling like one unified ceremonial journey.[4] - Vocals, chants, and percussion are used as the core “ritual tools,” making the whole record feel like one long ceremonial performance rather than a set of disconnected songs.[1] ## The song “Anoana” - “Anoana” is one of the central tracks on *Drif* and was released with an official video through Season of Mist.[3] - The word “Anoana” does not have a confirmed direct translation; listeners and fans often treat it as an incantatory or spiritual utterance rather than a normal lexical word.[2] - Interpretations among fans frame the song as evoking faith, connection, and community, emphasizing protection, belonging, and a sense of shared spiritual identity.[2] ## Video imagery and narrative - The video opens in a forest glade, where a young girl places twig “antlers” on her head, echoing antlered ritual figures in premodern European iconography and signaling that her play has a deeper, initiatory significance.[3] - Shortly after, Maria Franz appears from the sea wearing white shamanic robes and antlered headdress, visually tying the child’s small ritual gesture to a more ancient, archetypal ritual role.[3] - The video then moves into spectacular Nordic landscapes and a cave, where a body-painted woman gives birth to a child presented as almost otherworldly, while other women and worshippers gather around bonfire and ritual scenes.[3] ## Themes the video evokes - The visual through-line connects several female figures: the girl in the glade, the pregnant/birthing woman, the ritual participants, and Maria Franz, suggesting lineage, ancestral transmission, and the continuity of women as keepers of ritual and life.[3] - Nature (sea, forest, mountains, cave, fire) functions as both setting and participant, underlining Heilung’s recurring emphasis on oneness with land and on myth and symbol as living forces rather than museum pieces.[3] - Fans often read “Anoana” and its video as about protection of the land and tribe, the binding of family (in both human and wider-than-human sense), and the movement from individual self into a larger spiritual whole, though the band deliberately leaves room for personal interpretation.[2][3] [1](https://distortedsoundmag.com/album-review-drif-heilung/) [2](https://www.reddit.com/r/Heilung/comments/17e5d2l/what_is_the_meaning_of_the_titles_of_helung/) [3](https://www.hipvideopromo.com/clients/heilung-2/) [4](https://newnoisemagazine.com/reviews/album-review-heilung-drif/) [5](https://solsticeeclipse.com/admin/products/SOM666T/edit) [6](https://www.facebook.com/groups/30263104382/posts/10160254151629383/) [7](https://bondurant.biblionix.com/catalog/titles/) [8](https://www.cercle-diplomatique.com/news/magazin.aspx) [9](https://www.thailandsun.com/index.php?GET=SITEMAP) [10](https://sawasdee-farang.com/bangkok/divana-spa/) [11](https://archive.org/stream/bub_gb_D8cFAAAAQAAJ/bub_gb_D8cFAAAAQAAJ_djvu.txt)