Spirit Of Drumming

The drum has been used for healing purposes throughout the world for thousands of years, in tribal societies with their shamanic traditions to communicate with the spirit world, as well as a tool for social integration and to restore harmony. According to West African wisdom teachings, emotional disturbance manifests as an irregular rhythm that blocks the vital physical energy flow. As regular even rhythms are regarded as a sign of health, these rhythms can heal the person by touching him or her in an immediate and powerful way, removing blockages and releasing tension. Thus dance and drumming serve as preventive remedies, and they help people to become more aware and balanced.

According to current medical research, stress is a cause of 98% of all disease. Not only heart attacks, strokes, immune system breakdowns, but every disease known, with the exception of two viruses, has now been linked to stress. Recent biofeedback studies show that drumming along with our own heartbeats for 15 minutes alters brainwave patterns (increasing alpha) and dramatically reduces stress. So drumming actually "meditates" us!

When you take your drum to a rhythm circle and play it with your community, healing happens. It does not matter if the group's focus is purely social or ritualistic. If you come and drum, the healing is compounded because everyone is putting their spirit into their drum, and their hearts are open. You get and give a rhythmical massage that is compounded by the number of people in the circle and the energy they are sharing with each other.
~ Arthur Hull

A circle has no beginning and no end. In a circle all points are equal. In a drum circle all players are equal, regardless of musical ability. The energy from each player travels through the circle; the energy transmitted as rhythmic vibration, and is supported by the intention and spirit of each person. The instruments played may have originated from many cultures and traditions, many leading back in time to the tribal roots of African drumming. Each percussion instrument resonates with it's own specific vibration; the bells and shakers speaking to the higher chakras and the deep drums to the lower chakras. The group vibration speaks beyond conscious thought, deep into each person's subconscious, into their bodies, and into their souls. When the pulse succeeds in creating entrainment amongst the players, the circle is intimately connected beyond words or logic. A sense of oneness, and pure joy may occur. A connection to being part of the human race may occur. A connection to mother Earth may occur. This healing shift of consciousness occurs according to the willingness of each participant to be lost in the rhythm, yet not losing awareness of the rhythm. To reach this place one must let go of any thoughts of judging their playing or the playing of others, or any perception of being judged. A place where ego and every day concerns cease to exist. That is the magic of the drum circle. ~ David Johannes

One of the most powerful aspects of drumming and the reason people have done it since the beginning of being human is that it changes people's consciousness. Through rhythmic repetition of ritual sounds, the body, the brain and the nervous system are energized and transformed. When a group of people play a rhythm for an extended period of time, their brain waves become entrained to the rhythm and they have a shared brain wave state. The longer the drumming goes on, the more powerful the entrainment becomes. It's really the oldest holy communion. ~ Layne Redmond

White Eagle Medicine Woman, DrumKeeper activates the GrandMother Drum in Nimbin, Australia 2002. (Photo by Jeremy Pierce)

A group may happen by chance; a circle happens by intent. The circle is a structure, which is rich in symbolism. It is not a pyramid, or a box, or even a spiral. You can think of it in the sense of electricity. Each participant acts like a link in the circuit, as a generator, transmitter, or resistor. Participants influence the "energy" of the circle by their attitude and focus. A circle also expresses the image of a container. We think in terms of inside and outside the circle. What is within the circle is held by each member, and by the whole.
In shaminism there is a saying: "The moon is a circle, the sun is a circle, the Earth is a circle, the drum is a circle, and we are a circle." A circle is a special kind of group, not because of what is done, but how it is done. ~ Holly Blue Hawkins

For the shaman the other world is shaped like a tree, the World Tree. Beating a drum or shaking a rattle, a shaman sings the songs that alert his spirit allies that they are needed. His trance deepens until his soul slips out of his body and flies across the world to the Tree that stands at the center of the universe. Then he begins to climb. If he goes up into the branches toward the leaves, his destination is the heavens, culminating in the Lord of the Universe. If he goes down into the roots of the World Tree, then his destination is the underworld.

For the shaman, the drum is not so much a musical instrument as a vehicle for transportation. Most frequently in Siberia, it is characterized as a horse that the shaman rides to the World Tree, though it can also be a boat (with the drumstick becoming the oar) or a bow (with his drumstick doubling as the arrow). ~ Mickey Hart

The power of intent transports your drumming experience out of the mundane and into a sacred experience. Intention is your consciousness directing through the beat toward a valuable outcome, like a sound arrow towards a target. The power of your intention dictates the overall quality of the experience. Be patient and strong as you drum, drawing upon the inner power to direct you. ~ Steven Ash Read excerpt from the book Sacred Drumming by Steven Ash.

We connect directly with the Heart and the Mind of the Divine when we access Reiki energy. Drumming is also a way to align with the Divine, as has been experienced since ancient times, through native spiritual, and shamanic healing practices. Reiki Drumming, affects the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual bodies simultaneously, helping to bring them into harmony while raising the vibratory rate to levels which may allow the body to accelerate its innate healing abilities.

At the heart of any pow wow is the drum. It is the heartbeat of the people and is much more than a musical instrument. Many drummers have practiced for years to learn the traditional songs of the people. Whether the drum is made of hides or is a more modern version, it is respected. Nothing is ever set on it and no one reaches across it. The singers who surround the drum are each connected to the power of the drum by their drumsticks. Their songs honor the traditions of the people and drum groups practice long hours with a lead singer.

Many shamanic traditions depend on some kind of repetitive percussion to induce altered states of consciousness. The shaman may drum or use a rattle in spirit dancing, journey preparation, or in the actual journey. The role of a shaman's drummer is to stay present, to maintain a steady drum beat so that one who is making the journey has a solid foundation, to provide a dependable vehicle, and to provide a clear focal point for re-entry. The shaman's drummer must be fully involved without going into trance. She or he is the shaman's servant, giving a clear point of departure and return. ~ Holly Blue Hawkins

You might say drums have two voices. One is technical, having to do with the drum's shape, the material it's made of, its cultural context, and the standard way it's played. Technique gives you this voice - the drum's sweet spot, that point where the drummer, the drumhead, and the rhythm that arises from their interaction flow seamlessly together. It takes commitment and apprenticeship to learn how to find a drum's sweet spot. But once you do, the potential arises for finding the drum's second voice - one I have come to think of as the spirit side of the drum. ~ Mickey Hart

From my own native teachers, I have learned that the drum is coming into power again to awaken our hearts, for we must now learn to live from the heart. The heart is the place of balancing and awakening to our wholeness; the heartbeat is one of the reasons people so naturally and strongly connect to the drum. After all, each of us comes into the world having spent nine months listening to a heart drum in the womb. We are imprinted with rhythm from the very start and rhythm is the heartbeat of life. ~ Michael Drake

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