The Shamanic Drum: A Guide to Sacred Drumming

What others are saying about The Shamanic Drum

A clear and practical work.

--Julia Cameron, author of The Vein of Gold and The Artist's Way.

The Shamanic Drum expresses things as they are and it's indeed true that the drum and the proper ceremonies are the way in which we balance and harmonize the energies of the Earth, its creatures, and our relationship with all realms.

--Dhyani Ywahoo, Cherokee teacher and author of Voices of Our Ancestors.

This book is a valuable, well-researched, and well-written treatment of all aspects of shamanic drumming. The author weaves together both ancient and modern lore, from oral shamanic chants to modern physics and biology, along with personal experiences to illuminate the practice of sacred drumming. Included are step-by-step exercises, analysis of different beats and tempos, and chapters on cosmology, journeying, power practice, and healing the earth. Recommended to anyone seeking to connect deeply with the drum as a tool for personal, interpersonal, or group spiritual and healing work.

--Nowick Gray, Alternative Culture Magazine.

In The Shamanic Drum, Michael Drake takes the reader on a journey from humankind's earliest of times to the most modern findings of science to explore the connections and power of drumming and shamanism. Drake has provided a textbook on shamanic drumming that should be an enduring classic.

--Jim PathFinder Ewing, author of Reiki Shamanism.

The Shamanic Drum

A Guide to Sacred Drumming

Michael Drake

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2010 by Michael Drake

ISBN 9780962900242

Visit my web site at http://ShamanicDrumming.com

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

The shamanic methodology presented in this book should not be viewed as a substitute for orthodox medical or psychological treatment, but should instead be considered a complementary treatment. This book is not intended as a substitute for the medical advice of physicians. The reader should regularly consult a physician in matters relating to his/her health and particularly with respect to any symptoms that may require diagnosis or medical attention. I trust you will use your own discretion and intuitive wisdom as to how shamanic drumming may be appropriate to your particular needs.

Dedication

This book is dedicated to the Earthkeepers. May they renew the Sacred Hoop.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Chapter 1. The Role of the Drum

Chapter 2. The Cosmology of the Drum

Chapter 3. Shamanic Drumming

Chapter 4. Journeying

Chapter 5. Power Practice

Chapter 6. Drumbeat of the Rainbow Fire

Chapter 7. Healing the Earth

Afterword

Appendix A. Drums

Appendix B. Rattles

Appendix C. Medicine Wheel of Life

Appendix D. American Indian Religious Freedom Act

Endnotes

About the Author

Acknowledgments

Special thanks to:

My wife Elisia, whose loving support allowed me to bring this work to fruition.

Douglas R. Ward, spiritual teacher, healer, and visionary, for illuminating the path and showing me the way.

Judith Thomson, whose devotion to the way of the drum has been a wellspring of inspiration for me.

Cathy Dawn Perkins for her profound vision, insight, and counsel.

Native elders Les Thomas, Don Fasthorse, and Ed Bills for sharing the rhythmic knowledge and ceremonials of their traditions.

The late Thomas Banyacya for sharing the ancient wisdom of the Hopi people. His strong stance on environmentalism, his service to communities and nations, and his reverence for the traditions and teachings of his people were an inspiration. Hearing his message was a blessing. Drumming for him was a powerful and joyful experience. Repeal PL 93-531.

Mongolian shaman Jade Wah'oo Grigori for initiating me in the drum ways of his tradition and for helping me to find my own path of rhythm.

And finally, I am especially grateful to the spirit of the drum for guiding me on my journey into rhythm.

SONG OF THE DRUM

My drum has many voices.

My drum tells many stories.

This drum is full of mystery.

This drum is full of dreams.

Listen to the drumbeat.

Listen to the heartbeat.

Now you hear the hoof beat.

Now you hear the wing beat.

All are One.

--Cherokee¹

Introduction

In Western culture, there is a great renewal of interest in the practice of shamanism. This surge of interest can, in large part, be attributed to the purity of shamanic cosmology as well as the freedom and individuality of the shamanic experience. No intermediary such as the church or priesthood is needed to access personal revelation and spiritual experience. All dimensions of reality and the mystical knowledge and powers they contain are available to one who practices shamanism. Every shamanic practitioner becomes his or her own teacher, priest, and prophet. Shamanic practice brings one ultimate power over one's own life and the power to help others do the same.

Shamanism is the most ancient and most enduring spiritual tradition known to humanity, asserts Mongolian shaman Jade Wah'oo Grigori.² It predates and constitutes the foundation of all known religions, psychologies, and philosophies. It originated among nomadic hunting and gathering societies. Within these tribes, the shaman played many roles: healer, seer, ceremonialist, sacred artist, mediator, counselor, and keeper of cultural myths. With their many roles and transcendent insight, shamans exerted great social influence.

Anthropologists define a shaman as one who enters an altered state of consciousness, usually induced by drumming, in order to make journeys into alternate realities, seeking the knowledge and power indigenous to those worlds. Shamans utilize this knowledge and power for healing and manifesting what is needed to benefit the community. These ancient shamanic ways have withstood the tests of time, varying little from culture to culture. Over thousands of years of trial and error, primal peoples the world over developed the same basic principles and techniques of shamanic power and healing. A whole way of life evolved that was based on everything being in right relationship.

In the worldview of the shaman, all life forms are interconnected and interdependent. If one species suffers, all others are affected. The health and well-being of humanity is, therefore, dependent upon the overall health of the web of life. The shaman is sensitive to this sacred interrelationship and serves as a bridge, linking the human and natural realms. The shaman's prayerful communion with the natural elements and powers preserves an orderly, harmonious universe. The shaman seeks harmony with nature and the drum serves as an instrument of attunement.

Decades of intensive anthropological studies in shamanic cultures have yielded great insights into shamanic methodology, mythology, and cosmology yet relatively little has been revealed regarding the drum. To a certain extent, researchers have overlooked, misunderstood, and underestimated the drum's role in shamanic work. In addition, the medicine of drumming, like that of many spiritual matters, has, until recently, been a closely guarded secret. Until 1978, with the passing of the American Indian Religious Freedom Act, it was illegal for many Native Americans to practice their traditional religions in the United States (see Appendix D). Past oppression has most certainly left traditional native peoples reticent about sharing spiritual doctrines.

Due to escalating environmental poisoning and nuclear militarism, concerned shamans and medicine people have, in recent years, shared their sacred teachings with non-native people. The intention is to teach individuals how to renew and maintain harmony with their families, communities, nations, and Earth herself. The hope is to restore a sense of sacred to the world, of the divinity present in nature and all living things--values that oppose domination and exploitation. The primal nature has never been fully integrated into the collective consciousness of humanity, but primal peoples are now sharing it. Sacred drumming is a significant part of the learning.

In Western culture, most people will never have the opportunity to meet a shaman, let alone learn from one. Though no substitute for an apprenticeship situation, a handbook can convey the fundamental methodological information. The information presented here is the culmination of my quest to understand the power of rhythm. It is a synthesis, a blending of drum ways I learned under the tutelage of Mongolian shaman Jade Wah'oo Grigori with rhythmic knowledge from many of the world's shamanic traditions. Truly significant shamanic knowledge can only be acquired through individual experience; however, one must first acquire the methods in order to utilize them.

Shamanic drum ways provide the opportunity to acquire shamanic experiences. The techniques are simple and effective. The resurgence of shamanism nationwide can, in large part, be attributed to the fact that shamanic drumming offers a relatively easy means of controlled transcendence. When a drum is played at an even tempo of some 180 beats per minute (or about three beats per second) for at least fifteen minutes, most novices report that they can journey successfully even on their first attempt. This ease of induction of altered states and related experiences contrasts dramatically with the months or years of practice usually required by most meditative disciplines to induce significant effects. Today's drummers are rediscovering the trance or ecstatic aspects of drumming. As Anne Cushman points out in a notable article in Yoga Journal, this new rhythm consciousness is oriented not toward performance and musical virtuosity, but toward personal transformation, consciousness expansion, and community building.³ By employing the drum ways described in this book, you will have an opportunity to personally experience shamanic states, power, and healing. These ways do not require faith or changes in your definition of reality. No change in your subconscious mind is required either, for the drum only awakens what is already there. It will awaken the shaman that lies dormant within you.

The most effective way to learn shamanism is to adopt the same basic concepts shamans do. For example, when I speak of power, it is primarily because the term is basic to shamanism. Power can represent many different things. To some shamans, power is understanding energy and how to utilize it. To others, it is a measure of one's ability to manifest a vision in the material world. However, it is best to avoid any preoccupation with seeking a scientific understanding of what power may really represent or why shamanism works. I practice shamanism myself, not because I understand why it works, but simply because it does work.

****

A SHAMAN'S MAGIC SONG

You Earth,

Our great Earth!

See, oh see:

All these heaps

Of bleached bones

And wind-dried skeletons!

They crumble in the air,

The mighty world,

The mighty world's

Air!

Hey-hey-hey!

--Alaskan Inuit¹

Chapter 1 - The Role of the Drum

The drum has a role of first importance to the shaman, for its rhythm develops an oneness of feeling and purpose with the rhythms of the universe. Everything in the universe, from the smallest subatomic particle to the largest star, vibrates with rhythmic motion. All things are born of rhythm and it is rhythm that holds them in form. Rhythm is the heartbeat of life. Every living thing has a unique song, a pulsing rhythm that belongs only to it. Within the heart of each of us, there exists