This is why I drum...

The road wound lazily up the hill. Paved road gave way to gravel. On either side of the road deer grazed, mostly undisturbed.  A cluster of buildings, architecturally designed to blend into the surroundings, came and went. I parked and walked up a steep hill. Everywhere there were oak trees, tall grasses and the sounds of crickets singing their evening song. A red tailed hawk circled in the distance. A pair of vultures soared on an unfelt wind.


Twenty or so strangers gathered in a meadow. White plastic chairs marking out the circle where we would drum. A huge fire pit, recently used, flanked my rightside. A labyrinth made of rocks and stones occupied a plateau overlooking the valley below. In front of me, a ridge. The moon would rise here within an hour or so.


One beat per second - a resting heartbeat - brought the conversations to a halt. All eyes were focused on the facilitator. This lasted for a few minutes and then variations began to fold in. Eyes closed, hips swayed and the drummers began to feel the magic of the circle.


Middle Eastern rhythms followed. Some folks could follow along, others found a beat that worked for them. An African song, dance and drum beat from Ghana followed. We all learned the words, or at least we mumbled our way through the unfamiliar language into something that approximated the right sounds.


Someone asked if I knew a beat. I started and a song came to me. I'd sung it recently at a ritual but the words seemed even more appropriate here, out in the hills, under the full moon.


"My soul is living and my soul is free. I am aligned in my Divinity."
"Wake up, bless the world. Wake up, stand tall. Wake up hear the rhythm of the sacred all around"*


In the moment, I transposed a few words but not the intention behind the song. In that moment, this song by Sharon Knight and T. Thorn Coyle, captured everything I was feeling. I was awake. My soul was filled. This is why I circle. This is why I drum.


Happy Drumming...


*This song is from "songs for the strengthening sun" and is called "Awakened Soul". I did give credit at the time I sang the song.