The Pagan in Pagan Sounds

I've written many posts about the sounds created by the drums we play here at Pagan Sounds. There are articles about drum history, drum making and drum circles. I realized, however, that I haven't talked much about the Pagan part of Pagan Sounds.

I'm a Pagan and being pagan  informs how I choose to express my relationship with the worlds, seen and unseen. I refer to myself as a world-changer, edge-walker, magick worker and witch.

How does being a pagan influence the way I make music? Well, for one thing it isn't just about creating sound. For me it's about creating space, space that allows potential to become manifest. I practice making the drumscape a palpable energetic field. "What does that mean?" you ask, well, when I'm part of a dynamic, intentioned drum circle I purposely make a temenos, a line between This place and That place and I work to expand that in-between area. For me, that's where the magick gets created.

If you've ever sat in the middle of  a drum circle, not as a drummer but as an observer, or been part of a healing ritual that features drums, you probably have a good sense of what I'm referring to even if you don't use the term magick to define it. Something shifts.Anything is possible. Transformation happens.

There's science out there that speaks to what actually happens in the brain when certain rhythm combinations are played or so many beats per minute are hammered out, and all of that is true and well researched. However, although I find science to be an invaluable tool, it tends to be soley reductive in it's approach. Magick, I believe, is expansive. It seeks to marry what is factual and quantifiable with that which is known but not easily explained. Another way to say that is that magick looks to preserve the Mystery of co-creation.

So when I drum I am in the entering into the act of creation. Creation is the domain of the goddesses and gods as I see them. And entering into that conversation with the universe is magick, as I hold it.

Be well and drum often!

Gwion