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a different Beltane
May. 1st, 2009 08:39 amBeltane Blessings to all!
I'm glad it's a wet morning. All the birdcalls are magnified, and the trees are dripping with a particularly luscious and juicy rain. Everything is green and filled with life.
Today, I'll be traveling into rural New England and by evening, I will be sitting in a different kind of circle, chanting and drumming. On one level, I am learning to play the drum, but deep within, I have always known how. Falling asleep in my tent at night, listening to the circle of drummers, seeing shadows of the dancers as they whirled around the fire. Waking in the morning to the hesitant sound of new drummers getting their hands around the rhythms of masmoudi and baladi.
Those sounds kept me alive in the wasteland years.
It's not the doumbek that's calling me today. Just a simple riq, a frame drum with jingles, a tambourine. This is the drum of the ancient Goddess rites in Sumeria. I am excited to be studying under Layne Redmond, the author of When the Drummers were Women.
And I hope to tell you all about it in a few days!
I'm glad it's a wet morning. All the birdcalls are magnified, and the trees are dripping with a particularly luscious and juicy rain. Everything is green and filled with life.
Today, I'll be traveling into rural New England and by evening, I will be sitting in a different kind of circle, chanting and drumming. On one level, I am learning to play the drum, but deep within, I have always known how. Falling asleep in my tent at night, listening to the circle of drummers, seeing shadows of the dancers as they whirled around the fire. Waking in the morning to the hesitant sound of new drummers getting their hands around the rhythms of masmoudi and baladi.
Those sounds kept me alive in the wasteland years.
It's not the doumbek that's calling me today. Just a simple riq, a frame drum with jingles, a tambourine. This is the drum of the ancient Goddess rites in Sumeria. I am excited to be studying under Layne Redmond, the author of When the Drummers were Women.
And I hope to tell you all about it in a few days!
