Traditional Water Drums

Water drums are a category of membranophone characterized by the filling of the drum chamber with some water to create a unique resonant sound. The presence of the water within gives the sound far greater carrying power than a dry drum possesses. At close range, the tone of the water drum is often a dull thud, but when properly tuned by an experienced drummer it has a resonance that can be heard for miles. No drum can be heard so far; it is on record that water drums have been heard eight to ten miles over a lake. This capacity to be heard distinctly at a distance, coupled with a peculiar tone quality, gives the water drum a very unique voice.

Water drums are used all over the world, including African music and American Indian music, and are made of various materials, with a membrane stretched over a hard body such as a metal, clay or wood. The Native American Church uses a black iron kettle with three tripod legs. The leather drum head is soaked in water before being stretched over the kettle. Clay pot drums were common among many eastern and southern tribes in the ancient days, those of the South using a semicircular-shaped bowl with legs. The pottery water drum of the Pueblo Indians is a vase-shaped pot with a flared out top. Pueblo water drums vary in size from small pots holding a gallon of water up to huge ones measuring thirty or more inches in diameter. These are filled about one-fourth full of water and the wet hide is tied over the top. When not in use the tanned drumhead and rawhide thong for tying it are kept inside the pot.  

Wooden water drums are the traditional percussion instrument for the Native American Anishinaabe (Ojibwe), Ottawa, Potawatomi, Huron and Iroquois peoples. The Eastern Woodland tribes made far greater use of water drums than any other Native peoples, and attached a greater significance to them. To the Anishinaabe and their many neighboring tribes, the water drum is a true medicine drum of great power, the sacred drum of the Midewiwin or Grand Medicine Society, which is at the core of Anishinaabe religion. Water is synonymous with life, hence it adds great potency to the water drum. Its sacred sound is regarded as one of the most effective ways of establishing connections with the spirit realm, since it travels through space, permeates visual and physical barriers, and conveys information from the unseen world. It is widely used today in traditional Longhouse social dances and ceremonies.

Wooden water drums are made either by hollowing out a solid section of a small soft wood log, or assembled using cedar slats and banded much like an old keg. The drum is filled about one-fourth full of water and a wet leather hide is stretched over the top. For detailed instructions on crafting, tuning and playing water drums, download the free eBook, How to Make Drums, Tomtoms, and Rattles by Bernard S. Mason. This classic 1938 edition is now a free public domain eBook.

The Origin of Disease and Medicine

An excerpt from The Sacred Formulas of the Cherokees by James Mooney
 

In the old days, the beasts, birds, fish, insects, and plants could all talk. They and the people lived together in peace and friendship. As time went on, however, the people increased so rapidly that their settlement spread over the whole earth, and the poor animals found themselves cramped for room. To make things worse, Man invented bows, knives, spears, and hooks, and began to slaughter the larger animals, birds, and fish for their flesh or their skins. The smaller creatures, such as the frogs and worms, were crushed and trodden upon without thought, out of pure carelessness or contempt. So the animals resolved to consult upon measures for their common safety.
 

The Bears were the first to meet in council, led by old White Bear. After each in turn had complained of the way in which Man killed their friends, ate their flesh, and used their skins for his own purposes, it was decided to begin war at once against him. Once the angry crowd calmed down, White Bear told them that the human beings had a decided advantage -- the bow and arrow. So the Bears decided to make their own weapons.
 

However, the Bears had a problem. Their claws made it impossible to properly draw back on a bow. Some of the younger Bears thought of cutting their claws, but White Bear objected, " If we cut off our claws, we will all starve together. It is better to trust the teeth and claws that nature gave us, for it is plain that Man's weapons were not intended for us."
 

No one could think of any better plan, so the old chief dismissed the council and the Bears dispersed to the woods and thickets without having concerted any way to prevent the increase of the human race. Had the result of the council been otherwise, we should now be at war with the Bears, but as it is, the hunter does not even ask the Bear's permission when he kills one.
 

The Deer next held a council under their chief, Little Deer. After some talk, they resolved to use their magic. Thenceforth, if a hunter wished to kill a Deer, he must take care to ask their pardon for the offense. Any human hunter failing to do so would be stricken with rheumatism. The Deer sent notice of their decision to the nearest settlement of Indians and told them at the same time what to do when necessity forced them to kill one of the Deer tribe. No hunter, who has regard for his health, ever fails to ask pardon of the Deer for killing it.
 

Next came the Fish and Reptiles, who had their own complaints against Man. They held council together and determined to make their victims dream of snakes twining about them in slimy folds and blowing foul breath in their faces, or to make them dream of eating raw or decaying fish, so that they would lose appetite, sicken, and die. This is why people dream about snakes and fish.
 

Finally, the Birds, Insects, and smaller animals came together for the same purpose. They decided to spread disease among the humans. They began then to devise and name so many new diseases, one after another, that had not their invention at last failed them, no one of the human race would have been able to survive.
 

When the Plants, who were friendly to Man, heard what the animals had done, they determined to defeat the latter's evil designs. Each Tree, Shrub, and Herb, down even to the Grasses and Mosses, said, "I shall appear to help Man when he calls upon me in his need." Thus was medicine born. The plants, every one of which has its use if we only knew it, furnish the remedy to counteract the evil wrought by the vengeful animals. Even weeds were made for some good purpose, which we must find out for ourselves. When the doctor (shaman) does not know what medicine to use for a sick man, the spirit of the plant tells him.
 

Source: James Mooney, The Sacred Formulas Of The Cherokees. Published in the Seventh Annual Report, Bureau of American Ethnology, pp. 301-399. 1886.

FREE Guide to Shamanism

The Sacred Hoop Magazine "Guide to Shamanism" is 128 pages of wonderful, image-rich shamanic information. This special (PDF download) issue of Sacred Hoop is a give away, please feel free to share it widely, wherever you think it would be well received. You may share this free issue in any non-commercial way but reference to www.SacredHoop.org must be made if any of it is reprinted anywhere. Sacred Hoop is an independent magazine about Shamanism and Animistic Spirituality. It is based in West Wales, and has been published four times a year since 1993. Sacred Hoop seeks to network those wanting to learn the spiritual teachings of indigenous peoples as a living path of knowledge. In Hoop you will find articles and features by acclaimed contributors about Shamanic Traditions, Storytelling, Myth, Traveler's Tales, Ritual Arts, Sacred Living, Healing, Ceremonies and much more! To get a low-cost subscription please visit: Sacred Hoop.

Free "How to Make Drums" eBook

I began making rawhide frame drums in 1989 after attending my first shamanic drum circle. Birthing shamanic drums became a passion that continues to this day. Crafting and playing a drum that you have made yourself is eminently more satisfying than playing any other. A drum of your own creation will be imbued with your own unique essence. It will become a powerful extension of your essential self. Moreover, the spirit of a drum will pass through your hands into the drum as you make it. As master drummaker Judith Thompson put it, "Making a drum is like pulling your heart together and giving birth to a new part of yourself." To guide you in drum making, I highly recommend the book, How to Make Drums, Tomtoms, and Rattles by Bernard S. Mason. He gives detailed practical instructions on how to craft frame drums, from processing the rawhide to bending wooden slats into hoops. This classic 1938 edition is now a free public domain eBook. Download How to Make Drums.epub.

 

The healing power of a drum is based on the trinity of spirits inherent in the animal skin and the tree that make up the drum and the human player who brings it to life. The spiritual essence of your drum will be determined by the materials that go into its construction. When choosing an animal skin for your drum, take into consideration what animal energies, abilities, and characteristics you would like to invoke. The skin is the vocal chord of the drum’s spirit. Tuvan ethnographer Mongush Kenin-Lopsan explains, "Sounding the drum animates or enlivens it, giving voice to the spirit of the animal whose skin is struck with the beater." Tuvan shamans often name their drums after the animals whose skins are stretched across their frames.

The birth of a shamanic drum adds a new branch to the World Tree/Tree of Life. The drum is connected to the World Tree through the wood of the frame and its association through all trees back to the First Tree. The cedar is known as the Tree of Life by various indigenous peoples; hence cedar wood is often used for drum frames. Cedar frame drums are both lightweight and resonant. Red and yellow cedar both work well. In some cultures, the wood for the frame ideally comes from a lightning-struck tree, bringing the power of instantaneous transformation into the drum. Lightning here is also a metaphor for the striking clarity of the shaman’s reborn soul as it rises from the ego death of his or her initiation.

Keep in mind that your drumstick or beater has a spirit and sound of its own. The best beaters for frame drums are made of strong hardwood with a padded, leather covered head. You can decorate your beater with fur, feathers, beadwork, or engrave sacred symbols into it. Different beaters work better with different drums to bring out the tone qualities. There are hard beaters, semi-hard beaters, soft beaters, and rattle beaters, which are simply beaters with a rawhide or gourd rattle attached to the base of the handle opposite the head. In Tuva, the rattle beater or orba, with its head covered with animal fur and metal rings attached for rattling, is in part for practicing divination and drawing the attention of the spirits. The snare sounds associated with metal, stone, and bone rattles attached to beaters and drum frames are described as "spirit voices."

Free eBook - The Mountain Chant

The Mountain Chant: A Navajo Ceremony
by Washington Matthews

 

Among the Navajo Indians of Arizona, the nine-day Mountain Chant marks a transition in the seasons. It takes place in late winter, at the end of the thunderstorms but before the spring winds arrive. The chant is also considered a healing ceremony, performed not only for individuals who are sick but to restore order and balance in human relationships. Matthews, an army major and one of the earliest Anglo recorders of Navajo culture, describes not only procedures and objects used, but emphasizes the ceremony's vision of humankind's place in a broader scheme. 

 

The ceremony centers around a recitation of a cycle of myths about a Navajo culture hero, Dsilyídje Qaçàl. His journey takes him to the land of the gods and goddesses, where he learns powerful magic. The narrative is compelling and compares well with the Homeric Odyssey, which it resembles both thematically and stylistically. The ceremony incorporates dance, song, prayer, sand-painting, drama, sculpture, conjuring, and even a bit of farce.

Navajo cures are targeted at body, mind, and spirit, calling on the patient, his kin, singer, and divine people to restore his harmony with the world. Before a singer, or medicine man (they are seldom women), is called, a hand trembler, or ndilniihii (often a woman), will diagnose the source of illness. Through prayer, concentration, and sprinkling of sacred pollen, her hand will tremble and pinpoint the cause, which then determines the proper ceremonial cure. Then a medicine man, or hataałii, meaning "singer," who knows the proper ceremony is called and preparations are set in motion.

There are nearly 100 Navajo chants of varying range and intricacy. Originating from the Creation Story, they are so nuanced and complex that a medicine man learns only one or two ways over many years of apprenticeship. Ceremonies last anywhere from one to nine days (the Mountain Way Chant lasts nine days) and include chants, songs, prayers, lectures, dances, sweat baths, prayer sticks, and sand paintings. In order for a ceremony to be effective, everything must be done as prescribed in the legends. Download The Mountain Chant.epub.

Free eBook: The Sacred Formulas of the Cherokees

This eBook is a reprint of the classic 1891 ethnographic study of Cherokee shamanic practice by the gifted anthropologist James Mooney. Based on several manuscripts written by Cherokee shamans, it includes the actual text of the rituals to treat various diseases, information on herbs used, love spells, hunting rituals, weather spells etc., and, in fact, embodying almost the whole of the sacred rites of Cherokee shamanism. The original manuscripts were written by the shamans of the tribe, for their own use, in the Cherokee characters invented by Sikwa'ya (Sequoyah) in 1821, and were obtained, with the explanations, either from the writers themselves or from their surviving relatives. 

 

Originally published as two separate volumes by the U.S. Bureau of Ethnology, James Mooney's History, Myths, and Sacred Formulas of the Cherokees has enduring significance for both Native Americans and non-Indian people. The book contains the full texts of James Mooney's Myths of the Cherokee (1900) and The Sacred Formulas of the Cherokees (1891), with an exclusive biographical introduction by George Ellison, James Mooney and the Eastern Cherokees. Mooney's exhaustive research preserved essential Cherokee history, lore, and rituals in a time when such knowledge was dying because younger Cherokees were accepting Western education, commerce, and medicine. The first section of this text covers Cherokee history from the time of DeSoto's search for gold in the 1600s to the late 1800s when the tribal consciousness nearly came to an end.

The second section reveals the rich Cherokee mythology, detailing how the earth was made, how all "people" (both two-and four-footed) came about, and how they could all converse with each other. The third section of the book provides 28 sacred formulas from a mass of over 600 prayers, formulas, and songs. These formulas are centered on such things as medicine, hunting, love, finding lost articles, and frightening away storms. Exclusive to this edition, George Ellison's biographical portrait of James Mooney emphasizes the ethnologist's timeliness and his empathy for the Cherokees and their rich heritage. Completing this book are photographs of many of the chiefs and shamans, a glossary of terms, an index, and an immense section on notes and parallels to the Cherokee myths. Download The Sacred Formulas of the Cherokees.   

Free Online I Ching Reading

Divination is the art of seeing and interpreting signs in everything around us. The goal of shamanic divination is to encourage well-being by helping a person live in harmony with the universe around them. One of the best known systems of divination is the I Ching, or Book of Changes. For some 3,000 years, people have turned to the I Ching to help them uncover the meaning of their experience and to bring their actions into harmony with their underlying purpose. The I Ching is an invaluable divination tool in the shamanic art of restoring harmony and balance. Consult the I Ching online using a javascript hexagram generator based on the yarrow stalk method. The result is the immediacy of the coin tossing method with the reliability of the yarrow stalk method.

 

The program is based on my book I Ching: The Tao of Drumming -- the only shamanic interpretation of the I Ching from a rhythmic perspective. A synthesis of shamanic drum ways and Taoist philosophy, The Tao of Drumming provides for the first time the rhythmic structure of the 64 hexagrams or potential human situations. Drum patterns derived from the hexagram images render the essence of each archetype of experience into sound, giving it physical, mental, and spiritual impulse. Through the natural law of resonance, the drummer then embodies the qualities and attributes necessary to effect change or harmonize with change in any given situation.

More than an oracle, the I Ching is a keyboard or periodic table of rhythm archetypes. The key to understanding the I Ching and its place in your life is to realize that the universe is made of vibrational energy; that it is a single, flowing, rhythmic being. According to quantum physics, everything in the universe, from the smallest subatomic particle to the largest star, has an inherent vibrational pattern. The entire universe is created through vibration and can be influenced through the vibrations of drumming. The Tao of Drumming is a shamanic tool for altering or harmonizing the vibrational state of the drummer or a particular situation in the community. With clear and practical explanations of each of the 64 hexagrams along with useful exercises and illustrations, this innovative handbook demonstrates how drumming these simple rhythm archetypes brings the essential self into accord with the pattern or way of cyclical change, and that way is known as Tao. Find an I Ching Rhythm for your need of the moment.

 

Free eBook: Shamanism in Siberia

Maria A. Czaplicka was a Polish anthropologist who is best known for her ethnography of Siberian shamanism. First published in 1914, Shamanism in Siberia is still relevant, because many of its Uralic, Altaic, and Paleosiberian peoples continue to practice shamanism even in modern times. This comprehensive study provides an in-depth analysis of the most important object in Siberian shamanism--the shamanic drum. It may be said that all over Siberia, where there is a shaman there is also a drum. Czaplicka establishes a universal framework describing how the drum as a symbol transmits symbolic meanings among shamans, people and the spirit world. Among the Neo-Siberians all their philosophy of life is represented symbolically in the drum. Download Shamanism in Siberia.