Drumming

Indigenous cultures have been practicing community percussion for thousands of years. Now people all over the world are taking up drumming in astounding numbers. At a grass roots level, small community drum circles are springing up. While some drum circles are content to jam and make a lot of rhythmic noise, others prefer to explore shamanic drumming.

For centuries drumming has been used to build community harmony, create healing, uplift energy and delve deeper into spirituality. Drumming is a time-honored method of healing and helping others. The full moon creates a time each month where we tap into our own power through the healing vibration of rhythm, chant and movement.

Drum circles provide the opportunity for people of like mind to unite for the attainment of a shared objective. There is power in drumming alone, but that power recombines and multiplies on many simultaneous levels in a group of drummers. The drums draw individual energies together, unifying them into a consolidated force. Synchronized drumming is the most effective, so individuals should alternate the responsibility of setting the tempo and leading the group.

A drum circle is a gathering of people in a circle playing drums and percussion instruments. According to many, drum circles boost energy, uplift spirits, bring healing and release negativity. It is an ancient and magical tradition to meet around the fire, to share our lives with our tribe and drum; it is also a spiritual, communal, therapeutic music experience in which participants join together in a circle with drums, move and dance using various percussion instruments, voices, and other non-electrical devices. The full moon is a good time to let go of stress, worries and to just be present with your heartbeat and with the sound of the drums. It is also a great way of building community.

Full Moon Rituals are generally centered around celebrating what has already become. This is a time to appreciate what you have accomplished, yourself or in a group, or for what the universe has provided for you since the last Full Moon. Celebration and gratitude are the energies that to accentuate during your Full Moon rituals. Honor what you have created.

Creating rituals around the energy of the Moon has been an ancient tradition across cultures for millennia to help us connect with Spirit, a sense of divinity embodied by the Moon. All around the globe, all beings watch the same Moon brighten our night sky to only to become slowly swallowed again, then miraculously begin to grow back into fullness. Each phase of the Moon describes a different energy or quality, and special spiritual rituals can be performed around every phase to call in those specific energies. Full and New Moons, with their energies of building and receding, respectively, are potent times to honor the great mysteries, the unknowable, the intimacy of our spiritual lives, whatever form that may take.

Astrologically, the Moon represents our emotions, our inner self. These are aspects we may keep hidden safely away from the rough edges of the outside world. Or perhaps you are an emotional creature, freely sharing your love and sorrow. Vulnerability is an attribute of Moon priestesses. Water is the Moon’s element, energies of emotions swelling and receding. Deep feelings and sometimes tears, our emotions elementally expressed, are welcome in the Moon circle.

Would you like to learn more about lunar timing, symbolism, and evidence across cultural and religious traditions?

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The Moon herself symbolizes our inner world, what happens in the dark, our unconscious, the hidden and habitual:

"The Moon is an astonishing companion
on the human journey.
She both lights the way
and invites us into the dark."

~ Bethroot Gwynn © Mother Tongue Ink ~