Monthly Archives: May 2014

Getting To Know Your Shamanic Drum

Shamanic DrumHello Friends. I’m almost back in the shamanic world again. Spring at “The Grove” is always a busy time, and a lot of things get postponed (like meals, accounting, blogs, housecleaning…) This spring we’ve been putting up over 300′ of field fence around the garden (including cutting trees for around 40 fence posts), getting new beds made and planting, as well as building a pen for our baby chicks and caring for the land. Keeps us out of mischief 🙂

So this morning over tea, I got a chance to catch up on one of the blogs I read, Shamanic Drumming by Michael Drake. We’ve known Michael for years and enjoy his blog and the book (The Shamanic Drum: A Guide To Sacred Drumming) and CD (The Shamanic Drum Instructional ) he has on shamanic drumming.

As you all know, we do drum making playshops/workshops and help people create their own drums. Many of these drums are used for shamanic healing and some are simply instruments used to make joyful sounds (hmm…I bet that’s still a form of shamanic healing…)

During our drum making playshops we introduce ceremony many times during the workshop, offering thanks and healing to the spirits that offered themselves to be used in creating the drum, and welcoming the spirit of the drum. Continue reading →

Hummingbird – Open Your Heart

hummingbirdI can always tell when Spring is truly here by the return of the hummingbirds. I keep a feeder on the front deck and delight in the antics of the “hummers”. This Spring, as I sat at my desk working, I was visited at my office window by a lovely green hummingbird. It just hovered in the window and watched. The messages came clear, one being that a feeder in my office window was needed. Our friend who was visiting from The Netherland saw to it that a new feeder was quickly added. So, now I get to work and enjoy their multiple visits. Of course, they torment the cat who sits on the window sill and watches. I have my very own Nature Channel 🙂

The hummingbird is associated with love and joy. In MEDICINE CARDS: THE DISCOVERY OF POWER THROUGH THE WAYS OF ANIMALS, Jamie Sams and David Carson tell us that the hummingbird is the creature that opens the heart. When we connect with hummingbird consciousness, we delight in the sheer joy of living, and of living the bliss of loving. Our life becomes a wonderland of sensuous delights…We live for beauty, delighting in flowers, aromas, fine mist, and delicate tastes…We laugh and enjoy creation…We appreciate the magic of being alive and the of the beauty around us.

Hummingbird feathers open the heart chakra.  Continue reading →