call of the standing people...

dearest ayllu...

had an interesting dream about a week ago... and i think i'm still absorbing or integrating this little journey... and i'm not sure i've understood it's message yet either....

in the dream i found myself out among much green-ness - and it was quite dark... very late deep into the night... in a place i had never been before... i have to say not much happened in this dream.... but what i remember... was that i found myself standing in the middle of many, many big trees... some kind of vast, strange, ethereal forest... and i don't know how i got there or arrived... what i found intriguing was... that, something about the trees were very different... after much silent stillness,i finally realized that all the trees around me were very large in diameter.. particularly their lower-girth trunks... like obese, swollen bellies falling down all-around themselves... it was almost as if they were all... very full with something or my sense of it was... they were pregnant... very pregnant... now, really... can trees be pregnant?

interesting...

i really don't know...

i welcome any feedback or if anyone else has had any "tree" dreamings of late...

and so... thought i'd share a picture today... a beautiful photo of a "pow-wow" style community drum that was lovingly created... this heart-drum was dreamed and created completely out of "heart"... with it's frame be-came of one piece... the gift came from a member of the standing people, (the tree people)...

we will know more in a few weeks... whether our community drum will be gifted from the heart of "one"... from the standing people... i invite you all... to let us pray and find our dreaming...

much love and light,
weaver (((o)))

answering the drum call...

weaver and All,
I look forward to working together to build this drum...
Thanks for setting up the blog, weaver.
Pat. Owen

breath was the first drummer...

dearest ayllu...

wanted to share the following piece of writing... one of the most beautful writings i have ever read about the drum by Dru Kristel... seems like this writing could help us all connect with this project beginning... from elemental source... it's helping me to reconnect again and to reconnect to wyda... the blessed wind... to allow my body, as body-rhythm to connect, commune... and to remember where we come from..........
with much light and love...
weaver (((o)))

.........Wind was the First Instrument... Humankind did not invent music... music was already in Nature. Motion gives arising to all sound. The motion of the wind. The motion of the waters. The motion of the stones. The motion in the fire. The wind alone is an entire orchestra. The motion of the body, all of its internal noises. Music is a mirror we hold up to ourselves. In it we see reflected everything we have ever experienced. We see the world around us. We see ourselves. We can see how we listen. We can see how we pay attention. We experience presence. We can see how we make love. We see how we evolve. We can see how we dance...

...Dance in a circle, the shape of the drum, the shape of the world. The first drum, the human body, with its senses and its rhythms, then the world, with its endless variety of sounds and rhythms. Lightning-flash, winds blowing and the rain drops falling into a small pool. The senses sense nature, and have their arising from that very nature that they are sensing. Nature's way of realizing itself. And yet what is it that is actually experiencing the sensing?

The listener; did this consciousness come from nature too? A way to sense the sensing? The Earth has taught us all we know about music. It has given us its music. It gives us the tools to make its music. In every sound there is music. Visitors from space bring the earth new songs. They come as beautiful stones of every kind. The universe and the earth make love in this way and they sing together. They have taught us their song in this way. The scratching cicada is the sound of the medicine rattle and our hearts drum out the rhythm as we are giving thanks through appreciation for life itself...

In this way we have learned to play the drum. In this way we have learned to sing, dance and make love. It is all a response, a response to life and being alive in the world. It is the song our parents want us to sing. It is the dance our parents dance. They have taught us this out of love. We are in love when we play music and when we dance. This makes everyone happy. Being in love this way reminds us of our source and there is great joy. The music flows like a flag in the wind and the dance is like that of birds or deer. We play this music and the world listens, impartially, for to nature, it is just another passage in an endless stream of music...

For nature, the entire universe is its symphony, its orchestra and its audience.........

*Excerpted from Breath Was the First Drummer: A Treatise on Drums, Drumming and Drummers by Dru Kristel

a first drum....

dearest ayllu...

just to add to the part i wrote last week about Shiva's drum...

it's interesting to note that he also creates the drum... in the story of Shiva and Ash Demon, he finds a coco de mer, a sea coconut that washes up on the shores of India... and so, with the flame of his third eye, he slices the coconut in half... he then covers each half with skin from the snakes that encircle his body, and then begins to play...

from the drum on his right there comes the sound of birds singing, of brooks bubbling, of leaves rustling in the breeze... all the creatures of the world stop to hear his music...

and when he plays the drum on the left, there comes the sound of the earth shaking, of booming thunder, of trees cracking in a storm...

and sooo, this was the very first tabla drum... now known so famously in India and all over the world...

with much light and love...
weaver (((o)))

drum...

Drum Drum Drum
How do I, a creature listening to Drum, describe what it is, what it means, what is Drum, a Drum, Drum Drum Drum ...

Drum:
Roget's New Millennium™ Thesaurus
..."boom, pulsate, reverberate, roar, tattoo, thrum, thunder, build up, cry up, communicate, declare, disclose, herald, inform, make known, notify, proclaim, romote, reveal, uncover, unmask..."

Does this help, me this creature listening...?

Words, images, voices, dreams, callings, longings ... they speak to me this creature ...

This creature called to co-create with others seen and unseen, a Drum Drum Drum ...

Q'ero teach, "Look with the eyes of your soul and engage the essential,"

... Thy Will Be Done ...

shiva's drum of creation...

dearest ayllu...

Shiva's Drum - the Damaru

have been doing some pondering today about Shiva... a shaman, warrior, mystic god from the Hindu tradition... an encompassing spirit who existed way before religions, before people and before creation itself... who also, in the beginning of the world ruled from on high, from his home on Mount Khailash...

there's much to learn from his story and myth of his "dance of creation" that i won't go into totally here but... if you wanted to learn more... just do a search on "Shiva" (as a keyword) on the internet and hoards of info and his story will pop up...

for a number of years, i've been chanting a particular chant to Shiva...

Om Namaha Shivaya!
(pronounced... OM NAH-MAH-HA SHEE-VAH-YAH) ...a mantra that i first learned when i became aware of a luminous teacher that showed up for me called Babaji... (some writings claim that Babaji is actually Shiva)... when he was in human form and resided on this earth, he taught that this mantra was "the mantra of all mantras"... "the most powerful"... and an eternal name for God... he taught us to chant this mantra every day... he also said it to be the first words uttered by the Creative Source... the oldest mantra... it can be translated as "i bow to and surrender to... take refuge in Shiva"... Lord Shiva is known as the Doer of Good, and the mantra is also interpreted to mean, "i bow to whatever Good is happening and to Whomsoever is doing it.

and another translation of this sanskrit mantra is... "Om and salutations... May the elements of this creation abide in me in full manifestation."

We celebrate the dance of energy that is creation! Shiva is the personification of consciousness. Shiva does everything... he is the creator, sustainer and destroyer.

I find it interesting and intriguing that some of the symbology of Shiva coincides with some of the Inca cosmology ... in one hand he holds a trident (symbol of the three worlds) and the other hand, the damaru, a small drum with two sides separated from each other by a thin neck-like structure that symbolizes the two utterly dissimilar states of existence, the unmanifest and manifest...

also...the damaru, the hourglass-shaped drum... is known as the "monkey drum"... and considered to be one of the most powerful drums of all... according to Hindu mythology, it is through this drum that the universe was created, and through it the universe will be destroyed and renewed again in the endless cycles (rhythms) of time.... to me, this "sounds" very much like the Inca "pachakuti" 500-year time cycles (pachas) that turn over and over... maybe?... what do you think?...

and to note... according to Q'ero prophecy... we're experiencing and a part of a pachakuti turning over right at this time and moment...

the sounding of Shiva's drum produced the first sound (nada, the source of creation) in the void of nothingness; its pulse setting up a rhythm to which Shiva began his dance of creation - From his drum and his dance, the world came into being... way cool huh?...

Sooo... just interesting to note that in this story... creation began because of the "sounding" of a simple two-sided drum...

and we are about to embark on building and create together a simple two-sided drum...

and so... i think about the healing of our blessed sweet earth mother and us?... and how lucky we are that we have access to the gift of the drum...

Om Namaha Shivaya!

with much light and love...
weaver (((o)))

thank you weaver!!

Thank you so much for moving so quickly on this weaver. Richard and I are as excited as the Wallins at this opportunity to sound our prayers for unity and peace with this drum. We are heading for the ocean the month of July and maybe we can meet them at their place to ask the great trees about the frame - a possibility anyways. There is some urgency to this so I'm anxious not to drop the ball on this.

Much love to you all!

Valerie

coming together...

Wow, Carol, what a beautiful write up and poem. goosebumps are tingling along my body, reading it. It was both fun and exciting at our gathering watching the dynamics of everyone's ideas coming together.

Rick and I have been excited about continuing on with this project and contributing in any way we can. And yes, I agree that we are hearing the call of the earth mother - there is definitely something resonating inside me surrounding this drum.

Rick and I are thinkinig that we will make a trip to Read in July and arrange to bring back some "slices" of what I lovingly call my "mother tree" (she has so graciously hosted several babies growing out of her sides.) Our plan is to go into the forest and ask permission of the tree and let what we hear guide us in our selection and decision. Rick is also going to go up Rose Hill and see if there is anything suitable for building a frame from the denim pine that is lying on the sides of the road there.

We look for guidance from everyone regarding the progression of this project - Wouldn't it be great to have a big piece of land where we could host this drum and have fire ceremonies and gather......

a beginning...

dearest ayllu...

well... here we are... since our wonderful gathering last weekend i can't quite believe how a simple conversation about denim wood with Pamela got us to where we are today... and i thank you Valerie for lovingly reminding me to start that conversation again...

our blessed earth mother is calling us and i believe we're all hearing her call...

hmmmnn.... a vision... that was told to me many years ago... one that has been nagging for quite some time and is finally emerging from within all of us and i believe rising from deep down within our blessed earth mother's core... she is constantly calling us to reconnect with her heart... and the drum is the way for sure.... because the sacred drum is the voice of our earth mother... the bridge to the spirit realm... i knew that this vision couldn't just come from me!... maybe that's why i couldn't wrap my "head" around it for sooo long...

i think "we" as an ayllu can now...

and so... here we are at the beginning of all this... a journey together.... i am thrilled that you all want to do this... and wow... what's happened so far in just one evening of being gathered... much conversation and ideas about how to build or transport a possible tree trunk for the frame... the connections to the possible hides... wow... quite the start....

i invite you all to journey on all of this and share your dreams with us... as we dream this sacred drum into being together as a community...

on this blog, i invite you all to dialogue together... it is here we can bring this vision and dream of our sacred ayllu drum into being... please feel free to post your thoughts, dreams... or questions, etc... here at any time...

if you would like to join us, please email me at stardrum@yahoo.com.

with much light and love...
weaver (((o)))

a vision...

dearest ayllu...

a dream...
to drum with our earth mother...

to connect...
be in harmony
is all we seek...

calm balance...
fresh clarity...
to seek resonance, tone, timbre, pulse...

linking up
to be one, once again...
return to source in unity
together with our blessed earth mother...

she seeks us by always
helping us remember...
being there, a constant...
offering support and nurturance...

let's offer our love and hope
with clear, whole, sound...
re-connect with her deep heart-pulse...
her rhythm so constant
so strong...

rhythm gives us intent...
she keeps us going
melody is like thought...
be of like mind
harmony is emotion...

begin by giving back...
as one people
one heart, one song
side by side harmonizing...
with our body...
around her body
at one moment...
now!

1994 weaver

with much light and love...
weaver (((o)))

a prophecy...

"When 8000 sacred drums sound together,
an intense healing of Mother Earth will commence."
- 500 year-old Otomi Prophecy


And some others...

Inca... Call it the "Age of Meeting Ourselves Again".

Hopi... Predict a 25 year period of purification followed by End of Fourth World and beginning of the Fifth.

Mayan... Call it the "end days" or the end of time as we know it

Maori... Say that as the veils dissolve there will be a merging of the physical & spiritual worlds.

Zulu... Believe that the whole world will be turned upside down.

Hindu... Kali Yuga (end time of man). The Coming of Kalki & critical mass of Enlightened Ones.

Aztec... Call this the Time of the Sixth Sun. A time of transformation. Creation of new race.

Pueblo... Acknowledge it’ll be the emergence into the Fifth World

Cherokee... Their ancient calendar ends exactly at 2012 as does the Mayan calendar.

Tibetan... Kalachakra teachings are prophesies left by Buddha predicting Coming of the Golden Age.

Egypt... According to the Great Pyramid (stone calendar), present time cycle ends in year 2012 AD

Dogon... Say that the spaceship of the visitors, the Nommo, will return in the form of a blue star... (whoa... that one is a tad wild... i guess no mistake that i chose a blue pleiadian star for our blog logo....)

• project updates...

Calling all Ayllu members to join us on a beautiful dreaming of our own sacred community drum...

From within our Ayllu Visioning Meeting that happened in Kamloops last Winter (2007)... a vision was put forth of a dream of creating our own Ayllu Community Drum... A drum that would be of service to the healing of our blessed earth mother, Pachamama and our Ayllu Community in the Kamloops sacred valley and outer area(s)...

The time has come to dream this sacred drum into being... the creation has already begun and been in process with a small commited group of our Ayllu...

If the spirit of the drum calls you, we welcome all Ayllu members to join us...

OUR AYLLU SACRED DRUM GATHERING: We are meeting together September (4) 5, 6, and 7, 2008 in Sorrento, BC (@ Sorrento Centre) to help us complete/create this special ayllu drum (sacred ceremony will be included in this weekend)... Please contact Michelle Morris by email as soon as you can if you would like to attend.

Please see our weekend agenda here on the post above and specifics for registering and lodgining/meals, etc... We welcome all ayllu members even you don't how to build a drum - we will learn together as ayllu!
-The cut-off date for booking meals/lodging with Sorrento Centre is Friday, August 29th.

we call all... artists... musicians... crafters... woodworkers... fabric artists... holders of space... as this project will require ALL of our talents and skills TOGETHER!... we welcome all those who will want to help and be a part in any way with all aspects of the creation of this special drum... i.e.: the sanding and finishing of the frame, the pulling of the hides... the creation of the drum sticks - including possible adornment of feathers, beadwork or?... the building and finishing of a drum stand... the sewing of a protective cover... etc... We also welcome donations towards the cost of this project...

There is much dreaming and planning to be done now as we meet to build, construct and create...

This sacred drum is becoming OUR Ayllu Community Drum in this moment... and we hope you will join us... we can't do this without you!

with much munay,
light and love... weaver (((o)))

------------------------------------

Please come back to this post page for updates
and the "wish list" of what's happening next...

• 01/01/10: During the late Fall 2009, a new project has been began that involves our dear windwalker... the Kamloops Ayllu has engaged a 1000 day drumming project where they have committed to "drumming and sounding" windwalker each and every day for 1000 days. More info and updates will be posted soon re this project...

• 09/07/08: The Ayllu gathers in Sorrento to complete windwalker over the weekend... and what a complete magical weekend it was... After she was completed, on the morning of the 7th, we dedicated her in ceremony - we are now in service together!!!

• 07/01/08: Dates have been set for September 5, 6, and 7, 2008... please see the post above called "windwalker has awoken" for more information and a draft outline for the weekend...

• 06/01/07: Donations are being accepted towards this project... major part of cost for this project will be obtaining the hides (2), which we estimate could cost from $800.00 to $1,400.00 or more... if you would like to contribute, please email weaver at stardrum@yahoo.com or contact Pamela Jensen in Kamloops... or through paypal up on the left sidebar - thank you for your support to this special project...

• 07/16/07: Journey to Read Island previous wknd... Sitka Spruce (blown down) Drum frame found!... and has been brought back to Kamloops... it is now being cored, drying out and residing at Rick & Ann Wallin's... we invite ayllu members to visit the frame to continue prayers and dreamings to ask our drum "what's next?"... feel free to give them a call or attend the next sacred fire ceremony to participate... contact info/dates for next fire ceremony is posted at www.shamantalk.com ...info about this sacred journey above...
• 07/29/07: Fire/Drum Ceremony Gathering... which included group ayllu prayers for windwalker... info posted above...

• 09/25/07: Date change for Sacred Drum Creation Ayllu Gathering... to give our drum sufficient time to dry, we've changed the date of our gathering to SPRING 2008 to be held in Sorrento, BC - Check back here for exact dates...

We plan to soak the hides in Shuswap Lake in partnership with the Lake Deva... more details about this weekend to follow.