During Heartland, Leslie decided to hold an impromptu Shamanic Drumming workshop and naturally, I attended. After recovering from the previous nights’ festivities at the fire, I had been drinking nothing but water all day, so I was extremely clearheaded when we began shortly after dark in First Field. As requested, I had brought a blanket and pillow as had the other participants and we quickly had them all laid out. Leslie then instructed us to lay out flat on our backs with no part of our bodies touching another part.
Once we were all comfortable, Leslie began by “sound smudging” us with a deer toe rattle. I could literally feel the waves of energy from the sound of the rattle washing over me, taking away all the distractions and cares of the day, leaving me calm and relaxed… ready for the next step.
Leslie began to drum softly, varying her tempos, and gradually the outside world melted away and I found myself standing in front of a stone archway leading into the side of a hill or mound. Above the doorway was a glowing red symbol, similar to a backwards “Z”, turned on its’ side. (Although I didn’t recognize it during the vision, in later discussions I realized that it was the rune for Victory)
A bright light shone from the other side of the doorway, preventing me from seeing what lay on the other side, but I elected to continue my journey and passed through the doorway….and found myself flying upward into the sky. Before me lay an enormous green disc, similar in texture to interwoven tree branches and it was rotating and blocking my path forward. As I got closer and watched it turn I realized that there was a gap, like a bite taken out of a pizza and that, if I timed it right, I could hit the gap and pass beyond it to a vortex leading upward into the sky. As I entered the vortex, I felt myself passing through a series of worlds, each more pristine and beautiful than the last until I emerged into the Fourth World. I inhabited the body of a serpent and observed a very curious vision….that of a rabbit stalking a coyote.
At this time, I once again became aware of the drum and slowly started to reenter my body. As we relaxed and the group shared our experiences, I related my vision including the rune at the beginning, to my companions. Leslie was particularly impressed with the clarity of my vision and proceeded to use a Huna technique to install the rune into my chest. All in all, it was a terrific experience and I would highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in journey work using drumming or other shamanic techniques.
The next afternoon, Leslie held a second shamanic drumming workshop, which I also attended. We started well before dark in order to attend Wendy Rule’s concert, which turned out to be somewhat distracting since all the bugs hadn’t quite gone to bed yet and them crawling on or landing on me had a tendency to bring me at least partly back to my body while I was in trance.
Leslie started much as the night before, having us get comfortable and then sound smudging us. As I mentioned before, my visions tended to be fragmented because of the insect visitors but one thing I remember clearly….I saw animal spirits of all types and species but they all had one thing in common…they were pure white and they all seemed to be gathering at an important council, presided over by three white ravens.
After completing the workshop and sharing our experiences, I rushed off to attend the concert and imagine my surprise and wonder when one of the first songs I heard started “I saw three ravens yesterday…”
At HPF 2009, I once again had the opportunity to attend a shamanic drumming workshop with Leslie and Aaron (although Leslie had changed her name to Morgan) and this time it was just Morgan, Aaron and I and it was held shortly after the end of Heartland as I was too busy to make it to her workshops during the festival.
The circumstances were much the same as on the previous occasions….I had been drinking water only for several hours and Aaron and I were laid out on the ground head to head. Because Morgan was concerned about distraction from some light drumming at the Bardic Circle, she announced that she was going to try something different. After sound smudging us, she held her drum directly over our heads as she drummed. This produced a wonderful sonic massage that totally obscured the outside world, leaving only the beat of the drum.
At first, all I saw was blackness, although the blackness seemed to throb in time with the drum. In time, I began to see the outlines of a face, thick-browed and heavy-lipped, much like the face of one of the Easter Island heads. As my vision clarified however, I realized it was a great Oak tree, or perhaps Oak Spirit would be more appropriate. There was an ouroboros, a serpent with its own tail held in its mouth, encircling the trunk of the Oak Spirit. The Oak Spirit spoke directly to me, saying, “All of the Elements are present in Me…My branches taste the Air, My feet are rooted in the Earth, the Water of the world flows in My veins and My body gives forth Fire. Therefore take this, my dance, and share it that people may once more dance in harmony with the elements and all of Nature which I represent.”
Then the Oak Spirit began to dance, lifting its branches into the air and lifting first one foot into the air and then the other, stomping back and forth loudly in time to the drum. And , as the tempo of the drum began to increase, the whole forest around the Oak Spirit began to dance, until all the world was dancing in time to the drum.
As I gradually began to return to my body, I almost thought I heard/felt these words…”Remember the Dance…”
