1st August 2015
When I last mentioned Yggdrasil, my Medicine drum, I was very excited. She was still drying and her beauty was plain to see. Unfortunately the birthing of the drums made that weekend wasn’t sufficient to connect Yggdrasil to Mother Earth and Spirit.
The day after making the drums, we took them outside, around a small fire and sang and danced. It was a lot of fun, and if the workshop has been about making a drum for entertainment, it would have been perfect. But Yggdrasil has a history and a future and needed to be connected.
Our Teacher guided us in singing a song to each of the four directions; a song about beauty; buffalo woman and a couple of other songs. She had arranged for someone to call in and video us and the singing and dancing around the fire seemed, at first like a rehearsal. And then a relaxed performance during the filming. It was not anything like the Ceremony I had expected. But maybe my expectations were too high.
I had expected a formal meditation to give thanks and gratitude and honour to the animals who had given their lives for our drums. No meditation, just a word in passing whilst Teacher smudged us and the skins. It may have been enough, and certainly I didn’t feel the lack at the time. Once made, I expected a Blessing, a time to set the intention for our drums, a Consecration. The singing and dancing were fun, but I don’t believe I was the only person noticing the lack of anything of depth.
When I got home, I was greeted by my husband and my dogs. Both dogs are used to me banging on drums – I have an Egyptian Darbukka and a Daf (Frame drum), so drum noise isn’t a problem. But when Orson saw Yggdrasil, he had a full-blown panic attack. If it wasn’t so upsetting for him, it would have been funny. An 85kg Newfoundland dog terrified of a drum. I found him cowering on Mal’s bed and it took ages to calm him down.
Over the next few days I realised the problem was because Yggdrasil was in limbo. Proper respect had not been given to the deer for her skin; the intention hadn’t been set and connection to the spirit world hadn’t been made.
I spoke with another Shamanic friend, and his wife. I also spoke with crystal shop owner and a friend who is a psychic medium. I put crystals into the drum, until I could work out what was needed to bring Yggdrasil into her full potential.
In the next few posts, I will share the story of Yggdrasil – and how she has been re-birthed and is ready to reach her full potential.
Krone Auri'An 