will windwalker call us back?

i wonder...

do we need to heal as individuals before the Ayllu does or does the collective need to heal so we can individually?? ...will windwalker call us back to who we really are?

she is already calling.....are we willing to listen to her?

some will listen but many refuse to hear her most urgent callings.....how ...can we hear enough for all of us? ....if all are not hearing windwalker, what are others listening to that i am refusing to hear also?

am i just too consumed with my own navel yet again? i talk ...i coax....i step forward and back....to whom and from whom? ...we are all sisters and brothers and yet we drop our heads and fail to recognise others on the path we are all travelling, albeit at differentt times and at different paces? ...do i continue to pray for ayni?....you bet...can i dream it?....you bet...am i willing to take action?....you bet...what action do i need to take????.....will we allow the great gifts of this time like windwalker to show us the way....i hope so....i truly hope so....let's keep it in our vision and our dreaming front and center...that we can do...you and i and one more and one more and one more.............

i begged an ayllu friend of mine to go to fire with me recently....she pulled out yet again at the last minute....what is that about?.....i thought we were travelling this path together....only for a little while and although there is no rancor between us....we are simply drifting apart....i am sad yet i am powerless and i chose not to hang on so tightly that we can not have those wonderful moments of communion in munay and ayni again.....whenever our paths cross....as they sometimes do momentarily...

i so wish we could all be on the same page....but then what page would that be? ...when i see the cracks i too am fearful that it will all just fall apart....like everyone else...i so long for the oneness of us all.....that we experience through the great sound of the sacred drum....windwalker....will we get to hear her sing? will we sing with her?

i hope so....meet you at the drum sometime...
love and light......Val T...

the grandmothers remind me...

dearest dear ayllu...

well... equinox has passed and i think spring is finally here... certainly, with regards to the calendar, though, sometimes i wonder, with the same-old cold and damp, incessent rainy weather that never ends - will we ever see father sun again?... i really miss his healing warmth and positive light...

sometimes, i feel like i'm turning into a mole...

though, last week, inti-ti-ti finally did peek out for a wee-bit... and my partner and i decided we better get out "right now" for a much-needed walk - take advantage of a short-windowed opportunity... we better go now or we'll miss out! so, off we headed, into our own lovely-wooded "garden grove drive" neighbourhood...

it felt so wonderful to feel the sun's warmth on our faces and to breathe in the gentle wind's fresh air, to hear children laughing and playing at the park and witness the busy birds and squirrels as they celebrated new life - it was sure great to be outside for a change...

as we were heading back nearing our humble abode... something caught my eye up in a tree... i realized it was a flicker rebounding off a cedar bough flying away, and then something fell on top of my head... it was a small piece of a pine branch that was now lying on the sidewalk in front of me... i picked it up while thinking to myself...

"hmmmn... what's this?"

... here we go again.. another "bonk" maybe?...

"hmmmn... ?"

the flicker is a a beautiful woodpecker native to this area where we live... and is one of my close spirit-guides of the winged-ones that often shows up to tell me something or usually reminds me of the important stuff... she often calls at me... when maybe, i may of fallen sleep from my busyness or get lazy about stuff... the flicker, being a woodpecker, is the drummer... and flicker also represents for me, the elder spirits - the wise old grandmother ancestors who are usually known to share their stuff by knocking on my weary head at about 3 or 4am in the wee hours when i'm trying to sleep.....

and so, dear flicker got me to thinking about drums and drumming this day... or what is it that i could have forgotten of late???

she helped me remember... ponder and wonder about how our dear sacred drum - the frame of, windwalker, might be doing... i truly wished i lived closer to where she is presently residing and being care-taken - up in kamloops, in our sacred ayllu valley... it is such a distance away... i wish i could visit her more often...

it's been one long winter and i wonder how she has faired during her long dark winter sleep... i haven't seen her for quite sometime - since late last summer when she shared teaching about the sacred sound of dolphins...... i have prayed that she has been drying more slowly during this past while...

as last fall, we all became a tad concerned about how quickly tiny, small cracks were starting to form and show up all around the edges of her frame... we know that the journey of her being brought abruptly from her westcoast rainforest home to the hot dry heat of kamloops would have certainly been a shock for sure... and rick took immediate precautions of that by keeping her constantly wet and moist to hopefully slow down the drying... but despite all this effort, she continued to quickly crack... which then meant rick had to completely coat her in oil to really slow down the process, to again hopefully avoid a complete cracking-through...

but also... a couple of us couldn't help but notice that those tiny cracks and fissures were, maybe, a reflection of the "cracks" and breaks that have crept and emerged within our ayllu community over the past few years...

i have to be honest and say... that i can't fathom, or really understand why the cracks and splits have shown up amongst us... it baffles me... and saddens me... it saddens many of us... why is it, that even through all the healing and the amount of deep inner work we have gone through together as a community including the shiftings for ourselves individually, that we still sometimes revert to the old-way paradigms of...

fear...
gossip...
separation...
competition...
jealousy...
hurt and anger and most of all...

assumption...?

i know that we are all just human... but sometimes that old saying just feels like an excuse to me...

however, i can't help but be reminded by my guides, our teachers, our blessed ancestors - of all the medicine teachings we've received - from the dear Q'ero who continue to freely pass on sacred knowledge on to us, through the blood lineage... those ceke-magnet lines that pulse out through our mesas to mighty apu-mountain spirits that connect us to a global ayllu web and each other... the spirit-callings, the nudgings that we bravely acknowledged and committed to when we ceremonially received ancient rites of passage... the healings that we all profoundly experienced and received in circle "together"... all the teachings that we yearned for and believe have "changed" us.... i really wonder... have we really changed at all?... do we really walk our "talk" like we think we do?

haven't we also learned new ways of...

munay...
trust...
unity... community...
cooperation...
sharing...
right loving...
right action...
to be and live in ayni...?

what is "ayni" anyway?... do we really know?...


...haven't we've also learned that our mesas reflect back to us, in every present moment, if we choose to just "see"... that our beloved kuyas, those wise stone people, the holders of such ancient earth knowledge lovingly mirror back to us, our "healed-state" - the "beauty" of who we truly are...? will we ever, really get that?

i know i've had snippets and moments of that beauty... my own beauty... (wow)...

as i write this.. i re-collect a time being on a solo, silent retreat, just me and a drum - i had just been through my west-work... staying at a cabin deep in old-growth woods with waist-high ferns on keats island with no electricity or hot running water... waking up one morning... rolling over and the first thing i saw when i opened my crusty, bleary eyes.... was my wide-open, half-full mesa lying on the floor next to me... where, in an instant... an immense beauty-light shone through to me radiating and pulsing deep in my heart in such a way that i'll never ever be able to truly describe... feelings of a deep love and wild awe that i'll never forget... it wasn't until weeks later, when i shared that experience with my teacher lisa, that she revealed to me with a patient love...

"but weaver, don't you realize that, that bright light and love beaming in your mesa is really you!?"

all i could say was... "wow... really?"...


will we ever... "get it?"....


the prophecies and medicine teachings that have been lovingly passed to us, talk about and almost promise a new way of being... that we are right now, in the midst of a grand "pachacuti"... a "turning over of time"... that a paradigm shift of the old ways is finally dissolving... where the "individual" concept of an ego mind-set is flipping over... "the i" and the "small me" can no longer exist... it's all just not working anymore... is it?...

and what a certain elder tree taught dear valerie, that she lovingly shares...

"that it's not about "ME and my mesa" anymore"... that we have the "choice" of dreaming our becoming into being... together as "one"... as community... as ayllu... in ayni... and the time is now...

and... that "choice" is the gift that we've all been yearning for... such a gift... that has been freely given to us...

and so... what we will give back?...

a certain blessed sacred wise drum... who is in her own becoming... dear windwalker - is another gift that's been offered us and has sooo much to teach us... may we hear her voice... and know that she is calling us... welcoming us... to walk together to dream our beingness into being... whatver we as an ayllu choose it to be...it's really up to us... and she is patiently waiting for us...

thank you dear grandmothers... thank you dear windwalker...

hi-yi-yah! ..."we hear your voice!"...

with much love and light... to all of you, my beautiful ayllu... i love you...!
weaver (((o)))

ps... and i welcome your input and your dreamings...........

a gift from our brother David... 8000 sacred drums - Vancouver event...

dearest ayllu...

i was thrilled to learn that dear elder and friend David Campbell has video-documented the Vancouver 8000 Sacred Drums event that happened on March 21st... this event was held at the downtown Vancouver branch of the public library square... i believe about 100+ people attended and created ceremony together aligning with the Otomi elders in central Mexico and many others all around the globe between 10am - 12pm CST...

i, and we thank you David... very much, for sharing your blessed work and this sacred event... with us all... with gratitude and much appreciation, love and light... (((o)))



Video: "8000 Sacred Drums Gathering-Vancouver-08"
(c) copyright 2008 by David Campbell • all rights reserved
• posted here with permission...

• Click here to go to David's 300+ video YouTube page - www.youtube.com/user/marakakore >>

• also... Click here to go to David's inspirational blog - www.wadili.blogspot.com >>

"We will hear your drum beat, as you will hear ours..."

dearest ayllu...

again... we receive another email... on March 19th, just before the 8000 Sacred Drums event was to happen... a message from sisters and brothers of the sacred drum in Ontario... and sooo wonderful to connect in spirit with like-minded folk who care and are responding with and through their hearts...

...may we one day meet...

here is their beautiful message we received - for all of you...
with light... weaver (((o)))

Ahnee (hello)

I am writing to advise that drum carriers, singers, community members from Saugeen First Nation #29, will be participating in drumming and singing on Friday, March 21st, 2008. We are located centrally in Ontario, Canada, along the shores of Lake Huron. We have not counted the number of drums that will be in attendance. We have approximately 18 children who have made their own drums, and a women’s drum group of approximately 12-15. We also have approximately 4 drums that our men carry. We have women and children who carry rattles as well.

We are a Nation proud to take part in this ceremony. We will hear your drum beat, as you will hear ours.

In Unity and Respect, BK

Their 2nd message received after the blessed 8000 Sacred Drums Event:

Ahnee

As a message that we received on this beautiful day, we were in our circle drumming and singing, when the women looked to the sky, there was an eagle flying high above us. This was truly amazing, as we rarely see eagles in our area. It gave us a sense of strength to drum and to know that we were heard.

It was truly an honour to take part in this beautiful event.
Miigwetch, BK

today i drummed for my mother...

image bought from dreamstime

well... today was the day...

and... i had planned to get up early and head down for the vancouver 8000 sacred drums event downtown at the main library... and was really looking forward to it... i had helped get the word out and was excited to drum with a group of like-minded folk and really connect in with this wonderful annual global event...

however... when the alarm went off at 7:30am... i had a very hard time waking up... in a nautious fog, i realized that i was still not feeling very well at all... for, the past, almost 2 weeks, i have been quite sick with a nasty flu and cold... i decided to take another half hour more rest and see how i felt.. still planning and wanting to go... maybe i would feel better in a bit...

2 hours later i finally awoke and when realizing the time... even if i'd left that moment, i wouldn't have got downtown in time... and i still felt pretty yucky...

so, feeling quite disapointed, i dragged my weary body out of bed and attempted to wash off whatever in the shower...

i got dressed and decided to sit down and drum anyway... and so... i created a small circle around me on the floor, lit a candle... burned some smudge over me and opened sacred space...

i sat for quite sometime in silence while holding my wind drum.... still feeling quite disapointed that i had blown it... by not getting up in time to go and be with my brothers and sisters... and felt very saddened....

and so slowly... softly, i began to sound the drum slowly, mindfully... offering prayers.. asking for help...... i drummed and drummed for probably an hour or more... many sounds came from my drum and from me... i offered my voice... my songs... my fears... some hopes.... some dreams... my heart... my eyes and ears... my toes... my mouth... my hands... many emotions also came... tears of sadness.. tears of joy and gratitude... i offered my love and light for my mother... my blessed earth mother... it was all for her today... just for her...

and then... i could feel pulses........ all around me.. inside me... outside me... and i soon realized that i was actually hearing and feeling the heartbeats of my brothers and sisters from all over the globe while we all drummed together... at one time... in one moment... with one heart... and one mind...

and then.... i was guided to just stop and i stopped and just sat quiet while hugging laughing wolf, the same wind drum... but it wasn't silent at all... wrapped all around me... enveloping me.. i sensed, was our dear earth mother's heartbeat... embracing me with her love and her pulsing vibrations... it almost felt like i was back in the womb... but it was our earth mother's womb this time... i was... we all were... deep in her belly... together within...

i think she was very pleased this day...

hiyahyah.......... !

thank you great elders for this opportunity... and for inviting me...
much gratitude to you all... thanks for listening...
with much light and love... weaver (((o)))

Tomorrow, 8000 Sacred Drums! - an update from the Otomi elders...

dearest ayllu...

as we near the sacred day for tomorrow's global ceremony, the elders have posted this update at their site....

...Very Important

1. Our drum ceremony will take place between 10 a.m. and 12 noon, Mexico City time (CST); you may synchronize with us by drumming at that time.

2. There has been some confusion about when to begin drumming from other locations. Here at the Otomi ceremonial site in Temoaya, Mexico, the Ceremony of 8,000 Drums will be from dawn to dusk on the 21st, beginning with a morning ceremony at dawn. Our original intent was to have as many people as possible drumming and praying in at the exact same time. We will be drumming from 10 am to 12 noon, Mexico City time (CST).

We hope those of you in nearby time zones will be able to synchronize your ceremonies with ours. However, we realize that this may not be possible for everyone, in that case please offer your drumming, songs and prayers at any time; people from all over the world will be participating at different times, you will be in synch with others somewhere!

more info from their site here at...
• www.universidadindigena.org

also... the archived site for...
• 8000 Sacred Drums Global Ceremony

"That the Drum of your Heart can be harmonized
with the Heart of the sky and the Heart of the Earth.
Right Here and right Now.
For the honour of our Ancestors.

Join all ourselves!
...With love and gratitude for our blessed Earth Mother!"

8000 Drums Magic Number

dearest ayllu...
received another email again from out of the blue again today... this one comes from someone named Mark...

8000 Drums Magic Number

The Otomi prophecy of 8,000 Sacred Drums joining together
and starting the the healing of Mother Earth is to occur
on March 21, 2008.

This number 8000 has a very special relationship.

It has been found that it takes a certain number of
people to start a shift within human consciousness.
That number is the square root of 1 per cent.

There are over 6.5 billion people on Mother Earth right
now and square root of 1 per cent is around 8000

So the 8000 is around the minimum number we need to start this
process of healing. Amazing!!! this prophesy has a number directly
related with our human consciousness.

But each of us contains within us the ancient ancestral memory
in which we are ALL ONE and thus each of the people participating
on March 21 may consciously connect into the ONE and it will
spread and touch everyone on Mother Earth "inviting" them to join
us ... even if they have not heard of the 8,000 Drums.

As we do this drumming, we can also FEEL the HEALING
of ourselves and Mother Earth as if it has already happened.

In other words, step into that future where this healing has
already taken place and give THANKS to the CREATOR for
giving us this blessing.

Please pass this message to others
if you feel it would help.

Blessings,
Mark (Lahun OxLahun)

... thank you Mark for these words...
looking forward to drumming mindfully and in spirit with all of you soon...

8000 Drums Magic Number...

The Otomi prophecy of 8,000 Sacred Drums joining together
and starting the the healing of Mother Earth is to occur
on March 21, 2008.

This number 8000 has a very special relationship.

It has been found that it takes a certain number of
people to start a shift within human consciousness.
That number is the square root of 1 per cent.

There are over 6.5 billion people on Mother Earth right
now and square root of 1 per cent is around 8000

So the 8000 is around the minimum number we need to start this
process of healing. Amazing!!! this prophesy has a number directly
related with our human consciousness.

But each of us contains within us the ancient ancestral memory
in which we are ALL ONE and thus each of the people participating
on March 21 may consciously connect into the ONE and it will
spread and touch everyone on Mother Earth "inviting" them to join
us ... even if they have not heard of the 8,000 Drums.

As we do this drumming, we can also FEEL the HEALING
of ourselves and Mother Earth as if it has already happened.

In other words, step into that future where this healing has
already taken place and give THANKS to the CREATOR for
giving us this blessing.

Please pass this message to others
if you feel it would help.

Blessings,
Mark (Lahun OxLahun)

8000 drums - please note Daylight Savings Time!

hi folks...

i was reminded by a friend the other day that here in Vancouver we're now on Daylight Savings Time... and that could change the time for us to hook up and connect with the 8000 Sacred Drums Global Ceremony...

The Otomi Elders will starting at 12 noon their time in Central Mexico...

and so... i guess what we need to know is whether Central Mexico time is also on daylight savings too.. or not?

I believe we will just "know" when the right time is supposed to be if we just listen...

Looking forward to drumming mindfully with all of you very soon!

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

The time is NOW for 8,000 Drums...!

dearest ayllu...

again...

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

mother i feel you under my feet... mother i feel your heartbeat...

...just recieved the below email tonight...

"sounds" like the Otomi in Mexico are again calling all or as many of earth's children to be in ceremony to sound 8,000 drums together at one time to assist and help our blessed earth mother............ may we "hear" their call and gather together....

and the drums are awakening with the coming of Spring............

what's interesting is that the day they are doing this Ceremony is the Spring Equinox and oddly enough i've already organized the quarterly Sacred Drum Circle and Full Moon Ceremony that same day - that night here in Vancouver...!

i believe we are hooking in and hearing our blessed mother's call... let us gather together as one heart - as many as we can... to fulfill this prophecy!!! Ho!

here's how the email read:

"Hi. I was contacted by my friend Gilles Novaks who is a Montagnais Indian from Montreal. He is a Medicine Man and a Healer. He asked me to get as many Tribal people to participate in a worldwide ceremony called the "8,000 Drums". He was contacted by two Huron Clan Grandmothers from up there in Canada and they asked him to help spread the word to all Indians everwhere. It will take place on March 21, 2008 at 12:00 noon MEXICO TIME!! I haven't figured out the time tables yet. Maybe you can. (i beieve they are central time and we are pacific with 2 hours difference- which would put us at 10 a.m. - can someone clarify that please!)

All you need to do is play a drum either alone, or with a group or have the whole Tribe participate. The purpose is to fulfill the OTOMI PROPHECY. The Otomi's are Mayan Olmec and Toltec descendants. The drums will be played so that the Creator will hear us and grant our wishes as we pray for help in the Healing Process of our Mother Earth. The other races of people are destroying Her and our Mother Earth needs our prayers. Thank you. Ewo-wox-co-dah-wa...."

dearest brother and sisters.... let us organize ourselves quickly to gather during this time at the Equinox...
- the time is now... please pass this note on to as many people as you can......

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

More info on the Otomi Gathering here at...
http://www.universidadindigena.org

8,000 Drums - Vancouver Event

8,000 DRUMS Vancouver
Joining indigenous people around the world
Hosted by... INDIGENOUS ACTION MOVEMENT Coast Salish Territory

Time and Place Date: Friday, March 21, 2008
Time: 10am - 11am
Location: VANCOUVER PUBLIC LIBRARY
Street: 350 West Georgia Street
Vancouver, BC
Email: csiaction@gmail.com

We'll join indigenous nations around the world in calling for justice - for healing.

** According to a Sacred Prophecy revealed at the Otomi Ceremonial Center by Otomi Elder Sages, the day when the sounds of 8,000 Sacred Drums join together is the beginning of the healing of Mother Earth.

It is time to unify ourselves to rediscover the seeds of the Four Directions - to reactivate cosmic energy, heal historical wounds. It's time to respect life, liberty and the dignity of Our Peoples.

The first great ceremony was held March 21, 2004 in Temoaya, Mexico. Drum circles joined around the world on the Spring Equinox. This will continue each year until 2012.

Sacred Principles:

Seal and heal the wounded vertices of Mother Earth.
Identify and activate the Indigenous energy centers at sacred places, this is our duty.
Plant and strengthen consciousness of love and respect for our Mother Earth. This is everyone's work.

The Indigenous ancestral recommendation to create and practice our cullture of Peace and Life is fundamental.

Recognition of the use of the energy and healing are the properties of our sacred instruments. ** International Indigenous University

Bring your drums! 10:00 pst which is 12:00 Central.

VANCOUVER ART GALLERY

Begins with prayers and smudge ceremony.

going within...

dearest ayllu...
our ayllu sacred drum...
our blessed ayllu sacred drum body...
is now going within...
slowly deep into herself...

now is a critical time as she drys...
for some time... a deep time...
over these next number of months...

now, more than ever she calls us...
to hold vigil and many prayers for her..

for this, her time of stillness...
i humbly ask all of you to...

honour her...
pray for her...
be with her...
visit with her...
meditate with her...
talk to her...
hold her...
embrace her...
sing to her...
drum for her...
kneel down with her...
and...

hold the vision...
of her becoming
into being...
strong
in your hearts!

we feel your voice...

when we were up in kamloops last week... finally got a chance to meet with windwalker again... the last time we saw her was when she was still on Read Island laying on the forest floor... she is presently residing and being well taken care of at the Wallin's... it was good to connect all 'round... even tho' it was only for a short time...

when i knelt down beside her and gently wrapped my arms around her... i immediately felt an incredible connection heart-to-heart... made me wonder at one point if i might be hugging a dolphin or a whale... as the sonic pulse that "beamed" right through me was sooo strong and instant... and continued for as long as i stayed with her...

when i dropped my head into her newly-cored, open heart-center... i could also "hear" her strong love pulsing all around me... wow... is all i could say... and she's not even complete as a drum yet... i dream of her strong voice...

this is one powerful drum... if you get a chance, i highly recommend to go sit with her and just be with her for a bit...

hi-yi-ya!!! i hear your voice!!!

i thank you ann and rick for lovingly caretaking and watching over her for all of us...

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

we go forth!

Happy Lughnasadh* today... to you all of you, dear ayllu...

just want to share a wonderful Celtic poem (below) i came across for this special day... guess i'm feeling an urge to acknowledge our dear drum who is becoming into being... from where she came... and where we are going together... and to honour the "shining one"...

*the Celtic Fire Festival of Lughnasadh (sacred seasonal quarter of the Celtic wheel - what we know of as the season of Fall) describes what is happening with the light of the world in relationship to mother earth at this special time of year... the Celts have a god named Lugh (pronounced Loo), who is an important solar deity and whose name means "shining one"... he is the warrior of light who is inextricably bound with the earth mother. The earth mother at the time of Lughnasadh (pronounced loo-nas-ah), gives the fruits of the grain harvest, which she has been able to produce with the help of the light and warmth of the sun... she is honoured at this time as the great mother, giving forth of her bounty to the world. "Nasadh", the remaining part of the word Lughnasadh, means tribal gatherings for fairs and games after the hard work of harvesting is completed...

I go forth today under the
Cloak of Covering:
triumph of treetops,
majesty of foliage,
lightness of leaves,
strength of trunk,
suppleness of bark,
power of branches,
stability of roots,
penetration of sap,
energy of growth,
May no harm befall me
under the covering of this forest cloak,
this day and this night.

- Caitlin Matthews

i look forward to our time at the end of september when our blessed mother drum brings us all together as "ayllu"...

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

July 29th - Drum Ceremony

A grand group gathered to honour the making of this great ayllu drum on July 29th. What a wonderful response.... I feel this drum's presence in my backyard all the time. The purpose of our gathering was to both honour the drum and ask it to provide us with guidance regarding how it is going to be birthed. I have tried to capture some of the ideas that came forward from the gathering. Here are random thoughts and ideas in no particular order;

the vibrations from the drum are being connected all over the world, it is important in joining together with other drums that are sounding for the healing of the pachamama;

the power of this drum will draw our ayllu together and has already made us more powerful;

the healing of the earth will begin by healing ourselves!
There is a bear walking around on the drum.
There are two eagles soaring and flying on the drum
There is a jaguar(perhaps the jaguar was brought to mind by my hungry, noisy feline who was stalking us throughout the ceremony

The natural qualities of the wood are so beautiful; that we can make something powerful out of a fallen tree is wonderful.

there are strong vibrations coming from the drum that are already reverberating....
A great sense of peace, particularly in the centre of the drum. A feeling of energy creating a vortex in the centre.

White buffulo calf woman - the hides will be soaked in the lake because the spirit of the lake is white buffulo calf woman - she who has been so instrumental and powerful in drawing our valley ayllu together.

Windwalker, healing, vibrations, power, collective voice, world power, world healing, beyond just each of us individually,

We honoured the drum base by blowing our breath and smudge across it and said prayers for it. We burned shavings from the interior of the base on the fire and again blew our prayers into the shavings as we placed them on the fire.

we invite all to share in the making of this drum. further ceremony at the end of September at Michelle's house.
Ann

listening...

"I hear a drum in my soul's ear
coming from the depths of the stars!"
- Jelaluddin Rumi



• above video created by Rick & Ann Wallin
• music by weaver (((o)))
(c) 2007

heart felt...

dear ones...
it is so good...
you have come...
to meet...

i had been...
waiting for you...

don't forget...
where i once stood tall...
walking...
dancing...
swaying proud,
bonded...
with my sister wind...

from high...
above i lived well...
with my sisters...
and brothers...
my wise ancestors...
who...
in front...
behind...
all around...
above and below...
guide me...

father sun...
grandmother moon...
the cloud people...
the star people...
the bird people...
the crystal people...
the finned and furred...
those who creep and crawl
the stone people...
the tree people...
my kin...
inform me...

because of...
a humble call...
and cry sounds...
from our dear mother...
you hear...

i freely...
willingly...
give my self...
my fallen earth body...
because i come from...
her...
like you...

please know...
i come from living heart...
sourced deep...
breathing...
from our blessed mother...
from depth of core...
from one heart...
for many hearts...
from one...
to all...

know...
sister wind's breath...
sings with me...
through me...
and through you...
all of you...
we shall soon...
sing together with...
one heart...

thanking you,
...windwalker

--sourced through weaver (((o)))

Shape-shifting...

"Windwalker"...

I remember the sound she made as the first piece of her core, of her heart, was finally chopped out of her. She took the chainsaws, the axes and the sweat of two strong men. It was peculiar. I asked myself was she resisting or simply a powerful force?

That morning, I was antsy to go and help get this wood for our drum on the ground. I knew Rick needed help. What help I could be, who knew? The "big cut" was to be around noon, with a neighbours help and use of his backhoe, a convincing earth ripper gripper machine. I wolfed down another yummy brunch, jumped into a kayak and off I went ... weaver caught sight of me as I was underway and called out her good-byes. "Sorry weaver !!! see you soon, love to Joan, I'm not good with good byes" Twenty minutes later, I landed on Wallin's beach and followed the sound of a chain saw to a sight that almost broke my heart. It was not unlike watching the gutting and cleaning of something large. Then my focus shifted back to the tree from which Windwalker came to us. I went back to her to pray, send my gratitude and offer more tobacco. It was she who then comforted me. I was more than a little wowed and humbled by this. I walked back in time to see the separation of two chunks of wood. Could it really be we could get two drums? Wow, more Wow!!! Now the chainsaws are smoking, axes and log splitters flying. Windwalker is holding fast. Then she delivered her first piece of core to us. To me it was a declaration. From now on she would teach us how make her. She was shape-shifting before our eyes. YIPEEEE!!!! Love Pamela

My prayers are with you...

Hello Everyone! Carol invited me to contribute to "Our Ayllu Sacred Drum Project blog" and I am honored to do so. By way of introduction, I am a Musician, drummaker (maker of carol's qilaut Laughing Wolf) and dreamer whose hands have repeatedly demonstrated more intelligence than my head (or the other centers of wanting for that matter). Nevertheless I'm going to plunge in here and hope that my words are in some small way informed by the spirit of the drum.

This business of making a drum as ceremony brings tears to my eyes every time. Each of us who does this work stands before the great spirit in our own private way, in our own time and asks, "Will you help me? Will you join me in bringing this drum into being? And the Great Spirit invariably answers,"Who is it who is asking? Who is it who wants to know?

And with that, all sense of certainty, all sense of identity in me dissolves. And when the Great Spirit says, who is it who is listening???? I thought I knew a little while ago, but I'm not so sure now....... This is how it begins for me. "And for what purpose?" is the next question that throws me into a tailspin. "Well, Great Spirit, you know, service and healing. .....?....."

It is an ageless and endless conversation I'm afraid. And ones knowledge of the process is small coin indeed. But however imperfect and unprepared we are for this co-drummaking with spirit, we forge ahead because we must.

And rest assured, the power of the drum will be bought as much by your anxiety, self questioning, fear and uncertainty as by your courage and open heartedness. It will be a marvelous and powerful drum! I salute you all and send you my prayers and good wishes.

Mitakuye Oyasin, John Millen

meeting windwalker...

Continued... part four...

after lunch we all quickly headed out again to listen and track for which tree might be calling, if at all... we were praying for one to become a sacred community drum... we split up in a few directions... i think we were were all feeling that the day was getting away from us - as it was rapidly getting late in the day... and i know we were feeling a sense of urgency... today was the day if it was to happen...

i and a few others were heading back up the trail towards the wise teacher-tree and first fallen one we had met earlier... and with the white wolf drum in hand, i began to sound her voice that echoed far up and into the vast forest... i was attempting to connect somehow in this unfamiliar place to help assist in any way i could...

Rick had brought an axe and small chainsaw to check the inner wood of the first fallen tree... a few of us gathered around to watch the process... the saw went in so easily we could tell that there was much rot on the outside... probably about 4-6 inches worth... he did cut out a good piece that seemed sound... but we weren't sure this was the "one"... tho' it deemed possible... but i didn't feel we were getting a clear "yes" yet...

we thought to wander down into the forest deeper to check out some old stumps as well.. we were guided to one large one that looked promising but only to find it was way too rotten in the middle... navigating through the thick brush and uneven ground was difficult for my city legs and i had to stop bushwacking... so, i went back to the teacher-tree to ask for some help this time... i again stood before her in silence, mindfully asking for any assistance in a wordless way... and then felt a trusting back that said "whatever was supposed to be.. was meant to be"... well... whatever that was supposed to mean, i didn't have a clue... Valerie also made some offerings at this point too...

now alone on the path... i continued to drum off and on while walking back down towards the cabin and back again... i had the urge to sing or chant right out loud at one point but didn't... i sang from within instead... with intent, sending my silent song out with the echoes of my drum sounding... i was starting to wonder where everyone was... i knew a few had gone back up to the first tree with more tools to start digging out around the base of it hopefully to cut a round off to see how it was... but where were the others?.... where was Joan and Pamela?... and Richard?...

i decided to head off to the outhouse for some much needed respite... and once settled there... suddenly out of the blue... i could hear someone off in the distance, calling out my name over and over... "ah geesh!" ..."this is real good timing", i thought as i muttered to myself... i booted the door open part way with my leg calling back out to wherever they were into the woods with an echo... and so, once i was back out the door... we eventually found each other - it was Pamela and Joan on another path just off the main trail...

both Joan and Pamela were excited to report that they had maybe found the "one!"... but it wasn't on this property but the one lot over and beckoned me to come back with them to see... where...they had discovered a large tree that had been blown down during the past season's winter wind storms... Pamela called out into the forest for the others to come as well... earlier, a couple of times Joan had been guided to go look on this other trail and the two of them eventually joined up together... then, apparently, a small tree frog appeared, somewhere on the trail... pointing them further along the trail where they finally saw the tree...

we called back up the main trail again to the gang at the other tree to come with us and off we went... it wasn't a long walk over to their neighbour's property where it quickly opened up to a wide-open clearing.... where it was clear that many trees had been taken for lumber for the buildings on this neighbour's lot...

Pamela and Joan pointed over a ways into the clearing amongst a large mess of mud, scrub, logs and machinery and there she was... lying on an angle down, a huge blown-down sitka spruce stump, maybe close to 4 feet in diameter and 6-8 feet long or more... the long length of her straight trunk had been cleanly sawed off and the long piece of her once-body was laying nearby on the ground off to one side... what was left of her was completely uprooted where she had blown down and her spiral-intertwined once-were roots were rudely exposed way up high in the air almost like she was naked... and i had this sudden sense that we shouldn't even be looking... somehow, it just didn't feel right to see her that way...

i remember thinking in that moment that this tree was possibly the "one"... as we slowly walked up to her... i was feeling very tentative - but with a sense of excitement too... as we slowly gathered around her closer, i don't think we knew what to do in that moment... i know i didn't... my heart felt numb, empty and sad... i guess seeing how she was so "ripped out of the mother" and being so "sawed off" seemed pretty severe, brutal and a violation... a good portion of the bark had fallen off the sawed-off end exposing a lusterous reddish tan wood... she was truly beautiful... i also noticed that there seemed to be a bulge on one side of her trunk... could this at all possibly be one of the trees i saw in my dream a few weeks ago?...

we put our heads back on for a moment, and surveyed that this amazing tree definitely could be the "one"... and discussed logistics of how to cut a round off the one end... Rick went off to confirm and find his neighbour... as he had apparently already said to Richard and Joan he would be okay for us to take what was left... we heard later that the neighbour would have burnt what was left anyway...

while waiting for Rick to return... we walked away form the tree, i think still in a strange numbed-out aweness and walked around the site a bit... realizing the work ahead of us and how to get her home to Kamloops, etc... Ann, myself, Joan and Valerie started back up and passed by the tree once again... Pamela was still sitting with the stump and called over to us asking for us to come and do something for the tree together... "Can we sing or pray to her... please?"...

we immediately went back over and gathered around her... i was guided to gently place the grandmother white wolf drum on the ground next to her open sawed-off wounded end and then silently placed tobacco to the sacred directions on the drum's round top... we all layed our hands on what was left of her trunk and closed our eyes to connect... i shared with my sisters that i could sense that she was breathing... about a minute or so later, Valerie spoke aloud and said that the tree was still in much shock and pain... that this great tree had not been ready to fall when it did... then asked me to send our vision and intent to the tree... to let her know why we were there and what her purpose could be... i took a big breath and on my out-breath, connected to and breathed the vision to her from a place deep in my heart, through my hands back to her, and asked for her blessing... together, we all felt an immediate sigh of relief rise back from her and she said "yes"...

in that same moment, Rick had also just returned with his neighbour and they both confirmed that indeed this tree was available to become our sacred ayllu drum...

wow! ...we have found you dear one and you have found us!

we learned later that this blessed tree is a "windwalker" as Ann explained in an earlier post... and so, that night together, we named our soon-to-be sacred ayllu drum, "windwalker"...

definitely... more later...

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

excited...

Hello all

Thank you for the opportunity, weaver, to join you in manifesting your vision of a drum for the ayllu. I look forward to contributing in any way I can.

I recently was priviledged to attend a gathering in Courtney to share and experience the Grandmother Drum created in Alaska. She is beautiful. To know that she has travelled across the oceans and back carrying her message of oneness and community is just awe inspiring. The sound is indescribable - the heartbeat of creation. My mesa and drums were warmed by her rhythms as all who attended the gathering drummed out their dreams for oneness.

Love and many blessings to all

heart re-membering...

Continued... part three...

it hadn't really sunk in right away that we had finally reached the property, when Ann first pointed out the first tree...

when we all stopped and stood with the fallen tree - we became quiet for a bit... my first thought was wow, this is truly one big tree... and it has been down on the ground for quite some time... you couldn't see bark anywhere as there was so much growth all around with much thick moss and ferns... i wasn't kidding when i said in the last post, that fairies and little folk had maybe moved in for sure... you could just sense them and almost see them too... there was also some question as to what shape the wood would be like inside... because of so much growth, could it be rotton all the way through?... Rick didn't think so... we then moved on down the trail to go view a couple others that they knew about...

our group headed on down the trail and we were shown a couple more fallen ones... where they seemed to be in similar state... where it looked as though they had been on the ground for what seemed maybe the same time period as the first one we were shown...

on our right, i could see we were coming up to a very large cedar... i could sense as we came closer, that we moved through and into it's luminous aura-body - a sweet, friendly place... i was moved to stop and say hello... this living ancient tree held such presence that i was moved to just stand still in front of her - quite in-awe... Rick stepped off the trail wanting to show me just how big in diameter this tree really was.. with a huge smile, he wrapped his arms around the rough trunk as far as he could, pointing out that he could hardly even cover a quarter of it... he figured that it must of been at least 300 years old... we both wondered what and how much this tree had seen and heard over the many, many years it stood strong in this verdant place...

during that afternoon i went back to this tree a few times to just be with her... i left some tobacco and sage there as well, to just say thank you for the opportunity to meet and be in it's presence... no words or messages were exchanged as it didn't seem to be needed... each time we shared a silent "unspoken" knowingness that didn't need words i guess... hard to explain... all i know is that this special tree was very old, very ancient and very wise... and something about being together sharing and connecting "heart-to-heart in the moment" was what seemed important... or significant... no surprize huh?...

this beautiful teacher-tree helped me to re-member, reinforming me in another deep way that the drum truly is the "voice" of our earth mother's blessed dear heart... i wanted to gather everyone 'round so they could also share the moment i had shared with this sacred being, but it seemed the group was now splitting up and heading off down to the Wallin's cabin for lunch and a much-needed break... i decided to let it go and head off with them... it was already clear many times over that this day... and this journey had taken on it's own agenda... on it's own sweet... "spirit-time"...

to be continued...

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

almost a week...

Yes, almost a week ago I arrived home from our Shaman Drum Safari. Since coming home I've been tossing around images and such to share on this blog. The first thing that comes clearly to mind is the transporting of what will become our drum, from Read Island to Quadra Island. About an hour crossing in a Zodiac like boat. The spruce is heavier than I imagined even with some of her already cut out. (That's a story for another day) I see in my minds eye, she is slowly being towed in the ocean behind us. Valerie is piloting, Ann and I shaking our heads in wonder as to how we got to this point. The guys are ahead of us getting Rick's truck ready for the haul home. Nick is in the bow of Rick's aluminum boat and is convinced it's going to take 5 hours to make the trip between islands. All of us comment later on having seen the 4 eagles that blessed our crossing. The winds are a whisper and the sea is flat. There is clear support of our endeavors from sea to sky.

We had to roll the spruce down to the beach from her home in the forest. Working in groups of 3 or 4 we traded off, those not rolling were directing and hoping no one would get thumped with a run away stump. All in all, no blood was spilled or bandages required (except Richard did have an index finger in the way of an axe at one point ... nothing a little kiss on it couldn't help). I'm looking forward to the pictures that Rick took as it's more than a challenge for me to put into words these hours spent away from home. Friends, food, adventure, ferries, faeries, seals, mountains, kayaks, trees, birds, frogs, wind, sun, stars, breath and breathing in the power and joy of it all.

More later, Pamela

7, 7, 7, or eight?

Continued... part two...

the next morning... after spending a good chunk of the night hearing mama cocha (mother ocean) knock relentlessly on the boat walls, we arose to another gorgeous, sunny day... the day was July 7, 2007... or 7/7/7... i couldn't help but notice the interesting date... and what the heck was all that "knocking" about anyway? - geeesh!

after breakfast, we hung around the boat and dock doing this and that while waiting for Ann and Rick to meet us... i spent a bit of time near the water making some prayers and offerings of tobacco and white sage to say thank you for this place and acknowledge the reason why we had come... and ask for help and assistance... for we had come to ask the tree people if one would like to be-come a sacred community drum... to be of service to our blessed earth mother and our ayllu...

Valerie called us over as she had discovered some striking sea flowers and then some jellyfish that looked like irredescent spacecraft hovering near the surface of the water.... then an 8-armed sea star appeared... it was something i had never seen before and quite stunning... it was bright red in colour and very beautiful with the way it moved so gracefully without effort through the water... we watched in awe as it slowly sauntered over to the edge of the dock and fed on some seaweed that was hanging on to the edge for dear life and then it was gone... noticing it's pulsing roundness i couldn't help but think of the drum while watching it drift on...

hmmmnnn... 8 arms... there's 8 of us... ?

when Rick and Ann arrived... we slowely gathered together and headed off for the hike into their property to begin our day of why we came to this wonderful wild place of sea and forest... a little ways in on the trail a large guardian stone on my right made it's presence known and so i walked over to say hello... i quickly asked permission to connect and laid my hands on it's thick mossed surface and got quiet... i humbly asked for a blessing to proceed on our way and the message i received was "welcome" and "we thank you"...

by now i could tell it was probably high noon as i was feeling a heavy heat from the sun right over me - and quite glad i had brought a hat... we walked a medicine walk together single file for quite some time... navigating and winding through and over blackberry bushes,long grasses and sometimes poison oak that Ann warned us about...

i wondered if we were maybe getting close when the sound of the white wolf drum was requested to lead us on with Valerie volunteering... i was personally feeling that our walk seemed to be going on longer than i thought it was supposed to be... probably feeling my fatigue of not having much sleep the past 2 nights... i guess i heard wrong... a few of us were lagging behind the group and once in awhile the rest that were ahead would stop and wait for us... which i humbly appreciated... i welcomed the warm long sounds of the drum announcing our presence, offering us help along the way... ahead i heard someone ask if we were almost there, when they were told "we were about half way"... "but it would get easier as the trail would now go down hill some..."

half way?... wow... okay... keep going...

thinking... and thankful i chose to wear long pants 'cause of much thick grassy brush and prickles all over the place... i'm really liking being in the woods for a change... it's been awhile... too long i'm realizing... i'm loving the smell of so much green life all around, below and above me and the lushness even though it's hot... i'm thankful for the tall evergreens that tower over us and the soft moss on the trees, stones and the ground... off in the distance i'm sure is a huge black shiny raven echoing an announcement of some sort... i wondered to whom?

finally, about 20-30 minutes later... Ann stops and the drumming stops and she softly mentions while pointing left to a large fallen tree just off the trail that looked like it had been lying on the ground for quite some time... so long so it looked like maybe faeries and little folk had moved in...

to be continued...

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

song of wyda...

part one...

WOW! ...is an only word i can start with as i open this next post... last weekend (a sacred drum safari - as Pamela so wonderfuly named it) was quite a "whirlwind" trip to say the least...(no pun intended really!)... so much happened in such a short time, that it's hard to put the weekend into words... so, i thank you Ann very much for getting this journeling of the incredible three days we shared together, started...

in the wee hours last friday morning... our arms full with as least amount of stuff as possible, plus, not forgetting our mesas and a certain white wolf drum (and at the last minute, grabbing my guitar and some tobacco), we ventured out to catch a first ferry to begin our journey to Read Island off the coast of Vancouver Island...

after much travel driving, riding on ferries and boats most of the day, plus an unexpected quick-how-to-let's-do-this-together-NOW! lesson in how to land a beautiful white boat at a very-tight spaced dock in persistent gusty trying winds and swirling current... eight of us finally gathered together on the peeling red-trimmed government dock at wild Read, our destination... i have to admit now that i got another sense to the meaning of the word "calm" ... and whether i could ever connect to that sense again, i'm not sure... but what i do know innately, is that the only way we could of completed that immediate-task with all chaotic variables involved, was, "together"...

and in one word... that was the weekend... "together"...

early that evening with the diamond-bright sunshine warming our weary souls, we shared some tasty dinner and fun kinship... sitting up high on the fly-bridge we watched eagles off hovering high in the distance and about a half dozen swallows circling all around us as if to open space - then to retire and take roost in the nearby boat-house on the dock... that also offered free books for reading material if at all needed... but not this trip...

and as father sun began his descent into the far west, we were guided to witness an awed-quietude at the island's edge just up from the shore... where a oneness of sorts... or allness.. a listening happened in that moment... together we heard the swaying-welcome of the standing people, the tall trees proudly holding safe guard as they sang in partnership with wyda the wind gently sharing her songs... and their singing was oh, so beautiful... we could almost feel as though together, the trees and wind were definitely saying hello... and saying "yes" to something... and we were definitely being acknowledged... and i think within that moment we all took a big breath maybe together, maybe not... tho' i think each of us knowing deeply in our hearts that we had heard and responded to a certain call and... with our own imbedded excitements anticipated and wondered what the next day would or could bring...

and i remembered that the breath and the wind was and is... the first drummer...

and... to borrow a line from dear Valerie... "holy cow batman!"

to be continued.... i'll post more soon...

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

the birthing of the drum...

So the journey toward toward the vision of an ayllu drum has begun. The large, protruding (dare I say pregnant?) trunk of the tree offered itself. The Spruce tree had been blown down in a tremendous wind that had ripped through in late spring. We showed it the vision of what it was becoming and it let out a huge sigh and shifted from great sadness to a tentative forward looking view.

The physical effort of getting the pieces (we have two) cut and transported was huge. We managed to get one back to Kamloops. The second will come in mid-August. Carol is looking into some details of the actual making of the drum. Rick is going to continue the hollowing out process and carving some designs and symbols on the side. Everyone is welcome to provide input and to participate. If you want to see the drum come to our next fire - New moon - July 14th at 7:30. or Full Moon fire on July 30th.

You might see the drum referred to as Wind Walker. This is because it was a very old - 300 year old Spruce tree that had rooted in a nurse tree. A nurse tree is a tree that has fallen and new trees grow out of its back. Apparently, the legend is that trees grown from nurse trees are known to "walk" in the wind. Some warning had been given to the owner of the land this tree was on that he needed to watch this tree as it was a wind walker and would likely fall in a heavy wind. This is exactly what happened.

More to come on this incredible journey.

the "one"...

off to journey...

this weekend we've been invited to go to Read Island (near Quadra Island) to pray, meet and ask some trees to see if one wants to become the "one"... to become the frame of a sacred ayllu drum... we've been told that there are a number of large trees that blew down in the wind storms... it's going to be a long, journey in a very short time travelling on water with at least 2 ferries, hiking, etc... and still lots of logistics to figure out before we go... so, spirit... we ask you for help with it all... thanking you...

i have lots of anticipation and excitement too... what to expect?... i have this full-sense coming from somewhere deep within me that's hard to describe... like a longing coming to the surface around me... and it's definitely a pulsing... i must be connecting somehow... or something is connecting with me?... maybe blessed earth mother is responding through me in some way... i do know... through all of us... she must be... otherwise, we wouldn't be dropping everything to do this... and go now at this time...

there's also sooo many thoughts and ponderings... will one be willing?... and can this all happen in just one weekend? - and how can it?... i also wonder if we'll see any "pregnant" trees like i saw in my dream... and i wonder how many of us we will be in number... it's interesting to note that those of us who meet together in this special place will be meeting on the day of 7/7/7 this saturday... (July 7, 2007)... i must see if i can find out more about this day astrologically... it's gotta mean something eh?

so... we shall see if one wishes to be the "one"...
more later...

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

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.

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