Healing Power of the Drum
Since time immemorial, the drum has been used as a vehicle that is integral to healing rituals by custodians of the world’s most ancient civilisations. Essentially, crafted drum rhythms act as ‘valves’, relieving blockages to the vital physical energy flow of their participants that are caused by irregular rhythms or emotional disturbances. For example, in Mali the Bambara tribe use particular rhythms to draw spirit bodies into the company of participants who are entranced by the music, in order to reveal the deepest origin of their dis-ease, and to exorcise it.
Drumming has gradually been recognised in the West for its far-reaching therapeutic effects, and applied in many contexts as a complement to other healing modalities. Engaging with rhythmic energy and the vibrations of the drum is a means of returning to the natural rhythm of the body, and of allowing the drummer the opportunity to self re-integrate.
In a space where verbal modes of communication are subordinated, the drums speak, and people may experience an authentic return to their individual power and to their bodies. This process empowers the individual’s healing journey, allowing them to activate the process of restoring physical and emotional harmony. By communicating with the non-verbal and universal language of the drum, individuals connected within a drum circle may experience an authentic re-cognition of self, which is integral to the healing process. Through the repetitive beating of a drum, they have the means to deeply connect with their own spirit, and to be engaged with it in an environment of interpersonal support. |
Indigenous Musical Technology in the Industrialised World
This TEDx presentation furthers the ideas presented above with a deeper consideration given to the legacies of this world’s living indigenous cultures. Here I pose that the musical systems of Africa are ancient technologies whose application in community settings can support us in times of industrial and technological growth. They exist as a reminder of the time of their conception, when human communities of all ancestral origins held values corresponding with natural systems, promoting a coherent state of inter-being.