Elizabeth Roy - Drum Circle

We just did a fantastic drum circle for class at Lions Bridge. I think it was an effective way to bring home some of the concepts of the course. We raised some good energies and it was well-timed; I felt much better about all my work after participating. Although I’ve been to several drum circles, I’ve never actually done drumming for them, so this was an interesting experience. I felt a little awkward, mostly because I don’t think I really knew what I was doing and I certainly am not as competent of a drummer as many other people I know. It felt great, regardless. I think I might have gone into a little bit of a trance state, because I definitely didn’t realize how badly my fingers and hands hurt until we stopped drumming. Despite the fact that we raised some nice energies, I feel like some people were not willing to participate fully. In general, I think that our society places an excessive emphasis on control, which prevents us from letting go when we might want to. Also, I’m curious to know whether anyone was reluctant to participate because of the view of a drum circle as pagan. Interestingly, it isn’t only a pagan practice. Drumming is used in syncretist Christian churches in Africa. I wonder if reassurances to the class that it wasn’t a pagan ritual per se would have led to heartfelt participation across the board?