“Anke djé, anke bé” is West African for ‘everyone gather in peace’ and the root of the word Djembe. Djembe drums are hand drums: loud and expressive. I have been hearing them call me for quite some time now.
I confess that often I have this urge to lay my head on the ground. When I do, I hear it: ba dum ba dum. The heartbeat of Mother Earth. On and on, she goes: despite the terrors, the earthquakes, the silliness of human frailty and evil, the banality of bill-paying and house cleaning … on, she goes.
And I find this so very calming.
Drumming as therapy. Drumming as creation. Sometimes loud, sometimes quiet. Communicating with others but without the tedium of words.
Ba dum. Ba dum. Drumming increases the alpha waves within your brain producing a sensation of well being and euphoria. It is a way to release anger and other emotions, decrease tension and energize. Drugs without drugs.
Sometimes, I can get a decent rhythm going. Sometimes, we are all in sync. Other times, not so much.
But still, I continue. Ba dum. Ba dum.
The Malinke people say that a skilled drummer is one who ‘can make the djembe talk.’ This fits right in with the concept of Danu Fox‘s Earth Singing: making music for the earth, not for recognition, fame, fortune or because you have the perfect voice, but singing and drumming in honor, in reverence, and in joy to the cycles, the nature, the emotions and the tides that connect us all.
A big thank you to the Gong Guru Andre for helping me to find the Moon Lodge’s first Drum. Check out his drum circles at Crystal River Gifts in South Elgin and Healing Arts Metaphysical Center in Batavia, what an awesome way to spend a night.
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