Sent to: Yahoo! Groups: DrumCircles: Message 293
From: "Stream Tomas Ohrstrom" <streamohrstrom@s...>
Date: Wed Aug 29, 2K1 8:19 PM
Subject: Voices
Friends,
here is our Reverend R's compilation relating the Voices thread last year...
We live to learn!
Stream
Voices By Reverend R Clark
Greetings and Salutations!
Adam, Alicia, Andy, Bruce, Diane, Jeff, Joshua, Kat, Liam, Lindsay, Mickey,
Pete, Paul, Scott, Shakerman, Stream, Tom, Vandee, Wsir, Yanatan, Zachary
and ALL,
Thank You All who participated in this interesting (to me) thread.
O.K. let me see if I got the skinny, the straight pooh. The following is in mostly chronological order as the posts came in to Djembe-L with the offerings from the Drumcircle channel in their concurrent thread on the same subject towards the bottom of the two sections, which are: "Personal Testimony" outlining what has been experienced by list members and their people and the "Theories" of what folks think might be going on.
Personal Testimony
Kat Kiefer <katkiefer@h...> started this thread with “sometimes, just sometimes, I can hear the voices of a hundred people singing in the harmonies our drums make”
Stream Tomas Ohrstrom <streamohrstrom@s...> replied “One woman pointed out, that there is a form of yoga called Nada Yoga, which teaches the practitioner to hear the Cosmic Sound, Nada Brahma. By listening inwards, one might learn to hear a choir, then the flute of Krishna, then bells, then trumpets, and thunder. Don't quote me on the order, I have only heard the choir & the flute myself.”
Bruce Gosey <BruceGosey@a...> commented on another odd experience “As we drummed, danced, and didji'd I seemed to be translated into another circle. Somehow, I seemed to step beyond the time line I was in to another. Past, present, or future I know not. All I do know is that I was in a circle of tribal drumming that I was not in, at another time and space.”
Diane Gardner <wgardner@s...> wrote in reply to Stream: “...I hear the singing of high pitched female chanting.”
Charles "Wsir" Johnson <wsir@d...> “I'm always having an out body experience, when playing any circle or song for any amount of time. One time (the first time)I stop playing because I was trying to process what was happening to me. Then I realize that's the experience.”
Adam Bernardi <bernardi@m...> adds “I have indeed experienced this a few times and was told it was angels joining in.”
Alicia <Niniava@a...> “I remember the first time I heard them. It frightened me because I thought everyone was singing a song I didn't know and then realized that no one was singing at all.”
Jeff Highland <jkhigh@r...> “Last time I experienced this was in a circle with healing intent, native american base and playing at quite low volume.I was sure the leader was chanting until she asked afterwards "did anyone else hear that" I did.”
Liam <drdude1@c...> “I usually hear a reed or flute-like melody.”
Peter E. Carels <carelspe@m...> “I've heard either a voice or voices, but sometimes a flute or other wind instrument, or sometimes a droning sound, as in Indian music.”
Christina Van Deusen <c_vand@h...> “The native peoples have used the drum to journey to alternate realities and I have heard many things from the drum, airplanes, boat motors, singing chanting...”
>From Paul Janse <janse01@c...> we get the skeptical experience “Human mind is deep and just understood for a tiny part. I do'nt underestimate that But voices ?? I like to stay with both feet on the ground and enjoy my (per definition) irrational feelings whithout needless mystification. I hate mystification.”
Joshua Dysart <joshcc@h...> “I have on several occasions experienced both the unearthly voices and even the transportation to other circles beyond my time that have been mentioned in this thread. On one occasion I shared a hallucination with three other people.”
Andy <Andy@T...> “...I have also heard sounds that I would describe as voices, although not as clear, when drumming alone late into the night (morning), that seem to be coming from the walls inside my house.”
Rootdrum AKA Yanatan <rootdrum@g...> “Hearing harmonic overtones is some of the creme de la creme of the drumming experience for me and when I hear them, and can get inside the tones and beats that's part of what makes my commitment to drumming.”
Shakerman <shakerman@j...> “I too have heard the voices singing - I feel it is the African ancestors who are re-appearing and blessing us with their music as we bless them with ours...”
Zachary W <mahempco@h...> ”Suddenly I noticed overtones emanating from the drums. It was a dual harmonic, one high, one low. The harmony was in perfect time with the rhythm (of course). It was a very peaceful yet dynamic sound, and I was able to breath in time with it.”
Scott Robinson <Twixt@a...> “I've heard "the choir" when drumming, quite clearly singing "Love Love, ahhhh, sweet sweet love." ”
Reverend R Clark
“I hear these voices, telephone bells, pagers, my name called out, chanting, a 60Hertz hum (commonly heard in USA due to 60Hz power), overtones, undertones, insects like bees or crickets, and so on surely you get the picture, different stuff all the time. Some times these sounds are distracting at others seem to be integral, part and parcel of the music. As far as other senses go, rapid changes in temperature, and usually closed eye visionary experience, on rare occasions open eye visions, is the extent of it. No visionary smells or tastes to report. However, according to my sixth sense of hunch and intuition there are surely entities that vibe to the music and the rapport of the group that includes the drummers, dancers and other participants. I find different spirits congregate in different places, the ones to be found in a hospital, drinking establishments, a church, a prison, a consecrated sacred space, an ensemble class, a vision quest, a drum circle are all going to attract different spirits that will surely contribute to the overall vibe of these various places and spaces. More specifically in terms of drumming and music there are usually marked differences between say a performance of a ritual and a ritual performance.”
Theories
Stream Tomas Ohrstrom <streamohrstrom@s...> “We drum, body heart and soul, and enter into an altered state of consciousness, and we hear with more than our ears.We create a harmonic beacon, and those who love harmony come to join... Some may think that we hear our ancestors voices in the chorus. Some might say, it is the Angels, who come to celebrate with us. The Angelic Entities can't tell the diff btw Africa or Ireland or India or the Moon, and they don't care, but they do love synergy - and they join in. Harmony begets harmony, resonance resonates from plane to plane. This is the Web, way beyond the Net. We have heard about the Music of the Spheres, now we hear it ourselves.”
Adam Bernardi <bernardi@m...> “My practical self thinks it's merely an aural illusion produced by the volume, room dynamics, ear fatigue, etc.”
Kat Kiefer <katkiefer@h...> “To me, it is the village singers, the women of sweet voice that I hear calling out to me from inside the drum, as if their spirits dwell there in the tradition.” In another mailing she writes: “When I played the tape back later, the singing was still there, so I tend to think it has more to do with the harmonic blend of sound created by the different vibrations of polyrhythm. When I asked Nana about it he gave my favorite answer, "The drums are singing to us." ”
Diane Gardner <wgardner@s...> “I thought I was the only one and at times thought it was just my imagination.” and later in another email she continues “Like some of you I also thought it was dynamics of sound etc, but then I realized it did not happen all the time, only when I was really into the rhythm. It can happen with just two drums or many drums. Like Kat, an image of village women overcomes me and I see a fire burning in the darkness and the dancers. The singing comes from them and the image is very clear.”
Alicia <Niniava@a...> “I mentioned it to several of my teachers and to my shamanic journey group and they told me that hearing the voices is a very special thing, not to be taken lightly. They said that if you listen hard enough, you can hear actual words in the song.”
Liam <drdude1@c...>“...I've wondered if it isn't some sort of self
induced trance-like status, with the flute or chant or singing representing "beauty" or something like that to your brain while in this altered state.”
Peter E. Carels <carelspe@m...> “Sometimes I think it's just the particular combination of tunings and instruments plus where I happen to be sitting in the room, though the last-mentioned is maybe less of a factor, since on more than one occasion it wasn't only I who heard it.”
Kathy <KathyM513@a...> “I don't think It is the voices coming to you but you are opening up into what is around you.”
Christina Van Deusen <c_vand@h...>
“I believe the voices are real, I have been journeying to medicine drums and celtic drums for many years...” “...when the journeys are shared the reason comes to light, There are spirits in the drums, when the sacred circle is set and the directions and spirits invited to join.”
Lindsay Rowlands <lrowland@m...> “I have heard the supposed voices often. As someone who has been stricken with being a musician for life it sounds just like harmonic anomalies to my well honed ears. It seems the sound is always there when we drum but it's not until our ears somewhat overloaded that it becomes apparent.”
Joshua Dysart <joshcc@h...> “...to add a few suggestions that are more related to a current understanding of physics and also to add my personal view. The drums do all kinds of wonderful things to the "open mind" of those that play them. Just like a good drug that temporarily alters brain functions so that new points of perception can be viewed, the drums can quickly and easily place someone in a tranced state that allows for any number of both auditory and (if entrenched enough in the beat) visual hallucination.”
Andy <Andy@T...> “I remember reading somewhere that sustained loud noise causes auditory hallucinations.”
Zachary W <mahempco@h...> “I realized it was the actual sound of the music BREATHING, and for the first time I understood that concept.”
Scott Robinson <Twixt@a...> “I have wondered if it's a trick of reverberation, or what...though I've journeyed to drums, in a Circle, and know that experience for myself to be a valid reality. So, perhaps it's a real phenomenon, not some trick of our physiology.”
Tom O'Neill <Tom.Oneill@b...> “EVERYTHING IS HAPPENING AT ONCE!”
Adam Klein <aldaron@c...> “...acoustically many things happen through walls. Certain frequencies are amplified or attenuated depending on the physical properties of the room, walls, doors, windows etc. The harmonic content of drums is very complex, and when many are playing at the same time, we hear more than the sum of the parts. Listening to certain kinds of "minimalist music" (i.e. early Philip Glass) can have the effect of hearing, after a while, sounds that weren't perceived when the music started, even though very little changes in this music.”
Mickey Hart (from Drumming at the Edge of Magic ISBN 0-06-250374-X Pp. 176) writes: “How did the shamanic performance work? For myself, I know that it is possible to ride the rhythms of a drum until you fall into a state of receptivity that can be construed as the beginnings of trance. When I am drumming, I like to get as close to this state as I can, yet I also know that I can't let myself go completely because if I do, my drumming will deteriorate and I will quickly lose the state. There have been many times when I've felt as if the drum has carried me to an open door into another world, yet if I let myself pass through that door I can no longer drum and that yanks me back. Perhaps this is why the shaman has an assistant who takes over drumming as the trance deepens.”
I hope this Helps, R
Footnote by Stream:
This World of ours is a bigger place than any one of us can imagine. Believe what you can, trust the ones that speak to your Heart, and allow for things to be more amazing than what anyone told you!
Related:
Drumming 'n Drugs
Drumming As A Form of Prayer by Jim PathFinder Ewing (Nvnehi Awatisgi)
Drumming Peace One Oh One
Drum Reiki
Drums: How they beat stress by By Ann Trieger Kurland
Finding Healing Music in the Heart by Corey Kilgannon
Healing, Drumming & Praying by Jim PathFinder Ewing (Nvnehi Awatisgi)
Melodic Instruments at Drum Circles
Sound
Prayer
Shamanism: Drumming and/or Drugs
Voices at Drumcircles: Testimony and TheoriesLiterary and Graphical Freeware: Not for Commercial Use.
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