In ancient times of the Matriarchy, the drummers were women.   Our herstory proves it in the 100s + 100s of ancient goddess images collected + documented by frame drummer Layne Redmond (rip 1952-2013). 

I was moved to create and birth a 'bee frame drum'... for the annual anniversary 'for the bees' art show held at 'The Hive', here on Gabriola Island.  This frame drum is my honouring of the sacred bee - for, we wouldn't be here without the bees.
- here's my last year's 'for the bees' submission at the Hive >>

This design is based on the ancient frame drum which was also played as our women ancestors did + still do all over the planet.

This drum has resonators installed in the back so, when played, the frame drum buzzes, sounding and calling the spirit of the sacred bees.  This type of 'Bendir' drum is a descendant of the ancient bee priestesses' frame drums, which hummed the world into bee-ing.  It is played in the old traditional upright 'frame drum' style with the hands (see goddess image to the right)... 

On the front is painted the Hexagon symbol - of all the geometric shapes in sacred geometry, the hexagon is arguably the most powerful and fascinating + ancient.   It is found in many spiritual symbols such as the Star of David, the Tree of Life in the Kabbalah and the Hagal Rune composed by ancient tribes of northern Europe, and so much more.

The frame drum is birthed in white Goat rawhide.  The spirit of Goat helps us and the bees to 'stand our ground'... and helps us with sure-footedness and balance.... We can call on the spirit of goat when we need independence coupled with plenty.... and, when we are ready to take on something new, and there is no need for guilt.  Goat spirit helps with gaining confidence and firm cornerstones for personal or spiritual development.  For those who find themselves stuck or wholly misplaced, the spirit of goat gets you moving again - Let that energy take you where you need to be for finding answers.  Goat may not move swiftly, but slow and steady is best when you start losing balance... Once you’re on your way with goat guiding, you’ll find the determination necessary for success.
Note: This frame drum size birthed... 11.5 inches in diameter with a maple wood hoop in goat hide, painted in gold + red acrylics...

I'm very proud how my first traditional 'women's' frame drum came into 'bee-ing'... and the process and connecting in with the sacred bees taught me a lot... I'm also excited to report that this special sacred drum has found it's new caretaker, being a part of a thriving women's counselling practice in Vancouver, BC... 

If you wish to have a sacred frame drum birthed like this one or other, i invite you to visit my drum shop here on this page >>  I am open to discussing what's possible and honoured to birth a special sacred drum especially for you or your loved one... 

with brightest blessings... weaver x (((o)))

Click the images above to enlarge + below, a short video to have a listen to this bee drum...

Sometimes there are no words......... 

Sometimes there are only moments of sweet beauty.........

The other day, I was standing outside my studio, busy sanding a couple of wooden handles for some rattles i was making...

I prefer to do that work outside to keep the dust down inside the studio... It's also nice to be out in the fresh air - take in what's around me in our big side-yard, up in the sky and the trees... listening to bird-song, (whom i'm still getting to know since moving here a year ago)... Including getting off my butt for a bit too... as i sit waaay too much!   Someone told me the other day, that sitting for too long has become the 'new smoking' = yikes......

​Most mornings, of late, we've had a lone, wild turkey (earth eagle) hanging out in our  yard, gobbling away for no apparent reason, it seems - for, who knows what... though, i wonder if perhaps, he's attempting to call his buddies up the hill to join him... he's not been very successful...

​I was quite focused on my sanding for a good 10 minutes or so when, i suddenly felt a presence... that i wasn't alone.......

I looked up from my work and, there she was... holy wow!... a beautiful, deer doe, just inches away, standing there, quietly looking at me... 

At first i was a bit startled as i wondered how long she had been there, looking at me... perhaps, patiently waiting for me to notice her....

I softly said hello to this dear soul as my heart lit up.... She didn't move... her amazing big beautiful eyes drew me right into her sweet be-ingness... tears were streaming down my cheeks as our hearts locked on as one....

We spent quite some time gazing into each other's heart-soul....  I knew i was receiving a huge gift.... it was such a sacred moment.... When our heart-gaze released some...... we continued to connect with each other so close...... we chatted heart to heart for a while longer...   i was moved to ask her permission if i could photograph her - of which she allowed.... she still didn't move....

Not long after, the turkey, who was  still in the yard, unexpectedly let out a gobble... the turkey didn't phase her though.... she simply dropped her gaze from me and began to slowly saunter away... turning back once or twice - offering a couple more moments to connect........

I was so very moved by this deep moment of beauty we had shared... she offered me to really 'feel' such a gift of the heart i haver never quite felt before... i continue to feel very moved by the whole experience... One of the many gifts she gave me in that moment was...... that i know i am never, ever alone......... something was healed within me and my dear heart...

There are really no words to describe this, our beaty-moment together...............

She has since returned to our yard many times... as she is pregnant and about to give birth.... We have seen her lying on the moss down in the yard at dusk and will walk through to say hello.... I am so honoured with much appreciation, to have met my new, sweet friend of the heart... I can't wait to see her with her new babes come through the yard....  

with brightest blessings... weaver x (((o)))

Above, a bit of video i happened to capture when she began to walk back into the yard, after our time together... below a couple more glimpses of our moment together... x (((o)))

How to make your own florida water....

The below florida water recipes are simple to make... this first one was passed on to us during a shamanic medicine wheel training a number of years ago - and so now, i pass on to you so you can make your own.

Florida water can be expensive to buy so, it's great to be able to make your own... 

I will add more to this page on the different uses of using florida/flower waters soon - so, stay tuned.  I also welcome you to share your own recipes if you wish... and i can post here to share with others... if you wish to do that, let me know in the comments below or email me...
brightest, weaver x (((o)))

Florida Water Recipe...
The below is suggested and one tried and true - do feel free to experiment to create your own personal blend with those plant medicines that call you to work with...

• 1/2 cup dried sage
• 1/2 cup dried cedar
• 1/2 cup dried sweetgrass
• 1/2 cup dried lavendar
• 6 cups good quality vodka - like 100-proof smirnoff

Spiritually gather the herbs in a sacred way... combine them with the vodka... place in a glass jar and store at room temperature for 14 days (half a moon cycle) ... consider leaving out to infuse with either a full or new moon...  place a paper towel in a mesh strainer and strain out the liquid from the herbs into a clean container with a lid and store, use...  the above can also be made from herbal/plant essential oils... see below for other ways to make your own florida waters... enjoy!

A great video on how to make your own florida water - a simple and beautiful flower essence water recipe i found on youtube... see below video for the recipe...

2 cups of vodka (100 proof), 2 tbsp rose water, 16 drops of bergamont oil, 12 drops of lavender oil, 6 drops of may chang oil, 3 drops of rosemary oil, 2 drops of jasmine oil, 2 drops of rose attar oil, and a pinch of orris root powder... 

Here is a more in depth look into how to make Florida Water... some of it's history and the different types... Florida is Spanish for 'flower'... and there are many, many recipies for Florida Water...

This video shows how to make florida water or flower water from collecting the flowers + herbs to how to make it... how to use florida water in your shamanic practice including how to use it to cleanse with your spirit breath... 

... my calendar of upcoming sacred circle + related events >>

Various Florida Waters on Amazon...

NOTE:  As you can see above, there are many types of Florida Waters available on the market - with many different scents including air fresheners and soaps for various uses.

​The most known and used water in shamanic healing work is the Peruvian Florida Water from Murray & Lanman.  To be sure you are purchasing the Peru Florida Water, know it says "Peru" on the label, has a white cap and is an amber coloured water - where the other type of Florida Water has a more light-greenish coloured water with a black cap, and is from New York.  The difference from the two is the very distinct scent and essence, used for different purposes.
​

I share what i have learned with the heart of munay... if you have found value + wish to support my  work... perhaps consider buying me a coffee, thank you!

It's a sad moment for all women (and men) drummers as Layne Redmond, woman frame drummer extraordinare, teacher, mentor, herstorian... and author of one of the most beautiful books ever written, called, "When the Drummers Were Women" passed away from cancer this morning. 

It was probably in 1998 or '99 while nosing around in a local Vancouver bookstore that Layne's newly published book (1997) literally dropped off the top of a shelf and fell into my hands...

 I was awe-struck and couldn't believe what i was seeing... at first glance of the cover, i was quite taken with the stunning beauty and powerful energy of this book... i loved the feel of the paper it was printed on and the engaging herstorical photos on every page - each image was of women from all cultures drumming from the beginning of time!  I was elated and it excited me to learn more about my own 'woman' herstory being a female drummer... We've been drumming together since the beginning!

Well... needless to say, i immediately bought the book and have had it on my book shelf ever since.  I have read it often and since learning of Layne's passing i am reading it again.

I was thrilled to learn and re-member that the first drummers were women... The first drum was the women's drum... yeah!!!

Layne spent five years travelling and researching the ancient Goddess traditions and civilization in the Mideast and Europe... she collected and compiled hundreds of photos and drawings of ancient women drummers, mostly of Goddesses and and priestesses... 

Layne was compelled to create a powerful and empowering herstory of the sacred drum - the 'women's' sacred drum - an empowering reclaiming of the sacred feminine...  The book has over 80 photos and drawings throughout.  I recommend all women drummers to own and read this important book.

The ancient frame drum was and is a women's symbol - of the sacred power of women... of creation... birth... and fertility... where, with one stroke of the sacred drum, everything comes into existence.  

One of my favourite and i feel most powerful and beautiful passages within, is a sacred teaching from Layne Redmond... First Sound............

I love how Layne's sharing acknowledges and confirms our women's sacred frame drum lineage... We come into this world, even before we are birthed into the physical human form with a deep pre-knowledge and knowingness of the sacred drum - there is a red-blood drumming and sourcing deeply rooted within our DNA - also within the rivers of our own blood and we pass this on to our children and they, their children... there is no beginning and no ending - we are a circle round like the sacred drum... like the moon and the sun and our blessed earth mother...

We women are all drummers even before we are born...

So, the exciting news is that we all (women and men) already KNOW HOW to drum even before we are born - because it is the sound of our mother's heart-beat and her blood pulse that taught us - 'her' blood is the first sound we ever hear within our mother's womb... This is also our 'blood' lineage as women that connects us all...
​

"In ancient times, Layne writes... women used to often paint their drums red, the colour of blood or sometimes green, the colour of vegetation... as throughout the ancient world, these were primordial colours of life... Also, Sumerian frame drums are referred to as painted red, the sacred colour of blood...

​The Egyptian goddess Hathor sometimes manifests as the Seven Hathors, or the seven Celestial Cows... These seven birth goddesses set the fate of a newborn child by giving it seven souls... The 'ab' was the most important of these souls "because it was the central blood-soul emanating from the essence of the Mother."  The Egyptians believed that the mother's menstrual blood descended from her heart to her womb to create the new child's life... The mother's heartbeat was the power behind creation... this is why her frame drum was often painted red - it represented the pulse of creation..."

Back in the late 1980's i had a profound dream about being ceremonially gifted a sacred 'red drum' by another woman... i often wondered if i may be gifted such a red drum at some point and remained open to the possibility...

​It wasn't until years later that i realized that i was to birth my own sacred red drum... to gift my self and reclaim my own blood lineage as a sacred drum carrier... to step into my becoming as a sacred 'red' drum carrier...

After that dream, i created some art that i titled, 'red drum dreaming' ... to assist me in dreaming this red drum into be-ing...... to this day, i still hold that sacred dream very dear to my heart because that dream has been fulfilled... I know now when i birth any sacred drum, that the blessed Goddess is guiding me on many levels... I am truly honoured to birth a special red drum to those womyn who are deeply called to hold one... and, i am truly honoured to be a part of helping other womyn to become red drum keepers ... to help hold the balance of our blessed earth Mother, great goddess...

I know one can never 'own' a sacred drum... we are simply caretakers + holders of our precious drums... as we are the midwives + the keepers of our dear Mother's sweet voice and deep heart...

 In Layne's book, When the Drummers were Women included a whole chapter about the Island of Cypress which is the birthplace of Aphrodite, the Greek Goddess of love and beauty.   In her research she discovered that at one time, there was a flourishing ancient tradition of women drummers in Cypress... though that tradition had been long lost to the rise of patriarchy...

In 2004, women from Cypress who saw and read Layne's book invited her to come to Cypress to teach them the sacred frame drum to reclaim, once again, the sacred frame drum... which is now sounding yet again in Cypress!  The women have re-membered!  It gives me goosebumps when musing this... 

Before Layne passed, in the last few months of her life, she was passionately working on a revised edition of "When the Drummers were Women" -  to be republished with added photos, text and accounts from women all over the world on how her book influenced and changed them... I do hope she was able to complete this, her life's work.

Thank you Layne Redmond for your life's work and your journey of reclaiming the sacred women's frame drum... thank you for your sharings and teachings... for helping all women (and men) to re-member the ancient traditions and feminine lineage of drumming...  You have inspired me and moved me to continue my passion of sharing the sacred drum to those who are drawn to re-member... to re-member and return to our blessed earth mother... 

With bright blessings to you dear sister of the sacred drum on your journey home to ride the pulse of the great red mother... i-yi-yah!!!  We hear + feel your voice!  

...in deep sacred gratitude, weaver x (((o)))

• To learn more about Layne's work and legacy, i welcome you to visit her website at www.layneredmond.com
and...
www.whenthedrummerswerewomen.com

Beautiful video:  When the Drummers Were Women with Layne Redmond... enjoy!

Good News! 
Layne's book, "When the Drummers Were Women" is now back in print!  Click here >>

A Message about 12-12-12 and December 21, 2012...

​According to the prophecies of the Peruvian paqos (which source from the Inka lineage), the forthcoming date of 12-12-12 is a 'portal' day - a day that provides a doorway through which we can experience and cultivate increased access to our selves within all layers of our beings, and most potently, with access to our inner stars.

Don Mariano Quispe, of the Q'ero Lineage, shares that our inner stars are connected to our souls and link us with the kawsay pacha (world of living energy) and with the cosmos, in its infinite seen and unseen manifestations.

Each of our inner stars holds information about where we came from and where we are going. It carries information about our biological lineages and about our spiritual lineages. It is like a guiding star - or a guiding light: illuminating the pathways of our souls from the past (as informed by our bioloigical lineages and by our past lifetimes) through the present and into the future.
​
By shining light through our biological and our spiritual lineages, our inner stars can help us to stay focused on our souls' plans and on our divine contracts.

Our inner stars can illuminate areas from our past (including past generations and past lives) that are infused with 'hucha' (dark heavy energy - not negative or positive, it's just heavy and dark... 'hucha' can only be created between humans), like emotional hurts from our childhood or physical trauma, etc.
Our inner star can reveal these areas of 'hucha' to us, and support us to align with cleansing and illuminating our past so that our present and future can be clean and clear and radiant.

Don Mariano encourages us to work with our 'planets' - with our energy bodies - on 12-12-12, and to make contact with our inner stars. He invites us to receive and retrieve information from our inner stars with the intention of aligning more fully and expansively with our souls and with the offerings that our souls wish to make in the world during our lifetime.

We can even use our inner stars like light beams, shining them on our pasts and on our futures, to see clearly the gifts and the treasures and gems; and using them to step out from the shadows (including our own shadows) and into the full brilliance of the truth of our souls.

The paqos have been encouraging us to delve deep and to do our cleansing and clearing work for the past several years in anticipation and preparation for these very times and dates - 12-12-12 and 12-21-12 - that are upon us.

And they know that we have been doing our work - to clear our energy bodies so that they vibrate with increased spaciousness - to step in out 'becoming' of who we truly are... as now is the time to step in our light-self as homo-luminous...

They commend us for our work.

They are now encouraging us to grow and expand the light of our inner stars, filling the planets of our energy bodies with this light.

It is time...
It is time to be the light - the luminosity - that we have been looking for...
We are ready, and it is time... we have choice!
​
*Thank you Dennis Alejo for sharing this from don Mariano!

Gregg Braden talks a bit about the portal of December 21st, 2012 - that we are living in an extraordinary time... Gregg shares that the time of 2012 marks the ending of a 5,000+ year-cycle of the 5th Great World... what the Inka call a 'Pachakuti', the turning over of time... a time of great change... an opportunity where humanity now again, has a choice on how we respond to these great changes and shifts...  we can  choose how we treat each other as we move into the 6th Great World shift and look at what is no longer sustainable or working any more... it is truly up to us as... 'We are the ones we've been waiting for!'...

Recommended Books written by Gregg Braden...

poem...

tonight i like the rain...

tonight i like the rain…
and usually
i don’t
mostly because
sometimes it can pour and pour and pour
here

but tonight i like the rain...
maybe because i like the sound
she makes as the heavy drops fall
with assured intent
now

tonight i like the rain…
because she seems to know
that our earth is crying i guess…
i think our earth is just plain tired
with all of us
not caring

but tonight i thank the rain...
as she incessantly washes all the uncaring away
once again
giving us another chance
to care
like we used to

tonight i like the rain...

-- weaver © 2005

Om Namah Shivaya Gurave (Christaya) Mantra... played and chanted by weaver...

There are times I revisit moments of my childhood… my growing up on a potato + dairy farm just south of Vancouver… out on the mud flats of East Delta - in the Boundary Bay area…

I spent much time alone and by myself during those “grow-up” years… being a very shy and introverted kid, it was mostly to escape the 'dissonant episodes' in the household where I grew up… 

Time and again, I would flee those intense moments… And so… off I would go… in a ten minute walk or less… out to the back fields to just, be “away” from it all…

It was there in the wide, open breath of fresh air, I would find solace and some peace… and a different quiet… sounds that didn’t threaten, though embraced and held me… I looked forward to the joys of encountering nature from the spaces of flat fields and the domed, white-clouded blue sky…

Often I would take my kite or many kites, and put them all up in the wind, one at a time, and then tie them to the sharp barbed-wired fence or stake them out into the soft, rich earth … I'd lay right down, flat on my back between the angled strings… watching the coloured diamonds and their long tails dancing for hours on end… and if they would fall for whatever reason, I’d run and retrieve them…setting them up, a-flight once again…

​It wasn’t until my later years that, remembering all that “looking up”… that I had come to know the cloud people and their soft ways so well…I guess that was their “way”…’Cause I still know “them” to this day….  During the winters, with a hockey stick and puck, i'd skate forever on the frozen flooded fields...

Sometimes I would build a little fire and invent my own ceremony for whatever reason or not… dreaming up little celebrations that of course, needed celebrating… to sing my own songs to the unending sky, and, dance self-consciously knowing that i wasn't really alone... or incessantly stare at the sparkling flames, burning down quickly to eventual small glowing embers... until they would all die in a sudden extinguished puff of smoke… only… for me to start it all over again…to be a witness to the life-process of flame all over again… I loved being mesmerized by the fire’s tale and it's inviting warmth… how it cleared + fed me…over and over… and it was never the same story…

In the dark and rainy days of late Fall/winter, I would still venture out to my land of respite… I'd find myself tracking the giant, dignified snowy owls that would come from far away places… They’d put up camp on the barbed-wired fence posts… and wait open-eyed-still for the unknowingly next meal scurrying or flying by…

On my belly, like a World War II soldier without a weapon… I would creep…slowly… silent... invisible…and, track them... hoping, with a bit of luck, to get even closer for a glimpse of their kingly state… Though, never could I get any closer... as often as not with a snap 360-degree turn, the owl would see me… then swiftly launch a silent departure…fly low, a vast spreaded wing-span and glide over to the next fence post or flooded field… Once again, to sit in a perch of stillness, tolerant of the relentless stinging rain… teasingly wait for me… like a game to perhaps break their boredom... 

I swear I could hear their chucklings at their next expected quest by me… Eventually frustrated… I’d stand straight up and stagger over to where one had just been… only to find their tightly-woven pellets of last lunches and suppers strewn on the ground at the foot of the fence post… I’d sit down cross-legged, and carefully, like a scientist, tear open each small, greyish package apart… revealing their regurgitated matted fur-bundle of tiny bones, feathers, fur and hair of field mice and small birds…

I don’t think I ever got close enough to actually see one of those magnificent birds eye-to-eye… 

And so… I have much gratitude and thank sweet Spirit for the back field moments of my childhood - the gifts received in that place with sweet mount Baker holding my back… I thank the dear Goddess for the land and the beings (seen + unseen) that lived there that truly held me, who were my closest friends... I also give thanks for my family, who pushed me to the back fields, my home of refuge and respite, the places of my other Mother… my blessed Earth Mother… the beautiful land... as she fed me… she taught me… she showed me… and she held me… and she still does… she taught me to 'see' in ways I never thought possible...

brightest blessings... weaver x (((o)))

below, a beautiful video of the snowy owls of Boundary Bay - near where i grew up...

This powerful myth/story really connects me with my true essence as woman and my life-path as lover of our sweet earth-mother... including my pacha-journey coming into sage-time....... my sisters and 'i am'.... wolf woman, la loba... the magic + power of breath .... shape-shifting our own becoming into be-ing........

This beautiful story reminds me that we, as women can choose within any present moment to step into our own inner strength to create and dream our dreams into being... i love how the myth shares about "presence"... and by being in the present moment we have the power to "choose life".... enjoy!   weaver x (((o)))
​

 La Loba sings the bones...
or also known as... La Loba Singing Over the Bones...

There is an old woman who lives in a hidden place that everyone knows in their souls but few have ever seen. She calls herself by many names.

In this desert she is called La Loba. The Wolf Woman. The sole work of La Loba is the collecting of bones. She collects and preserves especially that which is in danger of being lost to the world. Her specialty is wolves.

She sifts through the mountains and riverbeds looking for wolf bones, and when she has assembled an entire skeleton and the creature is laid out before her, she sits by the fire and thinks about what song she will sing. And when she is sure, she stands over the creature, raises her arms over it, and sings out.

That is when the rib bones and leg bones begin to flesh out and the creature becomes furred. La Loba sings some more, and more of the creature comes into being; its tail curls upward, shaggy and strong.

​And La Loba sings more and the wolf creature begins to breathe.

And still La Loba sings so deeply that the floor of the desert shakes, and as she sings, the wolf opens its eyes, leaps up, and runs away down the canyon.

Somewhere in its running, whether by the speed of its running, or by splashing its way into a river, or by way of a ray of sunlight or moonlight hitting it right in the side, the wolf is suddenly transformed into a laughing woman who runs free toward the horizon.

So remember, if you wander the desert, and it is near sundown, and you are perhaps a little bit lost, and certainly tired, that you are lucky, for La Loba, the wolf woman may take a liking to you and show you something—something of the soul.

• Excerpt from the classic book, Women Who Run with the Wolves
by Clarissa Pinkola Estes

Video below... a beautiful short animation about La Loba, the Wolf Woman...Singing Over the Bones...