The Mayan Calendar and the Nine Sided Drum Part II

Continuation of “The Mayan Calendar and the Nine Sided Drum Part I“

The drum making class at the Healing Drum Retreat march 2009 flowed gracefully with the support of 10 Lamat, the star.  The question still remained: would the 9 sided drum come to life on this day?

One by one the drums were completed, and there was still time to build the 9-sided buffalo drum.  The hide was very wet, having soaked maybe a little longer than it needed.   Nonetheless it was time to take it out, stretch the hide, and measure.   The difficult part was calculating the configuration of the sinew.  I’m grateful that one of our volunteers that weekend is a mathematician.  He shared a nine point diagram with me, and I quickly integrated this information into my layout, using the diagram in the center of the drum to accurately connect the 18 holes in the hide.

The stringing process went quite well, thanks to the help of Sharon, one of our participants who has assisted on many drums.   A combination of black and white sinew was used to represent the flow between day and night, or the flow between above and below as is emphasized in the Mayan Calendar.  Kaye stepped in once we completed the stretching and tying of the sinew, offering her expertise and creativity in weaving the remaining sinew threads.

(For those who wonder who’s who in the photo, Sharon, who assisted me in the stretch and tying is to the left, Kaye on the right, and that’s me in the center.  The drum is the ghostly white wet hide toward the bottom center of this picture.)

The drum rested, slowly drying over the next few days.   The student’s drums all dried by Sunday, and they were joyfully playing their own creation during our drumming times.   The nine-sided was far from dry.  But the picture began to emerge as the buffalo lost its watery tone.

The painting will happen in due time, slow and careful to assure the sinew and hide are not painted as well.  Additional work will be completed on the handgrip and sections of the sinew to complete the stories.  This has truly become a labor of love, and I look forward to sharing this creation at the next Healing Drum Retreat, June 19-21, 2009.  This event includes many shamanic offerings, include the Mayan Calendar and Native American teachings and activities, and is open to all creeds and beliefs.

This posting contains a clairvoyant interpretation of the Mayan Tzolkin Calendar, a spiritually focused calendar, presented by Estee Taschereau through her venue YinYangPower.com. Private sessions by phone can be scheduled for a gentle retrieval of the inner child left behind.