III.

Heartbeat of the Worlds

Rhythm

83-123

[Yakut shaman's song, from Czaplicka's book]

"Souls of the sun, mothers of the sun,

Living in the south, in the nine wooded hills,

... -- let your three shadows stand high! ...

And thou, grey-bearded wizard Fire, I ask thee

{[Aztec] Fire (Xiuh-tecuhtli) is the 'eldest god' (Huehue-teotl).}

With all my dreams, comply!"

To accomplish attunement of bodily-rhythms, "beat a drum held just above the body of the (usually reclining) client, moving it up and down from point to point, and listen to how the drum resonates with the energy points of the astral and physical body. If some points are sluggish or too fast, drumming for a period of time just over that point at a more correct rhythm ... can slow them down or speed them up, ... set them more right with the rhythm of the body itself."

"Each hemisphere has a different task to concentrate on while drumming --

the left brain keeps track of polyrrhythms and sees how they fit together, and

the right brain does the work of entraining the body to the rhythm and doling out any ecstatic chemistry.

Drumming -- or any kind of music ... -- brings them together in one act."

{This is the basic principle of Robert Monroe's Hemi-Sync for attaining visionary imagery while awake.}

p. 89

"Law of Entrainment" : "In 1665, the Dutch scientist Christian Huygens noted that ... clocks ... next to each other ... would slowly come into rhythm with each other. ...

{This is a tendency, in pendulum-clocks, for pendula in mutual vicinity to align mutually their movement of swinging.}

We don't know why it works ... ."

{Their wave-forms merge into co-incidence. These waves must be very long, and transmitted underground in the Earth, like other long waves (including earthquake-waves).}

p. 90

"The Earth's own rhythm is about 8 cycles per minute. When you drum along that rhythm while sitting on the ground, after a while you entrain ... to that cycle ... and this is a way to connect into the land-wight in a way that is fully experiential on some level, ... between radically differing beings."

"Taoism is bounded by fives, Ayurveda by sixes, and the Babylonian ... by twelves. ...

{Actually, not only is the Akkadian (Babylonian) numeral-system based on [5*12=] 60 and its powers, but similarly in the Chinese calendar-system based in the same [5*12=] 60 (60-day cycle during the Shang dynasty, 60-year cycle modernly).}

I am trying to work out the numerology of the Northern Tradition -- ... its ubiquitous nines".

{The 9 Worlds of the Norse would perhaps match the MesoAmerican 9 Netherworlds, and/or the Taoist 9 Heavens.}

p. 94

"Seidhr-workers also had specific songs that carried their magic-power, called seidhlaeti ... . ... they might live on in the Scandinavian custom of lockrop, or singing special high-pitched chants in order to summon cattle. Others have compared them to the Finnish tietaja songs, and the Saami joik, both of which are still used today. Joik -- ... special to the Saami noiade -- is similar to galdr ... in that it is largely improvised on the spot".

p. 95

"Finnish tietaja ... can be found in the Kalevala, such as the songs sung by the shamanic hero Va[:]inamo[:]inen".

p. 96

"Galdr, from the Old Norse verb gala (to crow ...)".

{aequivalent to the Old English verb /giellan/ 'to yell'; cf. Old English /gielpan/ 'to yelp'.}

p. 97

"The energy of our galdr ... creates a bridge and becomes an experience of the rune ... through Midgard ... . The runes can travel through all realms, but cannot create the bridges and doorways themselves. ... The runes will teach and test the singer ... . ...

p. 98

I never plan galdr out beforehand. ... There is a reason its etymology comes from a verb meaning "to crow." ... The sound heard during galdr is the sound of the runes flowing over and into

p. 99

the web of Wyrd itself. It reflects the vibrations of those threads. ... Once a person begins to galdr with the intent of infusing a rune ... into the web, a pattern will emerge on the threads ... . ... Some people may find that they have a unique ability to harmonize and balance energies out of a group's galdr-working. ...

I have used galdr ... to hallow a particular place/space, to induce shape-shifting in a berserker, to induce trance ..., and to connect to Odinn {O`dinn} on the Tree ... . ... It is one of the most effective tools for luckworkings ... . ... The body itself ... becomes a conduit for the rune and

p. 100

its power. ... It leaves its mark and will pattern the singer to ... a greater awareness of the ... patterning of Wyrd."

p. 101

"If a shaman does dance, the ability to keep it up tirelessly for hours (even if they are [he or she is] old and lame ...) is seen as proof of their [his or her] spirit-powers. As a spirit-worker who has had the wights use my body for things that would be physically impossible for me to do, and as someone with a chronic illness who has still found

p. 102

that an on-duty {auric} light for my {shamanic} job gives me sudden reserves of energy and strength that I wouldn't have had otherwise, I can believe that this is so. ...

An altered state which invites the spirits often requires the spirit-worker yo do things that are strange, weird ... . ... This means that the spirit-worker who is called to dance ... in front of a group needs ... connection with the spirits".

p. 104

"I began to spin. ... Soon I was fully entranced."

{Cf. the whirling darwis^ trance-dance.}

p. 105

"My first introduction to ... "trance dancing," was through Jan Fries' book Seidways. ...

p. 106

We spend ... years ... to learn how to leave our bodies, to escape into other worlds by astral projection, ... trance work, worldwalking ... . ...

p. 107

Costuming is often involved, and there is ... spinning and leaping to raise energy to cast out {i.e., expand (not expell)} the intention of the group ... . This is a form of trance dancing, and the purpose of this motion is to create an altered state wherein {occult} energy raised to affect {effect} a specific {magical} end. ...

It is up to ... either a high priestess or some other person who is able[,] to harness and send energy forth -- to utilize the energy raised for specific ends. ...

p. 108

This ... asks the dancer to incorporate ... the skill of listening to energy patterns and entities to find the niche where they can fit in and alter things {such as consciousness} within a group. ... Particularly in a group situation, this must be handled only by those who ... can also direct the energies as they move. ... This practice is one that takes years to develop, as it goes beyond ... trance and energy creation into an entire spiritual practice."

"With enough practice, the dancers will be able to reach a trance state -- perhaps easily ... . ... It may help the group if there are drums accompanying this practice. ... There is already a good deal written on the intention and proper way ... in dancing for magickal and trance purposes."

"I spun spells from the wool ... . ...

I made a number of spells in gray-and-white yarn for invisibility, designed to be tossed over the shoulder as you recite the spell, and then you walk away and your pursuers can't find you.

I also spun some out of black yarn for shadow-binding spells, and

some out of plain white silk for creating boundary spells ... .

I cut a stick of rowan wood, and wrapped them all onto it".

"practiced seidr {seidr} on Sams[-]ey {"isle of Sam" (cf. name of Saman-Veda?)},

... beat on a vett as vo[,]va[-]s do.

-- Lokas[-]enna 24"

"the mysterious vett is ... a pot-lid."

{A pot-lid held by its hand would function as a cymbal (played, e.g., in the cult of Kubele/Kubebe); but suspended, it would function as a gong.}

"I was told {by immaterial deities} that I needed to have drums, ... I ... having noncorporeal teachers ... .

There seem to be be three kinds of drums in the shamanic tradition I am being taught {by deities} that are useful to the modern-day shaman.

The first type is a Worldwalker. These are generally flat frame drums, and are used both for moving between worlds and for doing divination. ...

The second type is a healing drum, for healing rituals, and is ... made of fired clay ... . ...

The third is a large drum carved out of a single log ... . It is used ... for calling the Dead."

I've been told that there were other sorts of drums long ago, but I have not been introduced to their energy.

One was the hunting drum, which the shaman uses to call ... the prey animals close to human habitation ... . ...

Another was a weather drum, which could be used for calling or turning storms, but the spirits that it was associated with were dangerous and capricious ... . ...

Yet another drum was played for sexual fertility rites by the community".

p. 116

"The first drum I used had to be a frame drum. ... it had to be round or oval, broad and shallow and flat. ... I ended up drilling tiny holes all around the exterior of the drum, and I attached tambourine jingles ... . Each of the jingles conveniently had a dangling ring attached, and from {that} then I hung ... metal cone bells ... . ... [On the drumhead,] I drew the World Tree, with the Nine Worlds around it. I drew it looking from the top down ... . ... .

p. 117

... the drum of the Saami shamans, which is called a rune[-]bom ..., ... is a frame drum, often hung with metal jangles ... . The pictures ... had drumheads completely cluttered with ... symbols, including usually drawings of a World Tree and at least three levels of world. ... The drum was vital to the Saami noaide[-]vuohta, or shamanic work. Saami drums were ... bowl-drums carved out of tree burls. They were beaten with an antler handle, and covered with symbols of the various Otherworlds ... . ... A small frog-shaped flat-bottomed pointer of brass, horn, or bone called an arpa was sometimes used as a divinatory "seeker" on the top of the drum. They were festooned with ... figurines, claws,

hooves, teeth, ... and sometimes even

the penis bones {? there is no such thing!} of bears."

{"among the Saami, ... women were warned to ... "beware the bear's honeyed penis."" ("V&BNT", p. 20)}

p. 118

"The spirit of the drum was very feminine -- both of my drums have been ... -- and I did a ritual to ask her name ... . She had two names, Yggdrasil Moonsong.

Yggdrasil for her first job, which is to be used to walk between the worlds,

Moonsong for her divinatory abilities."

"My second drum had to be made of ... clay. ... I used a clay doumbek from Greece ... . ... My assistant ... hanging strings of shells on her ... . She's a healing drum, to be used for trances whereby one moves through the body of the client. I dipped her base into the ocean, fully awakening her and finding her name."