Drumbeat of the Rainbow Fire by Michael Drake The drum has been the guiding force in my life for many years. My journey into rhythm began under the tutelage of Mongolian shaman Jade Wah'oo. Jade's ancient knowledge of drumming and healing rhythms was most influential in putting together my first book, The Shamanic Drum: A Guide to Sacred Drumming. I had a deep respect for the power of the ceremonial rhythms and drum ways of Jade's tradition, but I had to follow my own path of rhythm. Though Jade was my mentor, the drum became my teacher and creative addiction. I developed an insatiable thirst for its rhythms. I became a rhythm seeker, learning new rhythms from other drummers, from nature, and from dreams and visions. I explored the rhythms of many of the world's shamanic and spiritual traditions. It was only natural, at least from my perspective, that rhythm, as a path, would lead me to the rhythmic roots of all cultures. As I learned the drum ways of various world cultures, I found the same rhythmic qualities underlying all of them. Like the colors of the rainbow, each culture has its own hue or identity, yet each is a part of the whole. Although the focus or intent differs from culture to culture, rhythmic drumming invariably has the same power and effects in all traditions. The resonant qualities and attributes of these rhythmic phenomena are universal and come into play whenever we drum. The sound waves produced by the drum impart their energy to the resonating systems of the body, mind, and spirit, making them vibrate in sympathy. When we drum, our living flesh, brainwaves, and spiritual energy centers begin to vibrate in response. This sympathetic resonance leaves reverberating effects up to 72 hours after a drum session. These powerful effects can best be described in terms of their influence on the subtle energy centers known as chakras. The Seven Chakras The spiritual traditions of India and other cultures teach us that there are vibratory centers within the human body. All describe spinning wheels of energy, or chakras, lying along the spine. There are seven major chakras arranged linearly along the vertical spinal axis from the genital region to the crown of the head. Each vortex of energy is associated with a specific color of the rainbow and with particular functions of consciousness. Chakras function much like electrical junction boxes, mediating spiritual energy throughout the entire mind-body system. They are the interface among the physical, mental, and spiritual aspects of one's being. Imbalances in chakras lead to imbalances in body, mind, and spirit. Drumming creates a vibratory resonance that activates, balances, and aligns the chakra system. The Base Chakra The first, or base, chakra is red in color. It is located at the base of the spine and is associated with issues of basic health and survival. Resonating the base chakra grounds the spiritual forces in the body to the earth and the physical realm of reality. When poorly grounded, your spatial understanding is impaired. You may stumble around physically, mentally, spiritually, and emotionally. Grounding enhances your ability to function effectively on a day-to-day basis. Drumming also maintains a grounding earth connection for those seeking altered states of consciousness or alternate realities. One of the paradoxes of rhythmic stimulation is that it has both the power to move your awareness out of the confines of the conceptual mind into realms beyond time and space and the capacity to ground you firmly in the present moment. It allows you to maintain a portion of ordinary awareness while experiencing non-ordinary awareness. This permits full recall later of the visionary experience. The base chakra is also known as a storehouse for a fiery energy that, if awakened, rises up the spine, illuminating all the chakras. In the Hindu tradition, this dormant energy is known as the kundalini (literally, "serpent fire"). This spiritual flame within can be rekindled by drumming, thereby igniting the Rainbow Fire of a fully activated chakra system. With the rising of the kundalini and the activation of succeeding chakras, an individual becomes more highly conscious and spiritually transformed. The Sacral Chakra The second, or sacral, chakra is orange and is located just below the navel in the abdominal area. The functions associated with this center are emotion, vitality, fertility, reproduction, and sexual energy in general. The physical transmission of rhythmic energy to this chakra removes any blockages that may hamper these functions. Drumming is an excellent way of keeping your sexual and creative energy vitalized, a great help in channeling energy into your work and everyday life. The Navel Chakra The third chakra is located just above the navel. Yellow in color, it is your power center. Its energy expresses personal power. It is associated with action, assertion, empowerment, and ego mastery. It is the area where chi (life force) is stored. Shamans tend to believe that this is a very important chakra, since the accumulation and maintenance of power are fundamental to shamanic practice. Many shamanic cultures place great emphasis on drumming, for the drum unites masculine and feminine energies, generating the force that weaves the web of life. Drumming cultivates life force energy in the area of the navel. This energy can then be directed back to the higher chakras or toward healing and creative endeavors. The Heart Chakra The fourth vibratory center is the heart chakra, and is located in the center of the chest between the two nipples. Green in color, it is related to the heart and associated with love, compassion, and affection. This chakra forms a bridge, linking the upper three chakras to the lower three. Drumming opens the heart chakra, thereby balancing the descending higher chakra energies against the ascending lower chakra frequencies. From the heart, these harmonious energies resonate outward into the web of life. Rhythmic stimulation has both the power to move your awareness out of the confines of the conceptual mind into realms beyond time and space and the capacity to ground you firmly in the present moment. Shamans around the world believe that the drum is coming into power again to awaken our hearts, for we must now learn to live from the heart. To live from the heart means to walk the "rainbow path," to walk in balance like the colors of the rainbow, to respect all pathways to wholeness. The rainbow symbolizes unity, wholeness, and balance. Shamans believe that this balance is the only thing that is truly worth pursuing in this world. When humans lose it, they create imbalance within the web of life. It then requires the unity of all colors, all cultures, working together to bring the web back into balance. The Throat Chakra The fifth energy center is blue, and is located at the base of the neck in the nook where the clavicle bones meet. Known as the throat chakra, it is associated with communication, telepathy, and creative expression. Resonating this chakra greatly enhances creativity and telepathic communication with others. Most importantly, drumming opens your ability to hear and recognize the messages of your inner voice. The inner guidance of intuitive knowing can then flow unimpeded into conscious awareness. Intuition reveals appropriate action in the moment for a given set of circumstances. Synchronous activity appears within consciousness as the most natural thing to do. By allowing the intuition to lead the body, one attains clarity in movement. So long as one follows one's intuitive sense, one's actions will be in sync with the true self and, ultimately, the cosmos. The Brow Chakra The sixth chakra is that of the brow or "third eye." Located between and slightly above the eyebrows, it is indigo in color. This chakra is primarily concerned with imagination and inner vision. Resonating this chakra opens the door to a reality separate from the ordinary world. Rhythmic drumming induces ecstatic trance, enabling one to perceive an alternate reality. Researchers have found that if a drumbeat frequency of between three and four beats per second is sustained for a least 15 minutes, it will induce significant altered states in most people, even on their first attempt. In altered states of consciousness, one is able to access and direct transpersonal powers for healing and manifesting what is needed to benefit the community. Drumming carries awareness into the archetypal realm of the collective unconscious, the infinite creative matrix of all that we are and have ever been. It is an inward spiritual journey of joy and rapture in which one interacts with the inner world, thereby influencing the outer world. In the shaman's world, all human experience is self-generated. Experience is shaped from within, since the entire universe exists within human consciousness. The shaman traverses the inner planes in order to create and change experience and help others do the same. The Crown Chakra The seventh, or crown, chakra is located at the top of head. This vibratory center is associated with the color violet, full enlightenment, and union with the cosmos. Drumming opens this chakra, thereby facilitating a state of unity consciousness. One's sense of being a separate individual gives way to an experience of union not only with other individuals but with the entire universe. The benefits of attaining this holistic mode of consciousness include relaxation, healing, more energy, greater mental clarity, enhanced creativity, and communion with the resonating web of life. Feelings of peacefulness, timelessness, and spiritual well-being are common, along with a oneness of feeling and purpose with the totality of a dynamic, interrelated universe. This experience of mystical union with the cosmos is said, by many of the world's spiritual traditions, to be the final realization. Consciousness rediscovers its true nature and recognizes itself in all things. Drumming induces this state simply, effortlessly, and effectively. The Rainbow Fire The Rainbow Fire symbolizes illuminated mind, clarity of all aspects of consciousness. Metaphorically, it describes the aura of iridescent light that radiates from a fully activated chakra system. This prismatic illumination within allows us to fully integrate the wisdom of all seven centers of consciousness. It clears the mind of illusions and obstructions, transforming thought patterns of confusion to reveal inherent clear mind. The fire of clear mind is ever-present within each of us, and to remove any obstruction of its clarity is the duty of all people, that each may find the way to unity and harmony. Drumming is one way that we can cultivate the fire of clear mind. The drum's beat ignites the Rainbow Fire within, illuminating the path and showing us the way. With clarity of mind, we can readily perceive what aims are in accord with the cosmos, not wasting energy on discordant pursuits. Through the insight and understanding of illuminated mind, we can bring enlightenment to the world. Michael Drake is a writer and ceremonial drummer of Cherokee descent. He has studied with master drummers from both the Native American and Mongolian shamanic traditions. He is the author of The Shamanic Drum: A Guide to Sacred Drumming and I Ching: The Tao of Drumming.