This new shamanic frame drum from the Journey Oracle was made on Winter Solstice.
I was reluctant to begin because I thought the blacktail deer hide was too uneven in its surface, too wrinkled and marked by age to have a good voice. I noted in my inventory book that I had already passed this deer skin over twice before, selecting other skins for a workshop and a custom order rather than choosing this one.
But I only had two already prepared skins left and its too cold to work hides during December so I spent some time with a fleshing tool, trying to thin the membrane.
The creature that emerged looks to me like the wolf in winter.
Lean and watchful, silent, poised to move yet still.
I think of winter in the same way.
The feeling of stillness before the storm comes:
the thin hard rain or silent snow.
The snake on the back of the drum is a symbol of going deep.
The wrapping of white doeskin is in honour of snow.
The interlacement pattern forms an Octagram.
An 8-pointed star which represents regeneration.
Winter Solstice is the time of regeneration.
The Sun's birthday.
The turning toward the light.
This Winter Wolf drum has one of the finest voices I have stretched in many years. You can hear it being played with a felted beater by clicking on this youtube link: https://youtu.be/VO0BljwN268.
Even though I appreciate this technology because you can have a taste of its voice, this is nothing compared to being in its presence; just like the difference between watching a video about wolves, and seeing a wolf in winter.
