I have just returned from a drum making workshop in the West Kootenay region of British Columbia, where the four directions were our teachers.
When I invite the four directions to come and sit with us, the first to arrive is the West. This is because to build a drum the deer must pass through Death,
The tree also must transform through many versions of rough wood to a smoothly shaped and sanded hoop.
We also must pass through the unknown of preparing a hide and working with our hands in a powerful way.
The North is next to arrive with its medicine lessons as we learn the stories of the deer's life, written in the size and thickness of the hide, and in the colours, scars and marks on the animal's skin.
The East comes next with knowledge. The East brings teachers and the experience of having to make choices that cannot be reversed.
We also learn from the East that gratitude is shown for the gifts given by the Earth by not naming anything "garbage." Every part of the skin finds a purpose or is returned respectfully to nature.
The South is the direction of birth and growth. Once the hoop is laid onto the hide and trimmed to fit, a drum is born.
Just like the young of every form of life, a drum goes through many stages of growth as it slowly takes its finished form.
Perhaps the greatest gift from the South is our own growing into relationship with this spiritual companion; our drum that has come to give a voice to spirit through the teachings of the four directions and our good hands.
Thanks for three magical days from the Journey Oracle.
