D is for Drum Circles

I totally wrote this on Tuesday because I was so excited about writing it, and got so busy yesterday that I didn't get around to posting it til today.

 

I totally wrote this on Tuesday because I was so excited about writing it.

Drum Circles, for me, are a wonderful combination of three awesome things:

--Circles

--Drums

--Fire

So, whenever there's an event at Four Quarters, inevitably there is a fire circle pretty much every night of the festival. Sometimes there are even rituals that take place in the fire circle. It's a large ring of sand that surrounds an unenclosed firepit (People here respect the fire deeply and abide by the circle rules, and they are very careful. There have been very few incidents over the years. In fact, I can't even think of any offhand.). You enter from the eastern side of the circle. The drummers sit on the southern side, a stage/platform rests at the western edge, and the Ancestors' shrine is located on the north side of the circle.

This isn't the 4QF bonfire site, btdubs. This is an image from a festival in Brazil. BUT IT'S JUST AS COOL!!

The Order of the Bracers have a fire going every night. They are the people that are authorized by the community to tend fire. Joining their ranks is a great responsibility, but learning the secrets of playing with fire is challenging and exciting. They chop the wood, lay the fire, light the fire, and keep it burning through the night. It really is a ritual of service all in and of itself. Sometimes, particularly during Wickerman, the tenders will put harmless chemicals in the fire so that it burns pretty colours.

Like a-this.

Once the fire is going, drummers filter in, take their seats gradually, and a beat starts. It usually starts out simple and then becomes more complex as more drummers join in. Once the beat starts, the dancers fill into the sand and start dancing in circles around the fire. There really is something about moving to the heat and beat on a cool summer night through a ring of sand and light and the darkness slumbering outside of the circle. The drummers feed the dancers, the dancers feed the fire, the fire feeds the drummers. It's really its own little eco-system of light and spirit. Playing drums is a rhythmic practice (obviously) and the rhythms from the drum help the drummer weave into the rhythmic patterns of the Universe. It's really a celebration of cycle and rhythm and a connection thereto.

Drum/Fire circles can be useful for more than just meditative dancing, universal connection, and general merriment. One of the most powerful festivals at Four Quarters is Fires Rising. This event converts the drum circle into a spiritual-alchemical container, and you work through the night to turn your personal 'lead' into 'gold.' All-night fire circles are amalgamations of creativity, fire, community, spirituality, growing and healing, with song, dance, symbolism, stories, and truth. It's a beautiful, unique experience.

In conclusion: fire circles rock. Find one near you, or organize one. You won't regret it.

Love,

<3 Sapphire Orchid<3