This book finds its uniqueness in that it not only provides a vast cultural history spanning countless thousands of years, but it also explores the tenets and foundations of many religions, all in a fairly short number of pages. The basis for it all is the evidence that the author acquired toward the fact that, from prehistory to the fall of the Roman Empire, women were of central importance in religious ceremonies via the playing of the frame drum in particular.Publisher's description:
For millennia, the sacred drummers of pre-Christian Mediterranean and western Asia were women. In this inspiring book, Layne Redmond, herself a renowned drummer, tells their history. Artistic representations reveal that female frame drummers carried the spiritual traditions of many of the earliest recorded civilizations. During those ancient times, the drummer-priestesses held the keys to experience of the divine through rhythm. They were at the center of the goddess worship of matriarchal societies until the ascendance of patriarchal cultures and the loss of drumming as a spiritual technology. With wisdom and passion, Redmond chronicles our species' deep connection to the drum, our rich heritage of inseparable spirituality and music, and the modern-day women reclaiming it. This book encourages readers--both women and men--to reestablish rhythmic links with themselves, nature, and other people through the power of drumming. Redmond illustrates her message with an extensive collection of images gathered during ten years of research and travel. Woven throughout the book are strands of ancient ritual and mythology, personal stories, and scientific evidence of the benefits of drumming. It is at once a history, a memoir, and a resounding call for spiritual and social renewal.
Find When the Drummers Were Women in our online catalog.
Find When the Drummers Were Women in our online catalog.