Each drum is a living vessel, born through prayer, presence, and craft, and a custom shamanic drum is a drum birthed for you, and you alone.
Some come to me carrying a specific intention - a drum for journeying, for healing work, for holding a particular thread of their practice. Others are drawn to runework, and ask for runes to be worked into the hoop in the northern tradition. Some have a clear vision of how their drum should look, or a wish to walk closely alongside its making and be present for the birth of its voice.
With your blessing, I journey to the spirit of the drum and call it in, carrying back any messages it wishes you to hear. Where you give permission, this may include making contact with your own guides and ancestors - always, and only, with your consent. Nothing is reached for without your say-so. This is the heart of a custom drum: it isn't made to a template, but woven around you.
Goat is a spirit of sure-footedness, fearlessness, and the seeking of hidden places. Goat climbs to the high and thin country where the veil wears through, at ease on the sheerest ground and moving apart from the herd on its own certain path. A goat drum invites you to venture to the seldom-visited places of the journey, and to walk with a spirit native to these lands. Goat is one of the old drum-skins of the British Isles and northern Europe, carrying the drummer into kinship with the wild spirits of this earth and country.
Ash is the wood of the World Tree - Yggdrasil, whose roots and branches thread through every realm. To drum on an ash frame is to drum on the axis that connects the lower, middle and upper worlds, the very roads a shaman travels. Ash carries strength, protection, and a deep steadiness beneath the journey.
Each hoop is hand-sanded, waxed, and finished in ceremony. The wax I use is handmade from beeswax infused with herbs that I've foraged in prayer. You can select your preferred handle design, each carrying its own meaning:
Triskele – the threefold path of life, death, and rebirth.
Spiralling Cross – the unfolding of creation and movement of energy through all worlds.
Cross – balance and harmony between the seen and unseen.
Each custom goat hide shamanic drum on Ash is birthed in sacred rhythm, with time and care. You will receive guidance on awakening your drum and caring for it as a living spirit.
A custom shamanic drum is a companion, teacher, and medicine ally. It is created uniquely for you, holding both the spirit of the materials and the intention you bring to its birth.
