I got an email a few months ago that Layne Redmond, the author of When the Drummers were Women was dying. She only had a few months to live. And the class I had hoped to take with her at Rowe on frame drumming would not be taught by her. I was shocked! And so sad that she was leaving before I had a chance to meet her.
So I buckled down and finally finished the book. I had been carrying it around with me for years, decades, really.
She also has a blog on Bee Priestesses with these images
http://sacredpathofthebee.tumblr.com/
When the Drummers were Women was a book I knew would be filled with treasure, but it never felt like the right time to actually savor and enjoy it. I also knew it would be painful, which it was. In it, she describes the sacred power and connection that women had with the divine and their community But then she brings you through history to a time when women were no longer allowed to speak in church or to make music.
I wanted to read it while she was still with us on the planet and I did. I enjoyed it tremendously. I learned so much and it made me remember so much about women's sacred history.
Layne created the book when she realized that the ancient images of drummers were women with frame drums. She found countless images of women with drums in their hands, in procession and in ritual. She was led to research women and their role in leading the spiritual and sacred life for thousands of years because she was "Incensed by one museum's depiction as these drummers as women with cakes."
http://wildhunt.org/tag/passings has a lovely obituary by her friend.
In recent months, as she was dying, she posted videos and updates and had a birthday party that streamed online. I enjoyed watching and participating and am so thankful she brought so much out into the light, so much that had been forgotten.
Bless you and Thank you Layne.
I bought a frame drum designed by her last year, but have hardly played it. I don't know how. I wish I could have learned how to play from her.
Incensed
by one museum’s description of these drummers as women with cakes - See
more at: http://wildhunt.org/tag/passings#sthash.M1mQnRZJ.dpuf
During
her 15 year research on the drum, Layne discovered a large number of
ancient images of women playing the frame drum from the Mediterranean
and almost no images of men and the drum. Incensed by one museum’s
description of these drummers as women with cakes, - See more at:
http://wildhunt.org/tag/passings#sthash.M1mQnRZJ.dpuf
During
her 15 year research on the drum, Layne discovered a large number of
ancient images of women playing the frame drum from the Mediterranean
and almost no images of men and the drum. Incensed by one museum’s
description of these drummers as women with cakes, - See more at:
http://wildhunt.org/tag/passings#sthash.M1mQnRZJ.dpuf
During
her 15 year research on the drum, Layne discovered a large number of
ancient images of women playing the frame drum from the Mediterranean
and almost no images of men and the drum. Incensed by one museum’s
description of these drummers as women with cakes, - See more at:
http://wildhunt.org/tag/passings#sthash.M1mQnRZJ.dpuf
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