Morphologie der Schamanentrommel (Morphology of the Shaman’s Drum)

Morphologie der Schamanentrommel (Morphology of the Shaman’s Drum) is a study of the most important implement of Himalayan faith healers. Lena Stolze will read passages from the book.

In the first of two volumes, the author presents his four decades of research into this subject: the physical quality of the drum in its countless individual variations; the prescribed materials; the way in which it is constructed; the rites of consecration; its diverse uses in nocturnal séances; the myths and stories that twine about this instrument; and the cosmological and metaphysical notions connected with it. The course of the comparative exploration stretches from western Nepal to the eastern edge of the Himalaya in China. Everywhere, the shaman’s drum takes the form of a single basic type, yet each one possesses its very own character. Every drum is as individual as its owner, for whom it was expressly fabricated according to his own visions. The second volume, containing more than one thousand illustrations, supports the remarks and arguments of the first. The ritual drum of the healers embodies, without writing, the local knowledge of the mountain peoples.

Audio samples: www.dhyang-dhyang-voldemeer.ch

And afterwards: