Earth Drumming Ceremony

(Loosely Based on Native American Traditions. Myself and the couple will be drumming in this ceremony. We provide bride and groom with 14" Remo drums, and can refer you to several good sources if you would like to buy your own. I use either traditional 18" Lakota elk or buffalo skin frame drums or a 22" Remo buffalo drum with a leather beater for this ceremony (depending on weather and humidity). I don't limit the drum participation to just myself and the couple! Your guests are welcome to join us! See our Drum Healing pages for drum links...and remember... if you don't already own one, the purchase of a drum is a great investment in a healthy spirit life!)

Opening Thoughts 

Today we celebrate the joining of __ and __ in the sacred bond of marriage. I ask all who are gathered here amidst this natural setting to offer peace and loving kindness to this couple as they share a path marked with beauty and truth. This ceremony is a symbol of their journey’s beginning.  

May they be blessed with courage, compassion, and divine guidance.

Cleansing Ceremony (Smudging with sage, sweetgrass and lavender) This ceremony may be skipped, modified with rattles instead of sage, or abbreviated if it's a windy beach day!

(Smudging is a ritual way to cleanse a person, place or an object of negative energies, or influences. The smudging ceremony involves the burning of special, sacred plants and herbal resins, then, either passing an object through the resulting smoke, or fanning the smoke around a person or place. The spirit of the plant then purifies whatever is being smudged. To use the sage, place a few leaves in the censer and light them or light the bundle.  The flame will go out in a short time and the sage will begin to smolder.  Fan the smoke with your hand or feather.  The traditional way is to offer the smoke to the four directions first, calling the blessing and protection in.  Then you fan the smoke around you imagining it passing through you.  It flows through you drawing out all of the junk that you have collected in your aura.  Smudge is not like tobacco so you may breath in the smoke and you will feel the cleansing properties. This process only takes a few minutes and when you are done you will feel the clarity of the area you are in. 

Desert Sage. This plant will drive out negative energies, spirits and influences. Use this as a smudge to purify people and places before any sacred ceremony.

Sweetgrass. This is one of the most sacred herbs used for smudging. This herb is used to bring positive energy in after negative energies are banished by using sage.

Lavender. This herb will restore balance and create a peaceful atmosphere. It will also draws loving energy and spirits.)                

Prayer to Banish Negative Energy

Where there is love, there is light. Where there is light, there is a flow of energy. Where there is a flow of energy there is the Divine. When the Divine is present there is no lack, for there cannot be lack within the Divine. The Divine is All. Thus all Abundance is a by-product of Love. The absence of love is fear. Where there is fear, there is constriction - lack of flow – and darkness. Let us cultivate "loving relationships" with ourselves, the divine within ourselves, and extend this love to those around us. Let us welcome the light and banish the dark. It is so.

(We are entering into a relationship with the power of these plants, and with the spirits of the ceremony. As with all good relationships, there has to be respect and honor if the relationship is to work.)

Prayer to the 4 Directions (Couple and/or guests quietly drum during the blessing..)

Grandfathers and Grandmothers of the East, each day you bring us new light so that we may grow in wisdom.  We have been waiting for the time when your light would shine in the hearts of all people.  Then they would remember the Original Instructions that were written in our hearts since the beginning of all things. Now is the time.

Grandmothers and Grandfathers of the South, your warm winds have sent us your love and the abundance from Mother Earth. We have always known that as we follow the Original Instructions we will walk in balance and harmony and all our needs will be met. The power and wisdom of this path is not easily understood when the mind is taught inside boundaries and the heart is closed to the soft wind of spirit. Open the hearts of those who follow the way of the mind.

Grandfathers and Grandmothers of the West, in the darkness of night you have sent us dreams to see deep inside our hearts, to learn how to walk the path of the spirit.  We ask to see the beauty that hides behind each moment and to discover the Great Mystery that is in us and all things.  Help the people of the mind see the power of their dreams.  Help them learn from their dreams so that they can remember the Original Instructions.

Grandmothers and Grandfathers of the North, you have brought the cold winds and snows each year to cleanse our Mother Earth.  Now the cleansing of the mind has begun. The energies of the stars have shifted into a new focus to soften hard hearts.  Let the mind be guided by the heart. Blow the fresh, clean wind of spirit to sweep away the limits on our brothers and sisters who are trapped in the way of the mind. 

Announcement of intentions for the Groom and Bride 

(Having invoked the four directions, it is important to form the group's collective intention or goal-what you desire or expect to accomplish. Intent is a kind of decision making that directs the focus of our attention. It is through our attention that we influence and direct the aspects of our experience and the world around us.) 

To the groom: Do you accept this woman whose hands you now hold, choosing her alone to be your mate, your partner, your equal, your companion, with respect, honor, and loyalty for all the days of your journey together?

 To the bride: Do you accept this man whose hands you now hold, choosing him alone to be your mate, your partner, your equal, your companion, with respect, honor, and loyalty for all the days of your journey together?

To all gathered

 Do you promise to support this couple with love and wisdom, to provide shelter from the rain, heat from your fire, love from your hearts, and nourishment from your spirits if they should need these things?

Prayer for the drum

I seek the drum.

Upon my drum bestow the mystery of All That Is

 Thank You, Great Spirit

 We acknowledge this gift:  It is so.

Drumming

The next step is to commence the first or "prayer" round of drumming. All participants should focus their attention on the group intention or goal during this round of drumming. It is the responsibility of the Celebrant to set the tempo. A steady, metronome-like pattern with precisely regular intervals, at around 180 beats per minute (or three/four beats per second), is the most effective. This rapid "eagle-beat" creates the sensation of inner movement, which, if you allow it, will carry you along. It is projective in nature and carries your intention, prayers, and awareness into the energy that underlies and sustains our physical reality. All forms and events in the conscious world have their source in the unconscious universal energy.

The timeframe for the drumming will vary. Move the beater around the drumhead until you find the sweet spot and your drum begins to sing and hum. Eventually, I will hear the sound of my drum moving around the circle, resonating through each person's drum. The drums begin to sing in unison and the experience is indescribable. I sense that each person is connected to the flow and universal energy. I try to hold this energy dynamic for as long as possible. This climactic phase eventually wanes, and the drums start doing their own thing again. This is usually the point where I signal the end of the drumming with four thundering beats of the drum.

Spoken Vow Options

 Bride and groom say to each other;

I add my breath to your breath, that our days may be long on the Earth, that the days of our people may be long, that we may finish our roads together. May the Mother bless us with Life. May the Father bless us with Creativity. May our Life Paths be fulfilled (they kiss)

Ceremony of the 7 Steps  (optional)

Both bride and groom take seven steps sun wise (clockwise) around a sacred space. For each step taken, a vow is said by each. The groom makes one step forward and says a vow, and then the bride takes a step to join him and says her vow until one round around the chosen place is completed.

GROOM STEP 1: O’ my beloved, our love has become firm by your walking one with me. Together we will share the responsibilities of the lodge, food and children. May the Creator bless noble children to share. May they live long.

BRIDE STEP 1: This is my commitment to you, my beloved. Together we will share the responsibility of the home, food and children. I promise that I shall discharge all my share of the responsibilities for the welfare of the family and the children.

GROOM STEP 2: O’ my beloved, now you have walked with me the second step. May the Creator bless you. I will love you and you alone as my wife. I will fill your heart with strength and courage: this is my commitment and my pledge to you. May the universal spirit bless our lodge and children.

BRIDE STEP 2: My husband, at all times I shall fill your heart with courage and strength. In your happiness I shall rejoice. May the universal spirit bless you and our honorable lodge.

GROOM STEP 3: O my beloved, now since you have walked three steps with me, our wealth and prosperity will grow. May the Creator bless us. May we love our children and may they live long.

BRIDE STEP 3: My husband, I love you with single-minded devotion as my husband. I will treat all other men as my brothers. My devotion to you is pure and you are my joy. This is my commitment and pledge to you.

GROOM STEP 4: O’ my beloved, it is a great blessing that you have now walked four steps with me. May the Creator bless you. You have brought favor and sacredness in my life.

BRIDE STEP 4: O my husband, in all acts of righteousness, in material prosperity, in every form of enjoyment, I promise you that I shall always be with you.

GROOM STEP 5: O’ my beloved, now you have walked five steps with me. May the Creator make us prosperous. May the Creator bless us.

BRIDE STEP 5: O my husband, I will share both in your joys and sorrows. Your love will make me very happy.

GROOM STEP 6: O’ my beloved, by walking six steps with me, you have filled my heart with happiness. May I fill your heart with great joy and peace, time and time again. May the Creator bless you.

BRIDE STEP 6: My husband, the Creator blesses you. May I fill your heart with great joy and peace. I promise that I will always be with you.

GROOM STEP 7: O’ my beloved, as you have walked the seven steps with me, our love and friendship have become inseparable and firm. We have experienced spiritual union in the presence of those whom we love. I offer my total self to you. May our marriage be blessed with honor and abiding love.

BRIDE STEP 7: My husband, by the ways of the Creator, and the spirits of our honorable ancestors, I have become your wife. Whatever promises I gave you I have spoken them with a pure heart. All  are witnesses to this fact. I shall never deceive you, nor will I let you down. I shall love you forever.

Exchange of Tokens

Ring Exchange

All things in nature are cyclical. Night becomes day, day turns into night, and night becomes day again. The moon waxes and wanes, and waxes again. These rings are symbols of that cycle, as it has no ending, just as your love will have no end. Imparted into both of these rings is your pledge to keep the promises spoken here today.  __ and __ , do you bring these rings before us?  ( We do) 

Everything the Power of the World does is done in a circle. The sky is round, and I have heard that the earth is round like a ball and so are the stars. The wind in its greatest power whirls. Birds make their nests in circles ... The sun comes forth and goes down again in a circle. Even the seasons form a great circle in their changing. The life of a man or a woman is a circle from childhood to childhood, and so it is in everything where power moves. This joining is part of the great circle of life, the beginning of a great story that will affect many lives on this earth. The circle of the heart travels through the fourth finger of the left hand, connecting hand and heart. We call this our ring finger.  

__, please take the ring, a gift from your heart, and place it on __’s ring finger, and repeat after me, “Accept this ring as a token of my vows. With it I give to you my Love, my Honor, and my Friendship.” 

__, please take the ring, a gift from your heart, and place it on __’s ring finger, and repeat after me, “Accept this ring as a token of my vows. With it I give to you my Love, my Honor, and my Friendship.”

Prayer (With drums)

(Once the couple’s intention has been introduced and the words of joining spoken, we commence the second or "healing" round by drumming the pulsating lub-dub, lub-dub of a heartbeat rhythm. Stroke a steady heartbeat rhythm at around 180 beats per minute.  (Or 90 heartbeats per minute since one-heartbeat equals two beats). This magnetic pulse draws power from the universal energy into the drum circle.  

Each participant should clear his or her mind of everything. You must surrender all attachment to the desired outcome to achieve success. It is best to close your eyes and focus on the sound of the drums. Let the drums do the work. The drums will shape available energy into a powerful vortex that will spiral out into the fibers of Mother Earth's web. Next, the celebrant will speed the tempo. 

Commence the final or "thank you" round of drumming with the even cadence of the eagle-beat. Sustain a tempo of 180 beats per minute for 30 seconds to one minute. Participants should give thanks through their drums for the needs met and the needs they are asking to be met.)

Closing Prayer

Great Mystery, we feel your presence in us and in all things. You are the spiral energy of love that connects all, and is all.  You are the circle of life, the circle way.  When we are living in our heart, we can soar with the seagull to see beyond horizons. Above us are the stars, and below us are the stones. Like a star should your love always shine. Like a stone should your love be firm. Like a seagull should your love soar on the winds of life; onward toward the temple of tomorrow.

Closing 

And now, having heard the vows made between this man, and this woman, in the presence of friends and family, and the Divine Spirit, and with the authority given me by the state of __, it is my pleasure to pronounce __ and __ to be Husband and Wife.

BLANKET CEREMONY (optional, couple provides their own blanket)

The Blanket Ceremony is among the oldest and best loved traditions.  

Two blue blankets used in the ceremony each represent the couple's past lives that may have been filled with loneliness, weakness, failures, sorrow and spiritual depression.    

The couple are wrapped in the blue blankets and their relatives follow them to the sacred  circle.  After the spiritual leader blesses the union the couple then shed the blue blankets and are enveloped by relatives in a single white blanket representing their new ways of happiness, fulfillment and peace.  

Under the white blanket, the couple then embraces and kisses.  

The white blanket is kept by the couple and often displayed in their home.  It is the same blanket that is some times split in half if the marriage goes sour. 

There is an additional fee of $100 for this ceremony. There is intense concentration of the spirit on my part... and hopefully on yours as well! I will not perform this ceremony for anyone who will not invest their feelings, and their respect for the forces at work! This ceremony is very powerful and will leave a lasting impression on your lives.