Drum Birthing Workshop
~ Next Workshop Date: Saturday 22nd March 2025 ~
Birthing a drum is a profound and moving experience, as you literally bring into being a companion for your spiritual journey. As you craft, you work with the spirit of your drum, and infuse it with your intentions, your energy, your love and your prayers. This creates a medicine tool intimately connected to you, which will serve your own personal development and healing. The journey may be challenging, emotional, or flow smoothly, but each drum birthing is an intensely rewarding experience.
I offer drum birthing workshops rich in honouring and ceremony from my rural home in the Purbecks, Dorset. We are nestled in a valley, overlooking a water meadow and beside a pocket of ancient woodland - lands you will be encouraged to walk upon. Our prayers and intentions for this drum birthing will be woven into the work throughout the day.
We will take time to honour the materials that we will be working with, including the wood of the hoop and the skin of the deer. We’ll spend time outside connecting with ancient trees, to give our thanks for the tree that became our hoop. We will work locally sourced deer skins, learn about Deer medicine, and honour the Deer. We will journey to meet the spirit of our drum, which usually steps forward to aid the creation of the drum itself. Wherever possible, we’ll use lacing cut from the same hide as the drum face, to keep the spirit of that particular deer within the drum. There will be a drum birthing ceremony to complete the day, to welcome our new drum into the world, to celebrate its birth-day.
I walk an earth-honouring path, and the ethical sourcing of materials is important to me. All of the deer skins were killed in road traffic accidents or have been culled locally as part of a herd management plan - necessary, as we removed the natural predators of deer and their numbers grow exponentially, damaging crops and farmland. The skins have been cleaned and prepared into rawhide by myself, and so I know they have been honoured with integrity and ceremony from start to finish. I primarily work with Sika deerskins, as these are the deer most prevalent in the Purbecks; drums birthed in Dorset using Dorset deer.


Options
You are welcome to choose the size of hoop that you would like your drum to be: 13", 14” or 16”. The smaller drums are usually favoured by those who like to travel with their drum; the 16” offers a deeper tone, though is still fairly portable. We will be creating a beautiful cross handle with the lacing on the back. You will also be able to craft a beater for your drum, or should time be limited, select one to take home with you; this way you will be ready to play your drum when it is ready to sing.
Additional Extras:
Larger hoops (18”) are available for an extra charge of £30 - please let me know if this is something that you would prefer and I shall source and prepare a larger deerskin.
Should you like, you are welcome to bring a crystal or stone to weave onto the handle, or you are welcome to look through my collection.
Residential options are available, should you wish for a low-cost option to extend your stay in Dorset the day before or after the drum birthing workshop. Camping is available for £12pppn (facilities are in the house nearby). Three B&B rooms are also available in our family home, which cost £40pppn (single), or £25pppn (2+ sharing).
I also offer 1:1 and small group one day drum birthing workshops, as well as two day rattle and drum immersions. Please check out the 1:1 page for further information.
Contact me below or email lucy@sacredcrafting.com to find out more or book your space:
About The Drum
A drum is a powerful healing tool, which has the ability to connect you deeply to spirit and the natural world. As well as being a healer, your drum is both a teacher and a friend. The first instrument created by man, it has been played for thousands of years on every continent of earth, so deeply connects us to our ancestors and ancestral wisdom.
Drumming has so many benefits, not least the improvement it brings to mental and physical health. It has been scientifically proven to reduce anxiety, depression, grief, fatigue and stress. It releases endorphins in the brain, increasing our energy levels, accelerating physical healing, boosting the immune system, and enhances mood.
From a spiritual perspective, the drum beat creates a sharp point of focus which instantly anchors us in the present moment, connecting us with our own bodies and what we hear, see, feel. We find we can easily still our mind, and enter into a deep state of relaxation. This brings mental clarity, feelings of peace and stillness, and makes it easier to find healing and spiritual guidance for ourselves. Our ancestors, our spirit guides, and other helping spirits step closer as we drum, so we can hear them more clearly.
The drum has been called ‘The Shaman’s Horse’ as it is the vehicle by which shamans journey to the spirit realms to bring back guidance and healing for members of their community. Shamanic drumming involves repetitive and rhythmic drum beats, which quickly still the mind and take those listening into a deeply relaxed state of consciousness. Our brainwaves move from their usual stimulated Beta state through to Alpha and into relaxed Theta state, which is perfect for shamanic journeying, lucid dreaming, and trance healing. This happens very quickly using the drum; it takes much longer or is not always possible through meditation alone. In this state, we can receive direct revelation from our spirit guides and helping spirits; we do not need to look elsewhere for our guidance.