As a drummer, I seek to create realms, liminal spaces, where energy flows from one form to another. This is the meaning behind my JourneyOm logo. Holding my drum up to the sky, which mirrors the moon, with stars in the distance. My connection to the drum also connects me to the goddess and the thousands of years where women were the drummers. 

The frame drum holds a profound connection to the goddess, serving as her voice and it has been her companion for thousands of years. The Great Mother, revered as the first mother, is believed to possess the power of the universe within her womb. The earliest sounds in the cosmos began as a vibration—a hum—followed by the rhythmic beat of the mother’s heart. These vibrations, resonating from the cosmic womb, brought forth life into the world.

This  primordial mother goddess has many names; Cybele, Rhea, Magna Mater, Meter, Demeter, Dea, Syria, Astarte, Aphrodite, Isis, and Ma. And the goddess’s instrument is the frame drum. Symbolizing life and death, honoring the beat of the Great mother and all mothers. 

This connection dates back to the first known female drummer; Lipushiau of Mesopotamia. This high priestess was known as the spiritual leader of the Ekishnugal temple which honored the Sumarian goddess, Inanna. Lipushiau played a balag-di, which today we refer to as the frame drum. This ancient instrument was used in ceremonial rituals for women, as they gathered in the Ekishnugal temple in the city of Ur,  over 4000 years ago, around 2380BC. Based upon historical texts still intact, the ritual of Innana’s descent is documented as she passes through the 7 gates, descending into the underworld until she is reborn again. Discovered in these early texts, we know that the drum and flute would have been played during funerary rites as well as celebrations, we can easily imagine these female drummers playing for Innana as she descends into the underworld, honoring her life, as well as drumming to resurrect her, initiating life once again.

As the goddess narrative spread throughout the Mediterranean, it evolved. Upon reaching Cyprus, the legend of Aphrodite emerged, with early depictions illustrating her as bird-like and playing a frame drum. Aphrodite’s temples in Paphos were notable for housing priestesses who performed on the frame drum, alongside poets and musicians. Also found on the island of Cyprus, the temple that honored the goddess Astarte held inscriptions describing an orchestra of musicians that lived at the temple and oversaw all festivals and ceremonies, worshiping the goddess. During this time, we also find thousands of votive figurines that were found in peoples home’s depicting the goddess playing a frame drum, that would have been given as offerings to the temple as acts of devotion.

The voice of the goddess resonated across the Mediterranean Sea for thousands of years, finding her way to the Minoan culture in Crete and onto the mainland once again, into Greece, moving through the peninsula and into Asia, and eventually to Rome. Here we find the goddess Cybele, the mother goddess and at the heart of her symbolism, is the frame drum. Cybele was welcomed into the city of Rome, the first goddess from Asia, and her cult following would reign in Rome for the next 600 years. Cybele and her frame drum would create an imaginative time in the Roman population, opening doors to mystery schools, priestess temples, and creating a culture of music, dance and celebrating rites of passage.  

In the ancient world, the frame drum was regarded as the most powerful ritual tool. I believe it still is. Its beat invokes the goddess’s presence, and serves as a bridge between worlds. As a modern priestess, I still use the drum to conduct ceremonies to manifest change, including death and beyond, continuing a tradition that honors the divine feminine which has been known throughout history. When we invoke the goddess, we strengthen her presence within ourselves and thus within this world.