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Make Your Own Spirit Drum
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Make Your Own Spirit Drum

Used for millenia by Aboriginal peoples for devotional, celebration, healing, and journey work, the drum is a sacred tool to connect with the spirit of the earth and the spirits of the otherworld. Making your own drum is a spiritual journey of it’s own… one that you will remember for the rest of your life.

Drum Making Workshop

Drum Making Workshop

You can do this…

Just choose which size drum you wish to make. The cost of the workshop and all materials is included in the cost of the class. You have your choice of making a 13″ Drum, or a 16″ Drum for a little bit more. Select your drum size when you register.

  • Date & Time: February 9th (Saturday) 1-6pm
  • Location: Eye of Horus, 3012 Lyndale Ave S., Minneapolis, MN 55408
  • Register by Phone: 612-872-1292 or register online.

All materials will be provided to you, though if you wish, you can bring a rock or stone which will become the heart of the grip behind the drum. Also bring your desire to have a drum or create something unique. Also note, you must pre-register for this class. There will be no room for walk-ins, it is already filling up.

Click button to register for drum making class

What happens in class

Wayne Manthey, Master drum maker, has taught hundreds of people how to make their own drum. You will start with a pre-constructed cedar frame, deer hides, and a bucket of walnut stain. (Yes, you should dress for messy work or bring a smock to wear).

First, choose your frame, lay out the hides and take a few moments to connect to each piece and to envision them coming together to create one entity.

After cutting out the drum circles, master drum maker Wayne Manthey will take you, one step at a time, through the rest of the process. Perhaps we should say making your drum is a journey because, through story and shared experience, you will come to understand this instrument which is core to so many cultures and healing traditions.

The drum is the circle, it is the cycle of life. It is the earth and moon and all of these things to those who use the drum for trance or spiritual work. When you make your drum, you will honor the four directions and the center heart of the earth. There are no words that can completely describe what it feels like to make your own drum, except maybe magic.

Wayne Manthey on Drum Making

As I started making drums, I was especially interested in the vibration of rawhide and the sound it makes.  Once I was able to consistently achieve the quality sound and felling I was looking for, assign antlers, wood, stone, and lacing variations made the drums more decorative and visually pleasing.

The healing properties of a drum are found in the elements that make it:  wood and animal hide.

Making personal frame drums is a journey that is individually and spiritually meaningful.  Teaching drum making classes involves storytelling and introspection.  The drum symbolizes the heartbeat of life, the heartbeat of community.  It is not simply an art form, but a tool for cleansing, centering and focusing one’s intentions for health and happiness.

Drums teach responsibility.  Making them is an honor, a meditation, and continue to reveal lessons for me as well.

Don’t miss a beat

The goal of life is to make your heartbeat match the beat of the universe, to match your nature with Nature. ~Joseph Campbell

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The Visionary Art of Paul B. Rucker

Take a journey through physical self, levels of consciousness, and into transcendent realms.

Inspired by myth, diety and personal revelation, Paul paints vivid colors and light-lines to evoke the dancing energy surrounding both traditional and new mythic figures. His original art is featured at the Eye of Horus, both on our gallery wall, as well as throughout the store.

We also carry some of these images and several of his other works as limited edition prints, all in runs of less than 500.  Prints start at only $15 for limited edition, archival quality prints of 24 of Paul’s paintings, both in the store and in the Art of Paul Rucker section of our online shop.  Each is signed and numbered by the artist and come with a certificate of authenticity.

Interview with Paul Rucker

We sat down with Paul to talk about his work and inspiration. We ended up with five short videos which explore the nature and understanding of life and the divine. Click here to go to the YouTube playlist.

In Part One of the interview, below,  Paul talks about his early experiences and how archetypal beings, gods, goddesses became the driving force behind his art. We also discuss his current work with body painting, ritual theater and sacred drama. Art, as he strives to create is Mythopoeic work, and artists reshape the Mythical Matrix.  We also explore the vibrancy of  Paganism.

In the second half of the interview, below, Paul explores the creation and meaning of two of his works. The first is his image of Melek Ta’us.  The second is image of Oshun.  We talk about how he doesn’t just set out to depict a pantheon, rather he connects with and answers the call to paint a divinity, and finally, Paul reflects on nature’s wisdom.

In His Own Words

Androgyne

Androgyne

As a small child I shared my visions by making pictures. That act of magic still sustains me.

When still very young I dreamed of a White Stag that took me to a moonlit grove, wild and rambling, filled with Gods’ names. Not the “Names of God” but the names of the Gods and Goddesses of the world. To stand anywhere in that holy place was to feel each Divine personality completely. All were there, every divinity the human world had ever known, and the Stag of the Moon leading me on and on… even then I knew my task was to bring that magic back to this world, somehow, through making images.

I think of myself as part of the Tribe of Dream… the people who bring heightened reality into the world through art and other acts of creative sorcery. View a video of Paul as he discusses the mythic symbolism of The Androgyne.

The Art & Appearances

I paint in acrylic and occasionally in other water-based media and in oils. I draw in pen, pencil, and mixed media. Other experiences involve creating theatrical backdrops, murals, collage, sign painting, mask-making in clay and paper-mache, silk painting, costuming, and elaborate face and body paintings.  In 1997 my art was featured in a mixed-media collaboration by the performance group Body Prayers at the Merrymeet festival. In 2006, 2007, and 2009, my “Blue Man” persona extended the boundaries at the Faerieworlds Festival in Oregon.

My images have been featured on and in magazines such as Green Egg, Hecate’s Loom, Mezlim, Psychedelic Illuminations, Tapestry Journal, and Reclaiming Quarterly.  In recent years my exposure has grown to include Spellcraft, Witch Eye, Faerie Nation Magazine, and the Green Egg Omelette anthology. I’ve provided work for card games, logos, T-shirts, brochures, and CD album covers: “Ancestor Energy” and Mojo Roots: “Prakriti’s Kiss.”

Paul Talks about his Influences

In the beginning, of course, were the dreams and visions I had no words to express, which led me to make pictures. Very early influences include the lush and amazing illustration in childrens’ books of the late 60s and early 70s– such as the work of Leo and Diane Dillon, who illustrated many of the most fantastical of the stories included in the Silver Burdett Reading series. Saturation in literature came fast and deep. To this day I think of myself as a “writerly” painter, because my art always alludes in some way to story and myth.

I never cared for mere realism, since one could see that anywhere, and far too much of it besides. In reading faery tales, I never identified with the hero or his/her sidekick the way I was “supposed” to– it was their faerie guardian or angelic helper or radiant friend/enemy from the Otherworld that held me fast.

Later on I delved into my parents’ collection of the Time-Life series of “Great Masters of Art”: my fascination with mythological images and scenes, paralleled what I was learning about Greco-Roman, and later Egyptian, Norse and Indian mythologies. I learned about who, or at least of what nature, the supernal personalities I saw in my dreams and sidelong visions were.

In college I began to make an active effort to expand my inner sensibility by studying and incorporating artistic/spiritual styles from many different cultures, most notably Asian art: Moghul images, Tibetan Thangkas, and so forth. Exposure to psychedelics and “entheogens” obviously left a mark as well. But after graduation I continued to work to expand the boundaries of my inner eye: gathering books for instance of artists just beyond my range such as Frida Kahlo and Gauguin, so that I could taste where their work and style was coming from.

Gremlin Fugue by Paul B. Rucker

Gremlin Fugue

One of my most important epiphanies came from a book on Aboriginal art: the frontispiece showed nothing but a dark and wrinkled hand, presumably the artist’s, lightly touching an Aboriginal painting done in undulating dots. I suddenly got it: these were energy paintings! Ever after I searched for more primal and trans-cultural ways to relate to these styles: Huichol, shamanic arts. The more I learned the more I realized how to learn; that the arts I had the most affinity for and that could teach me something, came from the same current of relating to the world in its invisible, energetic, and more than ego-based aspect: the universe was not a stage for the ego, and the world not simply its tool and plunder, but an infinite diversion of living beings, a “great story.”

Perhaps the ongoing journey between the two hemispheres of my own brain in absorbing Images and Music and Stories, then studying philosophy and discourse relating to expeditions “behind the veil” of ordinary reality, has shaped my approach to my themes and subjects. View a video of Paul discussing his meld of music and art – Gremlin Fugue. I find the greatest meaning in my art as a marriage of content as consciousness (understanding) and content as transmission from the nonrational and often surprising Undermind. I see my work as ongoing dispatches from a miraculous theater of myth and meaning, out there, in the Otherworld.

Paul B. Rucker originals showing at Eye of Horus

Eye of Horus also has two of his Pen and Ink originals available: Mother Goddess and To Dance for Iblis.  Prices for the original paintings start at $900 and the Black and White originals are $350.

Filed Under: Gallery, Offerings, Reiki & Energy Healing, Shamanism Tagged With: , , , , , ,
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Intro to Shamanism

First off, let me clear the deck and point out there are those who take literalism to an extreme, who say the word shaman only refers to the Russian Tungusian culture, where we find a version of the word saman. But they ignore the Pali, samana, which refers to a Buddhist monk, and the ultimate Sanskrit root: śrama which refers to religious exercise.  Shaman, then, can be a term which transcends a single culture, and for this article, a Shaman is a member of certain societies who acts as a medium between the visible world and an invisible spirit world and who practices various techniques and rituals for purposes of healing, divination, and balance with natural events. In the culture in which we live, this is often expressed as Core Shamanism.

Way of the Shaman

Way of the Shaman by Michael Harner

Core Shamanism is “universal or near-universal principles and practices of shamanism not bound to any specific cultural group or perspective, as originated and developed by anthropologist Michael Harner” at the Foundation for Shamanic Studies. He discovered that all over the world, while the overall approaches to shamanism may be different, there were key elements in common. Dr. Harner then set about synthesizing these elements so that anyone could use them without pirating any culture’s sacred rituals.

His classic book, the Way of the Shaman, is a comprehensive anthology containing writings vital to all the major non-Western religious traditions, arranged thematically. It includes colorful descriptions of deities, creation myths, depictions of death and the afterlife, teachings on the relationship between humanity and the sacred, religious rituals and practices, and prayers and hymns.

Using this type of core understanding of ritual, we can work within our own cultures and societies to create on our own traditions. Spirited drumming and music, ritual, dance,  sacred garb are all part of this Way. Many people have blended their spiritual paths to create something unique. However the foundation still remains, and it can be learned, and Eye of Horus has the workshops, shamanic books and CDs to help you on your way.

Be Your Own Shaman! Workshops at Eye of Horus

Introduction to Shamanism: with Rhonda Steele

April 29th (Friday 6-9pm) April 30th (Saturday 1-9pm)
Most Shamanic courses are single-day one-shot workshops.  But at Eye of Horus, you not only get to learn from an experienced Shaman, but you will have a two-day power-filled intensive to give you some dream-time in-between. Students will meet their power animal and their spirit guide. They will learn to journey and have contact with their guides on a regular basis. In this introductory workshop you will learn some of the history of shamanism, you will meet your power animal, and you will learn how to navigate the lower world. You will also meet your spirit guide and learn the landscape of the upper world. You will leave this workshop with all of the tools you need to develop a relationship with these powerful allies in the spirit world.

Cost is $100 for 11 hours of learning and journey practice. That’s less than $10 an hour! Advance Registration Required. Bring a blanket or something soft–we will by lying on the floor. Register online with Credit Card or Paypal:

Myths & Legends Shamanic Workshop with Rhonda Steele

May 15th & 22nd (Two Sundays) 2-6pm Come and experience the magic of King Arthur and his Queen through Shamanic Journey techniques.

In this 2-class workshop we will learn some of the stories surrounding King Arthur and his knights. (Part of his castle is pictured above.) We will hear the stories and then have an opportunity to journey to the characters in the story and ask them for wisdom and guidance. We will take a shamanic journey to Annwn and try to figure out why Arthur ventured there. Some of the archetypes/characters include Merlin, Lugh (Lancelot) and King Arthur, himself.

Prerequisite = Intro to Shamanism Workshop or equivalent shamanic journeying skills are necessary for success in this class. This is not an introductory level workshop. Register Online: $85.00

Rhonda Steele, InstructorAbout the Instructor

Rhonda Steele has been studying and practicing shamanism since 1998. She has studied with several instructors from The Foundation for Shamanic Studies. She has also trained with Sandra Ingerman, Tom Cowan, R.J. Stewart and many others.

Rhonda is a member of the Society for Shamanic Practitioners. She continues to broaden her depth and experience of shamanic practice.  Recently, she took a shamanic tour of Ireland.

Register online for Introduction to Shamanism or call the store at 612-872-1292 to register.

The Shamanic Journey

Folktales from all cultures recount adventures of shamans (wisdom-keepers, ritualists, and healers) who journeyed through spiritual realms on quests for healing or understanding. Shamans entered non-ordinary reality in their spiritual bodies. With the help of their spiritual guides, they rode the deer, flew with the eagle, or followed the bear. Shamans brought back stories that communicated wisdom, health and healing for members of the community.

Shamanic Journey Book

Shamanic Journey Book &CD

Shamanic journeying is the inner art of traveling to the “invisible worlds” beyond ordinary reality to retrieve information for change in any area of your life — from spirituality and health to work and relationships. While several cultures have used drugs to induce the shamanic state, it is entered into by use of a drum or rattle in Core Shamanism. (Shamans of old used to call their drums ‘horses’ because without them, they were unable to ride into the other worlds).

In her book  Shamanic Journeying, Sandra Ingerman draws from over 20 years’experience as a student and teacher of shamanism to share the core insights of this transformative practice. Join her to learn the original role of the shaman in indigenous societies; how to meet and work with your “power animal” and other spirit teachers; and the keys to successful journeying in our modern culture. With fascinating accounts of the powerful results of shamanic journeying and answers to the questions you may face as you begin your practice, Shamanic Journeying includes everything you need to explore the visionary worlds of the shaman, including a practice CD.

Spirit Guides

When most people think of  Spirit Guides, they think of Animal Totems of  Native American Traditions.  But the association with a protector animal was widespread in the indigenous European traditions, as well.  The Norse and Germanic cultures have the Fylgia or Fetch. It is the most fundamentally other of the components of the Self: it has independent existence in ways that the other aspects of the soul do not. It frequently appears to us in a form that accentuates its otherness (contra-sexual or animal). So if you are a woman, your Fylgia is a man, if male, it is a female, or can even be perceived as a geometric shape. It is frequently seen as an animal.  It is a guarding and protective force.

Animal Speak

Animal Speak by Ted Andrews

Animal Speak by Ted Andrews is the classic text on Animal Spirit Guides. It invites you to open your heart and mind to the wisdom of the animal world.

Animal Speak provides techniques for recognizing and interpreting the signs and omens of nature. Meet and work with animals as totems and spirits by learning the language of their behaviors within the physical world.

Animal Speak shows you how to: identify, meet, and attune to your spirit animals; discover the power and spiritual significance of more than 100 different animals, birds, insects, and reptiles; call upon the protective powers of your animal totem; and create and use five magical animal rites, including shapeshifting and sacred dance.

This bestselling guide has become a classic reference for anyone wishing to forge a spiritual connection with the majesty and mystery of the animal world.

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