A Volley from the Canon, #81 Quick, Easy Therapy and Spiritual Retreat

A Volley from the Canon, #81
Quick, Cheap Therapy and Spiritual Retreat

Trinity Episcopal Church, Waterloo, Iowa has a monthly drum circle session.

Led by Ellen McKeon, a reading teacher, the group meets on the first Friday evening of every month. Anyone may attend, bringing their own drum, or borrowing from a collection of percussion instruments that have accumulated at the church over the years. They are arranged on a cloth-covered table with candles in the center of the room.

There are very few rules to holding a drum circle. The idea is to relieve stress and to build community. No musical background or skill is expected. The drum cadences may be as simple as mimicking one’s own heartbeat, or tapping out the words to a very familiar song. Or they can become highly complex and individualized. Participants claim that the discipline of maintaining rhythm in a group has helped them with other instruments they play, and many find the sessions to bring them a sense of peace and tranquility as well as a cherished social outlet.

Just last month, The General Theological Seminary held a seminar on use of a drum circle for the teaching and practice of prayer.

Drumming and drum circles have connections to Native American and African customs, but these Episcopalians in Iowa find the practice to be universal and primal in meaning. This is an activity that truly can be undertaken by anybody, anywhere.