The Society for Shamanic Practitioners’ Third Annual Conference was held from
June 27 through July 1, 2007 at the Menla Retreat on Panther Mountain just outside Phoenicia,
New York. During the five days of this retreat, we were delighted to host The World Drum.
A special altar was created in the Sanctuary House of the Menla Retreat where the Drum was available to all the participants during the entire week.
The Sanctuary was opened 24 hours a day and, therefore, the Drum was available to the guests at all times during the conference. Many of the participants did choose to spend personal time with the Drum on this altar and to write short essays about their personal experience with the drum.
These essays were packed with the drum at the end of the week to be shared with others who participate in World Drum ceremonies across the globe.

On Friday (June 29th), the evening ceremony was attended by everyone at our annual conference. The evening was devoted to The World Drum in our rendition of a World Drum Ceremony.
The ceremony was attended by approximately 100 individuals who were all experienced shamanic practitioners and members of our society.
The group included individuals from all over the United States, Europe, and Asia.
We were delighted to have a shaman from Nepal, a Rinpoche from Tibet and
a wisdom elder from the Crow People of Montana with us during this ceremony.

The ceremony was opened by Gregory Miller as he called in the directions by playing the
Worl Drum and singing in the directions. He then spoke briefly about the vision of WhiteCougar
(the shaman who had the original dream that led to the World Drum Project),
the dedication of the builder of the drum (Birger Mikkelsen) in Norway,
and the dedication of Morten Wolf Storeide (the current webmaster and lead organizer of the World Drum Project).
The attendees were also told of the Drum’s past travels in northern Europe, New Zealand, and Hawaii. They were also told of the current tour that is in process here in North America.
The ceremony with the SSP on this evening was the official inaugural opening to this
North American tour.

The circle was then told of the original intentions of our European brothers and sisters who initiated the World Drum Project. Dr. Miller then invited the entire circle to open their hearts to the lessons of the World Drum and to participate in tonight's ceremony with the intention of learning how we can individually harmonize with the World Drum and then teach the other members of the circle by sharing what was communicated to us by the Drum in this evening’s ceremony.

He made the following Invocation:

If there was once something in the air,
If there was once something in the water,
If there was once something in the trees and bushes,
That was overheard and understood by the birds and animals,
Let that sacred knowledge returned to us tonight.

He then closed his portion of the presentation by reminding all the participants of words that have most recently been attributed to the Hopi Elders. The intention of this quote was to remind the circle of the paramount importance of this time in history with regard to our current human efforts on the Mother Earth. That quote was “We are the One’s that we’ve been waiting for!”

At this point the drum was passed to Cecile Carson who related her experience of having been on the planning committee for the SSP World Drum Ceremony. She told the circle of her vision of this Drum and its connection to all the people on the Earth who are currently carrying drums and who are concerned about the welfare of our Mother Earth. In keeping with the original intention of our European brothers and sisters who pioneered The World Drum Project, we decided that tonight’s ceremony would be about dancing with, journeying with and being with the World Drum. Cecile then instructed the circle on the logistics of our ceremony for the evening. She asked the circle to dance and moved in a clockwise direction around our ceremonial space. She asked the circle to do this without any drums or rattles. As they moved and danced around the circle they were invited to participate in a dynamic journey that included the motion of their bodies. The circle was asked to listen to the drum and get a message about how each individual could begin to harmonize their lives with the intentions of the World Drum and The World Drum Project. She invited the participants to “embody” the World Drum as it was played and to bring through its message as they danced.

At this point four drummers positioned themselves around the central altar of our ceremonial space. These drummers included Greg, Cecile, Gretchen McKay, and Alan Davis (the president of the SSP). The World Drum and the three other drums were played while the attendees of this ceremony danced, journeyed, listened, and sang. The World Drum sang along with all of us and imparted messages of great wisdom to the members of our circle.

After the drumming and dancing ended everyone returned to their seat in the circle. At this point most of the participants wanted to share a message from the World Drum. One by one, the Drum was brought to each participant who wanted to share. They took turns holding and caressing the Drum and then shared their wisdom by some combination of playing the Drum, singing with the Drum, or relating a story to the circle while they held the Drum. Many sacred stories were shared that evening and everyone came away from this experience with a much greater understanding of how we as individuals (and groups of individuals inspired by each other's hearts) can aspire to alter the human impact on the Mother Earth.

On the final day of the conference, the closing ceremony was led by Tom Cowan. Tom had been leading the morning sessions each day for our conference in a series of plenary sessions entitled “Light on the Mountain”. Each morning he had presented inspiring information about how we could utilize our shamanic skills to walk in harmony with the great “Earth Changer” Spirits. He called these spirits, and the energies of these spirits, “The Titans”. He noted that these Earth changing energies and Spirits have always been present here on the Mother Earth. He suggested that our job (with regard to human impact on the Earth) was to harmonize with these energies. Tom's work during his morning sessions (he was assisted by Dave Beck and others of his local community) inspired all of us to bring more "Light on the Path" for the shamanic work we are doing to harmonize our minds, hearts and spirits on behalf of the Mother Earth. During his closing ceremony on Sunday morning, Tom utilized The World Drum as the centerpiece for his ceremony. The Drum was played for a few minutes from a centralized altar made out of a natural stone outcropping. Next, a group of individuals began drumming from about 10 feet away as they faced the East. This group was facing “downstream” of the local stream (a tributary of the Pantherkill River) to symbolize the fact that the ancestors have gone “down the stream of life” before us. They drummed with the intention to express “forgiveness and gratitude” to those generations who have brought us to our present moment on the Mother Earth. When this group finished drumming, a second group that was located about 10 feet away and facing the West began drumming with the intention of honoring our Descendents and the work that they will be doing in the future on behalf of all of us and the Mother Earth. This group was facing “upstream” to symbolize the direction of the new water bringing in the new generations. This group drummed with the intention that the new generations would have “wisdom and courage” in their travels and journeys here on the Mother Earth. There was also the profound sense that we here in the present were acknowledging our responsibility to foster actions in this world that will allow the Mother Earth to be inhabitable by our Descendents. This closing ceremony ended with all of the attendees intermingling and drumming together along with The World Drum.

Our experience with The World Drum during this week was inspiring. It leads us to believe that individuals and small groups of individuals who are inspired by authentic “heart-based” intentions can change the course of human actions on our planet. Working in cooperation with the Mother Earth and with the Earth changing energies that have existed since antiquity, we can find hope within our hearts that the Mother Earth will remain a wondrous home for our descendents for generations to come. May the work of The World Drum Project contribute to changes that will provide our grandchildren (for countless generations to come) a beautiful place to live in harmony with the "forces of nature" and the great Mother Earth.