
Have you ever gone to the funeral of an Atheistic loved one, and found your loved one’s death used to proselytize a religion she or he didn’t agree with? I have – too many times to count, in fact. It’s like getting kicked in the face when you are already grieving. If I can spare that for anyone, it’s worth it. That’s why this opportunity struck me as being so important.
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In “Sacred Springs, Part 1,” I described my first visit to Barton Springs, the most famous limestone springs in Austin, and explored the role that Barton and other major Edwards Aquifer springs play in indigenous spirituality. But there are many other artesian springs along Austin-area limestone creeks, including a small, unnamed spring just a mile from my home, near the headwaters of Walnut Creek in Northwest Austin. Last summer I spent time there grounded and centered, with senses wide open.
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As the famous jazz musician John Coltrane said, “All a musician can do is get closer to the sources of nature, and so feel that he is in communion with the natural laws”. Drumming, like any practice, may not be for everyone, but it is this very real and very natural enhanced perception that makes drumming a potential source of spiritual transformation.
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In the Northern Hemisphere, May 1st time is traditionally celebrated in the Neo-Pagan Wheel of the Year as Beltane. The name derives from the Irish Gaelic Bealtaine or the Scottish Gaelic Bealtuinn for “Bel-fire”. Beltane is reputed as a day of unabashed sexuality, visible in the phallic symbolism of dancing round the Maypole.
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