There is a heart-beat felt under the bare feet — and from a blue seed a blue sprout rises slowly in the South into a foggy and smoky air.
The mists rise and thicken as the seedling reaches higher.
A steady pulsing is felt upon the skin along with the moistness that touches ever so slightly like a feather.
The blue seedling grows taller into a young sapling as it pulls the white mists up from the soil.
And here is when the sparrows and a the larks and the jays find their newest playground as they chirp and sing and call to others to come and join them.
The blue sapling now breaches the swirling smoke-like fog and reaches even higher … to a center … or a middle point.
This sapling has now become a tree … a blue tree … that marks this place for all birds to find.
A hand upon the blue bark brings grounding and steadiness as feet continue to waver and shiver.
And so this tree is now a mighty Blue Tree and is both an anchor to hold down the wishes of the wingless to fly and as a rod that connects directly to the heart-beat that has been here since long before birth.
This is my journey
— Nate Long “Owl”
Blue Tree Drum — His Essence
- He is a medicine drum made for Tracy Sage King (tracysageking.com)
- 20″ elk hide with cedar hoop.
- The painting of mists and smoke relate to a journey around how these foggy “in-between” states of matter help to connect us, help to cleans us, help to heal us.
- The four trees on the corners come from the spirits of the directions who aim to hold this circle.
- The blue tree in the South has taken on a leadership role of being the anchor and connection to Mother Earth.
- The birds that fly through the branches and the fogs come in to this place to play and mingle and bring more lightness to the mists.
- Painted on the back is the concentric rings of the cross section of a 50 year old tree. This represents the spirit of Tree and of our ancestors and of a steady and consistent growth we should strive for.
- The handle is made from a piece of juniper collected from a special place and helps strengthen the familial spirits within this drum.
- The wire on the handle is added for healing. The silver wire is to help draw negative energies out and replace with positive, where the gold is to encourage illumination and love and represents alchemy and transformation.
- There is a “bed” where a crystal will be “strapped” down… this bed is lined with red felt which brings honor to the crystal.
- The crystal itself can be replaced depending upon the type of ceremony the drum will be used for.
- The weave of strapping is designed to allow for a resonance of sounds when the drum is played and encourage the drum to “sing”.
For more information on custom drum/rattle making please visit the Medicine Drum and Rattle Making page.