Shaman Drum Blessing

In this option to your ceremony, the minister and the couple will be drumming together! After you've spoken your vows to each other, we will ask for a blessing from the 4 directions. I'll then ask the couple to consider the vows they've just made as I establish a drumming rhythm for the couple to follow,  drumming your intentions to the Universal Energy!

We begin by blessing our drums to acknowledge their sacred role in our ceremony.

Prayer for the drum                                    

I seek the drum.

Upon my drum bestow the mystery of All That Is.

Thank You, Great Spirit

We acknowledge this gift:  It is so.

Prayer to the 4 Directions

For this part of the ceremony, I will ask for a volunteer (young boys and girls love to do this!) to shake a sacred turtle rattle to clear our space in each direction!

Grandmothers and Grandfathers of the East, bless this union with communication of the heart, mind, and body; fresh beginnings with the rising of each new Sun; the knowledge of the growth found in the sharing of silences.

Grandmothers and Grandfathers of the South, bless this union with the warmth of hearth and home; The heat of the heart's passion; the light created by both to lighten the darkest of times. 

Grandmothers and Grandfathers of the West, bless this union with the deep commitments of the lake; the swift excitement of the river; the refreshing cleansing of the rain; the all encompassing passion of the sea. 

Grandmothers and Grandfathers of the North, bless this union with the gifts of a firm foundation on which to build; fertility of the fields to enrich your lives; a stable home to which you may always return. 

We acknowledge this blessing. It is so. 

Focus of intentions for the Groom and Bride 

I ask the couple to reflect on the vows they've just spoken to each other.

(Having invoked the four directions, it is important to form the couple's collective intention or goal-what you desire or expect to accomplish. Intent is a kind of decision making that directs the focus of our attention. It is through our attention that we influence and direct the aspects of our experience and the world around us. A steady, metronome-like pattern with precisely regular intervals, at around 180 beats per minute (or three/four beats per second), is the most effective. This rapid "eagle-beat" creates the sensation of inner movement, which, if you allow it, will carry you along. It is projective in nature and carries your intention, prayers, and awareness into the energy that underlies and sustains our physical reality. All forms and events in the conscious world have their source in the unconscious universal energy. I will maintain this beat for several minutes, eventually bringing us back to center, finishing with 4 louder drum beats, and then put the drums down.)