On June 2012 I traveled to Lapland with a friend of mine. I have wanted to visit Lapland for a very long time and to get to know the Sámi culture and enjoy Lapland’s nature, which all my friends have praised.
So, when the opportunity presented itself, I jumped in my friend’s car and traveled to Finnish Lapland. Unfortunately, the weather was very wet and it didn’t stop raining for our whole trip, but that didn’t stop our enthusiasm.
I remember how excited I was when we were driving north. When the first reindeer has started to show up on the side of the road we stopped for photographs with them.
After driving for many hours, we reached the camp-site near Inari were we were planning on staying and were finally able to stretch our legs after the long car drive.
Our plan was to visit Inari and Ivalo (two villages in Lapland) and climb on top of the Kiilopää-mountain.
When we were in Inari, we visited the Siida-museum, and got to know the Sámi culture better. There was an old shamanic-drum in the museum and I remember that the text next to the drum said that the Sámi believe that all their history and culture is recorded inside their drums. That it is like a book for them.
We had a really good time in Lapland and I remember how nature felt really alive over there. It felt like there was a natural power place every fifty meters or so. It was really easy to hear what nature has to say.
On our way back, on June 21st 2012, we stopped at a random place in the forest and celebrated the longest day of the year with a drum ceremony. The idea of the ceremony was to help the Finns and the Sámi people come together.
During the drum-ceremony, a Sámi Shaman spirit, all dressed up in the traditional Sámi clothes, has joined our circle and helped us with the drumming. Afterwards he gifted us the Sámi drum-book. After which he would show up from time to time, when I needed help.
At that point in time, I already had a shamanic drum, but I didn’t have a drum-book, from which receive information. So I was very grateful for this magnificent gift and when I got home, I begin meditating with the drum-book I was given.
When my mind became quiet, I opened the drum-book and I remember that the first page was all about the history of the Sámi people: How they have migrated all the way from Siberia to where they live now days in Northern Finland.
The next page was about the culture and music of the Sámi people. I meditated with the drum-book for a while more and then connected it to my shamanic-drum. Ever since then I could connect to Sámi culture every time I use my drum, and the Sámi drumming beat has become my favorite!
A few months later I flew to Israel to visit my family over there. When I was in Israel, me and my brother visited the famous ruins of Masada. Masada is an ancient mountain top fortress, whom the Jewish king Herod has built in the south of Israel. When the Jewish people have rebelled against Rome, at the year 72, they escaped to Masada from the Roman army and remained defiant inside their well protected fortress for a very long time. In the end the Roman army has built a dirt ramp all the way to the fortress and conquered it. On the eve of the Roman’s final attack, the Jewish defenders have come together and decided that the Romans will not catch them alive. So the Jewish fighters first killed their women and children and then themselves until there was but a few fighters left and they committed suicide too.
So there was a strong energy of fanaticism and death in Masada, that we have decided to clean out with my brother. The Jewish fighters could have spared the women and children and let them fall into Roman hands. The Romans would have probably freed them after a while.
We found a nice place to sit down, just outside the fortress and started drumming together. We saw how the old energies leave the place and how new energy starts to flow from the earth through Masada. After the drumming we also received the drum-book of Karelia (which is a region in south east Finland).
I don’t know why we have received the Karelian drum-book in Israel, but whatever the reason was – we were very thankful for this great gift!
That was when I began realizing that every tribe on Earth probably has its own drum-book and they can all be received from Mother Earth!
When I got home, I meditated with the Karelian drum-book and it had a leather cover with a big gemstone embedded in it.
A few years later, my ex-girlfriend and I had arranged a shamanic drumming evening in Kuusamo, which is a city in north east Finland. During the ceremony we received knowledge that the drum-book of Kuusamo has been damaged during World War 2 and we could help restore it during the drum-ceremony.
While drumming, a white reindeer has joined our circle and together we managed to repair the drum-book of Kuusamo. Kuusamo has its own tribe of people, that has stayed more or less isolated, because of its desolate location. It is so desolate that it is one of the only city’ in Finland without railway service… 😉
The Kuusamo drum-book was the third drum-book I had the good fortune of working with!
After that I have started teaching people how to receive and work with their drum-books and I came to know many more drum-books: The Estonian drum-book, the Russian drum-book (there are probably many of them), the Hame drum-book, the Ostrobothnian drumbook, etc. There are also the Viking drum-book, The fairy drum-book, The Giants drum-book, the Gnomes drum-book, etc.
The last drum-book I have received was the drum-book of Israel. I have lived most all my childhood in Israel, so I wanted to get to know the Israeli drum-book too. So I asked Mother Earth for it and she gave it to me. Now days I make music in Finnish, English and Hebrew, so it’s great to I’m able to receive inspiration from the Israeli drum-book!
What are drum-books?
They are virtual books, onto which the history, culture, way of life, beliefs, music, art and other information is recorded. To me they look like real books: The Sámi drum-book had a white leathery cover, The Karelian drum-book had a thick leather cover with a large gemstone on it and the Israeli drum-book was also bound in leather.
How can I receive a drum-book?
It is very easy. All you have to do is meditate with Mother Earth, in your own way, and ask her to give you the drum-book of your tribe. When you receive it from her – just let it enter your heart consciousness and stay there. Now when your drum-book is safely stored inside your heart you can access it by connecting to your heart consciousness. Even though I have received many drum-books, I noticed that I only really use three of them: I use the Sámi drum-book for shamanic ceremonies and I use the Karelian and Israeli drum-books when composing music.
The Karelians have a very rich and merry culture and music, and it’s been a great inspiration to me when I compose my own music. Maybe one day I will also compose a song in the Sámi style, but it hasn’t happened yet… 😉
How to use a drum-book?
When your drum-book has been safely stored inside your heart consciousness, you can meditate with it and “read” it with the help of you soul. Just ask your soul to connect you to your drum-book and help you understand it in your own way: Drumming, singing, dancing, painting etc. You can also open it and then “dive” into it and it will connect you to the energies of your tribe and it’s history.
You can also connect your drum-book to your drum, so that each time you use your drum, the book will inspire you. You can off course connect it to other musical instruments as well, it doesn’t have to be a drum. You can also download the drum-book into a crystal of your choice and then the crystal will help you access the information stored in the drum-book.
I like playing with my drum-books and having fun with Mother Earth!
That was it. I hope you enjoyed this article and that it has given you some new ideas about shamanism and Mother Earth. If you have any questions, I will gladly answer them if I can.
It will be great if you could share your experiences with your drum-books here, so that our knowledge of them will grow bigger.
Peace and Love, Arje Sakari Silander