Skip to content

Random Connections

A collection of photography and exploration focusing on Upstate South Carolina and beyond.

  • Home
  • About Us
  • Photos
  • Resources
  • Other Voices
  • Post Archives
  • Podcast
  • Home
  • Family
  • Winter Solstice Full Moon Drum Circle

Winter Solstice Full Moon Drum Circle

Posted on January 4, 2019January 4, 2019 By Tom 1 Comment on Winter Solstice Full Moon Drum Circle
Family, Music, Paddling, Photography, Travel
Solstice Drumming-005

The Christmas Dinosaurs have been put away and the trees taken down. We’ve been catching our breath before ramping up for the next round of madness. The past couple of weeks have been a whirlwind. There were paddle trips, swamp outings, drum circles, and we even celebrate a major milestone. All of this, while wrapping up 2018 and seeing in 2019 in grand fashion. Over the next several posts I’m going to try to summarize the Winter Holiday happenings.

Winter Solstice Full Moon Drum Circle

Actually it was a couple of days past the winter solstice and at least that many days past the full moon, but…details.

Amy spotted in the local Fort Pierce paper that The Savannas Preserve Park just south of town would be hosting a solstice drum circle. Since I had lugged my djembe all the way down to Florida it seemed like it would be a good thing to do.

The Savannas Preserve Park hosts four drum circles each year on or about the solstice or equinox. These are hosted by a guy calling himself Kevin Beatkeeper and Shamana [sic] Hoa-Che-Tahna Spiritwind [sick] (aka Alana Murphy.) I was skeptical, but still up for a good bit of drumming.

We arrived early. Amy and Laura sat behind as spectators while I took my drum down to the circle. A large moon was rising over the grasslands.

Solstice Drumming-003
Solstice Drumming-005
Solstice Drumming-7
Solstice Drumming-11

Shamana Alana was sick and couldn’t make it. Kevin Beatkeeper had hosted an all-night drum circle for the actual solstice and didn’t have much of a voice left. Even so, he did a great job leading the group. Kevin introduced some simple Ayoub patterns followed by Con Claves.

Solstice Drumming-10
Solstice Drumming-17
Solstice Drumming-18
Solstice Drumming-1

Kevin had half the group do the Ayoub beat while the other did the Con Claves. Con Claves might be recognizable as the “Bo Diddly Beat”, the rhythm used in most of Bo Diddley’s songs. The two rhythms are from different cultures, but complement each other.

After the instruction we started sustained drumming selecting either of those beats. Kevin switched to dunun drums to lead the beats. There were some experienced drummers who occasionally improvised, myself included. It was quite fun.

Solstice Drumming-19
Solstice Drumming-24
Solstice Drumming-3

Here’s a bit of video from the evening…

[flickr video=https://www.flickr.com/photos/randomconnections/44628663900/]

We even had a belly dancer join us. It being somewhat chilly, she didn’t wear the traditional garb. She had some young boys join her and she tried to give them instructions, much to their father’s chagrin.

Solstice Drumming-25

I tried to get Amy and Laura to join in, either drumming or dancing. They preferred to stay on the sidelines and observe.

Solstice Drumming-4

The session lasted for two hours but I could have kept playing for much longer. I was having a blast. I was glad I had lugged my djembe all the way down to Florida.

Post navigation

❮ Previous Post: Santa Paddling
Next Post: Prairies, Marshes, and Beaches ❯

One thought on “Winter Solstice Full Moon Drum Circle”

  1. Suz C says:
    September 29, 2024 at 10:40 pm

    Sounds awesome! I’ve only been to one ceremony in PA but it was cool. I’m thinking about hosting my own in my back yard.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Categories

  • EdTech (197)
  • Entertainment (201)
  • Family (123)
  • Gear (114)
  • General Technology (98)
  • Geocaching and Maps (208)
  • History and Genealogy (275)
  • Internet (141)
  • Local (458)
  • Miscellaneous (557)
  • Music (202)
  • Paddling (264)
  • Photography (781)
  • Podcast (15)
  • Rambling (233)
  • Rants (161)
  • Recipes (36)
  • Religion (48)
  • Restaurants (165)
  • Science (48)
  • Things Overheard (29)
  • Travel (413)
  • Uncategorized (142)
  • Washington Sabbatical (113)
  • Weirdness (59)

Recent Posts

  • Six Layer Bourbon Grits Bowl
  • How’s the House? Part 2
  • Carolina Ghost Towns – Merrittsville
  • Gimme Shelter
  • From Kingsbury to Stoneboro – Rambling in Lancaster County

Recent Comments

  • Curtis V Fink on Chasing the Swamp Rabbit – Part 3, Sievern and Edisto Academy
  • Bobby Stan Gillespie on Exploring Jacks Township
  • Richard Thornton on Paddling Up the Long Nose
  • John Guerrant on From Kingsbury to Stoneboro – Rambling in Lancaster County
  • John Guerrant on Gimme Shelter

Tags

blogging cemetery Christmas Columbia Edisto River edtech Entertainment family Flickr Florida Furman Furman University gear Georgia geotagging Ghost Town Ghost Towns Google Earth Google Maps GPS Greenville Greenville Chorale history Instructional Technology kayaking Lake Jocassee LCU Lowcountry Unfiltered maps Music North Carolina Paddling Photography rambling restaurant Restaurants review singing social networking South Carolina time-lapse Travel video Washington Washington State
May 2025
S M T W T F S
 123
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
25262728293031
« Apr    

Copyright © 2025 Random Connections.

Theme: Oceanly by ScriptsTown