In March 2025, just before the yearly Pachamilli retreat, there will be a unique opportunity to make an authentic ceremonial drum with master artisan Juan Carlos España in Colombia.

If you have participated in plant medicine ceremonies before, you know that an essential part of the experience, maybe the most important one, is the music. The profound impact of ancestral medicine songs guiding you through a journey, connecting you to another world are something that can hardly be described with words. One essential instrument in the realm of ancestral music is the ceremonial drum.

The drum is sometimes called the shaman’s horse, used for meditative journeys and traveling between worlds. Nowadays often ceremonial drums are also used for music, healing and drum circles in the west, but it is important to understand and appreciate their origin. Shamanic drums are made with the understanding that they will become powerful teachers, guides, healers, translators, messengers and lifelong partners to those who use them. They are not just tools but living beings, who share their gifts for our healing, meditation, exploration, spiritual communication and protection.

Juan Carlos España is a true master artisan who makes unique shamanic instruments like drums, rattles and flutes for the local community of ancestral wisdom keepers, healers, shamans and spiritual practitioners. We have the amazing opportunity to come together with him, Jaba Saka, and Kajuyali in Nabi Nunhue for three full days to make our own ceremonial drum, the opportunity of a life time!

Juan Carlos' words about this offering:

The ceremonial drum can be considered from a shamanic perspective as a resonator or vibration generator capable of mobilizing energy within the human dimension. In this sense, the ceremonial drum is configured as a valuable tool to shape inner states with the perspective of finding inner balance. It also gives us the opportunity to activate a connection from our own heart with the hearts of all beings.In this workshop we will remember the physical construction of the drum and its ceremonial use with its respective activation practices.We will remember the fundamental concepts involved in the creation of the drum, we will remember the practices of spiritual payment for all materials that intervene in the creation of the drum, we will remember the practices for the consecration of the drum, its ceremonial use and its use for healing.The ceremonial drum construction workshop is aimed at people who are traveling a spiritual path hand in hand with sacred plants, people who are working for their personal transformation or for people who are looking for a deep connection with the sacred from the contemplation of energy and vibration reality.

These are the materials that we will use in our workshop:

• Tara wood hoop: resistant and light white Colombian native wood, 16 or 20 inches diameter
• Cowhide for the drum skin
• Rope tensioners
• A metal ring for tightening of the skin
• A custom engraved handle made from tara wood
• A drumstick made from tara wood
• Cowhide cut into a rope