How do we journey?

In the Foundation for Shamanic Studies, we journey using typically the drum.  The drum beat brings us to another state of consciousness.  We are probably all familiar with how different rhythmic sounds changes our perception of the world.  I remember traveling on trains at a certain speed or listening to chanting and how I felt at these moments. 

In the 1960s, Andrew Neher conducted pioneering research on drumming, finding that it produces atypical changes in the central nervous system—a phenomenon he called “auditory driving.” He attributed this to the drumbeat’s multiple frequencies and predominance of low tones, which stimulate the brain while avoiding high-frequency discomfort. Neher suggested these effects may relate to ceremonial and religious experiences. Similarly, psychiatrist Wolfgang Jilek studied the shamanistic Spirit Dances of the Salish peoples, noting that deerskin drums struck at four to seven beats per second corresponded to theta-wave frequencies, which can facilitate trance states. Recent research by Melinda Maxfield and Sandra Harner further supports the idea that shamanic drumming has measurable psychological and physiological effects.

See Cave and Cosmos, pp. 57, 58