The Magic Drum.

Hi everyone.  Thought i would share this story sent to me by my friend Jean Houston  in the States. I am sure you will enjoy it.

Cheers. Thomas.

Myth is critical to all indigenous people, and the Natives of the North are no exception. Great stories are told and re-told to give the community access to the multiple planes of reality. These tales teach and bring custom, tradition and history forward to new generations. They inspire, create a strong bond among the people, and are designed to lift the spirit.

Share this ageless tradition with us now. Following is "The Magic Drum," a great story about the soul journey, about the adventure all we humans share. It is a personal favorite of Peggy Rubin, Jean's long-time teaching partner. Peggy says of this story, "It teaches essentially why I find these people so madly moving. They are so courageous. And so vigorous. And so aware of the subtle process of constant transformation. This story pretty much tells you how that works ... and I love the Eskimo people because they take that pain, they take it all, and they make art of it. The journey is a work of art. I mean, so what if it's awful?!"

THE MAGIC DRUM

adapted from an Inuit story by Laura Simms

There was once a young Inuit woman who refused to marry. No young man in her village, or suitors from afar were good enough. People complained that she was too different. She remained alone.

One day a handsome stranger arrived. "Here is a man that I would marry," she announced. Never looking at her, the stranger left the village. So, the young woman followed him. He hurried faster and faster across the snow. She followed. When he bent down and ran on all fours, she followed. As his coat changed into thick white fur and he became a Polar Bear, she still followed. The Bear lumbered gracefully over ice. The young woman ran after him. Then he dove through a hole, and she doveafter him into the freezing water.

The Bear pulled himself out of the water through another hole and continued running on the ice above her. But she could not pull herself out of the sea. "Wait for me," she cried out. She heard his paws padding softer and softer into the distance. She began to sink. Thousands of tiny fish with mouths like scissors cut away her clothing. She sank further.

Thousands of tiny fish their mouths like knives removed her skin. The skeleton sank to the bottom of the sea and then rose up lightly. Easily she pulled herself out of the water through a break in the ice. She began to run, but her bones were rattling. Shaking, sliding, rattling, she tried to run.

"I should never have followed that man," she thought. She dreamed of being home by a fire. Then she fell, bones tumbling on ice.

She awoke wrapped in furs in her own house by a fire. "It must have been a dream," she said. She reached for her crescent bone knife and saw her fingers. She was still bone. She was a skeleton woman.

Skeleton woman sat outside. Now, she was alone. There were no other houses in the village. She was very lonely.

One day two young men walked toward her. She beckoned them into the house to offer them warmth. When they saw she was a skeleton, they were disgusted and turned and ran away. At home they told their old father about her. The old man put on his coat, took his drum and went out.

The skeleton woman covered her face so as not to be seen. When the old man arrived, she hid. "Aren't you going to ask me in," he implored. She did.

Inside, he blew out the candlelight and sat on the floor. "I will play the drum and sing. You dance," he said. She answered, "I can not dance. I am just bones."

He encouraged her to dance anyway. He played the drums. He sang. The skeleton woman awkward, turned and hopped, bones jiggling. Then she began to dance. She danced until her skin grew back, and her eyes glowed, and her hair was thick and black. "Now, you play the drums and sing. I will dance." She did. The old man danced until he became young and his white hair turned black.

They left the house and went to his two sons. The boys did not recognize him, or the skeleton woman. The young couple left. Laughing, and singing, they placed the drum on the snow, jumped into it and disappeared.