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VOLUME 10 • NUMBER 1 |
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The Spirit Language of Drums, “Weed-crafting” & Connecting
Close your eyes and imagine the hypnotic beat of a Native American drum… then the gradual addition of a dozen or more tom-toms, snares and other drums of varying resonance. Add maracas, finger cymbals, drum sticks and of course, more and more hands. Led by a trained percussion music therapist, what do you get?
Drumming leader John Scalici says you Get Rhythm!© This is the name of his company, which travels to schools, churches and to various therapy sessions throughout the Southeast and beyond. This year, “beyond” includes CCNH’s second annual spring conference, Building on Tradition.
The conference expands on our 2002 herbal studies theme by representing many more flavors of natural health, May 15-18, 2003. Opening with a drumming ceremony on Thursday night, an interactive drumming circle on Saturday night showcases drumming for relaxation, meditation and connection. With more than 30 learning options and networking activities, sessions encourage kinship with nature, clients, and other practitioners. Think of the drumming as a side dish of soul-food to accompany a weekend-long main course of learning.
Our 2002 conference attendees were so attuned to nature during our popular Weed Walks, led daily by adjunct faculty member Darryl Patton, that the 2003 schedule includes an option al three-hour intensive on Plant Identification and Field Work. This comes in addition to daily Medicinal Plant Walks and a Sunday session on Herbs as Folk Medicine.
Listen to the meditative effects of drumming, layer in hours of lively learning and communion with some of nature’s wildest medicinal treasures, and then take it to work on a heart-felt level. CCNH alumnus and Advisory Board member Carl Middleton, N.D., will lead a Saturday morning session on Interfacing with the Medical Community.
As vice president of ethics and theology for Denver-based Catholic Health Initiatives, Middleton continues the conference’s spirit connection by focusing on the humanity of healthcare and how to bridge two philosophies for greater understanding, cooperation and more effective care. He and other conference speakers will be available during meal breaks and/or at social events such as book-signings.
In keeping with the tri-partite philosophy of natural health—body, mind, spirit—you might want to consider adding one of the aforementioned sessions to round out your schedule and nourish your soul as well as your mind and body. In his book Natural Health, Natural Medicine, Andrew Weil declares, “Health is wholeness, and wholeness implies connectedness—to family, friends, tribe, nation, humanity, the earth and whatever higher power you conceive of as the creator of the universe.”1 The spring conference is a great place to connect—with new friends, CCNH peers, nature and with your self.
For more information: visit www.ccnh.edu, mail us at travel@ccnh.edu, or call toll-free 1-866-699-2264.
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