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Drum Circles In Cantamar

   The beat of Baja

BY MARTINA

people's attention and changes what might be considered an ordinary beginning into something extra-ordinary. Thomas creates this experien-ce for Mexicans and Americans once a month, in the Canta-mar area.
Master Conga dru-mmers and Reggae musicians join Tho-mas in an awesome jam session. Healers with backgrounds in the Mexican tradi-tions, and Americans
Bringing a truckload of African drums and percussion instrum-ents, Thomas Espar-za begins to set up a sacred drumming cir-cle. He pays close at-tention to every detail, from banners to the rose petals for the
opening ceremony. White sage, conside-red by native people to be a sacred plant, is bundled and will be burned. According to native tradition, each guest will receive a sage smudge on their bodies. This shifts
with their contempo-rary insights come to utilize the drum's res-torative energy. Tho-mas says with a soft smile, "The sound is mystical – a magical vehicle to go into the moment of Now. It is a way to quiet the mind and just allow it to observe. The so-und, Thomas has a vast array of percu-ssion instruments, from seed rattles to metal cans. But, his African drum collecti-on that is the real showstopper. Point-ing to a very beat up double-sided drum,
he said, "That one is nearly 300-years old." The African drum is a dynamic percussion instrument. The force behind its power is its deep earth sound. The language of the drum is universal; the way it communicates is by its rhythm. Thomas said, "You don't have to know how to play the drum to know its language, because you feel it." Those who have visited the circle say it moves them in a way that needs no words.
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