
When the Drummers Were Women
A Spiritual History of Rhythm
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Narrated by:
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Kristi Burns
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By:
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Layne Redmond
About this listen
For millennia, the sacred drummers of pre-Christian Mediterranean and western Asia were women. In this inspiring book, Layne Redmond, herself a renowned drummer, tells their history.
Artistic representations reveal that female frame drummers carried the spiritual traditions of many of the earliest recorded civilizations. During those ancient times, the drummer-priestesses held the keys to experience of the divine through rhythm. They were at the center of the goddess worship of matriarchal societies until the ascendance of patriarchal cultures and the loss of drumming as a spiritual technology. With wisdom and passion, Redmond chronicles our species’ deep connection to the drum, our rich heritage of inseparable spirituality and music, and the modern-day women reclaiming it.
This book encourages listeners—both women and men—to reestablish rhythmic links with themselves, nature, and other people through the power of drumming. Redmond illustrates her message with an extensive collection of images gathered during ten years of research and travel. Woven throughout the book are strands of ancient ritual and mythology, personal stories, and scientific evidence of the benefits of drumming. It is at once a history, a memoir, and a resounding call for spiritual and social renewal.
Produced and published by Echo Point Books & Media, an independent bookseller in Brattleboro, Vermont.
©1997 Layne Redmond (P)2022 Echo Point Books & Media, LLCListeners also enjoyed...
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Overall
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Performance
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When God Was a Woman
- By: Merlin Stone
- Narrated by: Jo Anna Perrin
- Length: 9 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
-
Performance
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Story
How did the shift from matriarchy to patriarchy come about? In fascinating detail, Merlin Stone tells us the story of the Goddess who reigned supreme in the Near and Middle East. Under her reign, societal roles differed markedly from those in patriarchal Judeo-Christian cultures: women bought and sold property, traded in the marketplace, and inherited title and land from their mothers.
-
-
Every woman should read this! Now!
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By: Merlin Stone
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Women Who Run with the Wolves
- Myths and Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype
- By: Clarissa Pinkola Estés
- Narrated by: Clarissa Pinkola Estes
- Length: 2 hrs and 18 mins
- Abridged
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Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Drawing from her work as a psychoanalyst and cantadora (keeper of old stories), Dr. Estes uses myths and folktales to illustrate how societies systematically strip away the feminine spirit. Through an exploration into the nature of the wild woman archetype, Dr. Estes helps listeners rediscover and free their own wild nature.
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Book is superb; Audible edition is a ripoff.
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What listeners say about When the Drummers Were Women
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- moringa
- 03-18-25
Impeccable
A deep, heartfelt dive into the ancient history of the goddess, the domestication of women & the importance of the magic of the drum. What a journey, Layne is a legend and this book reflects her brilliance in all its splendor. Absolutely recommended.
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- Amazon Customer
- 02-19-25
Positioning how our world as we know it became so patriarchal
There was nothing I did not like - highly recommend this book - will even be re reading it to absorb more.
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