Rhythms of peaceful body and mind in Jerusalem

[Guest guest]

We sat in the cafeteria, Zohar Fresco, Glen Velez, Lori Cotler and

others after the frame drum master class that Glen gave to thirty

musicians in Jerusalem at the Confederation House, overlooking King

David's Tower and the ancient walls of the old city.

 

During the course, Glen brought up the subject of the history of the

frame drum, exclaiming how excited and priveledged he feels to play

the drums in the Holy Land, as it is HERE that they originated. He

added that when the drums are referred to in the bible – " tof

Miriam " they are referring to the frame drum without jingles – the

drum known in the western world as a tambourine and in the eastern

world as " def " , " riqq " etc…

 

Zohar began to speak of his inner understanding of " Tof " the Hebrew

word for " drum " . The Hebrew language is very spiritual. It is based

upon three letter roots. Depending upon how one conjugates these

root letters, words will take on different meanings and

connotations. In addition, each letter has a numerical value –

Gematria – being the ancient Hebrew root to numerology. He

explained that the numerical value of the root letters

of " Tof " " T " " O " and " F/P " together numerologically add up to 18 –

which is the numeric equivalent of " chai " , which means " Life " –

" Living " , " Wellbeing " … In addition, he explained how the " T " and

the " O " (or Vav) make up the word " Tav " , which means " note " , as in

musical note. " Vav " also is a hook, as in how one hangs up a frame

drum. " Peh " , the third letter comprising the word " Tof – Drum " ,

means " mouth " . This is how we sing and make sounds from our own

human

body instruments.

 

As Zohar spoke of the " Peh " , I suddenly saw the form of it – it is

round and has an opening – like a mouth… in addition, it is coiled

like the kundalini snake in ancient Hindu traditions, and even

further back to the ancient Goddess cultures of Egypt and the

Meditterean. As I shared this inner discovery, it sparked a deeper

exploration, which continued in the cafeteria.

 

Over pear tart, cherry cake, carrot juice and tea, I drew the

letters " T " " O " " F/P " in Hebrew for Glen to look at. In mystic

Kabbalah tradition, the root letters of words are frequently

reversed to discover the deeper meaning of their spiritual secrets.

 

If one takes the letters " T " , " O " , " F/P " and turns them around

to " P " , " O " , " T " , one will arrive at the word " POTE " , which in

Hebrew means " vagina " or " vulva " . " Pote " is the ancient symbol of

the Mother, the Shechina, the Divine Feminine… At once, we entered

into a collective sigh, gasping at the depth of spiritual

significance of our communion with the frame drum.

 

At this point Zohar reminded us of the passage in the Old Testament

where it is written that at the time of Redemption, the people will

sing and dance with their drums and " mitzilot " … Following our

collective spiritual gasps, I immediately wrote down the root

letters of " mitzilot " : " M " , " TZ " , " L " , in order to divine the

deeper inner spiritual meaning of the word. After a brief

meditation, the answer was clear: " M " , " TZ " , " L " , is also the root

of the Hebrew word that means " to rescue " , in the sense of " bringing

to life " . Isn't that amazing!!?!! The foundation of the atom is

vibration. The essence of all matter is vibratory – in other words,

all matter has it's foundation in rhythm. Voice is a product of the

vibration. I am astounded and deeply moved by the inner depth of

this spiritually profound language: Hebrew (which shares the same

roots as Arabic – in their common Semitic origins). What a blessing

that our modern Hebrew language is based upon the ancient one. This

affords us the opportunity to reconnect with our own roots through

this anthropological remnant of ancient wisdom.

 

Something else I noticed: the sound of " TZ " is automonapia to the

sound of the jingles of the tambourine. It is a treble sound. I am

astounded by the beauty of nature!!!

 

One last thought: In Hebrew " K " , " D " , " M " in one form

means " ancient " . If one adds the letter " Youd " and " Heh " , which

are letters signifying the feminine and masculine aspects of the

Divine, we arrive at the word " Kadima " , which

means " forward " , " advancement " , " movement forward " …

 

From this inner understanding I discovered the truth that as we

reconnect with our ancient roots, this actually affords us the

opportunity to connect with our roots, which in turn helps us BE in

the PRESENT. This in turn helps us to move forward so that we can

move forward and evolve into our advanced state of presence and

happiness.

 

I am a happy student of the music of life…

 

Eliana Gilad

Founder, Voices of Eden

www.voicesofeden.com

[Guest guest]

I'd like to take up one point of Eliana's very fascinating message about how the

inner meanings of Hebrew word-roots interconnect and reflect new layers of

meaning on seemingly mundane words.

 

Eliana, you mentioned that the Hebrew root KDM meant ancient - well it does, but

its simplest conjugation is KoDeM - which means to precede, go first or have

priority. (The ancient Hebrew word for East - the place where the sun first

appears - is KEDEM). It's not a coincidence that a word meaning to go first in

the " Kal " conjugation, KaDaM, appears as KiDeM in the intensive (Piel)

conjugation (meaning to bring forward or promote) and hitKaDeM in the reflexive

(Hitpael), meaning to progress, advance.

 

Hope that is helpful

 

Mike

 

musicpeace2000 <musicpeace wrote:

 

One last thought: In Hebrew " K " , " D " , " M " in one form

means " ancient " . If one adds the letter " Youd " and " Heh " , which

are letters signifying the feminine and masculine aspects of the

Divine, we arrive at the word " Kadima " , which

means " forward " , " advancement " , " movement forward " …

 

From this inner understanding I discovered the truth that as we

reconnect with our ancient roots, this actually affords us the

opportunity to connect with our roots, which in turn helps us BE in

the PRESENT. This in turn helps us to move forward so that we can

move forward and evolve into our advanced state of presence and

happiness.

 

I am a happy student of the music of life…

 

Eliana Gilad

Founder, Voices of Eden

www.voicesofeden.com

 

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