(Each Lightning-Struck drum has a story which comes to me during the long process of bringing the drum to life. Though fictional, I sometimes wonder if perhaps the drum is really telling me of a past life it experienced. At any rate, you may want to read the features of each drum on the Main Lightning-Struck Drum Page after reading its story. Aho and Namaste.)

The Story of the Celtic Prince

The young Celtic prince must learn the ways of the clan, so the wise chief turns to his leading ovate and orders a drum be made to teach the playful lad about his heritage.

The ovate, who served as the clan's primary healer and sage, chose a young oak, brought down by lightning but still sturdy at its base, to be the honored drum. He knew it contained great strength and energy, having absorbed the lightning bolt and still remaining in tact. This alone would teach the boy of resilience, even of a kind wrought from an angry sky. With proper training, the prince could know the ways of healing to be gleaned from such an instrument.

The ovate then chose many other sacred and enduring symbols for use on the drum and to serve as teachers in their own right. He was quite pleased with the result, and inscribed his thoughts about it in his diary: "Seven hand-shaped pegs encircling the drum honor the Four Sacred Festivals (Samhain, Imbolc, Beltane and Lughnasadh), and three levels of existence, each of the three denoted with a string of the clan's emeralds suspended on our prized copper line attached to apple wood circles.

"A fierce dragon with roiling eyes, a moving woodpecker, and even some fishes vying for a hook suspended from a small boat, all move with each beat on the drum, and will teach of the clan’s heritage and of our connection with the mystery and wonder of life.

"And an engraved, hammered brass medallion secured by a braid of hand-spun wool and hemp declares the clan’s sacred symbols of a bird of prey, sun, moon, stars, an oak tree, stag’s head and two Ogham alphabet letters which we know as 'Live Free' in our sacred language.

"Indeed," wrote the ovate, "it is a drum fit for royalty!"

And he was right.

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