As I’ve previously explained on this site, every time I make a drum, it leads me to its story or to a general theme involving it, and eventually to its name. I find such joy in this exchange. So, while working with this wonderful little drum, it led me to thoughts of leprechauns, elfin and fairy folk and other clans associated with European traditions, and then to the so-called “Little People of the Cherokee”  http://www.ilhawaii.net/~stony/lore132.html.

In total, these beings are said to have been here long before us, and that they continue to live everywhere on the Earth Mother. They possess abilities which we consider to be magical, but to them, are so normal as to not be noticed. They can appear and disappear at will, particularly when feeling mischievous (or embarrassed). They can spin gold from sunlight, stir water into silver, make rainbows, talk to rivers, convince mountains to relocate, and are considered the masters of animals and of the anvil. Originally, it is said, they had no natural enemies and they lived very long lives. They are also said to have made the first drum, a skill taught to them by their friends, the trees. Of course, they only make drums from downed trees, a pact first agreed upon at the time they were taught.

And so, I came to call this the Elfin Drum, not in direct reference to Elves alone or in particular, but because the name seems to suggest a collective of all such beings, to me at least. And it is very playful!

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Meet destiny here...

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