Elementals of Rhythm
Rhythm: the magical, spiritual, and powerful vibrations from the fire, the Divine, our breathing, our spirits, and our heartbeats. All of this music moves into and through the drummers, singers, musicians, and the dancers to create a living, moving, pulsing container which is the Temple of Rhythm.
This force permeates all emotions, activities, and actions throughout the sacred spaces and the sacred fire. All beings within and around the Temple of Venus are affected by it. Love, Sex, and more are fueled by this constant presence of sonic energy throughout the night and throughout the event. This sonic force also vibrates to, from, and with the Divine Herself.
As an Elemental of Rhythm, you take on a commitment that is rather serious yet that can provide great joy, fun, and more to you and to the entire community of the Temple of Venus. The living pulse, the sonic container, along with the Fire of Venus itself, is one of the most crucial and key components of the greater Temple and each night’s sacred events.
Working and playing together each day, we will co-create rhythmic and musical ideas to enhance the focus of each evening’s fire, to entice the spirits of every participant in the greater temple and to energize all the other temples within the Temple of Venus. We will become a beautiful, passionate, and united core in service to sustaining the sonic temple, the Fire, the Divine, and the Tribe.
Do you have a rhythm, a riff, a musical idea that would serve these purposes? Bring it On!
Keepers of Rhythm
R. Tigre Cruz is a Rhythmic Mage, drum instructor, drum circle facilitator, Ritual drummer and the lead percussionist for the group KIVA. In the past 34 years, he has acquired a wealth of experience from classical, contemporary, cultural, and competitive drumming. He has studied drumming and drum circle facilitation, and performed with Jaqui MacMillan, Mamady Keita, Jim Donovan of Rusted Root, and various other well known teachers. Tigre has taught classes for many organizations such as Four Quarters, Carolina Spirit Quest, Chesapeake Pagan Community, Sacred Well, Free Spirit Alliance and for many other nationally recognized conferences and festivals. He currently resides in Pasadena, MD.
Lord Ratwing has been a student of African rhythms and played in pagan fire circles for several years. He makes tones in warm earth zones and this work in the fire circle is to promote a living, heaving, loving container to allow people to be themselves. He is in a flourishing polyamorous relationship and lives in Maryland. Ratwing is also a professor at University of Maryland in where he leads a research group of 26 people that perform bioinformatics—the study of genome data using a computer.
Mark is an artist and musician who has been playing various styles of percussion for most of his life. He enjoys teaching drumming and believes that the best musical moments are found when everyone works together. He is a monkey who thinks opposable thumbs are far out.