It showed her still seated on a throne but now more decorous and matronly, her hand resting on the neck of a perfectly still lion and the other hand holding the circular frame drum…which evokes the full moon in its shape and is covered with the hide of the sacred lunar bull.
Figurine of a woman playing a hand-drum. 8th - 7th centuries B.C.E.
Terracottas of female drum players and other figurines depicting musicians, both male and female, have been found in Judah and Israel, as well as Phoenicia and Cyprus. …Female drummers not only provided rhythms for singing and dancing at family and community celebrations, but, as Psalm 68 makes evident, their music was also incorporated into the ceremonies of the Temple.
In early Christian imagery, God creates the bodhrán
Notice how each angel has his own bodhrán conveniently stored behind the head.
Here the bodhrán symbolizes a deep spirituality.
In our modern era, the circular form of the bodhrán is used as a symbol of joy and freedom…
I hate to disappoint you, but this is God destroying a bodhran. I mean, just look at that vicious expression on his face! And what he’s using is the next best thing to a penknife he could lay his hands on.
Ah, moonmothmaid, drumming up support for an excellent theory, i see. Be ware… you may yet be framed, and drummed from the ranks by those more prone to think the pizza pan or bar-maid’s tray the true history of the instrument.
These things are open to interpretation, but I think it could be argued there is another reason the Deity looks so serious here. Divine Foreknowledge has revealed that the Bodhrán will become an instrument of torture when taken into the wrong hands. (The next image in this series shows the creation of the high G pennywhistle. ) In compensation, Divine Providence sent us St. John Joe Kelly to show us the way.
Last month I had an excellent Intro to the Bodhrán class where we spent a lot of time discussing safe Bodhráning. We must have spent half an hour learning to put a condom on a cipín. We also had to memorize the following commandments:
Ciaran Carson wrote-----
If you really want to play the bodhrán, it would do no harm to observe the following guidelines:
Familiarize yourself as thoroughly as possible with the music before approaching within smelling distance of a goat-skin. If you can, learn some other instruments besides the bodhrán. At the very least, you should be able to lilt a selection of about 50 tunes in varying tempos.
If you want to join in a session, ask the other musicians first, or wait until you are asked. This common courtesy should be observed by all musicians, but bodhrán players seem to ignore it more than most.
If there is already a bodhrán player in the session, forget about it.
If after the requisite amount of hard work and sensitive listening your playing is acceptable to other musicians, don’t be afraid to express yourself. The obverse of the ignorant and insensitive is the paranoiac and guilt-ridden player who cannot enjoy himself for fear of spoiling others’ enjoyment. If you must play the bodhrán, then play it.
