Virtually every shamanic tradition features the application of specific mesmerizing rhythms, usually played out on a drum or drums with the help of rattles or shakers, in order to access the hyperaware states that allow for teleportation, premonition, and recognition of the spiritual assignment. The coordinated charging and discharging of neuron in the brain synchronize with the impelling rhythms of the drum. In turn, the drummer is led by her or his own entrancement, and the responses of those in attendance. The drummer will become coupled to the movements of the dancers, conscious of every subtle change in composure or muscle tension, easing them like a lover through the progressive states of ecstatic oneness with each other and the Earth - never too fast or too slow. In this way the drummer serves to amplify and focus attention on the coupling between rhythm and realization, self and planet.
All elements have rhythms, metabolic and behavioral rates of cycling and pulsing.
All elements are rhythmists, musicians, focused on staying in beat with one another. Any time two rhythms are nearly the same, and their source is in shared proximity, they will inevitably entrain. The source for all rhythm is always close at hand, if only beating in our own chests, or felt pounding beneath the pavement at our feet. For the other lifeforms the shamanic state is a fact of being, the way they sing their song. For humans it is the inspired state of reunification, the borderless realms of integration into the planetary body of Spirit.