# 1: Is it all about power?
No, it is not all about power. For many who use psychic, mediumistic, and channeling techniques to counsel people it is about helping and encouraging them. Many, if not most, of those who so engage are not aware that they are involved with demonic forces and thereby exposing themselves and their clients to being invaded by these demons. But the number one draw is power—acquiring and accessing power.
Are most of those involved in psychic therapies women?
The answer is mostly yes. When searching for psychic therapists, one encounters mostly women. And why is this? While this has not been a focus of our research, we surmise that women have a sincere desire to help others, which is built into their nature. It may also be that these women will experience being in a power position in a culture that tends to disempower women.
Is it all about making money?
Money is certainly involved, and for some who present their psychic services to others, the price tag can be large. Some charge by the minute, others by the hour, and the contact may be in person or over the internet, and payment can be made online. Some psychics earn into the six-figure range.
# 2: The Tipping Point?
Perhaps the most crucial issue is, at what point does demonization occur?
How much exposure to psychic/occult practices does it take before a person is invaded by demonic spirits?
Our own experience with casting out of demons does not help much with this answer. Sometimes merely engaging with friends playing with an Ouija Board for a few sessions is enough.
Other times it seemed to have happened while simply engaging in mild or medium meditation practices.
Then again, attending and participation in a séance was enough. It could be merely sitting down with a medium who was channeling or gazing into a crystal ball.
It could be working with a tarot card reader and internalizing the read.
How little is too much? This is a large question without a definitive answer.
In the witch’s circle, when spirits of various sorts are asked to attend, or defend, or manifest their presence, then believing in the process and hoping for real contact with the spirit world is more than enough.
Satan does not play fair. It gives to get, and what it gives is power, knowledge, visions, and the experience and presence of spiritual entities. It is all very real; and few can resist.
How much exposure does it take to acquire demonic spirits? Tragically, our experience indicates that it only takes a little.
#3: Where Two or Three?
The title of the first part of this essay comes from Matthew 18:20. The complete verse reads: “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them” (Matthew 18:20).
One of the questions that troubles many of us has to do with how is it that demons invade people. We know the why of it—that Satan’s whole purpose is to attack and destroy those made in the image of God. But the exact method of it is a mystery.
Here is an attempt at providing an answer, although it is not possible to be absolutely certain.
Could it be that Satan imitates what is written in Matthew 18:20? Two or more believers in Jesus gather for worship, prayer, and praise–and thus the promise of Jesus is that He will be with them, unseen, unheard, unfelt, but nevertheless, by the power of the Holy Spirit, He is there.
You can see where this is going. Here are some examples, by no means all, of how Satan and his evil spirits are present with people.
Visiting a medium, a channeler, a psychic
Visiting a life coach who uses psychic arts like those in this list
Participating in a séance
Doing or having a crystal ball reading
Doing or having tarot card reading
Playing with an Ouija board
In a meditative process like those used by Reiki practitioners
With groups of people practicing yoga
Expecting visions in a sweat lodge
Trying to listen to Jesus as Sarah Young promotes in her Jesus Calling series
Looking for answers and visions under the administration of someone working with Akashic Records
In a wiccan coven, in the circle, where various spirits are expected to attend
In a drumming group leading to a trance like state
At a worship experience in a Satanic church
Reading tea leaves with a group
Practicing I Ching with a group
During group or individual hypnotherapy
In gatherings where people attempt to connect with dead ancestors
And there are many other events where two or three gather to explore the unseen world, make a connection with the dead, and connect with various spirits.
Our experience reveals that Satan is a copycat. And a person does not have to believe that there is such a thing as a devil or demons. Satan takes unfair advantage.
Indeed, where two or more are gathered . . .
What about those who meditate alone?
The demonic realm is spiritual and not bound or deterred by barriers or distance.
When a person learns and adopts serious forms of meditation and is seeking to find that ‘nothingness,’ or peace, or contact with a spiritual realm, then demon invasion is possible. In fact, based on our studies and personal experiences, this may be the dominant way in which people are being invaded by demonic spirits in our contemporary era.
Jesus taught us how to pray, one way being The Lord’s Prayer, and while we know that Christian prayer is mindful, with concrete content, whether said aloud or to oneself, it is nevertheless talking with God. It is not blanking out the mind, and it does not focus only on breath or a supposed chakra or ridding oneself of an energy blocker in the body, etc. These practices may be refreshing, comforting, and spiritual, but they open a peron to being invaded.
#4: Meditation at P.S. Alice Austen School, Staten Island, NY
In the June 27, 2022, issue of The New Yorker, in the “Curriculum Dept” Best Self, is a piece about third graders assembling for daily lessons on feelings at P.S. Alice Austen School in Staten Island.
“Two years ago, P.S. began to integrate Social–Emotional Learning (SEI), which teaches kids techniques to identify and regulate their emotions, into its academic programs” (p. 14).
After the pandemic began, the school placed an emphasis on S.E.L., which is now a part of the curriculum in Staten Island and in a thousand other schools.
Now the mayor, Eric Adams, “leads his staff through breathing exercises and has said that he wants police officers to meditate before and after every shift (“You cannot hate . . . if you meditate!”), has underscored the importance of mindfulness in the classroom. All pubic-school students, he has said, should start their day with twenty minutes of meditation.”
What’s wrong with this? you may ask.
It is abundantly clear that meditation practices, with the breathing, so-called mindfulness (mindlessness?), and the repeating or chanting of mantras that most often spring from Hinduism and/or Buddhism, can move anyone into emotional and spiritual danger. And the school kids will have no way out. Likely, parents who did not want their children engaging in this would run into trouble as well.
Is meditation something that promotes health and peacefulness? Of course, it is said to do so, but we cannot neglect the experience of so many who testify that even rather shallow meditation practices will in time lead to something far deeper, troubling, and even demonic.
Meditation, simply put, is a religious, spiritual practice. (Yes, many attempt to distinguish between what is religious and what is spiritual, but they are one and the same.) Do you think those who support Social–Emotional Learning would permit the reciting of the Lord’s Prayer, a piece from the Qur’an, or the 23rd Psalm? Imagine, gathering the kids up in order to teach them how to practice Eastern-oriented spiritual rituals, and meditation is a ritual practiced by many religions.
The third graders have little or no protective devices, and out of fear of being seen as a weirdo, most will fall in line and start trying to meditate. And down the road, that kid’s life will be heavily impacted both spiritually and emotionally.
#5: Satan is the “god” of this World
Paul, in his second letter to the church at Corinth, states the following:
[1] Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. [2] But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God’s word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. [3] And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. [4] In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. [5] For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. [6] For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. (ESV) 2 Corinthians 4:1–6
Especially note verse four, bolded above. The actual Greek word for “god” is theos, as transliterated from the Greek into English. Six other times in these six verses this word theos is used by Paul, and in each of these instances the term refers to the maker of heaven and earth, the true and the living God. Satan is indeed a god, but of this age only.
Then in verse four, the word for “world” is from the Greek word for “age.” Yes, our beloved English Standard Version of the Bible should have used “age” rather than “world.”
Satan is a kind of a god, the exact opposite of the God who created the heavens and the earth and who alone will judge the world on the basis of faith and trust in His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.
Yes, Satan is a kind of god, but the worst of the worst. His power and craft are unmatched by anything on the planet. This god can persuade and fool the best of us. The occult arts and psychic therapies are truly miraculous and highly spiritual, yet they are not from the God who created this universe.
We have not been surprised nor judgmental of those who are lured into the devilish realm. Who has not fallen prey at one time or another?
What if someone reads this book and suddenly realizes that he or she has been duped, that he or she has become involved in one or another of the psychic therapies and/or occult practices and regrets it? First, discard anything that is associated with the practice or so-called therapy. Then pray—yes, speak to God, eyes open or closed, confess the error, then ask that you be forgiven, ask that you be cleansed of all sin by means of the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, shedding His blood to cover your sin, and then express thanksgiving for being forgiven.
After that is something else we strongly advise. Find a church that preaches and teaches the Bible and that preaches the wonderful Gospel message of salvation in Jesus Christ. Get on the internet, type into a Google or some other search engine, A church that centers on Jesus Christ and His Gospel within 20 miles. Some should pop up.
Check them out. There are whacky churches out there, and cults, too, but settle on a church that stands firm on The Apostles’ Creed, is trinitarian, and believes there is a heaven and a hell.
The god of this world will not have the last word.
#6: Yoga and Zen
The holy people and gurus of Hinduism value and depend upon trance states. Yoga means “union,” and the union desired is with deity, however they choose to define that deity. Unsurprisingly, that union takes place by means of the trance state.
Buddhism flows out of Hinduism, so there is considerable overlapping between the two. Our primary focus here will be on Buddhism, but in many ways the two may be considered as one in actual practice.
In early Buddhist Scriptures, the Buddha explained the Noble Eightfold Way.1
1 Mircea Eliade, From Primitives to Zen, Harper & Row, New York, 1967, pp. 574- 575. These are right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration.2
2 Concentration is synonymous with meditation in Buddhism.It is this last one, right concentration, where the subject of the trance state surfaces.
In Buddhism, there are four levels of trance that help a person achieve right concentration. Starting out, when a monk is free from passions and evil thoughts, he then attains to and abides in the first trance state of joy and pleasure. When a monk ceases reasoning and investigation, in a state of internal serenity, with the mind fixed on one point, he attains to and abides in the second trance state, that of joy and pleasure arising from concentration. Abiding in and attaining the third trance state means the monk, with equanimity and indifference towards joy, abides mindful and self-possessed, and with his body experiences pleasure that the noble ones call “dwelling with equanimity, mindful and happy.” Finally, dispelling pleasure and pain, and even before the disappearance of elation and depression, he attains and abides in the fourth trance state, where the monk is without pleasure or pain and is in right concentration.
It is obvious, therefore, that Buddhist practices rely upon the trance state. It is astonishing to note the process: free from passions – really? No evil thoughts – is this possible? No reasoning or investigation – blind and defenseless is better? Can the mind be truly fixed on one point? Can a person – and is it healthy and right – be indifferent to joy? Is the goal of existence to be without pleasure? To dismiss emotions and reasoning, both key functions of the brain, one would have to literally be outside of his or her mind, and this is, indeed, the trance state.
Few practitioners of Yoga and Zen would deny that an altered state of consciousness is what they routinely seek; only those who perceive of Yoga as no more than a form of physical or relaxing exercise might miss seeing the deeper goals. Serious devotees of both Yoga and Zen are well schooled in the techniques for detaching or removing themselves from the normal or usual state of mind in order to be at a place or state of mind other than that which is normative. While many Western proponents of yoga say it is not a spiritual practice, there is no way to eliminate those aspects. The founder of Ashtanga Yoga said, “It will take you automatically into the meditative state, and that’s how it will draw you into the spiritual path.”
#7: Do Yoga and Zen Practitioners Encounter Spirits?
While both Yoga and Zen utilize meditation, concentration, and focusing, and while both may use mantras, koans,3
3 A koan is a riddle without a solution, and, in concentrating on the koan, one’s mind may be altered to the point that a passive state of mind is achieved. and various forms of music, it is not common for practitioners of Yoga and Zen to encounter spiritual entities while in states of trance. It would actually be more common in Yoga than Zen, but much more so in shamanism, Santería, and neo-pagan disciplines like Wicca.
Despite the fact that no mention is made by Yoga and Zen practitioners of meeting various spirit guides, spirit animals, fairies, elves, and gods and goddesses in their trances, danger lurks, nevertheless. While in trance states, Hindus and Buddhists come upon more than nothingness during deep meditation.4
4 Americanized forms of Yoga and Zen, while not relying upon their traditional forms, may nevertheless move toward entering or attempting to enter into trance states despite the sanitizing of the religious forms. The movement from physical exercise to Their Western counterparts have similar experiences when learning how to enter advanced states of meditation or concentration.
The “more” mentioned above refers to spiritual entities of some kind. Over the years, we have talked with persons who have encountered them while deep in meditation. On some occasions the persons are exhilarated, other times frightened. To discover the actual existence of “otherness” can be captivating, as we have expressed a number of times, even if the spiritual encounter was thought to be taking place only in one’s mind.5
Efforts to achieve an ASC depends largely on the goals of the teacher. Regardless of whether a separate reality exists in these situations, when actual spiritual beings are encountered and even conversed with, then biblically speaking, such encounters fall into the demonic realm.
#8: The work of the Holy Spirit and the Christian worldview
The Christian worldview, clearly delineated in the Christian Scriptures, is that there is one Holy Spirit. God’s Holy Spirit always points to the person and work of Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit testifies to the fact that Jesus is the promised Messiah of Israel, is both God and man, and that as the sinless sacrificial Lamb of God, He died to make atonement for sin.6
5 There is a debate among those acquainted with trance states as to whether what is experienced is taking place within the mind or if there is “astral travel” to actual places outside the head or mind. We have no fixed opinion on the matter; both are the result of a demonic deception. We do, however, suspect it is all within the mind. The Holy Spirit’s testimony continues, that on the third day He was raised from the dead, is now seated at the right hand of the Father, and will come again to judge the living and the dead. The Holy Spirit brings honor and glory to Jesus, who is Lord of lords and King of kings. And it is the Holy Spirit that indwells all those who are born again—, that is, are converted.
The gods, goddesses, guides, angels, familiars, and other spirit beings encountered in the trance states are not representatives of the Triune God, but rather they are emissaries of Satan, the devil, who, in his envy of the Creator God, desires to receive worship meant for the Father Almighty alone and attempts to divert it to himself. Behind shamanistic religions like Santería, Wicca, and all spiritual and religious disciplines that depend on the altered state of consciousness, is a dreadful evil presence who seeks to be honored, worshipped, and adored in place of the true and living God.
6 Sin is a word, derived from Latin but with traces of meaning from other languages, that essentially has to do with guilt, that inner sense of having done something morally wrong.
#9: “Don’t Worry About Me”
Words like the above, or words similar to these, are often heard by people when a loved one dies. All of a sudden, almost as if a person is in a dream state, the departed one is speaking words that are comforting to hear. Indeed, reassuring words these are, but who or what is behind that voice, that feeling, that thought?
Are the words actually from the deceased loved one? Most of us would like to know that the departed family member or friend is no longer in pain or discomfort and certainly not in hell. These words are easily embraced, and when they are, other comforting words might follow, with more frequent “communication,” to the point that a relationship starts to develop. And this is not uncommon.
Much to the disappointment of many, when people die, they do not communicate with the living. We see this in the story of The Rich Man and Lazarus in Luke 16:19–31. There is no contacting the living by the dead. That voice, that contact, might be real, but it is the presence of a demonic spirit that impersonates the dead person.
The goal of the demon is to build a relationship with the person who has lost someone dear to their heart. Months may go by, numbers of contacts of various kinds may be experienced, and the goal of the satanic spirit is to rattle, confuse, deceive, and of course, invade or possess.
This is so very common, and many who have pastored churches for long years are able to tell of such events that were revealed to them by parishioners who have come to them for help.
Our point is: if you are contacted by something impersonating a lost loved one, reject that voice in the name of Jesus Christ.
#10: Kent’s own findings
In the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco, during the days when, due to the Beatles’ influence, Transcendental Meditation was all the rage, I met many people who became adept at this meditation form. When their normal boundaries and critical defenses of mind and spirit cracked under deep meditation, however, demonic spirits invaded them. Yes, these people opened themselves up to demonic possession. This was often confirmed to me years afterward when people thus affected would arrive at the church I pastored and request deliverance from such unclean spirits.
Two illustrative instances come to mind.
On one occasion, a young hippie I met on the street in the Haight stopped me and asked if I could help get voices out of his head that continually yelled at him. We retreated to a little park on Haight Street just east of the main section, and I asked him when the voices started. Having been trained in psychology, I wanted to know if the voices had been around a long time or was it something new – chronic or acute. He told me the voices started, little by little, at his initiation into TM. He said the spirit of the founder of the movement came to him and began advising him on various things, and as time went on, the advice turned into demands and threats. He would try to meditate to block out the voices, but this only served to make matters worse. At that point, sadly, I did not know enough about casting out of demons then to help him. I did pray for him, gave him a New Testament, and urged him to trust in Jesus.
Years later, in the normal course of doing deliverance ministry, which is the casting out of demons, I encountered something similar. A man who had been initiated into TM described the same experience as the young hippie: the voices, the demands, and the confusion. To the best of my understanding the person was in his right mind. This time we were able to cast demons out of him, and one had the name of the founder of TM. When I later contacted this man, he reported that he no longer felt compelled to meditate and that the voices had ceased entirely. That this occurs may come as a surprise to many; it certainly did to me. Were it not for the possibility of attracting demonic spirits while in a trance state, even if it is thought to be a form of contemplative prayer, I would never have challenged the idea that meditation can lead to an altered state of consciousness. But the fact is, when the walls come down in a deep meditative state, an unwelcome and unwanted invasion is possible, even probable.
#11: Three Problems Lurking within Christendom
The following are three ways the Christian community prevents true healing from the demonic:
(1) By imitating occult practices in the name of God’s Holy Spirit.
(2) By claiming that Christians cannot have demons, thereby blocking access to deliverance.
(3) By depending on formulaic, magical methods devoid of the Holy Spirit’s actual involvement.
(1) Many in the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) claim amazing experiences supposedly by the power of the Holy Spirit. They include traveling into heaven to visit God’s throne room and sit on His lap like a child; or hearing the voice of Jesus on demand as on a phone call; or divining the will of God through esoteric methods such as the enneagram; or running through a tunnel of spirit fire; or being overcome by a spiritual presence, supposing it to be the Holy Spirit, that leaves one almost comatose for hours. What is the difference, then, between these activities and those of psychics, the yogis, the tarot card readers, etc.? This is confusing immature or name-only Christians, causing a blurring of the demonic and the heavenly realms.
(2) Some time ago, a popular leader of a new Christian group of churches claimed that once one is born again, if there are any demons present from the previous life, they must automatically vacate the body and life of this new Christian, since there is no compatibility nor room for both demons and the Holy Spirit. We have done deliverance ministry for decades with mostly Christians who have become aware of the presence of demonic spirits in their life and being, left over from the old lifestyle. They now want them gone, unlike non-Christians, who prefer to bet on power and knowledge outweighing the torment of their demons. What recourse, then, does a Christian have who is convinced that demons cannot be present regardless of the evidence to the contrary? Must he or she leave an otherwise comfortable church community? Or must he or she live in denial?
(3) Pay a fee and have the “deliverance minister” (also called the exorcist) brandish a cross and recite formulaic phrases over you, perhaps also sprinkling “holy water” on you. Here the difference between magician and priest gets blurred. So do the results.
# 12: Drumming Used to Enter a Trance State
Behind right-center field at the baseball diamond at San Quentin State Prison in Marin County, California (San Francisco Bay Area), there is an area where American Indian inmates have a sweat lodge, and from there, during ball games, would issue the sounds of drumming. Once in a while, a player would hit a home run ball into that space, and one of the guys out there in the far outfield would throw the ball back in.
Kent reports:
For eighteen years, I coached the baseball team at the prison. We were the Pirates, but then the San Francisco Giants gave us uniforms, and we became the San Quentin Giants. (My book on the 2010 baseball season at SQ written in 2021 is titled, Strike Three, You’re Out! Baseball at San Quentin: The 2010 Season.) And on Saturday games we could see naked Indian inmates roaming about the sweat lodge area and could hear the drums beating. At the time, I thought nothing of it, but my thinking changed as I prepared these essays.
Plus, for one year, one Thursday afternoon a month, I interviewed Narrie Caldwell via Zoom at the MarinTV studio in San Rafael. She is one of the leading shamans in America, and despite knowing what I thought of shamanism, we were able to respect one another’s views and carry on a lively debate. (Still to this day we keep in touch.)
An earlier chapter in this book examines shamanism, and drumming and shamanism often go together. Following is a quote from Michael Harner, who is deeply involved in shamanism and all things psychic:
After having personally practiced shamanism, shamanic healing, and shamanic journeying for more than half a century, I can say that there is nothing I have encountered in reports of the spiritual experiences of saints, prophets, psychedelic drug experimenters, near death survivors, avatars and other mystics that is not commonly experienced when following classic journey methods using a drum.7
Harner is generally considered the inventor of “Core Shamanism,” in which he strips shamanism of its connections to specific cultures or people groups to allow it to include “an eclectic range of beliefs and practices that involve attempts to attain altered states and communicate with a spirit world through drumming, rattling, dancing, chanting, music,” among others.8
7 Michael Harner, quoted on the website of the Foundation for Shamanic Studies, https://www.shamanism.org, accessed 7/27/2023 Harner is noted for The Way of the Shaman: a Guide to Power and Healing (San Francisco, Harper, 1990).
Also from the Foundation for Shamanic Studies:
Core shamanism consists of the universal, near-universal, and common features of shamanism, together with journeys to other worlds, a distinguishing feature of shamanism. As originated, researched, and developed by Michael Harner, the principles of Core Shamanism are not bound to any specific cultural group or perspective. Since the West overwhelmingly lost its shamanic knowledge centuries ago due to religious oppression, the Foundation’s programs in Core Shamanism are particularly intended for Westerners to reacquire access to their rightful spiritual heritage through quality workshops and training courses.
Shamanic drumming is sometimes described as “a tool that can be used by individuals to attain psychological, physiological and spiritual well-being. . . .” The drum has “the ability to release anger, create joy, alter brain rhythms, induce trance, and create empowerment . . . and a vast range of experiences, from its ability to create euphoria to its deep and sacred power to heal.”9
8 Wikipedia on “Neoshamanism”, accessed 7/27/2023.
Shamanistic drumming is considered an ancient healing tradition. It involves connection with and guidance from spirits including ancestors, elders, gods, goddesses, spirit guides, power animals and angels.
9 from the release notes of The Healing Power of the Drum: A Psychotherapist Explores the Healing Power of Rhythm, by Robert Lawrence Friedman, White Cliffs Media Co., 2000265
Another book on shamanic drumming is very clear as to the desired result of the practice:
This empowering book is a call to build relationships with helping spirits. Spirit helpers are the caretakers in the unseen world who want to support the earth and her inhabitants at this time. They are here to teach us how to gather wisdom from the spiritual realms, the natural world, the past, the present and the future in order to give birth to new ways of being. The shamanic relationship between humans and helping spirits supports our spirit’s quest for self-realization. The spirits are here to assist us in doing the principal, unique thing we have come here to do in a way that benefits all living things.10
The drumming is intended to create or induce a state of trance, otherwise known as an altered state of consciousness. That is unapologetically the goal. The drumming is intended to make one feel either energized or relaxed. Vibrations may be felt in various parts on the body. And here it is said that this connects a person with a higher consciousness where a person experiences their “true self.” Indeed, it is said that shamanistic drumming actually awakens the capability to commune with ones inner-self and experience incredible personal growth. As the quotes from the release notes of just a few books indicate, shamanic drumming is also intended to summon spirits, ostensibly helpful ones.
At least this is what the proponents say. It is the same story as with most of the spiritual paths and practices covered in this book. The practice induces a trance state, during which demonic entities take advantage of the deliberate summoning of such entities or the person’s lack of supervision of his/her own mind.
Other quotes we found, which lacked the author’s names are, one, “Continuous fast drumming is traditionally the most common method of eliciting a trance state which allows the participant to experience non-ordinary reality.” And two, “Remember that drumming opens portals to the spirit world, draws spirit in, and opens you up to receive it.”
The point here is that, and harking back to the previous essay, drumming, combined or not with other things, heat or mind-altering concoctions, are actually a mechanism to become invaded by evil spirits. What appears to be an ancient, and sacred, tradition, which lies at the heart of Indian shamanism, is a pathway to demon possession.
10 Michael Drake, Shamanic Drumming: Calling the Spirits, Amazon Kindle Edition, 2014266
From Wikipedia, July 27, 2023
Drums – The drum is used by shamans of several peoples in Siberia. The beating of the drum allows the shaman to achieve an altered state of consciousness or to travel on a journey between the physical and spiritual worlds. Much fascination surrounds the role that the acoustics of the drum play to the shaman.