In the beginning: retelling the Hebrew creation story with drumming soundscape

In the Sacred Drumming courses and workshops I teach I use stories from various cultures to connect drumming to the Sacred. With some stories I encourage students to listen to the words and moods and at appropriate times to create sounds upon a variety of percussion instruments, which I bring along, that reflect the "soundscape" of the story. As the leader I give some guidance to the soundscape that is being created (note parenthetical remarks). The following is my retelling of the Hebrew creation story from Genesis that has elements of a Sufi version of the creation story.


In the beginning there was a void, a silence…
And darkness covered the face of the deep.
A wind from God swept over the churning waters (wind sounds)
God’s Spirit, the divine Breath, breathed out into the void
as an Originating Word,
A Primal Sound, a Primordial Vibration (drum roll with dynamics)

Then God brought order to the primeval Chaos
Bringing into being a rhythm to matter
God said, “Let there be light!”
and light flooded the void
like a cymbal crash
dividing darkness from light.
And it was good.
That was the first day. (One loud beat)

God said,”Let there be waters.”
And the waters were divided
Creating the dome of sky.
And it was good.
That was the second day. (two loud beats)

God said, “Let there land.”
And the waters crashed and foamed.
Volcanoes erupted and spilled out hot magma,
The waters hissed and cooled the molten lava
And land jutted out of the watters.
Then, a sacred silence filled the earth.
God said, “Let there be seeds, vegetation, and fruit
In abundance.
The seeds cracked through the soil
Trees stretched their arms to the skies
and roots into the ground.
Fruit popped from the branches.
Wind blew the tall stocks of grain.
Rain fell on the dry plains.
And it was good.
That was the third day (three loud beats)

God said, “Let there be sun and moon,
To light the day and night,
Let there be stars and swirling planets
Spinning to a divine rhythm
And it was good.
That was the fourth day. (Four loud beats)

God said, “Let the earth be filled with creatures.”
And there were stomping elephants,
Splashing whales,
chirping sparrows,
Screeching monkeys,
Lumbering hippos,
And all kinds of creatures
Creating a cacophony of sound.
God said, “Be fruitful and multiply.”
And it was good.
That was the fifth day (five loud beats)

Then, after all creating the universe
And the sounds and rhythms of life
Within it
God listened to the motion of the planets,
The sounds of the waters and wind
The cacophony of creatures,
All the divine rhythms of creation
In syncopation.
Then God blew into the lungs of the first human
The Breathe, the Spirit of Life.
God made the human creature’s heart
To beat in rhythm with creation
With a thump-thump, thump-thump(heart beat rhythm)
The Human One’s soul was in synchronization
With the pulse of creation.
The Human One jubilantly sang aloud the praises of God (upbeat rhythm)
And it was good.
That was the sixth day (six loud beats).

And on the seventh day God rested.
and there was silence....
God created a rhythm for work and rest.
Six days for the noise of labor (six beats)
And one day of rest (silence)
Repeat phrase and play beats- six days of labor/one day of rest (7 beat rhythm, accelerate, then end rhythm)
And the rhythm of creation was good.