The Shaman’s Rattle
By Burak UGURLU
The shaman’s rattle is a tool used to seek the help of powerful animals and spiritual beings. It can also direct energy and transfer healing energy mentally to the surroundings or a person’s body. It serves as a means to send prayers and intentions to the spiritual world, and to create a sacred space by shaking it in a circular motion.
In present-day Iroquois medicine societies, the gourd rattle symbolizes the sound of creation, as creation stories depict the first sound as the voice of the Creator’s thoughts. The seeds inside the rattle are seen as the source of new life and are thought to dispel illusions from the mind.
In South America, the shaman’s rattle is a highly revered instrument. It is believed to embody the sacred forces of the cosmos through its sound, structure, contents, and connection to shamanic trance. The different parts of the rattle also represent the structures of the world, with the handle symbolizing the axis to the Celestial Realm, and the head-gourd representing the Upper World and its spirits. The joining of the handle and head symbolizes the unity of masculine and feminine forces in the universe, giving the rattle its creative power. For a shaman, taking care of the rattle and playing it correctly in rituals is seen as fulfilling the human spirit’s purpose of maintaining the order of existence.
Rattles and drums work well together to induce trance states. The repetitive sound of the rattle, like that of the drum, helps to reach a trance-like state. The high-pitched frequencies created by shaking the rattle complement the low frequencies of drumbeats. The high tones stimulate the upper parts of the body, while the low tones from drums impact the abdomen, chest, and balance organs, leading to a physical impulse towards movement. Rattles stimulate higher frequency nerve pathways in the brain than drums, enhancing the overall sonic effect. Try combining a rattle and drum in a shamanic journey.