“Each instrument helps me express the qualities and elements for others to remember what has been forgotten or lost,” René explained. “Each of us has a remembrance of wholeness, or being one with the universe on some level of consciousness, and I believe there is something in the ancient expression that reminds us of a time when were more connected to the natural world. Sometimes the music comes as a gentle nudge or gesture, like a sweet lullaby. For others it’s more emphatic, akin to a heroic call to arms.”
My Instrument Allies
I play with the intent of reuniting others to the cellular memory of Oneness and Wholeness.
Ancestral Instruments are made of organic materials (leaves, wood, ceramic, hide, feather & bone). The sounds range from primordial to hauntingly beautiful and strangely familiar. They are played with the intent to guide listeners into an altered-state of awareness, as they have by our ancient ancestors. The inherent qualities of sounds produced can by-pass the ego’s mental-emotional defenses revealing core issues and deepening personal insight. The sacred sounds resonate latent ancestral memories (collective unconscious or subconscious) from times passed when humanity was closer to (and more intimate with) the Natural World. Like sonic codes that open personal vaults of records for each individual to access.
Some of these instruments have specific traditional Shamanic uses for calling in the Spirit and clearing “static” mental, emotional, and physical energies. Other instruments are used for ancestor work (releasing harmful family patterns or reconnecting with ancestor spirits as helping allies) and discharging past traumas. Others are for journeying, increasing physical energy, and raising courage. Perhaps their most powerful attributes are in animating the sounds of the natural world–essentially bringing the outside “in”.
Spirit Chaser
Attributes: Middle World rhythm-maker, brings lightness to body space and structure. Sounds like a bouncing ball of bamboo!
Hawaiian Nose Flutes
Attributes: Speaks to Middle World intimacy of Love, authenticity and truth-telling. It is traditionally believed that the air through the nose is more pure–because “you can’t tell a lie through your nose!” Made of cane.
Zapotec Quad Clay
Attributes: Communication between the Divine Masculine and Divine Feminine. Reunification between Heaven and Earth. Tells a story of the dance between Dissonance and Harmony, and highlighting their Oneness. Made of ceramic.
Pututo
Attributes: Calls to Spirit to open communication with the Heart. Traditionally used for Invocation & Initiation, the conch shell has had many uses: as a communication device, a battle cry, dispersing ”evil spirits”, and for victorious unions and celebration.
Peruvian Ocarina
Attributes: Ceremonial, sonic-shamanic guidance into Inner World. Can be played with one hand. Made of ceramic.
Condor Bone Flute
Attributes: Calls to Spirit, invocation, clears mental static. Handmade and gifted by mentor and friend, Tito La Rosa. This is a most unique and treasured instrument with the sonic power to laser-cut through stone…hypothetically.
Dan Moi
Attributes: The vibrating metal reed “makes one’s mind drift away.” Former bullet casings are made into beautiful mouth harps by the Hmong people of Vietnam. The symbolic transformation from a piece of War into an instrument of Peace is one of many reasons listeners (& players) experience transcendence through its sound.
Dino Bone Ocarina
Attributes: Invocation and calling to Spirit realms (similar to Condor Bone Flute), this partially polished dinosaur bone with opal inlaid eyes is one-of-a-kind, skillfully crafted by the late master gem carver, Whittaker Freegard. A powerful shamanic tool with a piercing, primitive voice.
Peruvian Ritual Flute
Attributes: Addresses the Three Worlds or “Pachas” in Peruvian Cosmology. (also called, ancestor flute). Made of ceramic, the rounded shape merges Air, Fire and Water.elements for sonic opening, clearing and removal.
Snake Flute
Attributes: Snake is considered the Wisdom Keeper to the Aztecs. When Spanish conquistadors came, they forbade the use of color for men, so women kept the Wisdom/Knowledge alive by wearing multi-colored Snake in the form of headbands and belts.
Mamma Quena
Attributes: The Mother Flute who speaks to the Inner World, or ancestral world. Powerful and penetrative Air Element instrument when we need to connect with our ancestors. Made of bamboo by Tito La Rosa.
Wind Wand (Click here to purchase.)
Attributes: Trance-inducing, rhythmic drone assists us to “lift-off” into higher perspectives. Can bring relief from over-identification of the physical body, and locked mental-emotional patterns. Wind Wands are exceptional accompaniment for standing meditations, singing and chant.
Antara
Attributes: Made and gifted by Tito La Rosa, who dreamed this instrument into form. “The dream came from my ancestors.” explained Tito. It is most often played with a condor feather which rhythmically cuts through the air complementing the high soaring runs of the quills. It’s a blessing!
Shakshas
Attributes: Breaks up hardened, stagnant and/or impacted energies. The pod shells can sound as soft as a trickling stream or as fierce as an Amazonian waterfall! And like the former, they can crack through the most solid emotional blocks lodged in the physical body…if needed.
Zapotec Triple Clay
Attributes: Triple clay flutes are replicas inspired by Tenenexpan and Mayan culture with Zapotec decorations. The warm, rounded sound of ceramic sings with both gentleness and power. And though they’re suited well for tenderizing Heart and Mind with Spirit, I’m drawn to driving rhythms.
Shakapas (Bamboo & Indian Corn)
Attributes: A penetrative energetic broom that clears while Inducing an altered-state through entrainment. Brings in the magnetic-dynamic power of the Air and Water elements, like wind and rain through a forest.
Mayan Drone Flutes (Ohm, F# and A)
Attributes: They are often called “love flutes” because of the dual chamber, and were originally made of ceramic. Ohm is the pitch of the Earth. Calls from middle Earth to the Heavens. The Ohm flute is made of aromatic cedar with a turquoise stone inlay. The F# resonates with the “High-Heart” chakra, made of Peruvian oak and is inlaid with a silver Eagle totem and tourmaline bead. ‘Concert A’ is often considered the pitch of the 6th chakra, or third eye, related to higher consciousness or expanded states of awareness. Made of Lacewood. (this was my first Mayan drone–a gift from my dear friend, Ailish. -Bless you!!)
René Jenkins is a professional musician, Ceremonial Sound Practitioner, Healing Performance and Recording Artist from Sonoma, California. For more than 25 years, René performs sound healing concerts, blessings and ceremonies for individuals and special groups throughout the US and internationally. While embracing the ancestral wisdom from cross-cultural anthropologist Angeles Arrien, Kashaya-Pomo elder/healer Lorin Smith, and renowned South American sound healer/musician Tito La Rosa, René raises consciousness-vibration through Sacred Sound and Intention.
Phone: 707-939-9827 | Email: HealingVibes (at) sonic.net | Sonoma, California