The Hidden Dangers of Drumming Circles for Christians

Drumming Circles: Spiritual Experience or Deceptive Practice? A Christian Perspective

In recent decades, drumming circles have become increasingly popular in the West, particularly among New Age practitioners and holistic wellness communities. Promoted as a tool for healing, connection, and spiritual awakening, these rhythmic gatherings draw participants into a communal drumming rhythm often under the moon's light. But behind the surface-level appeal of cultural exploration and inner peace lies a deeper spiritual danger that Christians must not ignore.

What Are Drumming Circles?

Drumming circles are ceremonial gatherings in which individuals—often sitting in a circle—play hand drums or percussion instruments together. These gatherings frequently occur outdoors and are particularly popular during new moon or full moon phases, when participants believe they are harnessing cosmic energy for healing or manifestation.

Practices vary, but often include:

Rhythmic drumming to induce altered states of consciousness.
Chanting or vocalizing prayers to the earth, the moon, or spirit guides.
Meditation or trance-like states, where participants feel they have spiritual encounters.
Ceremonial elements borrowed from Native American, African, or other indigenous traditions.

Though modern advocates see it as harmless community building or self-exploration, the roots and intent of these practices tell a very different story.

Where Did Drumming Circles Come From?

While drums have been used for centuries in nearly every culture, the ceremonial drumming circle in its modern form is largely a New Age invention. It borrows from a blend of tribal rituals without genuine understanding or respect for their sacred origins.

This blending often includes:

Native American powwow rhythms (intended for cultural rituals).
West African healing drum traditions (involving ancestral worship).
Shamanic drumming used to communicate with spirit worlds.

In other words, modern drumming circles often imitate pagan and animistic rituals, rebranded as wellness tools without confronting their spiritual implications.

How Does It Work?

The mechanism behind drumming circles is based on rhythm and repetition. Steady beats—especially those around 4 to 7 beats per second—can affect brainwave patterns, leading to theta brainwave activity, the same state experienced during deep meditation or hypnosis.

This creates:

A trance-like state.
A lowered mental guard.
Heightened suggestibility and emotional openness.

Proponents argue that this opens a door to higher consciousness. But from a biblical standpoint, this opens spiritual doors that should remain closed.

Why Christians Should Stay Away

Scripture consistently warns against practices that mimic pagan rituals or worship created things instead of the Creator. Drumming circles often:

Call on the moon, spirits, ancestors, or earth—blatant violations of God’s commandment.
Induce altered states of consciousness, leaving individuals vulnerable to demonic suggestion.
Promote a worldview based in pantheism and self-deification, rather than the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

1 Thessalonians 5:22 says, "Abstain from all appearance of evil." That alone is enough to caution Christians from participating in these events. Romans 1:25 also rebukes those who “worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator.”

Spiritual Consequences of Participation

Engaging in spiritual activities outside of God’s design is not neutral—it is dangerous. Just as Saul experienced torment after seeking a medium (1 Samuel 28), Christians who step outside of God’s boundaries risk spiritual consequences:

Mental torment: Confusion, anxiety, and intrusive thoughts.
Emotional instability: Heightened emotional sensitivity or depression.
Spiritual oppression: Increased spiritual warfare, including tormenting dreams, fear, and a sense of distance from God.

What seems like a “healing experience” can instead open the door to demonic intrusion. Participating in spiritual practices rooted in paganism—even unknowingly—can lead to bondage and oppression.

The Illusion of Healing

New Age practices, like drumming circles, mimic the form of healing but not the power. They offer temporary emotional release or a false sense of peace but fail to bring true freedom.

John 14:6 says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

No ritual, moon phase, or rhythmic beat can replace the redemptive, life-transforming work of Jesus Christ. True healing—spiritual, emotional, and mental—comes only through repentance, faith, and communion with the Holy Spirit.

How to Respond as a Christian

If you’ve participated in drumming circles, either knowingly or unknowingly, there is hope and freedom in Christ.

Steps to take:

Repent: Acknowledge the sin of participating in forbidden spiritual practices.
Renounce: Verbally renounce any ties to the rituals or spirits involved.
Break agreement: Pray for God to sever any spiritual influence that entered through that doorway.
Seek deliverance: Ask the Lord to heal and deliver you from any spiritual oppression.
Replace lies with truth: Fill your mind with the Word of God and align your practices with Scripture.

Conclusion: Worship the Creator, Not the Creation

Drumming circles may seem like harmless fun or a spiritual journey, but beneath the surface lies a deceptive trap that can pull Christians away from Christ and into spiritual bondage.

We were made to worship God in spirit and in truth (John 4:24), not through rituals that mimic paganism or entertain the enemy’s counterfeits. Stay alert. Stay sober. The enemy prowls like a lion (1 Peter 5:8), looking for any door left open.

Let us close the doors to deception and walk only in the light and freedom of Jesus Christ.

Methods of discernment:

• Who was the founder of this modality?
• What was his/her spirituality?
• What culture did it come out of?
• What were their beliefs?
• Who is their God or gods?
Many occult practices in Christianity need to be discerned. Another method of discernment is the Word of God. The word of God is our measuring stick. The more we read the word, know the word, and have a relationship with the Lord, the more we discern right and wrong. We perish from a lack of knowledge.
Hosea 4:6 declares, “My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also reject you as my priests; because you have ignored the law of your God, I also will ignore your children.”
By Teresa Morin, President of Touch of God Int'l Ministries of Healing and Deliverance.
See list of occult practices.
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Thursday, May 15, 2025