According to Zulu shaman Credo Mutwa, to
say “I dreamt” means “I flew” because there is
something in the human that travels through time
and can experience events before the physical
body does. Both the Batonga and Zulu agree that
if something is dreamed, it must be enacted. Once
it is acted, the creative force of the soul that makes
dreams recognizes this and brings you more
dreams to guide you and make life more interest-
ing. Africans spend a great deal of energy acting
out dreams, which sometimes can have disastrous
consequences, but Mutwa believes it is important
to pay attention to them—those caused by indi-
gestion aside—because they are a form of commu-
nication no matter how silly they may seem. One
way to tell if a dream carries a significant message
is that it is in brilliant color, occurs just before
dawn, or recurs two or three times during the
night. Also, rubbing the back of the head on
awakening can help with dream recollection or
effacing, as in the case of nightmares.
Denise MartinSeealsoMagic; Mediums
Further Readings
Chaplin, J. H. (1958). A Note on Central African Dream
Concepts.Man, 58 , 90–92.
Driberg, J. H. (1927). Notes on Dreams Among the
Lango and the Didinga of the South-Eastern Sudan.
Man, 27 , 141–143.
Hodgson, A. G. O. (1926). Dreams in Central Africa.
Man, 26 , 66–68.
Jedrej, M. C., & Shaw, R. (Eds). (1992).Dreaming,
Religion and Society in Africa. Leiden, Netherlands:
E. J. Brill.
Mutwa, C. (2003).Zulu Shaman:Dreams,Prophecies,
and Mysteries. Rochester, VT: Destiny Books.
DRUM, THE
The drum is the musical instrument most com-
monly associated with Africa. Drums comprise the
membranophone family of musical instruments.
Membranophones produce their sound by the
vibration of a stretched membrane or skin. Drums
can be traced to ancient Egyptian civilization and
were often depicted in Mdw Ntr (hieroglyphics).
Traditional African drums are typically made of
wood, rope, twine, and a variety of animal skins
(i.e., goat, cow, calf, and antelope). The perishable
nature of the materials used to construct drums
during antiquity inhibited their survival. The
various shapes of African drums reflect their
perspective categories: These include cylindrical
and conical drums, barrels, hourglasses, waisted
drums, goblet and footed drums, long drums,
frame drums, friction drums, and kettledrums.
Cylindrical drums are straight sided, and coni-
cal drums have sloping sides. Both types of drums
vary in size and proportion and can be either
single or double headed. The conga and Ashiko
drums are examples of cylindrical and conical
drums. Barrel, hourglass, and waisted drums are
variations of the cylindrical drum and can also be
either single or double headed. The ends of these
drums are usually the same size. The Djun-Djun
(Jun-Jun) Guinea, West Africa, and the Donno
(Doh-No) Ghana, West Africa, are popular exam-
ples of this drum. Goblet and footed drums are
single-headed drums, which are made in a variety
of sizes. Footed drums are distinct in that they
usually have legs/feet that are carved from the
wooden body of the drum. The Djembe drum
(Jim-Bay) Guinea, West Africa, is a popular exam-
ple of the Goblet drum family.
Long drums are all drums that are elongated.
These drums are typically single headed and are of
varying lengths of a carved-out tree trunk. Long
drums also can be found in a variety of shapes and
decoration. Frame drums are generally one or two
animal skins stretched over a square or circular
frame. The frame is usually shallow and con-
tributes little to the resonance of the drum. The
tambourine is a popular example of the frame
drum. Friction drums are made in a variety of
shapes and sizes. These drums produce sound by
the vibration of the animal skin by the rubbing of
one’s fingers, a cloth, a cord, or a stick that pierces
the animal skin of the drum. Kettledrums are made
in a variety of sizes and are often played in pairs.
These drums typically consist of a single animal
skin stretched over a vessel or pot-shaped body.
African drums are generally played with the
hands or a combination of the hands and a striker,
such as drumsticks, mallets, or leather straps.
Some African drums are played with the feet or aDrum, The 221