By: Aimee Griswold

It began with a drumbeat. Not a musical beat; but instead, a consistent rhythm that stuck in her head. It was the 80s, and Alida Birch was hearing a mysterious drumming. Compelled by its persistence, she began to reach out to people asking for a drum she could borrow. In return, she got strange looks and no drum. Undeterred, she continued to search.

Before she discovered shamanism, Alida was an engineer with a type of mindset that she described as linear. Every day, she would go to work in the factory of a paper products company. “I was really struggling,” Alida explained, “with [thoughts such as]: well, I guess I’m going to do this for the rest of my life; and, this is what you have to do to make money and do the nuclear family thing.” She was craving something greater, and hoped that life still had more in store for her. That’s when she noticed the drumming.

One day, Alida was given a flyer for a shamanic workshop entitled “The Shamanic Journey.” On the flyer was the phrase “the drum is the heartbeat of the Earth.” Something clicked. This phrase spoke to her, so Alida attended the workshop. Although she was looking for answers, her linear mind was resistant. “I tried to leave in the middle of the weekend ‘cause I thought everyone was a little bit crazy. ‘Cause really, from the ordinary reality perspective, looking at someone who’s doing a shamanic practice (like dancing their animals, for example), looks kinda crazy. And I was really struggling with that,” she revealed. Despite her inner conflicts, she stayed for the entire weekend.  

Even after experiencing some amazing journeys during the workshop, it was easier for Alida to believe that she was tapping into her subconscious rather than working with spirits. However, once she started doing soul retrieval (a type of shamanic healing where someone’s vitality is restored after they’ve lost it due to some type of trauma), her attitude began to change. When performing soul retrievals, she knew she was receiving information that she could not have obtained without the help of spirits. She’d found her faith, as well as her calling. It began with a steady drumbeat, which ultimately led Alida towards her path and profession as a shamanic healer and teacher.