The Little Drummer Boy... A Christmas Song and It's Possible Mystical Affiliations

The season of the Christmas holidays is a joyous one among Christians all around the world. The followers of Christ celebrate his birth on the supposed date of December 25th, or on January 6th in the Orthodox church. The birth of this being to a virgin named Mary in the land of Roman Judea is heralded as the coming of peace and good tidings, as Jesus is viewed as the Messiah foretold who will teach humanity how to overcome fear and ego, evil and sadness by attaining a sense of God consciousness. Christmas is considered a miraculous event, and the birth itself a miracle, since Mary was a virgin. 

Muslims also know of this event. In Surah Maryam of the Quran this birth is also explained and it is no less miraculous than the story in the Gospels. Mary is virgin and  barren. She asks the angel who heralds the news how she could have a child when "no man hath toucheth her". The angel replies that nothing is impossible for her Lord. Mary is imbued with the Holy Spirit of God and becomes pregnant. Jesus is born, and the miracles continue as some neighbors spread gossip that Mary may not be virgin after all. Jesus speaks from the cradle and tells these people that his Mother is the purest of women and to stop their vain talk. 

Whether one is Christian or Muslim, we can assume that this birth, whenever or wherever if indeed it did take place, must have been a cosmic event and happening. Some call Jesus the Son of God and some say he was a great prophet and Messiah, but the fact remains that he was born miraculously, both parties can agree that the birth was miraculous as stated in both the Quran and the Gospels. Such miraculous events have their share of miraculous stories that accompany the event, whether true or not. None of these stories take away from the miracle, but in fact embellish the miracle. And when such miracles move us to faith and devotion, the stories that spring up, whether they really happened or not, inspire us to more faith and put us on the search for the secrets of the life of the soul.

In this spirit is the story of one such individual, a simple drummer boy. According to the apocryphal tale, a boy was informed of the birth of Jesus by three wise men whom became known as the Three Kings, the Magi, who were seeking out the place where the promised Messiah was born. They advised the young boy to visit also. When the lad arrived at the manger in the stable he saw people gathered, gazing at the miraculous boy and his adoring mother. The wise men brought gifts, exotic spices from far away lands. The young boy had no gifts to offer, he lamented. He said he was a poor boy, like baby Jesus born in a manger, as well. One of the wise Magi told him the lad could play his drum for the baby. Even a smile is an offering and a gift. So the boy asks Mary if this is acceptable. Mary approves, he plays the drum, and a feeling of unity and harmony between the people and even the animals of the stable who keep time with their nodding heads emanates from the simple barn. The baby Jesus smiles and the gift is accepted. The young drummer boy is content. There is a feeling of peace and fulfillment in the description of this story.

It is only a tale and we cannot prove if it ever really happened. But I have always been curious about this tale because there are aspects of it that have always puzzled me. First of all, let's talk about the song that popularized the tale. 'The Little Drummer Boy' is an American Christmas carol which was composed by Katherine K. Davis. The Trapp Family Singers did a recording of it in 1955 and the Simeone Chorale recorded their version which became very popular in 1958. The origins of the song and the story was said to be based on an older Czech version, though no version has ever been discovered or found, though many still maintain it to be of Czech origin. 

While it may have a Czech connection, the song may have an older history. In the 12th century there was a popular story in France about a poor juggler who performed in front of a statue of Mary. Supposedly, the statue smiled at the juggler. This became the basis for an opera in 1902. However, the similarity of the story about a performer ties us in with another fact of history. It was from France that the Crusaders first set out to conquer the Holy Land, and France was at the forefront of that endeavor. It is also known that many ideas, foods, customs and importnat scientific knowledge was brought back from the Middle East at that time. We know that Europe benefitted from the Crusades, that the knowledge they discovered there in the Middle East and through contact with Islamic civilization in Spain and Sicily enlightened their world and brought Europe out from the centuries of darkness that engulfed the continent in the era prior to the Crusades. In all human interactions, in war and in peace, ideas get transplanted and exchanged. This exchange includes arts, stories and religious knowledge as well. 

Being exposed to 11th and 12th century Islamic and eastern Christian culture, the 'Franks' as they were called discovered and created new stories to support their faith and their devotions. Surely, the Franks met some of those religious men and women called Sufis while occupying and living in the Frankish Kingdom of Jerusalem in the Levant. We read about, for example, Shamsi Tabrizi, Rumi's teacher, playing chess with a Frankish boy in Syria, and about Christian doctors who were physicians to the Emir of Antioch who sat with Frankish priests and taught them the ways of what was then modern medicine. There were countless meetings and interactions between various groups of peoples. Certainly many varied religious experiences were viewed and made impressions on the new conquerors. Many stories were shared and told as well, and these experiences...just like the dome and the arch, the concept of zero and the love song...were all eventually brought back to France. 

From a Sufi perspective perhaps we can dissect the story of the drummer boy and see elements of what may have been Islamic popular practice in the 12th century, which rubbed elbows with eastern Christian and Jewish custom. As I mentioned, both Muslims and Christians proclaim the birth of Jesus to a virgin as a miraculous event. The wise men were known to be of the 'Magi'. These were Zoroastrian sages from Persia who traveled far to witness the birth of the new messenger, according to legend. They are also known as the Three Kings, and have been portrayed as royalty. But historically speaking, no Persian or Roman emperor would be caught visiting a lowly born boy born in a stable, let alone wandering about in a rival foreign empire without any kind of guard ordained for the visitor's protection. I believe there is another explanation to the title 'Three Kings'. In Sufi terminology, highly influenced by Zoroastrian and Manichaean traditions, a 'king' is one who has renounced the world and it's riches. When one achieves this level in life as they tread upon the Sufi path they are granted the epithet 'king of poverty' or 'fukurah'. Just as Jesus renounced all his possessions, as John the Baptist did, as the Sufi saints Rabia of Basra and Mansur Hallaj did and as Francis of Assisi and Mother Teresa would do,  these kings of spiritual poverty renounced the word and earned the title. It may indeed be a title from the Zoroastrian tradition, as many titles, customs and spiritual practices in Judaism, Christianity and Islam are to be found, influenced from the state religion of Persia at the time. Thus these sages, holy men from afar, came to Bethlehem to witness and partake in a cosmic event. The notion that light enters the world in the form of Jesus, an important Christian concept, comes directly from the Zoroastiran and Manichaean  teachings about the light  of God coming into the world to dispel the darkness, and Iranians to this day celebrate 'Shab i Yalda' on the eve of the Winter equinox.  

The idea of playing a drum for a sleeping baby might seem, to say the least, odd. Most of the recordings of the popular song use a snare drum, as those heard in a modern marching band. But there were no snare drums in the 12th century, at least not like the modern models we know of today. Why would Mary approve of some kid making a racket while her new born baby is sleeping in her arms? The explanation is that the boy didn't have anything else to offer, that is true. But what kind of drum did the boy really play, if he did? He may have played what is known in the middle east as a 'naqqara', a single bowl shaped drum of metal or clay with a skin stretched over it, played with two sticks. Or was the drum a dumbek, the goblet shaped drum found all over the region? Maybe it was a frame drum, the daf, played with two hands. At any rate, I like to think that the boy played his drum keeping time 'with the ox and the lamb' as the song proclaims, with those who were gathered praising God in a mystical music making situation, in the manner of David chanting his pslams and dancing in spiritual ecstacy. The rhythm of the song, modern as the melody may be, is steady and remains stationary as in ancient music: rum pa-pa rum pa rum pa-pa rum...rum pa-pa rum pa rum pa-pa rum...as one hears in a Sufi sema ceremony. This is called the rhythm of the heart. The rhythm and the participants become one with God and with each other. The song says that even the animals participated, describing a cosmic event. Why else would a child play a drum for a celebrated baby that would cause him to smile approvingly of this poor orphan's simple musicianship? Something great and spiritual was happening here. 

Music, practices, eastern terminology from the Islamic, Christian and Zoroastrian traditions can be found in this song which is a popular 20th century composition. But the composition and it's subjects are all from another time. My personal belief leans on the 12 century French connection. Beyond the theological differences between Christianity and Islam, beyond the song being a modern Christmas carol or a medieval story, beyond all connections that we try to invent and create, there is the song and the spirit behind it. Poverty is riches, knowledge is faith and music brings all people...and animals..together in love, the most powerful of forces that exist. 

Yes I believe the ox and lamb kept time while the drummer boy kept the rhythm for the cosmic sema of the century. A miraculous event, known only to the wise men who communicated with their Lord- and a few shepherds if we are to believe the Gospels, men steeped often in deep contemplation who knew the secrets of abandonment and gratitude. May we all be blessed with such devotion, no matter who or where we are at the moment. And may we never loose that desire to believe in miracles. They happen in myriad ways in our lives and in the lives of others around us. That we are alive is a miracle. What more proof do we need? Breathe! I wish you all a very, Merry Christmas season. Eyvallah.