The Dragon Ritual Drummers: Honouring the Dragon and Groovin' the Pagan

Started ten years ago as part of a pagan men's group in Niagara region, the Dragon Ritual Drummers have grown in popularity to become the world's number one pagan drum troupe.

The group's leader, Witchdoctor and Conjurer in the North American Voodoo tradition, Withdoctor Utu, says they are still amazed at the success of the music.

"It was originally a way for us to connect with the ancient dragon deity that the Natives of this region used to worship." says Utu. "Now we get invited to festivals all over the place and have a worldwide following. It's pretty wild!"

The Niagara Pagan Men's circle is a gathering of men in southwestern Ontario with various earth based spiritual expressions being represented. Begun 15 years ago, it was founded to help give men in the pagan community a chance to bond and express themselves outside of a community dominated by women in terms of numbers.

"Le'ts face it we all need male bonding," says Utu "also the men are all from different traditions and coming together like this helps us build trust with one another, which is so important in the pagan community."

Witchdoctor Utu is also High Priest of the Niagara Voodoo Shrine, which keeps alive the North American voodoo traditions, centered in New Orleans, to the local community and also includes members from across the northern USA and even as far away as Florida.  Niagara's mother temple is the New Orleans Voodoo Spiritual Temple, overseen by the Integral Priestess Mirriam.

"It is not uncommon in the voodoo tradition to have members that live far away from the temple they are comfortable with." says Utu. "As well many of the shrine members help to keep things going when we're away travelling. It's a hands on learning process, you have to learn by doing."

Witchdoctor Utu is also an adept of the ancient religious practices of the Sumerian tradition, a civilization that predates most others. Taught by a priestess in Texas, the epicentre of the Sumerian tradition, Utu has always followed his intuition when seeking spiritual guidance.

"Religions that separate themselves from nature make no sense to me" he says. "I think a lot of the problems we have in the west can be attributed to the dominance of the monotheistic religions."

Born in Scotland, Utu feels the strong pagan traditions of his homeland and his mother's eclectic approach to spirituality helped him discover this path.

To hear more of the music of the Dragon Ritual Drummers, or to learn about the Niagara Pagan Men's Circle or the Niagra Voodoo Shrine, reach out to Witchdoctor Utu at his facebook page or by email niagaravoodooshrine@hotmail.com