In the mother goddess cultures of ancient Europe, the rhythm clans come alive in Layne's fascinating and insightful book.--Mickey Hart, author of Drumming at the Edge of Magic and Planet Drum Reading When the Drummers Were Women gave me goosebumps. This inspiring history of feminine power and spirituality shows that patriarchy is just a blip on the screen and that women in charge of our bodies and spirits is our natural state. Layne Redmond has restored the drum to its rightful place as a sacred technology for repossessing our own consciousness.--Christiane Northrup, M.D., author of Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom I devoured this book with a spiritual hunger that astonished me, hunger for roots that go all the way back to zero. Hunger for information to back up my instincts, my intuitive responses to a world that has forgotten that god is the dance. Hunger for religious roots buried in the beat, burned at the stake, pulsing in the bloodlines of a billion wild women. Erased but not eradicated. Layne Redmond offers us proof that rhythm is our mother tongue. She has undertaken a shamanic journey for all of us to recover our spiritual heritage and call the beat back into our tribal hearts.--Gabrielle Roth, author of Maps to Ecstasy