The name 'Tahya' is a salutation; it means "greetings" or "welcome" and Tahya welcomes you to the magic carpet ride ancient arts provide.

Recognized as the Lehigh Valley's leading Dance Orientale instructor and event producer, Tahya is an ACE-certified instructor specializing in Middle Eastern and Far Eastern dances.  She has performed throughout the U.S. and worldwide, including England, Scotland, Crete and Egypt.  A woman of German and Irish descent, she was inspired to pursue the drumming and dance traditions of North Africa and the Middle and Far East when the hypnotic rhythms and intoxicating melodies first swept her away on a magic carpet ride 30+ years ago.  Infusing an inspiring and irrepressible joy together with a strong confidence in the benefits of the dance, her classes elevate each participant's unique expression of beauty and originality.

Tahya’s spirit of artistic responsibility is also reflected in her design of this instrument.  After travels to Egypt in 2007, she returned home to the United States with the inspiration to hold a sistrum and to shimmer an instrument akin to what was carved on many (all) temple walls!  However, what she had seen was not represented in the "marketplace" ~ only on museum shelves. Thus began a quest to re-emerge an effective, easy-to-play percussion instrument to invoke the presence of the Divine into one's home, studio, life. It took many years and collaborating with various friends along the way to convincing a manufacturer to follow Tahya's design specs and now we are happy to say all this effort resulted in the ORIGINAL uniquely designed Ceremonial Systrum™ created as the result of this dancing priestess's quest to design/create and re-emerge the instrument she saw carved on the ancient Egyptian temple walls to add to her collection of frame drums, finger cymbals and singing bowls.

Tahya welcomes an invitation to bring HERstory to your community:
TAHYA reveals the mystery and mystical music-making of the Systrum™
which holds a deep history/herstory dating back thousands of years.
Enjoy a presentation of ancient Egyptian Queens and Musician Chantresses/Priestesses depicted playing sistra
as well as an interactive participatory component.

CLICK HERE for more details

Tahya is a creative, earthy dancer who moves from the heart as the music flows through her.  Audiences enjoy her authentic, joyful, expressive, dance echoing the circular patterns of ancient traditions, and utilizing a vocabulary of movement from middle and far-eastern dance traditions, Tahya gently encourages her class participants to engage the body, mind and spirit toward invigorating a vibrant sense of femininity and a deeper level of well-being.  Her artistry has led her to collaborations with internationally acclaimed artists/musicians/composers including David Amram, Paul Chou, Mimi Janislawski, Morocco, Glen Velez and Grant Smith.

In addition to teaching at various venues throughout the Lehigh Valley, she offers various programs internationally.  She has also produced a Dance DVD and recorded a 3-volumn CD collections, titled "TAHYA Meditations."  For more information, visit her website: www.Tahya.com  

Tahya is often asked what drew her to this style of dance.  She says,

The intricate melodies and unique (to my background) rhythms of Middle Eastern music so intrigued me that I began my own independent study in 1975 and have continued my study on an on-going basis with masters of the dance ever since.  It would be impossible for me to be 100% authentic; however, with over 30 years of dedicated study, I strive to preserve the cultural form recreating traditional dances and maintaining the dance spirit in new pieces of choreography.  Transmitting an enthusiasm while honoring the music and traditions of another culture, I endeavor to serve as a "bridge" promoting and generating a better understanding between Western and Middle Eastern cultures.

Tahya has directed the dance ensemble Bannat Tahya in performances for the Allentown Arts Festival, Mayfair and Bethlehem's Musikfest.  She has contributed choreography to Muhlenberg College and Colorado State University theatre productions and was featured in performance at a gala reception at the Loveland (CO) Museum gallery.  Tahya teaches studio classes and lectures on the art of Middle Eastern dance.

*****

Click here to view sample of Tahya utilizing the Ceremonial Systrum™
August 12, 2012 MUSIKFEST progam
with an invocation to Hathor
  (from hieroglyphic carvings on the temple walls at Dendura):

www.Tahya.com

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Use of the Systrum aka Sistrum for your own Ritual and/or Ceremonial Purposes ....

May this beautifully crafted instrument empower hand-drumming enthusiasts
who may have found themselves challenged to learn various techniques
or who may have been prohibited by arthritis or other physical limitation(s)
to thus discover the joy of playing percussion ala this wonderful & historic
easy-to-use instrument associated with rich millennia-old traditions.
We believe it will inspire meaningful intentional ritual and creative authentic living in our daily lives.

~ SSSsssSSSsssSesheshet ~

Companion document:  Click here

In Ancient Egyptian culture processionals to the temple included a variety of percussion and melodic instruments and yet, research indicates, the sistrum was the only instrument to have been used in the innermost sanctuary of the temple.  It is believed to have been used to clear the space, allowing for the presence of the Divine to usher in

So too might we use this instrument in similar fashion:  Clearing and creating sacred space in our homes ~ for example, allowing the stress of the day to be cleared away as we transition from work to home and family.

Shake the sistrum and/or play rhythmic patterns for a few minutes; feel the blessings descend.

You might also enjoy starting your day by carving a little niche of time as follows:  Upon awakening, drink a glass of room temperature water and then proceed to the spot in your home which you have designated as a private corner ~ that is, one which everyone in the household understands is a space they need to respect, a place where you are left alone undisturbed. [Suggestion:  borrow the idea from hotels and put a "DO NOT DISTURB" sign on the door knob]

Comfortably position yourself and gently shake the Ceremonial Systrum™ with the intention of invoking the Divine to bless you and the day ahead, to guide your thoughts, words and actions in the highest good for all concerned.  Remain seated quietly for a few moments focusing only on your breath. On a count of four slowly breathe in inhaling new oxygen all the way down into the belly; pause, enjoying new life force filling every cell of your body; and on an equally methodical count of four exhale, slowly allowing the breath out.  Enjoy the calm... do your best to carry this calm with you throughout the day ...

Perhaps you will also find it helpful to follow this procedure in the evening before retiring to bed.  Of course, there are many other applications of meditative practices you might explore... these are but a few suggestions.

Shake the Systrum

Follow the Rhythm

Listen to your Inner Guide and...

Enjoy the blessings bestowed

* * * 

Thank you Carmel Boss, fournder of CoAbode.com* for allowing me to share your art:

Blue Lotus - Hathor. oil on canvas. 
Carmel Boss
"The ancients often portray energy vibration as a snake moving on the ground or in water,
creating the waveform or 'sine wave' which came to symbolize
unity becoming duality—the cosmological bases of all philosophical and artistic expressions,
including music, which in Egypt is personified by the Goddess Hathor."

*an online'mom-matching' service which connects single moms for house sharing opportunities

 ... verses below excavated from Hathor Temple in Dendera, Egypt:

We sound our drum for her Spirit

We dance her Grace

We see her lovely form in the Heavens

She is our Lady of Sistrum

Hathor!

Lady of Delight,

Mistress of Dance

Lady of Sistrum & Queen of Song ...

For more .... Click here for .pdf

* * * 

Hymn of the Seven Hathors from the Temple of Dendera

We play the tambourine for Your Ka,
We dance for Your Majesty,
We exalt You
To the height of heaven.
You are the Mistress of Sekhem,
The Menat and the Sistrum,
The Mistress of Music,
For whose Ka one plays.

We praise Your Majesty every day,
From dusk until the earth grows light,
We rejoice in Your Countenance, O Mistress in Dendera!
We praise You with song.
You are the Lady of Jubilation, the Mistress of the Iba-dance*,
The Lady of Music, the Mistress of Harp-playing,
The Lady of Dancing, the Mistress of Tying on Garlands,
The Lady of Myrrh, and the Mistress of Leaping*.

We glorify Your Majesty,
We give praise before Your Face.
We exalt Your Power
Over the Gods and the Goddesses.
You are the Lady of Hymns,
The Mistress of the Library,
The Great Seshat
At the head of the Mansion of Records.

We propitiate Your Majesty every day.
Your heart rejoices at hearing our songs.
We rejoice when we see You, day by day.
Our hearts are jubilant when we see Your Majesty.
You are the Lady of Garlands, the Mistress of Dance,
The Lady of Unending Drunkenness.
We rejoice before Your face; we play for Your Ka.
Your heart rejoices over our performance.

Mariette: Dendérah, Tome 3, pl. 60.From the 5th Crypt of the Temple of Dendera
*The iba is a sedate religious dance for the Gods. The title "Mistress of Leaping" refers to the kes-kes, called the "Hathor Leaping Dance" by R. Hannig but possibly also a dance with bending and bowing movements, if it is related to the word qsi, meaning "to bow."  See: www.hethert.org

 *****

June 2021 Update:  I see more and more examples of the way Hathor is "showing up" ... I recently saw this lovely collage on Instagram and asked Melissa Madeline Lohse @elissamadelene if I might share and she agreed.  Enjoy!

About the collage: Pillar of the temple of Hathor from Dendera and real hieroglyphs from a temple cut out from a coffee table book about Egypt and
images of real crystals from a fashion magazine to resemble the necklaces the pharaohs and the priestesses wore in ancient Egypt.

Melissa's post said:  I love Egypt and the gods and goddesses of Egypt. It has inspired me to make a new collage.
This is a art collage of the Egyptian Goddess Hathor.
She is a goddess of love, sex, healing, birth, and beauty.
She is also of goddess of self-worth.
Many women struggle with a low self-worth.
Love yourself and do something nice for yourself as often as you can.
You have to fill yourself up with good energy before you can be of service to others.
Is your cup full or is it empty?
If you struggle with your self worth, you want to be a better healer
or have a more juicy love life and experience sacred sex
then you can invite the healing energy of Hathor into your life.
Maybe she will heal you on some level or give you some new inspiration.
....Say a simple prayer (of gratitude) to her in your own words.
Have a wonderful inspirational day filled with joy.