RESONANCES of the COSMOS
By James D'Angelo
What is this 'Word' described as being the same as God at the opening of St. John's Gospel? A possible answer lies in the first verses of Genesis where God manifests the Creation through his voice or, in other words, sound: "And God said, "Let there be Light and there was Light," Here the word 'intoned' might be more appropriate that 'said'. On this basis these primal utterances or tones being the fundamental building block of all Creation should be referred to not as the Big Bang (the astrophysicists' usual term) but the Great Resounding. Scientists are still detecting the echoes and resonances of that initial great resounding as a means of calculating the first moments of Creation.
In Hinduism it is believed that the sound approximating the original Word is the sound AUM or OM. It is the supreme mantra, a seed syllable planted in a person's being and sown through acceptance and repetition. Here the process is set in reverse whereby the repetitions (movements) lead the chanter or meditator to union with the absolute Being (stillness.) Similarly, in ancient China it was very important that the original sound of the cosmos be reflected in their music. Extreme care was taken to ensure that the fundamental tone called huang chung or 'divine will' was always in perfect tune as the earthly rendering of the Word. Should there be any deviation from this particular vibration frequency there would follow an eventual instability of state. Such are the mystics' ways of vibration in sympathy with the Word.
Illness as Disharmony
What is the practical application of this metaphysical view of all Creation as an interlinked network of vibration frequencies? It clearly suggests that sound, rightly applied, can be a purifying and healing element at every level within us, from the cellular up to our mental and spiritual planes. Certainly one of the definitions of the word 'sound' is well-ordered, balanced and functioning harmoniously. Hence there are such expressions as 'sound health,' 'sound mind,' 'sound principle,' 'sound thinking.' The power of sound to act as an agent to alleviate, heal or cure physical or mental ills is founded upon the idea that maladies are disharmony that have caused a particular part of the body, mind or spirit to vibrate at incorrect frequencies, in other words, to go 'out of tune.' To use sound this way is to work with the phenomena of sympathetic vibrations and resonance. Within the language of both physics and the spirit, the meaning of 'sympathetic vibrations' is the same. One object or being vibrates at a particular frequency and comes within the proximity of another object or being whose fundamental frequency is the same. The latter will be set in motion and resonated by the former. That is the deepest meaning of sympathy between two people for example, suggesting that harmonious vibrations are the underlying basis of true love. However if the sound produced goes beyond a certain limit in its intensity, it has the capacity to destroy as in the case of a singer who over-resonated the high frequency of a glass and breaks it.
Freeing Limitation
How can we be one of the numberless resonances of the cosmos through sound? From the active side, through intoning, chanting and singing. The words 'sound' and 'music' can often be inadequate in describing these modes of using the voice. 'Sound ' should be qualified as 'sacred' or 'holistic' as the purpose is to experience wholeness (holiness) however temporary, that is to free individuals from the darkness of their limitations. It is more than just releasing energy, for energy is in itself not Being. As with any aid to spiritual unfoldment, sacred or holistic sound should open up the heart and clear the mind so that they are a unity and help us to experience Oneness through the feeling of unconditional love.
Finding One's Voice
The simplest form of vocal holistic sound is called 'toning,' or 'intoning.' It refers to the production of a singular sound of two types. The first are the natural sounds that arise out of people's emotions-laughing, weeping, groaning, sighing. Often people do not openly express these emotions and therefore suppress these kinds of sounds. Nonetheless they are designed by Nature to have cleansing effects on us and deliberately inducing them is excellent medicine for mind, body and spirit. For example, there is the well know case of the American publisher Norman Cousins who, he believes, cured himself of cancer through laughter. These sounds of emotion can be produced using various vowel sounds, even in combination with an opening consonant.
The second type of toning is simply emitting one tone on a vowel or vowels sometimes preceded or succeeded by a consonant sound. Among the practitioners of holistic sound there are various ideas as to the meaning of the different vowels and consonants. Vowels do have their own frequencies and the ear can easily distinguish a low frequency 'Ooo' from a high frequency 'Eee.' On this basis of low to high frequency vowels there are several models for the correspondence between vowel sounds and the seven principal charkas, the vortex energy centers within each of us.
Connecting True Identity
Chanting is usually the repetition of short phrases of tones wedded to a text. Here sound can be described truly as 'sacred' as their origin is almost always religious or magical (the American Indian tradition, for example.) In fact within our language we have the corresponding word 'enchantment' which means being transformed into a magical or mystical state of mind or transported to a magical place. Some of the most potent chants on Earth are those of Hinduism and Buddhism. These are known as mantras, and their repetition can be done in three ways: aloud, in low tones or silently. The type of mantra suited to the Western mind is the one of single seed syllables that have no discursive meaning. In a way this is an extension of toning.
The purpose of sacred sound in the form of chanting, whether done silently as in mantra meditation or aloud, is not only to experience upliftment and joyful equilibrium but also, and more powerfully, to chip away at the grit on the mirror of the soul, allowing it to reflect more and more Light.
Awakening to Higher Realms
Listening to and passively absorbing sound in the form of music is a quite different process. An important question is always, "Why do I prefer one type of music to another and one composer to another?" Metaphysically speaking, the preference could be based upon a deep remembrance of a time and place beyond Earth between incarnations. Then sound archetypes of music trigger memories of that paradisical world where one heard similar tone patterns. Through sound association one feels immense delight and gains a glimpse of that world.
Physically speaking it is both our ears and bodies that receive the auditory impressions of music. In fact our bodies, including the chakra system, are the more important receptors of music. The more the vibration frequencies of music with its overtones establish sympathetic vibrations with ones own rates of vibration, the more one will accept the music and transmit it to the mental plane. For example, in the case the charkas, the ambient floating sound of certain New Age music directs itself to the 6th and 7th charkas, the heavy beat and bass parts of rock music work on the 1st and 2nd, while simple folk music very much flows towards the heart chakra. Moreover, music has the capacity to alter the rhythms of our heartbeat, respiration and brain waves through a process known as 'entrainment.'
Music with very steady, strong pulsation and repetitive rhythms can gain influence over these bodily rhythms and bring them into synchronization with that pulsation. The significance of this is that the power music is very much felt even if it is played as an accompaniment to any physical or mental activity. The mind does not have to be focused on the music. However, keeping full attention to visionary music performed sensitively takes the listener to the higher realms of consciousness and reality.
Sound of Silence
What is the future for holistic and sacred sound and music? How can we resonate in sympathetic vibration with the Cosmos? First of all it should be realized that we are being bombarded with new high frequency vibrations as the Earth enters the region known as Aquarius. These carrier waves are at root in the unfoldment of the so-called New Age. Those whose bodies and minds are receptive are responding to these frequencies and following the many avenues towards the heart of Aquarius.
It is this fundamental attunement for which all of us must prepare ourselves. This can be done through any forms of sound: repetitive prayer, mantra meditation, chanting, toning and singing and listening to and absorbing music of quality as well as natural environmental sounds. Gradually our fundamental tone resonates to its fullest and this is what we experience as the Silence, a vibration that puts our ordinary mind at rest and peace. All these activities that purify our emotions couples with and balanced by an intellectual grasp of a spiritual teaching will lead one to the great Oneness and Resonance-complete sympathetic vibration with all peoples in unconditional love and perfect harmony and with the cosmos.
James D'Angelo (MMus, PhD) is an American musician, composer, educator and workshop leader residing in England. Since 1990 he has been leading sacred sound and movement healing workshops in England, Italy and France. The workshops are the result of his continuing research into the therapeutic power of music and sound. His studies of self-actualizing psychology, cymatics, overtone singing and astrology, his practice of sacred Sufi dance and his initiation into Reiki healing form the basis of his work and its continued development. He has given presentations on the esoteric and healing aspects of sound to such groups at the Theosophical Society, the Positive Living Groups and the Sound Research Group UK and conducted workshops at such centers as The Helios Center for Holistic Health, and Little Grove Center for Human Potential and the Gaunts House Foundation. In 1994 he was an invited presenter at the America colloquium on sound therapies. A member of the advisory/ editorial board of Caduceus Magazine, he co-edited the Spring 1994 issue on healing with sound and music. As a composer he presents concerts of his dynamic and meditative music which he describes as New Consciousness Music. Three albums of his music-The Way of the Spiritual Warrior, The Elements, and The Great Happiness, have been issued on his own label. Within the field of higher education he conducts courses and workshops dealing with performance anxiety and keyboard improvisation at Goldsmiths College, University of London.