Marc White Wolf: Articles
The Power of Sound
Sound is everywhere and changes everything

October 06th 2008 - THE POWER OF SOUND

Take just a moment to listen to the silence. Turn off the
radio, TV, computer, and just listen.............................. What could you hear in
that moment of silence? Was it truly silent?

What would life be without sound? No bird songs...no wind
sounds, no sound of the proverbial tree falling in the
forest...no ocean waves crashing on the beach...children's
laughter, people singing or talking...NOTHING!

Do you realize that everything in the universe is made up of
either sound or light waves emitting from a source? That matter
is just a dense collection of sound waves located in space?

Everything consists of sound or vibration right down to the
vibration of electrons rotating around the nucleus of an atom.
Sound is everywhere! There are so many applications. In
medicine, sound waves create images to help health professionals
view organs in the body to diagnose illness, and, under
laboratory conditions, tones and elongated vowel sounds have
actually eliminated cancer cells! Astronauts used sound to form
metals in space, and according to some futurists, the next
super-smart, super-fast computers will be powered by sound.

The same energy within sound waves that has the ability to
move liquids and solids, when organized in the form of music,
also has a momentous effect upon living organisms. Twenty
years ago researchers experimented with plants and the music of
Bach, Ravi Shankar and Led Zeppelin. They found that the Indian
Ragas and Baroque music caused plants to bloom more quickly and
become healthier, while the hard rock had a negative effect on
the plants. It stands to reason then that music also affects
the human organism in profound ways that we may not realize.

Since early recorded history, spiritual teachers have been
keenly aware of the affects of music on the individual. Music
was viewed not merely as entertainment, but as a real power that
could heal the individual and lift them into a higher state of
consciousness. In the Asclepias temples of the Golden Age of
Greece spiritual seekers prepared for dream state healing by
listening to certain musical pieces. A certain healing sect of
Tibetan lamas still carry on the age-old tradition of chanting
or vocalizing while applying pressure to key points in the ailing body.

Rulers in ancient China, writes David Tame in his book "The
Secret Power of Music," regarded musical tones as an "outpouring
of the One Vibration" and related the 12 tones of their musical
scale to their astrology. Weights and measures were calibrated
to this one tone, and it is reported that rulers would travel
throughout their kingdom to check the tuning of the instruments in every village!
The well-ordered Chinese society, which lasted 5,000 years, began to deteriorate
when European and Western traders brought foreign influences, including their music.

While we may not go so far as Tame does in connecting the
downfall of ancient Chinese civilization to the arrival of
Western music, when music changes, values change and with a
change in values couldn't there also be a change in political
structure? Could music with it's power also have the ability to
affect not only the individual, but also groups of people or
perhaps a whole civilization? Plato thought so. He wrote that
the "introduction of a new style of music imperils the nation"
and that styles of music were never disturbed without exerting
influence on the important institutions of the state. Music can
break up set ideas, opinions and habits. Had Plato been around
during the advent of Rock and Roll in the 50s and 60s he
certainly would have attributed a large part of the "changin'
times" to the revolutionary new music!

"The Influence of Music upon Society," an essay by Paul
Twitchell, maintains that a musician is an instrument for a
higher power, whether it be positive or negative. He or She can
compose and play music from the highest levels which inspires
and uplifts, or choose to stir the lower energies of man. He
gives the example of Claude Debussy, 19th century French
composer and Maurice Ravel, his pupil. Their music was among
the first of modern composers to bring back nature music--the
music of the gnomes, fairies, water spirits and other
elementals, This was to bridge the gap between the elementals and
the spirits of the astral plane. After the advent of this
music, there was a broad change in the public's attitudes toward
the invisible worlds and spiritual matters at that time.

Twitchell cites the ancient civilizations of Atlantis and
Lemuria (Mu) as an example of how music, used improperly, can
bring chaos and destruction. These ancient civilizations had
discovered how to use sound and music to build "beautiful and
wonder-inspiring forms" but, "in the latter phases of these
mighty empires the Sound or Word came to be used as a force for
destruction. Discordant sounds were deliberately used to
shatter and disintegrate" and to gain power over the populace
through black magic. The result was the downfall of these
advanced civilizations.

What of your own beautiful voice? The power of the word,
poetry and song, as well as emotional cries of joy, pain and
sorrow are only a small part of the voice's ability to express,
release and charge the mind, body and spirit. In India the
human voice is considered the primal instrument for
manifestation of the Music of the Spheres.
What is the healthiest sound around? The sound of your own
voice! As anyone who has ever enjoyed singing in the shower
knows, singing aloud is good therapy for body and soul.
Self-generated sounds may soon lead the field in the healing
arts. Sound therapy, a relatively new adjunct therapy in the
medical field, works by feeding back to us the elements in our
voice that we are missing-in essence, reuniting us with our
"lost chord" to help us heal physically, mentally and
emotionally and become a more balanced human being. Forms of
drumming, singing and chanting all create endorphin releases
that reduce pain, calm the mind, lower brain wave patterns and
balance the body.

One of the easiest ways to bring the healing power of your
own voice into your life is chanting or toning. Spiritual
masters have for thousands of years recognized the positive
influence of the singing of this "music" on the subtle bodies of
man. It's also a very popular way to relax and re-balance in
today's busy world. You may wish to use a humming sound or
"OM" for calming the mind, or perhaps "HU" (pronounced like the word hue).
HU is an ancient name for God which is mentioned by both Tame and
Twitchell in their works. Here is a very simple exercise using
the word HU to start you on your way.

This exercise is for the novice or expert. Sit comfortably in
a chair so there is a feeling of relaxing. Close your eyes and
imagine your whole body as a balloon. Upon inhalation, sense
your body expanding with ease and with each exhalation,
visualize your body releasing air from every pore. For two or
three minutes continue this. When you feel comfortable with the
breathing begin singing the word HU on a long drawn-out breath.
When out of breath, take another deep breath and continue.
Fifteen to twenty minutes of this each day will tune up your
world. Go ahead, enjoy the sound of your own voice!
By Marc P. Pritchard
(Thanks to Linda Lafferty for her help with the subject matter.)


Contact Member:
Marc White Wolf
Lynchburg
Lynchburg, VA 24503
United States
Credits:
Linda Lafferty Editor Reprinted from June 2008 lead article in Oracle 20/20 Magazine