The healing powers of music

Music and healing
Article published in the Healing in Unity Newsletter, Vol. 5, nr. 4 December 7, 2001
by Terry Pratt, the Netherlands

As a musician turned  sound healer, I would like to share some thoughts on the subject of sound healing which has not received the credibility which it deserves. The following summary of some of the different streams (impulses in the work) may give an idea of how I am endeavouring to incorporate it into my practice. I feel that this is a time in history when the book will be opened, and much ancient knowledge on healing is now being shared and brought to the west by people like Deepak Chopra, Mantak Chia, Ibrahim Karim and others. Sound healing is an old science while at the same time developing into a new one with potentials which have yet to be discovered.

Music played a central part in the culture and healing forms of all ancient tribal and folk traditions. The American Indians had special underground rooms in which they toned in preparation for healing rituals. Ibrahim Karim, an Egyptian architect who works with specific  forms, shapes and sounds says that pyramids in Egypt were also used for this purpose. Listening to Gregorian choral, or Hildegaard van Bingen, also has a healing effect on the heart. The same is true with music based on the pentatonic scale such as Celtic or American Indian music. As well, the Tibetan sound bowls have proven to have an amazing healing effect. What is the reason behind all of this?

Many traditions speak of sound as being the basis of creation.  "In the beginning was the word, and the word was sound". Frequencies called harmonics come from a fundament or basis tone. These have qualities, which correspond with the stepping down process from energy into matter. The first harmonic, the octave, gives the space, or ether element, in which the creation can take place. The 2nd and 3rd harmonics form the fifth, and fourth intervals correspond to the yin and yang principle (sometimes referred to as masculine and feminine) -  the two forces which interact thus creating the four elements air, fire, water and earth. The four elements are represented in music by the 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th harmonics. 

When there is a vibration, sound and form are created. One cannot exist without the other. From the smallest atom, to the planets, and the universe, there is vibration, and therefore sound and form in all of creation. Within our bodies, three basic rhythms exist: breathing, heart beat, and the cranial sacral rhythm. In addition, each organ, and each system of the body  has its own pattern of vibration, from the nervous system, the circulatory system, the  lymph, and also the bones. Surrounding the body, the energy system has also its own unique pattern. In the ayurvedic tradition, each chakra has its corresponding vowel sound, and note. When this is sounded, it activates the chakra into movement, and a form also emerges. Hans Jenny, MD, an anthroposophist, adherent of Rudolf Steiner, did extensive research concerning the effect that sound had upon form in the 1960's. He took pictures of teh results of playing tones to different materials as sand on a metal plate, on water and various other elements. Beautiful symmetric mandalas were formed, differing according to the pitch of the sound played. It was discovered that the old yantras, or mandalas, representing the chakras, 2000 years old in the ayurvedic tradition, corresponded exactly to the forms created by singing the sounds of the chakras. It is possible to change the crystal formations of water with music. Masaru Emoto has recently done extensive research on this. When one considers that the human body is make of 70% water, the possibilities of sound healing on the body can only be imagined. According to the ayurvedic tradition, all illness begins at the energy level. and by releasing blockages at this level, it can have an effect upon the physical body helping to bring it back into balance. When a person is in balance, he will not get sick.

It is a preventive way of medicine. By chanting vowel sounds, one activates the chakras, creating a positive force around ones body. M. Gaynor, an onocolotist, has helped cure many cancer patients by having them chant vowel sounds as a, e, i, o, and u. Ibahim Karim has made a CD of silent vowel sounds corresponding to the chakras. The CD is being used by farmers in Holland on an experimental basis, to help restore the immune system of cows because when they have a strong imune system they will produce more milk.

All of creation is formed by energy. Energy is influenced by sound. The human body is made up of many different levels, what we see physically, as bones, muscles, lymph, blood, organs, and what we cannot see, but which can be photographed with special cameras and computer programs: this is the energy system surrounding the body. All of these different levels can be affected by different frequencies.

It is well known knowledge that a chandelier can be shattered by a singer singing a resonating pitch. When a group of soldiers march in unison across a bridge, the bridge may collapse because it begins to resonate with the steps of the soldiers. It happens because the frequency goes into resonance with the object, and they begin to vibrate together. Using frequencies for healing follows these same principles. It is possible for example to change the energy of a weakened organ by introducing the corresponding frequency even to eradicating parasites by the use of resonating frequencies. Mantak Chia, a master in healing Tao from Thailand, uses healing sounds to activate the fascia surrounding various organs, as the lungs, kidneys, heart, liver and spleen. according to his system, each organ has a different sound, and each organ responds to a different emotion. For example, if one is afraid, it is because the kidney energy is low, and if that is stimulated, it will lessen the fear. Changing the energy field around the organ, it can have a positive effect uponj our emotional state.

Another example of sound-healing is the use of Tibetan Sound bowls. Tibetan sound bowls are made from several different metals. Each bowl is unique. The bowls produce weveral harmonic sounds simultaneously which resonate with one`s body. It creates a relaxing, soothing, stress releasing state in which the body balance is restored. It is possible to test the differences of teh energy before and after upon different organs with muscle testing. Another aspect of sound healing is the use of mantras or chants. Different world traditions have used the repetition of short textsw upon a melody, which has a very healing effect. In Indian, they have different ragas representing for example the different seasons and times of day. Each one creating a different energy. American Indian chants, Celtic songs, Rhineland mystics, Buddhist, Hindu and Persian chants are all effective in their own way. Singing these chants creates a direct contact with ones emotions and feelings.

Samuel Lewis, a Sufi, created in the 1960`s the Dances of Universal Peace, which are circle dances, shereby one sings a chant. The chants are taken from many different cultures and traditions, such as Jewish, Zoroastrian, Muslim, Buddhist, HIndu, and American Indian. It is a pleasant group activity which helps people connect feelings and emotions and with each other.

I have encorporated aspects of all the above in my practice. I give sound bowl and polarity treatments. I use songs, dance and tone with groups of people. This enables people to find their center, a feeling of peace within themselves.