Traditions through the world consider sound the primordial substance from which all life emerged. The beginning of creation is described as a sonorous event, arising from the invisible realms of existence and through sound, descending into manifested form. From the first emanations of sound, we have The Word, descending through the dimensional realms to be made “flesh.” In the Hindu tradition, the Om, is the cosmic sound of creation, the source of all manifested life.

In fact, sound is the hidden matrix of life. Understanding sound’s power to organize matter, as the invisible, vibratory fabric of our physical reality, is a key to alchemy, personal and planetary, thereby allowing us to reshape and transform our world

Cymatics: Sound and Form

Ernst Chladni, an 18th century German physicist, is the first person credited in modern times with documenting the relationship between sound and form. In the 1770’s, Chladni, using the bow of his violin, scattered sand on a podium. As he played the bow against the metal stand, the sand danced to the “music” to form patterns reflecting the vibrations of the bow.

Almost a century later in 1967, Swiss researcher Hans Jenny published his research into the newly field, “Cymatics,” after he observed the changes in physical medium as different sound frequencies were applied. Consistently, the sand realigned its geometric expressions to the vibrations that were played. With each change in vibration Jenny introduced, a new pattern emerged, documenting conclusively the relationship between sound and manifested form.

Sound and Health

Whether the beat of a Shaman’s drum, the Native American flute, or Tibetan chanting, the use of sound for healing is one of the oldest known “medicines” prescribed. It dates to recorded back as recorded civilization, and traverses all the continents and cultures of the world.

Applying sound into a more traditional field of Chinese acupuncture, practitioners now use sound “needles” to vibrate specific sound frequencies into the meridian points in the body. The technique’s success parallels that of traditional acupuncture. Cultures throughout the world have applied this principle to the earth, using the cathedrals and temples as sonic “needles” vibrating higher frequencies into the body of the Earth.

The Bio-Acoustic Gaian Matrix: Nature’s Symphony

“The chief agency by which Nature’s wheel is moved in a phenomenal direction is sound, for the original sound or word sets in vibration the matter of which all forms are made and initiates that activity which characterizes even the atom of substance.”
– A Treatise on White Magic, Alice A. Bailey

Since the origins of feng shui have come from looking to Nature for how to achieve harmony and balance, then sound must certainly be included in the our treatments of a home. Nature relies upon sounds to sustain the health of an area through each of the insects, animals, and sounds of an eco-system to create an invisible sonic envelope, a “bio-acoustic Gaian matrix,” which sustains the health of the region. The frogs, crickets, birds, all have their sonic contribution to Nature’s choir. Nature is composed of an intricate symphony of sounds that weave together to form the web of life. So important are these sonic vibrations to the health of an area that when one of those sounds is missing, Nature sends a “mimic” species to replace the missing sound.

In Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, researchers have discovered that the sounds of the dolphins affect the growth pattern of the coral. Decades ago, it was discovered that bird songs triggered the blooming mechanisms in plants, signaling when it was time for them to bloom. Researcher Dan Carlson, capitalizing on this connection between bird songs and the blooming of plants, recorded bird songs and played them back to plants while giving them their nutrients. His test results boasted an amazing 300% increase in crop yield.

Since the 1930’s, the US Department of Agriculture has experimented with sound frequencies and their effects on crop growth. Experiments by T.C. Singh and the Indian Department of Agriculture in 1958 found that seeds sprouted in one-third the normal time when exposed to harmonious music. In 1969, Colorado researcher, Dorothy Retallack conducted studies of the effects of different types of music on plant growth. She exposed the plants under study to different types of music from Bach to Led Zeppelin. The effect was that the plants bent as much as 60 degrees towards the speakers when exposed to Ravi Shankar playing Indian devotional music, and conversely leaned away from the speaker during rock music.

Environmental Applications of Sound

If the sounds of an environment are integral to the overall health of a region, then perhaps sound offers science a way to mitigate some of the damage that has been done to ecosystems through pollution, clear-cutting and a whole host of other abuses to the planet.

Studies of polluted water samples conducted in Brisbane Lab in Australia offer hope indeed. Two water samples were taken from the same polluted river. In one, the bacteria count was 1,440. In the other sample, sound frequencies were applied and the bacteria count dropped to 50. In cities all over the world, sound is currently used to clear up atmospheric and water pollution. When the sound vibrations of water are distributed through a metal device called a harmonizer, the atmospheric pollution drops by as much as 40%, in some cases to the lowest levels in decades.

Sound for Space Clearing

If the purpose of religious music and sound is to uplift the vibrations of those gathered together, then it is altogether understandable how sound has the same effect on the vibrations of the environments in which they are used.

Some examples of Sounds used for Space Clearing:sacred singing, toning, ringing of bells, clapping of hands, drumming, chimes, crystal bowls, gongs, tuning forks, chanting, music singing–just to name a few! By introducing sound vibrations consciously and intentionally to our space, we choose which vibrational frequency we wish to have permeate the ethers of our environment.

It has been said that architecture is frozen sound. Seen in this way, the ancient temples, and Gothic cathedrals act as sonic resonators. By consciously introducing sound into the temples’ harmonic construction, they act as sonic resonators attuning and aligning us with their heavenly vibrations. According to Freddy Silva, author of Secrets in the Fields, “Ultimately, the effect of altering brainwave frequencies inside a kiva is that the person and the sacred space become one and the same.”