Historically, sound has been used as a point of focus and invocation in meditation, prayer, healing, and ritual throughout much of the world. As with so much that is mystical, our culture has lost touch with the nature of sound as a healing vehicle. Yet more and more healers and musicians are focusing on the power sound has on our bodies and on our well-being. There are two principal aspects to sound, as I see them, in healing and ritual. One aspect of sound, like a chant or mantra, creates a point of focus for the mindforce, through which one's intent forms a basic structure, or energetic grid, through which energy may flow, be contained, invoked or built into a healing mechanism. The other aspect is the carrier force of the sound itself. This is dual in nature. The sound becomes a river upon which, through which, an energy may flow. The sound also has an intention, a vibration, an essence, or resonance, which can be a healing mechanism.THAT PROFOUND SOUND
SOUND AS A HEALING VEHICLE(And, The Nature of Thoughtforms,
Their Effect on The Etheric Bodies,
and The Role of Creative Will and Intent
In The Use of Sound Healing)---Zacciah Blackburn
As one becomes involved with sound as a healing mechanism, whether through one's own intuitive guidance, or some traditional manner, one sees the power, which sound creates, unfold. We can see the traditional use of this power by looking at the Afrikan or Native American shaman invoking celestial allies through chant, song, and prayer, drum or rattle in hand, healing the imbalances in one of his or her people. We can see it in an entire Native American village chanting ancient rites to the corn maiden at planting time, or an Israeli village granting blessings upon a newly married couple through song and dance. We can look at an African-American gospel choir pouring out their hearts in song, reaching remarkable states of ecstasy and joy. Or we can look at an East Indian playing citar, focusing through power of meditation and specific ancient scales, invoking the balance and harmony of a specific deity (or energy stream) into the room. With any of these examples, and throughout most native cultures, sound is and has been used as a point of focus of creative intent and invocation of divine energies. Sound is a vehicle through which one may carry one's message to the divine, and through which one may merge with, and express, the creative divine.
The path to sound as a healing vehicle begins within the self. By exploring deep inside ourself, we can easily tap into our own ancient mysteries, unfelt feelings, and creative energies through the use of sound. That sound may come out in the form of "unchained melodies", improvisational "noise"' or cries of an infant unborn, but by paying attention to the sounds a particular wave of energy within our body wishes to make, we can create a truely healing process for ourself, and, eventually, for others. This process requires a certain degree of trust and release of inhibition, yet that doubt or inhibition itself is a form of fear keeping our creative, expressive powers at bay. Whatever form of release we wish to use, the nature of healing and empowerment is to release the fear or limiting process within the self, and walk into the creative impulse resonating deep within our seat of being.
By sounding that creative impulse, which is our expressive self, we can walk through all of our agony and pain, fears and prejudices, and all limiting thoughtforms we have created within ourself, in this and other lifetimes, which bind us from our creative, expressive self. All of those devastating habits and self-agonizing behaviors, which have been built through years or lifetimes of reacting to traumatic circumstances or lack of nourishment, have embedded themselves in our fibers. They have been impacting on and diminishing the very core of our being, driving us in involutive spirals in upon, rather than expansive, expressive spirals out from, that core of being. The sound itself can resonate and discharge those emotional energies which have been locked so long in our bodies, within our tissue, within our cellular memories, our emotional and energetic bodies. Sound therapists can guide and nurture us on the path to self-healing through connecting with our own inner sound, our own inner child, and help us express it.
That inner child holds abundant energy, abundant love and grace. And, through letting the noise and confusion of the outer self, one can hear her/his deeper, more intimate self sounding, resonating, at first ever so timid and quiet; but with each breath, with each courageous expression of that child self, feel waves of joy and hope break through all the pain and doubt we have built around us. It may be painful at first. But with courage and determination we can break through the pain and fear, and find unlimited oceans of beauty and wisdom emerging from within ourself.
The Nature of Thoughtforms, and Their Effect Upon the Etheric Body
To help us understand this process a little
further, let us look more deeply at the nature of our energetic
bodies and the creation of limiting forms of energy within them. We
have often heard that we create our own reality. The nature of
that reality is so complex it seems difficult to comprehend just how that
might be. Yet, when we look at the nature of thoughtform, and how it works
as a creative force, it becomes apparent that the
development of a positive, light-building field of energy around us,
through our own thoughts and actions, with our own creative
will and intent, is a major key to our continued well-being.
For that energy field, built as "thoughtform",
is an electromagnetic grid that attracts or dispels
other energies around us, dependent upon the nature of its intent.
Thoughtform is the elemental nature of the creative potential of
thought. It is the energetic substance created by all thought,
desire, and action. On an energetic level, we constantly tap into
raw (pure) energy and mold it with the resonance of our
thought/desires/actions. We also tap into
and "channel" lifestreams of energy which resonate
with various qualities of existence, both creative (expansive), and
diminishing (contractive). Intelligent forces work through
these streams of energy, whether it is
conscious or unconscious interaction. This is a
highly interactive point for us with beings of the more subtle spirit
realm. These interactions may take place in
the emotional, astral, or other fields of our
bodies. They may interact on a more tangible plane, as we
invoke them (consciously or unconsciously) in saintly
acts of kindness or generosity, or in debilitating
acts of alcoholism or abuse.
Thoughtforms are the
residual energetic effect of our thoughts/desires/actions, and of
our interactions with these energetic streams of consciousness.
These thoughtforms will create illuminating flames or
blinding shrouds of energy within our subtle bodies, dependent upon their
resonant quality. If the residual effect of
the thoughtform is of a binding or limiting nature, it can be
removed only by a compensatory action, energetic in nature, which has
a quality opposing or balancing it. Because the thoughtform's nature is
of vibration, or resonance, the sound healer may find a resonant quality with
which to heal, extract, or balance it,
through the nature of sound itself. However, if the
nature of the wound is related to these conscious negate-ive streams
of energy, a more skillful approach is required, in
which the healer must have a conscious relationship
with healing energies of a divine nature. The potential for
danger exists for the practitioner, no
matter what the modality, who interacts with these
negate-ive energies, without the conscious awareness of these
processes, or the skills to complete them. Indeed, these
energies interact in and complicate our lives more
deeply than most of us can imagine. Because of the
nature of thoughtforms, and these negating streams of energy, we
each need to focus on practices of
clarifying our thoughts and actions, and strengthening our energy fields.
Through previous patterns of creative thought (energy), we are
attracted, through birth, to parents who will help
develop a grid of energy that will provide a maximum for potential
in our own growth. It is not until we begin to take responsibility
for our lives and our choices that we can see this clearly. But by
focusing on the content of our daily thoughts and actions, and seeking to fill
them with the highest and most pure form of good we can imagine, we slowly
gravitate toward a more and more light-filled body of energy.
We suddenly see new credence in the old adages
"love thy neighbor..." or "judge not, lest
ye...", etc., whether it be of the
Eastern, Western, or Native templates of knowledge.
Why Heal The Etheric Body/ The Nature of Creative Will and Intent
The sound worker sees an inextractible link
between sound, light, and creative intent. Once we understand the
nature of our energetic self, we begin to see the importance of the
content and intent of our thoughts and actions, and how these interact.
The physical body is but one level of
expression of our spirit-self. Beyond the physical are
primarily 6 etheric fields of energy which comprise our expressive self.
These fields or energy bodies are interwoven through our 7
major chakras (energy centers) within the body, and are
interconnected with the divine centers of heaven and earth through
spirals of light energy which course through the body(ies) and these
sacred centers. These centers resonate more and more subtle levels of
energy which radiate through the body in our light field.
Thought is a tangible creative field of
energy which interlaces our lightfield and creates grids
of energy resonating through the chakral centers and about our
body. When our thoughts resonate from a
point of fear or inhibition, doubt or confusion, anger or jealousy, we
create through our thought itself a limiting or binding
grid of energy about our light body. We are not allowing ourself
to resonate in expressive, expansive forms of creative joy or love.
These grids, or patterns, are magnetic
fields of energy and attract potential situations to us,
to allow us to make choices to help us grow. I emphasize
potential, for we work within a school of free choice, and there is a high
degree of fluidity due to the interactions of all
beings' free choices, which create the ever-unfolding
formation of reality. Psychics can read this potential and
give us a probability based upon how definitively those grids are in
place, but the concept of free choice is always in
place, and rules our aspect of the universe.
It is our intent and focus of that intent (will)
that are the creative tools of our expression of self (via our
thoughts and actions, the choices that we make). Consciously
or unconsciously, we use that focus (will) and intent in the creation
of the unfoldment of our daily lives. And we can use it
at any given moment, to alter the course of
our previous choices within our daily lives. If we do
not, these thoughtforms, which have become embedded in our energetic
field, will eventually effect our daily lives. For most of us, they
already have, effecting our clarity of consciousness, our emotional
well-being, our relationships, our successes. Finally, they may
emerge as physical symptomology... repetitive sore throats for
those afraid to speak up and express their feelings or
experiences, chronic fatigue for those who have had
non-nurturing relations with their parent of opposite gender,
ovarian or breast cancer for those subjected to sexual trauma, are
but a few of the patterns which we may see emerge.
The Use of Creative Will and Intent in Sound Healing
The sound healer uses the focus of intent, to
create a channel through which divine energies, or
"higher resonances", may be poured into
the recipient's energy field. The primary focus
of intent is on being a clear vessel, to allow the
greatest good to manifest for this individual's well-being.
Once the soundwork has begun, the focus
of intent may become more specific. The healer, for
instance, may see an ingrained pattern of thought (energy) within
the energy field, which is constricting the recipient's energy flow,
and may call upon specific energetic tools to remove or
transform it. That pattern may be manifesting
in a limiting behavior or illness in the recipient's
life. Or the focus may remain more general, creating the
doorway through which divine energies may enter the more tangible planes
and work within the recipient's field for the greatest good.
The sound healer may also be working
with thoughtforms or elemental energies which are not of this
person's making. These may be projections from other individuals'
creative intentions (repressive parents, for instance, or hostile,
or desirous relations), or projections
from other streams of consciousness of a lesser realm.
(Victims of alcohol or drug abuse, violence or sexual abuse often
have trauma linked to these diminishing patterns of energy, which linger
and eventually manifest through the energy body into the emotional and
physical.)
The recipient must be a willing participant, wanting to receive these light
energies, and to release/heal these unwanted thoughtforms. The
greater level of focus and intent on healing which the
recipient can manifest, the greater the potential for positive outcome
will be. And the recipient may need to take some tools home
with him or her to reinforce these new patterns of
behavior, or energetic qualities within the self.
Release and regeneration of energies are focuses beneficial to
the recipient: release of pain, memory
of tragedy (through expression or forgiveness), self-limiting
thoughts of unworthiness or confusion; and regeneration of
purity, of love of self and others, joy, or a state of
peacefulness, might be examples of thoughtforms
beneficial to the recipient.
In my work, my point of focus is usually either in the
Ajna center (the third eye) or the eighth chakra (above the
crown of the head). From the Ajna center I can direct specific
light-energies into the body through the vehicle of sound (or, in
some cases, through hands-on), utilizing specific tools. The
eighth chakra is a powerful interdimensional point linking the
primal soul and divine seat. Within the eighth
chakra, the focus is more specifically upon illumination, opening
the doorway through which conscious divine energies may more
easily enter, with greater power and awareness than my more conscious self
can unfold. This requires much more giving of
self, more surrender, thus the quality of light pouring
through becomes more bright and pure. I become more unconscious of
the specific interaction of energies with the recipient, but both of us are
drawn to a higher, clearer state.
The point of intention remains the same.
The intent of the healing practitioner is to focus on
the most pure, most worthy energies for the
recipient's needs. The intent opens the doorway. The sound
becomes the vehicle through which the light moves.
And it offers an extraordinary point of focus for the healer
to place his or her intentions upon. In my work, the sound may come
with the use of an instrument; a
crystal or brass bowl, a tingshaw (Tibetan brass cymbal),
a flute, rattle, or Native ceremonial drum. But more often I
am the sole instrument, opening the voice to a sacred mantra, a chant, a sound
or series of sounds, a song, a prayer, or what I like to call
"dialects". These "dialects" are a form of
divine invocation, or prayer, a sacred language, a speaking in tongues, in which
the energy becomes most pronounced.
Whatever the instrument or modality, the sound
itself, through its own vibration or resonance, rearranges the
molecular structure of cells, lifts thought and energy
into an elevated dimension (through pure resonance), and
invokes/carries a higher energy (intelligence, or
quality) through it, which interacts in the energy field
in a variety of ways. The sound resonance may function like a
set of tuning forks, in which the pure resonance of one tuning fork, once
set in motion, will carry waves of energy to the other, which, by its like
nature, will begin resonating. Or the sound may act upon the
crystallized blockage of energies in the energetic body as a
pure tone might upon a crystal glass, causing it to
shatter, or quicken and release. The resonance of sound may be
sensed as a pure stream of energy, like a waterfall, cleansing the energy field,
and re-energizing it, in a shower, or in waves, of peacefull light.
Coupled
with the intent of the sound resonator (healer), specific qualities of
light, or specific energetic streams may be called upon, or invoked, to
aid the practitioner in removing binding or shrouding energies, and
to recharge the energy field with light.
Again, the interplay of sound and light are
important to the conscious user. In modern physics, we find
that the principal difference in sound, light and matter is one of
vibrational frequency, or resonance. The interrelationship of these is
more like a broad spectrum of energy than three separate forms.
In so many tales of Creation, it is sound which is the first and elemental
form of Creation, and the vehicle which moves energy from the potential realm to
the manifest world. In Hinduism, it is the sound of "Om" which
resonates as the elemental causal form of all creative
manifestation. In Australian Aboriginal culture, perhaps the oldest
continual culture on the planet, the "Ancestors", defined as
"fathomless, luminous beings of light and energy", dreamed of all
forms of life in Creation, and "sung" them into existence through
templates of thought energy, along "songlines", which are comparable
to the ley lines, or electromagnetic grid, of the Earth. In Judaism, the
ancient mystical Cabalistic roots of the culture teach us that
each of the 22 letters of the alphabet not only
symbolizes, but carries and emits through
its enunciation, with pure intent, one of the
principal aspects of the universal energy. Their interaction in
letter configurations (words) is significant as to their interaction
in universal flow and unfoldment. This was
so clearly understood that it was considered sacrilege
to enunciate the cryptic word for "God", the Anglicization of which is
Jehovah, or Yahweh. In its cryptic verse, understanding of the meaning of
the one word itself, in all its depth, potency, and purity, was a path to
enlightenment.
In Christianity, many sources indicate Jesus taught esoteric thought to his
disciples in far greater detail, in private
settings, than his more popular metaphorical stories to the
public would indicate. Many of these sources also say he was
an initiate in the ancient mystery schools of the East, receiving
teachings in the great temples of Egypt, and travelling
to India, where tales still exist of "Saint Issa", who
returned to his people in Jerusalem 2000 years ago, only to be
crucified. The Book of John, written by one of his principal disciples,
opens with the verse, "In the beginning was the Word, and
the Word was with God, and the Word was God." (John I:1-2).
To me, the nature of this verse is extremely specific.
The "word", the sound, is the first manifestation of creative
vibration, or intent, and holds in its resonance, the very essence of the
Divine. In Greek, from which we get much of the New Testament
script, and from which we get the origin of "word", "word"
means "to say". This implies, further,
an innate understanding that the very resonance of sound, of
"the word", draws power to it, and carries power through it.
We have often heard of "the power of the spoken word," but we may not
have given much credence to it. It is our thought,
our will, and intentions that give power to the spoken word, and to sound
in all of its forms and uses. Sound is a profoundly powerful
tool. The nature of its power rests in the conscious, and unconscious,
intent of its initiator.
This article may be reprinted as long as all author and contact information below is provided.
Zacciah is a sound
healer, poet, parent, musician, instrument maker, and educator. He is
founder and director of the Center of Light in Vermont, where he practices sound
therapy, and teaches meditation and the metaphysical nature and transformative
process of our existence. He has studied the nature of sound and light,
and has been a maker of musical instruments since 1973. He can be
reached at:
The
Center of Light
Zacciah Blackburn
P.O. Box 389
220 Hidden Glen Rd.
Ascutney, VT 05030 USA
(802) 674-9585
E-Mail Center@sunreed.com
Center@sunreed.com
The Center of Light Home Page
C 1991, 2001
R. Zacciah Blackburn, The Center of Light