That’s all the holes the flute has . . . four. It is the longest flute in the picture, on the far left, expertly crafted by Michael Graham Allen, (one half of the duo, Coyote Oldman). He was the catalyst for the resurgence of this instrument 20+ years ago, and is a player of great skill and passion [http://coyoteoldman.com/pages/about]
It is meticulously based on the length and dimensions of flute artifacts found in the four corners region of the American Southwest. This same style of flute has been in continuous use for thousands of years. The sound is haunting, and woody, and amazing – once you can get a sound out of it, that is.
Unlike “fipple” flutes and whistles, where you can simply blow into a hole and a sound will be produced, rim-blown flutes such as these require that you develop an embouchure, or there will be no sound. It’s just a hollow tube, and you have to bring the tone out of it. It isn’t really built-in, you have to create it.
Four lousy holes – that’s it. Mine is in the key of “G,” (I also have a six-hole G#). You have the low-range, (which REALLY requires some breath control to master), and an octave above it. And I suppose with some fancy cross-fingering, there are some other notes that can be coaxed out of it, too.
What amazes me is the absolutely stunning melodies, tones, and chirps that can be produced with just those four holes. When the soul is in tune with the flute, and the Spirit of the flute is present, there is no aspect of human experience that cannot be expressed. This beautiful, sincere piece of wood is a testament to the power of simplicity. The best and most profound things are always simple – there is great genius in simplicity.
This fact applies to every aspect of your life. Reduce . . . keep it simple . . . and you will behold the beauty.
Shot during first ancient music festival in megève (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
It may be too late – much of it is gone already. I am writing about the ancients sounds . . . the ancient music . . . of the indigenous people of the world.
This ancient music holds the key to understanding much about the great and wise ancestors of our world. The music of the ancient people, much more so than today, was a visceral expression of their passions, their worries, their joys, their heartbreak. And the instruments that they used were a menagerie of vibration-producing tools that defy modern imagination.
There were one-string instruments, two-string, three-string – and on-and-on. Drums of every conceivable shape and size, played by the bare hands or with sticks. And the flutes . . . oh the beautiful and haunting flutes. Pan pipes, rim-blown flutes, transverse flutes, some made of bone, some from wood and even the stem of large feathers. And they expressed their hearts on these tools, using scales and intervals that sound strange to those accustomed to the sound of the Western scale.
These ancient people knew nothing of music theory – they simply used what was in their world to make lilting sounds that expressed their Spirit. The music is mesmerizing. There is no comparison to much of what we hear today, which is often vapid, watered-down predictability. Sadly, there are few left who have carried on many of these traditions . . . few who have learned the instruments and their songs from those who have carried them from generation to generation. This is a tragedy of immense proportions.
The ancient songs passed down through the generations are a sonic anthropology into the hearts and minds of humanities infancy, and snapshots of their cultures. I shudder to think that hundreds of years from now, someone will “discover” Toby Keith’s “Red Solo Cup” and think that it is a document of my existence. I mean no offense to him or the song, (it’s catchy), but it isn’t the same as those tunes from pre-history. In those days, selling a record was never a concern – it was pure expression of deep, spiritual belief.
For my part, I am attempting to carry on some of the ancient tones. I play hand-made, transverse, bamboo flutes, as well as the much more challenging rim-blown flute. The rim-blown flutes that I have are hand carved, and based on the precise measurements and hole intervals that were found on Native American flute artifacts found in the four corners region of the American Southwest. This flute design was likely used by the mysterious Anasazi people, (who may have been the ancestors of the Pueblo and Hopi people). The scales are enchanting, the sound – magical. I also play the Djembe hand drum, of African origin. And I know someone who recently acquired an Oud, (a stringed instrument of middle-eastern origin).
I encourage anyone who has a creative streak, a musical bent, to consider carrying on one of the ancient instruments – before they are gone – before it is too late. And the sounds are healing, liberating to the Spirit. A non-invasive therapy that has no equal.
I did not want to share the English translation of the mantra that I was blessed to receive, but I did it anyway in the previous post.
Admittedly, the English translation is far less energetically charged than the mantra itself, (which is much shorter, and flows off the tongue like a the sound of a gentle breeze or a babbling stream), but I still didn’t want to part with it. My ego said, “No, that’s YOURS, and no one else can have it.” I shared a piece of my soul, and that it isn’t an easy thing to do. But, the spiritual part of me won out, believing that maybe someone would be blessed by it. [I'm still holding on to the mantra sound itself, though . . . I'm not finished discovering all that it has to offer].
During meditation this morning, I came to realize that this entire blog, all 330+ entries, and my life for at least the last ten years, has been an eclectic “ministry of potential.”
No, there aren’t huge numbers of people who have read the book, nor are there huge numbers of people who read this blog, but that doesn’t change anything. The Lord of the Dragons blog is a collection of encouragement, sometimes “prophetic utterances,” sometimes direct teachings, and sometimes just sharing what happens in my life as an example to others of what can happen. Life is nothing but potential and unlimited possibilities, and that is what I am usually saying in one way or another with everything that I write. And a great deal of it is tied to mantras and the power of sound/vibration.
That’s why I had to share it, and will no doubt continue to do so. It seems like this is my calling.
Off the coast of Pusan, South Korea: An F/A-18 Hornet assigned to Strike Fighter Squadron One Five One (VFA-151) breaks the sound barrier in the skies over the Pacific Ocean. VFA-151 is deployed aboard USS Constellation (CVN 64). This is an edited version (reduced grain). (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
I have written numerous times that “God is Sound.” Here:
Now I am going to, sort of, refute what I have written.
The power we know as “God” is, in effect, SILENCE. “God” is only sound when that power is manifested in such a way that we can experience It with the five senses – touching, hearing, smelling, tasting, seeing – which also includes thoughts and feelings, (which are sound, in the class of inaudible vibrations).
Therefore, the vibrations of a mantra are solely for the manifestation of a particular “form,” or to create a specific set of circumstances or conditions. In this respect, “God as sound” is, for lack of a better term, a secondary realization of the Infinite.
You could say, esoterically speaking, that sound is a more “base” experience of Creation, (though still incredibly powerful).
You see, “God” is EVERYTHING, suspended in SILENCE.
SOUND is the tool given to us by Creation to use as a means to bring that which already exists as formless potential into a useable form. So, you could say that sound is the creative power of God, but that which we call “God” is Supreme silence.
As with many of the things that I write, this is a difficult concept.
Imagine a sound engineer, sitting at his mixing board. All of the parts of the song are complete, each on its own, individual track. One-by-one, the engineer turns off the volume of the song’s component parts: first the drums, then the bass, then the guitars, then the vocals, until all that is left is silence. The song is still playing, but you can’t hear it.
When all sound ceases, what remains? Silence . . . GOD.
REMOVE ALL THE NOISE, AND WHAT REMAINS IS THE INFINITE . . . GOD.
At this point, everything is still going on, but you are living in the space in-between – the silence – which is within us and holds EVERYTHING . . . every potential. When you need or desire something, all you do is turn up the volume of the appropriate vibration/sound, and stay with it until it comes to pass in your life.
The aspect of God that creates, the active power is, indeed, sound. But the Supreme, the Infinite that holds all and experiences no lack, is SILENCE.
One could, I presume, reach a point where one existed solely in the sublime silence, the empty void that holds all, desiring nothing and fully one with the Infinite. But, essentially, such a person will have, in effect, “checked out,” and would no longer be a compassionate force to aid the beings on THIS plane, in these bodies within which we find ourselves constrained.
I encourage everyone to avail themselves of the sweet nectar of the silence that is God; to refresh and rejuvenate the body and mind. I encourage everyone to sit in silence until they can touch that place that is within them. Go there when you need to . . . but don’t stay there.
Take your refreshment, your “re-empowerment,” and then return to us with what you have learned, and with all of the love and compassion that you can muster. We need you.
Repartition map of the languages over the world (version blank of key). See File:Languages world map.svg for full description. Esperanto: Mapo de la etendo de la lingvoj en la mondo (senpriskriba versio) Français : Carte de la répartition des langues dans le monde (version vierge de légende) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Yeah, I didn’t know there was going to be a “Part III” either.
You see, there is this incredible,(insurmountable really), challenge in writing about this topic.
God is sound – but the words that we use to attempt to express this great, wondrous fact are poor, profane attempts to capture something that cannot be captured.
God, as sound, is of a purity that we cannot adequately express. To condense the sound that is God into words is to sully its pristine essence. To take the unmanifest, magical and profound vibration that is God, and attempt to place it within the boundary of our feeble human speech is a profanity; but it’s all we have.
The greatest experience of God as sound is in the hearing of a babbling brook, or the song of a bird, or the wind through the leaves, or a babies laugh – without comment. The moment that we make some vocal gesture to describe such things, we profane them.
God is sound . . . a sound that is heard in a place that lies much deeper than the ears, and cannot be articulated without bringing it down to a baser level.
Nevertheless, the sounds that we make, the words that we speak are still carriers of awesome power. How can you describe the sound of a babbling brook without causing it to lose all of its power? The feeling of the vibration of the water – its sound – is the experience of God as sound. You cannot describe the feeling of the sound in an effective way, anymore than you can describe the taste of an apple to someone who has never eaten one.
Nature holds the sound of God, and that sound becomes less – compromised – when we, no matter how poetically, attempt to describe it. The sound that is God is purest when it is unspoken; when you hear it on the inside, and the joy overflows.
But, we must speak of it, even though in so doing we diminish it.
GOD IS SOUND.
I am inadequate to convey this thought, this truth, but somehow, you must “get it;” and all that I have is my voice, and the written word. The mantras of the ancient Sanskrit language come closest to a pure expression of God – yet even they profane the truth when they are spoken.
They are unquestionably effective, but not the pure sound of God. We cannot form that sound with human effort. Despite that, what we DO have, as far removed as it is from the primordial sound that is God, can link us to the truth and cause changes in our lives.
God is sound . . . vibrations that are both heard and unheard, but felt. I do not know what else to say, but I pray that you will meditate upon this, and benefit from it.
There are questions that could be raised regarding the idea of God being sound, a few of which I hope to be able to expound upon to some degree.
The first is the thought that, why not “God Is Language?” That is a good question. Let’s say that you speak to me of God in French, and I do not speak French – therefore, I get nothing from what you are saying; the “sound” is useless to me. But that is a geographical hindrance, a cultural roadblock. The French language, though I do not speak it, is still SOUND.
If you ascribe to Christian scriptures, you will surely recall the Old Testament story of the Tower of Babel. Essentially, God said that since they all spoke the same language and understood each other, there would be nothing that they could not do. A unity of language was too much power – it made ego-driven man too strong, so He “confused the tongues” to limit their power. Clearly, a mastery of sound, in this case as language,was the highest of powers. God is language, and language is built from sound. Taking it one step farther, sound is VIBRATION. That brings me to another point; non-verbal communication.
How is non-verbal communication “sound?” A heartfelt hug is a good example.
You “feel” it, and it feels wonderful, though no words are spoken. But a feeling is energy, and energy is a vibration, and a vibration is the foundation of sound. You are feeling an “unuttered” sound, an emotional vibration, and this sound/vibration is God.
And then there are sounds that have no definition in any language, and yet produce change, or feelings. Early man used such sounds, and there are many Sanskrit words that have no definition and yet produce physical results in mantra formulas. This is God energy . . . God is sound.
Now we go back another step. God isn’t “sound,” per se, but rather God is a vibration/energy that we have come to recognize as sound, and later developed into many diverse languages.
But, all-in-all, the best definition of God is SOUND.
Can you tell me of any experience that you have had that did not revolve around either an uttered or subtle vibration/sound? People that cannot speak or hear STILL have something going on in their brains, and you can be certain that it is a sound/vibration – an energy.
God is sound, and sound can heal. Be it encouraging words from a friend, a singing bowl of a certain frequency, a song, a mantra, an affirmation – sound expressed verbally, or sound expressed as a vibratory feeling conveyed through a silent, physical act.
I wrote this totally “off the cuff.” Probably not as well-written or formed as it could be. Maybe some grammar issues, too. So be it.
The famous Greek word logos — “word, speech, argument, ratio, etc.” — as SVG image. I don’t know if someone still needs such graphics in the times of Unicode, but if you like to use it here it is … (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
OK, I’m going to try this.
This message is ready, but I am not certain if tonight is the night that I am ready to write it. If it isn’t, I guess you won’t be reading it.
“God” is sound.
You can be certain that this is true. Were it not for sound, you would not have heard of any “God,” of any religion. Even if you could read the words, but did not have the ability to hear with your ears, you would still be hearing the sound, the vibrations and their meanings, in your head.
Christian scripture says as much. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
Thousands of years before that was ever written, Sanskrit/Hindu writings said much the same thing. In a text some 8,000 or more years old, the Sata-patha Branmana, it is written that, “In the beginning was God through speech,” and he united with that speech and became pregnant, becoming the “progenitor of all beings.” The two scriptures couldn’t be much closer in what they are saying, though thousands of years separate them.
“God” is sound.
Affirmations produce results in keeping with their objective. Sanskrit mantras do likewise. Why do you suppose that is the case? Because God is the manifester, and that manifestation takes place through sound – vibrations, and the energy attached to the words – be they spoken or only thought.
Do you know “God?” Then you heard about that power through sound, words, spoken out loud or repeated in your head while reading a book.
Creation begins with sound. In science . . .The Big Bang. In Ancient eastern scriptures, through the vibration of the primordial “Om.” In Christianity, the Word made flesh, in the form of Jesus.
“God” is sound. Creation is sound.
YOU have the ability to form sound. Think about that. What has God given to you? Such immense power, usually ignored.
It is written in some places that God made man in His image. That means that you are a creator – you have that power. You speak the words, and you layer the vibrations of those words with your intent – that’s how Creation happens. That’s how God did it, and you are His likeness [As an aside, God isn't a "He," that power is ALL].
Sound creates . . .words create . . . unspoken words in the form of thought creates. What are you saying and thinking? What are you creating? You have been given the power, so who is responsible? Think about it.
Well, I got through it . . . a thumbnail sketch, anyway.
That’s all the holes the flute has . . . four. It is the longest flute in the picture, on the far left, expertly crafted by Michael Graham Allen, (one half of the duo, Coyote Oldman). He was the catalyst for the resurgence of this instrument 20+ years ago, and is a player of great skill and passion [http://coyoteoldman.com/pages/about]
