by Karen Polimeni
From my thirty years in working professionally with music and researching its healing and spiritual values, I share with you the higher values of music. We are rediscovering today what the ancients knew about its power.
Music is an art produced through sound and it is a means of self-expression. It has often been called “the language of the angels.” It possesses mysterious powers of healing and transformation. I am specifically referring to music that is composed with pure intent and that is spiritually inspired.
What is this mystical power that is written down and performed by humans? How does music connect us to the Infinite? The Edgar Cayce readings tell us that music has a unique bridging quality which sets it apart from all other arts. Whenever we have a gulf in our personal or psychological lives, such as going from pessimism to optimism or from feeling forsaken to feeling redeemed, we need a bridge to get to that other side. Music, with its tones, harmony and rhythm can supply that bridge.
Another important aspect in the healing power of music is the harmonics or overtone series. I feel that the best explanation is found in the Cayce material. Edgar Cayce states that “the tones that we hear are just the starting tones for a whole series of vibrations which rise upward, most out of hearing range.” The fact is that for every tone that is sounded, a series of harmonic overtones occurs. This is called the overtone series. As the series rises, it goes into the frequencies of light and color, even up to cosmic rays. These very high vibratory rates are what affect our minds and bodies in a way that produces healing, for the high vibrations in the series cause an answering resonation in the part of the body that responds to the certain rate of vibration.” This phenomenon is a natural occurrence in all music.
Another way in which music serves us is in the area of emotions, the most challenging area of our make-up. The emotions give out energy through the expression of feelings. Music is a powerful medium for the expression of human emotions, which could not otherwise be reached. It can melt frozen feelings into flowing emotions. When we feel locked into silence, music soothes us with moving sounds. Many of you already know that this is true.
Here is one way we can use this powerful art to our benefit in our daily lives: simply be discerning in your choice of music. I call it “Musical Prescriptions.” Think of your music collection as a “music medicine cabinet.” For example, we know from studies that certain music relieves depression, uplifts our spirit, opens our heart, and calms anger. An interesting book is “The Healing Energies of Music” by Hal A .Lingerman. I “live in” music daily and can attest to the fact that it indeed keeps me connected to the Higher.
Other prescriptions are drumming, toning, singing, and playing a musical instrument. I have found these to be effective techniques with my students. I personally do a great deal of healing work with people on the piano in improvising music, which unleashes creativity and clears emotional blocks. In these particular sessions, no musical experience is necessary. I feel that the piano is one of the most available instruments of all and the most accessible on which to create music to fulfill the desire of many who think, “I wish I could play an instrument.” These various ways of using music are some of the avenues of approach to bring us to the discovery of our Divine Self.
In my studies, I have recognized the splendid contributions of the Greeks in the arts and sciences. I respect the conclusion of Plato that musical training is a More potent instrument than any other in the integration of the human being because melody, rhythm and harmony find their way into the inward places of man’s being, imparting grace, beauty and wholeness.
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