The Hidden Power of Music

Music is the crystallized flight of human thoughts and feelings. It is also a synthesis of the consciousness and aspirations of each epoch. In the East and in Egypt, the evolution of consciousness was reflected in magnificent buildings based on the unchanging and eternal laws of harmony and numbers. The tool of consciousness was architecture. Art tried to make the concept of the greatness and power of the Spirit accessible. The immanence, the omnipresence of divine creative energy, animating all forms, the divine Beauty of the physical form, which is a perfect manifestation of the creative force acting through it, can be found in the works of the masters of solar Hellas, in the statues of Hellenic gods and heroes. Sculpture was the tool of manifested consciousness here.

The Middle Ages, and especially the Renaissance era, conjure up a world of colors and lines, a play of light and shadows, a colorful range of manifestations of the spirit. Painting becomes the language of growing consciousness. The next step in the logical development of art is the transition from the world of colors to the world of tones. Consciousness has reached a new stage of development, a new impulse, due to the development of a new sense: Intuition.

This synthetic sense, of which Bergson speaks so much, combines the reaching of the senses of others. It does not need to see, hear or touch to feel and understand in one flash of awareness. Many deaf people feel music by holding their hands over the piano keyboard while playing. Very interesting experiments are being made in this field.

Every form of art was a symbol, hiding great and immutable laws. The Sphinx and the Pyramids symbolized in mathematical proportions the lower and higher nature of man, his evolutionary past and future. Beautiful Hellenic sculptures spoke of the law of rhythm and harmony in the evolution of form. Painting decomposed the white ray of Beauty into seven component colours, symbolized differentiation – differentiation of consciousness. Music embraces the operation of the law of rhythm and harmony, the law of numerical ratio in the least explored and invisible sphere of matter – in the ether. By examining the essence of sound, we are also exploring the essence of the ether. We are investigating the relationship between vibrations in the ether and physical matter. The origin of the word “music” is the Greek moucx – muse. In Hellas, the so-called “Knowledge of the Muses” included: the knowledge of tones, or essential music, poetry, drama and rhetoric. It was believed that the world of tones is under the direct influence and direction of the Muses, sending inspirations from higher spheres to their chosen ones.

We meet identical beliefs among Hindus, where the spirits of music are called Gandharvas. In the Christian religion, the patrons of music are considered to be the Seraphim, the highest standing in the hierarchy of spirits. Today, however, “music” includes a series of rhythmic and coordinated sounds produced by various musical instruments.

What exactly is sound? It is just a quiver, a vibration in the ether. Each sound has a certain number of vibrations per second, corresponding to one of the colors of the solar spectrum and one of the chemical elements with the same number of vibrations. Music from the point of view of physics is a certain amount of sound waves with a strictly defined mathematical ratio. So the basis of music is number and ratio. Inharmonious sounds, presented graphically, form a series of uneven lines that do not have a specific direction. A musical tone produces a series of ethereal waves, at mathematical intervals, similar to sea waves.

These sound waves, imperceptible to the eye, have a tremendous effect on physical matter. They can build and destroy. It is easy to convince ourselves of this by making the following experiment: let us place on a plate of glass or brass a small amount of some fine and subtle powder. By dragging the bow along the edge of the plate, we will cause a series of vibrations, under the influence of which the powder will begin to arrange itself into beautiful geometric shapes.

The accident with the famous artist Piotr Caruso is well known. At one dinner party, the singer wanted to imitate the unusually pure and melodious note emitted by a crystal glass. For this purpose, he struck the glass and sang the note he found in such a way that the waves of his voice ran through the glass. The glass shattered into tiny particles. Soldiers, crossing a bridge, are ordered to “complicate” their steps so as not to shake the building. The whole world of forms that we see around us is a crystallized range of sounds.

Our consciousness reacts immediately to the orderly sequence of sounds that produces feelings of pleasure and harmony, and vice versa chaotic and uncoordinated sounds – tiring and destructive to the nerves.

What actually happens when you combine various musical tones? Here we get a series of harmonious or dissonant intervals. On what does harmony depend? Only and completely from the mathematical relation of intervals. If the relation is simple and occurs between simple numbers, harmony is produced. The ratio of 2:3:5 evokes a feeling of contentment and pleasure, when it rises above 6*) – the ear stops feeling satisfied and gets tired: there is dissonance. I repeat: intervals are harmonious when the ratio of tones does not exceed the first numbers to 5. For example: c and d struck together sound dissonant because their ratio is 8:9; these tones are too high for the ear. The number 7 is the double, closing access to the higher tones. It is the sound boundary for the Western man’s ear.

Vibrations that produce sound cannot exist in airless space. Electric waves travel better through a vacuum and faster than sound. (1,000 feet per second!)

Knowledge of the external world is gained by means of the impacts of contact. Like the waves of the ocean, thousands of waves of various kinds are constantly hitting our senses. Most of these waves do not reach our consciousness, because we have only 5 windows through which we communicate with the outside world. We react and feel the vibrations of medium speed; 64 vibrations per second give the impression of a musical tone. After 32,000 vibrations per sec. the vibrations become too fast and conscious. They do not reach our power, we do not listen to them. There are many ways to determine your hearing limit. The simplest is the use of Galton’s device. We can find it in every laboratory. Consciously or unconsciously, we are looking for Unity in music, which is symbolized by harmony.

What is harmony? It is the adjustment of the various parts in such a way that they form the Unity. And this longing for the Supreme Unity, which is the source of multiplicity, is the basis of mathematics and music, geometry and logic, cosmogony and love, painting and religion, philosophy and medicine. We try to unite ourselves with the object of our study, inquiry, or our love. We try to find everywhere the one central point which is the cause of existence and movement, which is the axis and the source. Evolution usually consists of two characteristic stages, the first of which can be called: centrifugal, the second: centripetal. The first is individualization, analysis, differentiation, competition, disintegration into component parts. The other is the urge to unite, to cooperate, to synthesize, to Unity. We see this direction, this centripetal movement everywhere: in social life we see the formation of a thousand unions, cooperatives, communities and brotherhoods; in philosophy – striving for the unity of philosophical concepts, for combining the philosophical thought of the East and the West; in science – the identification of energy and matter. In painting – this unity in which everything converges is the so-called “main point” of each painting; in music – this unity is expressed by Harmony. The name of the universe, accepted in all languages: Universe also represents the fusion of everything into units.

Unity is the basis of numbers and geometric figures, and thus of all forms embraced by our awareness. For is it possible for the form of any and every geometrical figure to arise without the movement of the original point? We already know that movement is sound. So sound is the origin of all forms. The graphic gospel of Euclid says: “In the beginning was the Point.” The movement of the point towards the three dimensions of space creates a multitude of earthly shapes.

Higher mathematics recognizes an infinite multitude of dimensions. So the movement of the primary point along these unknown, unconscious dimensions creates bodies unknown to us. Occultists sometimes give these bodies names: astral (4th dimensional), mental (5th dimensional), etc.

Each of us is the incarnation of a certain sound, colour, number. The comparative scale of colours, sounds and numbers is as follows:

Numbers	Colors	Musical Tone
1	Red	Do (C)
2	Orange	Re (D)
3	Yellow	Mi (E)
4	Green	Fa (F)
5	Indigo	Sol (G)
6	Blue	La (A)
7	Violet	Si (B)

(We can know our individual “tone” by means of numbers, as I mentioned in the article, Knowledge of Numbers). It should be noted that numbers above 7 are the higher octave of the original seven.)

The tone of Fa – heard in the rustle of the trees, in the songs of the wind, in the sound of the sea waves in all the voices of nature – is the essential tone of our planet. Its equivalent is green, the dominant color of the Earth. In the East this tone is called the “Great Tone”. The ether around us vibrates with a whole range of various sounds. Only a small amount of these sounds enters the sphere of our hearing. to the so-called “nervous ether”, which often cause mental states and states of consciousness that are difficult to explain. And vice versa: Each physical sound evokes a series of corresponding sounds in the layers of ethereal matter surrounding our globe, introducing into action a certain occult force that is subordinate to it.

The sounds of nature usually have a soothing and positive effect due to the special reaction of matter to the tone of the Fa – the songs of birds, the rustle of leaves, so extremely characteristic and distinct, depending on the species, and thus the degree of development of the tree’s consciousness. (The experience of one of the world’s greatest biologists, Nobel laureate Sir Jagadis Chandra Bose, on the consciousness of trees and plants is well known to the scientific world.) People with a subtle musical ear and a certain amount of sensitivity can easily guess the species of a tree from the rustle of its leaves: mighty rhapsodies of spruces, nocturnes and scherzos of poplars, gloomy ballads of pines, symphonies and sonatas of beeches and hornbeams, sweet serenades of jasmine bushes, battle marches of oaks and yearning songs of willows, and a prelude of magnolias, a romantic andante of chestnuts and an allegro of fruit trees, the mighty drama of the storm, which for the occultist is the same as the conflict of two different sexes, of two different electric currents, containing the synthesis of all these tones.

The melodious buzzing of insects, the silvery song of water flowing over stones, the monotonous sound of spring rain, full of magnetic and yearning charm, evokes strange reactions in the soul of those who understand and feel the music of nature.

The marvelous harmony of millions of drops of water falling from great heights has a particularly fascinating effect on persons who are under the predominant influence of Mercury.

Absolute silence would be unbearable. Sound waves surround us all the time. They are the essential backdrop of our lives.

The sounds of angry and excited human voices should be avoided. Their impact both mentally and physically is destructive. And vice versa: beautifully colored sound and magnetic waves produce a calm, deep and gentle voice. Each one of us knows the well-aware or unconscious magnetic influence of the human voice.

The timbre and depth of the voice are always dependent on the occult development of man. The larynx and vocal organs are equivalent to the reproductive organs. Therefore, the larynx, its structure and vocal organs are in close dependence on creative forces and organs. The “purity” of a man is determined by the occultist by the sound of his voice. The alchemy of the creative force and its transformation into mental energy*) is always reflected in the retina of the eye and in the sound of the voice.

*) See in “Hejnale”, vol. IV, article entitled “Elixir of Life”, on p. 205.

The brain, the larynx and the faculty of speech originated in the Lemurian Age, on the basis of the division and polarization of the creative force. It was also a moment of gender division. The larynx was part of the creative organ. The interdependence of these organs is easy to see even now, during the so-called “voice change” (mutation) at the stage of sexual maturation.

With the complete transplantation of the creative force and its alchemical transformation, the creation of living forms will be carried out by means of the larynx, with the help of the creative “Fiat” – “let it be.” The word Logos will become a powerful creative energy through the skillful use of sound vibrations.

Students of the history of music can neither understand nor explain why such powerful and high cultures as Egyptian, Hellenic, Indian and ancient Chinese could not, or simply did not bother to invent more complex musical instruments. The reason for this fact is explained by the occult.

In spite of all the variety, beauty and charm of the melodies of the East, harmony is an unknown art there, and orchestration something quite unattainable. Eastern music is based on melody, not polyphony. It is similar to embroidery, made with one thread, or to a one-color drawing. The meaning of counterpoints is a sphere unknown there. Harmony, based on mutually intersecting and independent melodies, which nevertheless form a single whole, is unknown to the East. The reason for this fact lies in the realm of consciousness. As I mentioned, harmony in music is a symbol of centripetal force. The development of this force will depend on the peoples of the West. It will be a great gift from the West to human culture. The West will create new forms of life forms based on the laws of centripetal force, will create a new era in music, and then it will merge with the strange, mysterious and full of unexplored culture of the East – to create Essential Unity.

No doubt – so far – the most wonderful development musical concept has been given to the world by the Teutonic race. Her intellect is less subtle, less brilliant and flexible than the Latin mind. But it has the method and the ability to remove details, emphasizing only the essentials, the ability to think in several directions at once. It is these characteristics that have created harmony and orchestral music, though its initiative originated in Italy.

Wagner’s chromatic modulations and the cosmic nature of the theme became the beginning of the color sounds of new music. The musical photographs of the Italian masters of melody give way to the music of thought. The colorfulness of sounds and the melodiousness of colors, the ether and mental vibrations, hitherto known only to occultists, are beginning to be the subject of deeper and deeper studies for the scientific world. The synchronism of sound and color consists in the equal number of vibrations that certain sounds and their equivalents in the world of colors have. It is this vibrational property of music that has a huge impact on man – by feeding vibrations of the same voltage in him, it has a healing effect, or, having a destructive effect, it becomes the cause of illness or mental disorders.

In the occult archives there are images of two extremely interesting objects. I hesitate between naming them tools of art or murder weapons. They were used by the Maya, inhabiting the Yucatan peninsula, exterminated without mercy by the hordes of Cortes. One of many, producing sound vibrations of a special tension, acted on the pineal gland (glandula pinealis). No human being could bear that deadly sound. After a few minutes, madness or death would follow. The second of these tools emanated waves of color, destructive to the pituitary gland (hypophysis cerebri) and optic nerves. So sound and color destroyed the form as much as they could build it.

Rhythmic sound has tremendous power. The importance of rhythm begins to slowly but intensively permeate our entire civilization – rhythmic gymnastics, rhythmic breathing exercises, a sport that also produces a certain rhythm in the movements of the physical body. The very strongly marked rhythm in modern music is a reflection of the influences bothering modern society. Rhythm is the tonic center. It is a movement contained in the strict laws of mathematical proportions. Movement causes movement by the power of sympathetic vibrations.

The syncopated beat of modern dances influences the blood circulation, the heartbeat, increases and energizes the vibrations of some organs. Music of this kind, based on the law of psychophysical parallelism, awakens and nourishes the passions. Modern jazz belongs to this kind of music, which influences the spinal nervous system with its special rhythm. Few people are aware of this systematic stimulation of the cerebrospinal system and all the damage that results from it. Over time, this results in a weakening of brain activity, and partly of the ability to respond to higher mental stimuli. That’s why in the United States a project was put forward to ban jazz music nearby universities, schools, children’s gardens, etc. Jazz is the lowest kind of music. It is the music of a sympathetic system.

The next kind of music, which is based on melody, I would call astral music. Such music affects feelings. Characteristic features of this music can be heard in folk songs and in the majority of Latin composers. Verdi, Puccini, Bizet, Beaumarchais – these are typical representatives of feeling in music.

Folk songs are an immensely rich field for occult research. They reveal the depth of experiences, the astral coloring of the nation, the evolution of feelings and the direction of further development. For me personally, the most beautiful folk songs are Hungarian and Romanian songs. Who has heard tears and passionate longing and prayer that asks for nothing anymore, enchanted in the sounds of Romanian doina, or the strange fiery rhythm of “hora“, whose heart beats faster with the rhythm of fiery czardas, who has felt the longing melody of the Hungarian puszta, he will understand the past evolutionary stages and the soul of these nations. Doins are one of the oldest songs in Europe. They come from those ancient times when the Huns and Avars trampled the fertile fields of Dakija, leaving behind them ashes and corpses. In the wide Moldavian steppe, where tall grasses and colorful flowers sway sleepily, still smoking ashes of a burned estate, dead bodies of loved ones not yet cooled down. At the ashes sits Dak – tragic and congealed in pain and hopelessness, groaning and weaving, turning into a strange melody, into the melody of the valley. Such is the genesis of our valley. The primal cry of despair, waves of memories, a prayer of resignation.

The music of thought, the higher music, began with Harmony entering it. Harmony is part of Nature. It is a combination of two great factors of spiritual creativity, by virtue of which the solar systems were created: rhythm and harmony.

Harmony in music causes the work of thought, awakens from sleep and accelerates the vibration of certain brain centers, raises the general intellectual tension. Men of weak minds, in whom the lower nature predominates, are not able to listen to Wagner’s music. The sound waves and the invisible shapes they build do not reach their consciousness, the divergence of vibrations causes fatigue.

Interest in music is growing more and more. We are rapidly approaching a new era, the main axis of which will be music. Music will become an essential content of life, a natural expression of thoughts, aspirations, notions and philosophical concepts.

Thanks to the radio and gramophones, we have an incredible popularization of music. Our age is the age of democratization of music. In this way, naturally, the deepest accent of creativity is lost (there will come a time when everyone will feel the need to manifest through one of the branches of art), but even listening to “mechanical music” does not allow for passivity, evoking the cooperation of feelings or thoughts in the mind. And therein lies the whole magic of music. The French Revolution created the La Marseillaise. I know of no other melody that evokes feelings of rebellion, protest, class hatred, blood, and the noise of avalanches of agitated crowds so strongly as Marseillaise and nothing raises thoughts and feelings more into the sphere of Beauty and Spirit, giving the impression of plunging into crystal blue air, like Bach’s Oratorio, created at the moment of the highest spiritual exaltation.

One of the most interesting problems for the occultist is the problem of the so-called “upper tones.” Each tone has an invisible superstructure, called the upper tone (overtone). And also an invisible base, called the “undertone” (bass, or subtone). Hearing any tone, we are aware of the accompanying upper tone, as well as 1 subtone. What exactly is the difference between the notes produced by the violin, banjo, human voice, piano, etc.? What gives each tone a special character by which we distinguish these tones immediately? Overtones, or upper tones. Combinations and intensity of treble (overtones), like various combinations of electrons, are the only difference between gold and lead.

Let’s take any tone. It sounds as a single tone. In fact, however, many treble tones vibrate above it. Each fundamental tone has a large number of higher and lower tones. Graphically, we can visualize it like this:

Let us take the following example: Let us denote the fundamental tone by 1, by the number 2 the overtone, which has twice the number of oscillations of the fundamental, and so on. Each overtone has a faster and greater number of oscillations than the previous one. So here too there is the same order, the same strict and exact mathematical proportion, which governs the universe. The number, according to the science of Pythagoras, is the creator, factor and director of the life of the Macrocosm (universe) and Microcosm (man). It is the basis of order and harmony of movement. It is, however, at the same time a limitation of manifestations.

Understanding the mystery of numbers makes us Masters of nature. Number is the basis of motion and vibration. Movement is sound, light and color. It is a form builder. The beating of the heart, the circulation of the blood, the movement of electrons around the central proton in atoms, the rotation of the planets, the rhythmic movement of ebb and flow, have their own sounds, music and color. The “music of the spheres” so sneered at by materialistic science is neither poetic license nor mystical symbol. It is a logical mathematical necessity, a fact confirmed by modern science.

Coming back to the issue of treble tones, in addition to these higher tones, there are, as I mentioned, lower tones, subtones. In science, these are called “differential” tones, or tones caused by forces acting at a given moment. In order to make orientation easier, we can make this whole tonic structure similar to tree. The basic tone will be the trunk; the branches, high above the trunk, shooting out are the treble; roots whose length and shape always correspond to the form and size of the tree crown are differential tones. Let’s not forget, however, that the tree has been around ever since immemorial and in all civilizations and religions, it was a symbol of the One Life.

We know from geometry that two quantities, each equal to a third, are equal. Sound, then, with its amazing occult structure, is the most accurate symbol of life and the origin of life: invisible, acting within the framework of mathematical laws (Platonic: Dieu géometrise), it creates external shapes by means of vibrations only, being at the same time: color, light and movement – eunead, the triad of Plotinus, which together with the primary sound forms the divine quadruple, which Pythagoras calls the source of Nature.

(The structure of the sound is therefore similar to 2 Yucatan pyramids, touching at the top.)

So simply here, as everywhere in nature, we see the action of the genius axiom of Hermes Trismegistus: “as above, so below.”

Like every manifestation of life, music is subject to the law of cycles. In Europe, the first short and poorly outlined musical cycle originated in the Middle Ages and lasted until the 17th century. This was the beginning of the musical scale, dividing the octave into 12 equal parts. These intervals are valid. This cycle started by Sebastian Bach is coming to an end. We stand on the brink of a new era in the development of music. What path will the development of music take? The East has long known the division into four tones. In Europe, it will be an innovation. We strive to understand and develop towards the fourth dimension. Rhythm in music equals one-dimensionality. Graphically, it can be represented as a series of points, spaced at equal intervals. The melody is two-dimensional. I see it as lines, colorful, arranged in charming patterns. Harmony is three-dimensional. It builds three-dimensional shapes from wonderful color blocks. It develops in three directions: instincts, feelings and thoughts, translating it into occult language – on three planes: physical, astral, mental. In the shape of a three-dimensional cross – the Pythagorean octahedron.

How great is the relationship between sound and number, between music and mathematics, we can see by studying the structure of the ear. The mathematical ability to perceive space depends on the extremely subtle adjustment of the three so-called semi-circular canals that fit inside the ear. Each of these canels is directed to a different point in space: length, height, width. Musical talent depends on the same factor plus the subtlety of Corti’s fibers. Each of these fibers perceives about 3 to 10 gradations on average, in musical people – 15 and up. The artist’s ear possesses an astonishing subtlety. A separate influence was exerted by the Hellenic musical scale on the mind, psyche and matter of the physical body. Church music inherited the Greek scale. With the introduction of the new scale in the seventeenth century, harmony was gained, but some of the original magical force remained lost.

It is exceedingly interesting that the numbers expressing a musical chord have the same relation which exists between the parts of the five excellent Platonic figures. As we know, the Greek scale formerly consisted of only 5 tones, strictly dependent on these figures, which are: quadrilateral, hexagon, octagon, decagon, dodecagon. These are the only correct polygons possible in geometry. Each of them determines the shape of the atoms of different planes and the direction of the force acting through them. If we add the primary point and the sphere – we get a seven-color gamut, corresponding to the seven-color structure of our world.

Music and the magical power of sound and rhythm has been a powerful factor in every religious cult. All primitive religions have their own sacred dance, special songs and melodies, which exert a tremendous influence on both performers and spectators. a giant circle, a closed magnetic ring. The electric and magnetic current of such a circle, powered by sound vibrations, reaches enormous proportions. The dance of northern shamans and dervishes is known, whose music and rhythmic movement induce a state of deep trance in the performers. Viper charmers in India use only music for this purpose, which casts a strange charm on these extremely wise, mysterious and sensitive creatures. In the same way Orpheus obtained power over wild animals from Assisi, with the sound of his voice, he riveted birds and beasts to their place. The Hindu Mantra Yoga, the teaching of the Atharva Veda, is based on the power of sounds. Singing and music are an integral part of the Christian ritual. The sounds of the Latin language have a very interesting effect on matter. Therefore, perhaps this language became generally accepted in the Roman Catholic Church.

In Sparta, despite the strict and dry rules of upbringing, music was considered a powerful pedagogical factor, especially developing the feeling of connection and unity. Music was also used in ancient Rome as a stimulant in the work of slaves. Songs and rhythmic movement are also used by burlatians from the Volga, Negroes, coolies, etc. The sounds of music, trumpets, horns and lithars “heated the blood” for battle, arousing war enthusiasm both among Roman legions and in regiments fighting under Verdun or the Marne.

The electrons of our body also have a specific movement, a specific vibratory rhythm. Illness is always disharmony in this rhythm. It is the introduction of anarchy into vibrational harmony. Each disease has a special vibration measure. By powering the electro-tonic vibrations of the blood with sounds, we power health and vice versa – the epoch-making discoveries of Dr. Abrams, allowing the diagnosis of diseases by means of electron vibrations, characterizing a given disease. It is an interesting fact that the vibrational measure of human blood is the number 49, that is, the number 7 raised to the second power, which, according to occult science, is the essential number of our system.

If we play one note after another on the piano or violin, we will eventually touch that tone which will cause a strong vibration in the lower back of the skull, above the nape. This will be the fundamental tone of our personality.*) If this note is taken gently and softly, we will get the harmony and joy. But if it sounds sharp and strong, it can kill the body as surely as a bullet from a revolver.

[Editor’s note: *) Andrzej wrote about it beautifully Towiański in the draft entitled “On the meaning of music for the salvation of man”, where we read:

And everything that exists in this immensity has its own life, has its own movement, and this movement has its own tone, its note, its part in the overall harmony and the whole immensity, the whole great way of God can be given in music with the right tones. . Therefore, the drive to music is only in rising souls, for it is the drive to universal harmony; bearers of this momentum carry a tone which, as far as it resounds in them, is a part of this general harmony, of this set of tones produced by all levels of the immensity of God, tones that resound for ages and ages in the great orchestra of God, containing in itself innumerable globes and living on innumerable groups of creatures. The choirs of angels are at the top of this great orchestra of God, because, proclaiming the glory of God in the purest way, they emit the highest

… Every spirit, leaving the other world and being born in this world, loses its freedom and rights, goes into severe slavery, because it is subject to far lower laws of earth and matter. In this captivity the spirit loses its life, its movement, it loses its tone, its old note. It happens that music, producing this movement and this lost tone, reminds the slave-spirit of his lost property, of his lost old life, bright and free. It is not easy to imagine what happens to that spirit then, but one can often see how important the effects of such a reminder can be for man’s salvation. Such a tone, touching the spirit dead in captivity, awakens in him his own life, a life more or less similar to that which he led in his eternal past. There have been instances that such a reminder to a man of the lost past greatness of his spirit made him great at once, or marked a course for greatness for him. Hence, many, in order to hear the music that their soul needs to awaken movement, life that cannot be awakened without this help, are ready to go through mountains and forests.” (End. note)]

Often the fundamental tone of the Ego and the lower personality are quite different. This brings unrest, disharmony, disease, etc. into life. Among great Teachers, artists, poets, and scholars, or people who simply live beautifully and harmoniously, the essential tone of the Ego is reflected in the personality, producing a full and pure sound. This is an area of great interest that deserves a separate study. Every nation, religion, race, city or locality also has its own fundamental tone. Hence our attraction, often difficult to explain, to a religion, country or nation other than the one in which we grew up.

Music has an unfailing gift of healing. (See the section at the end of the booklet “Medicine and Music”, which we extracted from the journal “Therapeutic News”. (Editor’s note.)

When fatigue overwhelms us, when we feel a lack of strength or loss of life energy, it is enough to rest our feet (shoes should be taken off) against the side of the piano while someone plays a beautiful and rhythmic piece on it. We will immediately feel the current of energy and peace flowing into the body in waves. We feel strong and bright. “Healing” music should be selected with extreme subtlety and adapted to a whole range of mental states. Apathy is cured by music full of temperament, with a clearly accentuated rhythm. For nervousness and irritation, calm and sweet music is used. One can bear loud and vigorous music. Some military march or brilliant parlor music will only deepen the melancholy and bitterness.

With the first movement of the “Moonlight Sonata”, Beethoven exerts an extremely irritating influence on the neurasthenic, plunging him into true desperation. And here, as we see, a subtle psychic analysis should be used. e.g. the light, enchanting melody of a Straussian waltz will have a better effect on a convalescent than whole boxes of pills or potions.

Pierre Curie made an extremely interesting discovery: A special kind of lamellar crystal, when subjected to a compression process, gives off a kind of electricity. If you take such a crystal, which is called a Piezo crystal, and place it near the radio in the same way as a loudspeaker, the crystal will start to vibrate, and just like the loudspeaker, it will make sounds. All radio broadcasting stations use these crystals nowadays in order to maintain proper wave purity. Very interesting experiments were made in this field by Dr. R.W. Wood. Such a crystal, vibrating at a rate of 500 vibrations per second, was immersed in water. What happened? The crystal gave the water a sympathetic vibration. The temperature of the water was quite cold, but even so, if you dipped your hand in it, you got the impression of dipping it into molten, hot metal. Small insects immersed in such water died instantly. Dr. Wood called this liquid “The Whisper of Death.” Let’s dip the Piezo crystal into the milk. It will be sterilized at once, and the fat particles will be broken down to such a small size that the cream will not rise at all. Let’s put the vibrating crystal near the anthill. The crystal will first cause an unprecedented commotion among the ants. If we reduce the oscillations to 100,000 per sec. the ants will fall asleep. So there is no doubt that ants hear sounds and that they react to them. They hear sounds that we are unaware of. And there is no doubt that there are no “dumb” creatures: the tiniest insect has a voice and the ability to communicate.

Recent scientific discoveries have revealed an astonishing fact: human thought corresponds to sound vibrations. Thought is nothing but a vibration in invisible matter which, like sound, produces phenomena in visible matter. Two scientists work in this field: prof. Henri from the Sorbonne, Paris, and a little Japanese genius, prof. Shiro Tashiro. Everyone is familiar with “Cosmic Rays”, for the discovery of which Prof. Millikan received the Nobel Prize. Further work of this scientist proves that the vibrational speed of the cosmic ray is identical to the vibration of human thought. Prof. Millikan says: “Cosmic rays are the energy that makes up atoms. So thought vibrations of some special tension can also create them.

Another thing that is equally astonishing: many people know through radio the wonderful imitation of birdsong performed by Charles Kellog. It is not a whistle – but a song – the same as birds make. During her pregnancy, Mrs. Kellog was surrounded only by singing birds, to which she felt a strange attraction. Maybe that’s what contributed to her son’s miraculous abilities, maybe something else. Who knows? The fact is that Charles Kellogg is endowed with the only “bird vocal cords” in the world, that he has been studied at many universities. What is most interesting to us, however, is that Charles Kellogg extinguishes flames with certain sounds. Experiments have been made with the acetylene flame, carbon-monoxide and gas. From his cottage in Redland, California, Kellogg sings on the radio. Astonishingly the songs and tones of his voice put out 12 flames one by one in the Berkeley Chemistry Laboratory.

Aren’t we living in wonderful times, and aren’t music and sound one of the greatest powers in the world? We understand more and more the emphasis that the Pythagoreans placed on the study of mathematics and music, and we understand more and more clearly the words of Confucius: “To be perfect, the student must know the laws of mathematics and music.” Morning, noon and dusk we repeat one of the most powerful mantras in the world, the so-called “Gayatri”. We feel in everyday life the power of these carefully selected sounds, influencing and modeling the matter of all planes, and even the physical appearance.

The question about music, occultism, and new social theories is also interesting: it’s the question of an orchestra without a conductor. Similar experiments took place in Moscow and New York, without much success, however. Each of the musicians of the orchestra is only a specialist, knowing only his special instrument. The talent of the conductor consists in embracing the orchestral whole with consciousness; not just the melody of a particular part, but the harmonious whole. One of the axioms of magic says that only he can rule people who embraces their consciousness with his consciousness. The conductor of the orchestra – is similar to the proton in atomic structure and the brain of the human body. This problem occupied such great musical talents of our time as Leopold Stokowski, Toscanini, Rodzinsky and others. The occult is more and more closely connected with music. And today we already have wonderful theosophical concepts in the music of Scriabin and Debussy, Holt’s musical astrology, Ravel’s occultism with sound, Tchaikowski, Magic in the tones of Stravinsky, Schönberg and Varèse.

I imagine our globe surrounded by powerful waves of tones with the colors of wonderful sound waves sent from the Earth, and attracted to Earth from the ether by means of improved radio receivers – radiant waves, iridescent with a thousand colors, in which our tiny Earth will flow, awakening love for Beauty, Goodness and Greatness in the souls of people.

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Medicine and Music

Apollo was the father of Aesculapius and at the same time the father of the Muses. However, it is not only in mythology that we find this close affinity between the healing of the body and the healing of the soul. In all epochs, music has played a role in the art of healing, and even in our times, music can be successfully used for specific healing purposes. There are a large number of serious papers published in scientific medical journals discussing the importance of music for medicine. One of the most recent papers on the subject is an article by B. H. Larson in the Journal of the Michigan State Medical Society. On the basis of the close connection that links mental and physical phenomena, music, with such an outstanding influence on the psyche, might reasonably be expected to in this way, it could also have some effect on organic phenomena. Let us, for example, pay attention to the beneficial effect of music on man while eating. Music perfectly fills the void of conversation, drives away unpleasant thoughts and puts us in a certain cheerful state, which significantly increases appetite and facilitates digestion.

The oldest references to the healing properties of music are found in the Bible; King Saul was plagued by bouts of despondency, so distressing to both himself and those around him that they were even attributed to the influence of evil spirits. One day the king heard of a harper who was said to be able to drive away evil spirits by his miraculous playing, and summoned him to him. The musician, young David, played so beautifully that Saul regained his perfect mood, felt good, and the evil spirits left him. The ancient Greeks were deeply convinced that music had a valuable healing effect. Democritus says that the sounds of the flute are a miracle cure for many diseases. Gellius Aulus, a well-known Roman writer, expresses this about the flute: There is a very widespread belief that the sufferings of a man afflicted with sciatica are greatly alleviated if someone plays a sweet and beautiful melody on the flute nearby.

In the Middle Ages, the “dance frenzy” (chorea) raged in many European countries, known in Germany and France as the St. Vitus dance, and in Italy as tarantism. (This dance frenzy assumed, as a common psychosis, sometimes alarming proportions.*) The public authorities believed that music was a specific remedy against the symptoms of this epidemic and surrounded the dancing crowd with musicians specially convened for this purpose. According to Dr. Hecker, thus the expected curative effect, and the circumstance that the sick, possessed by the frenzy of dancing, could not stand the false notes, this deserves special attention.

[*) Below, according to Dr. Hecker: “Die Tanzwut eine Volkskrankheit im Mittelalter”, an excerpt from the description of this disease:

According to the description of an old chronicle, around 1237, about 100 children were seized by some madness, working in such a way that the sick set out from Erfurt and went dancing and jumping on their way to Arnstadt. Many of them died, others suffered from chronic tremor until death. A similar symptom was recorded in Utrecht, where about 200 people, dancing and singing in the same way, tried to cross the weak bridge over the Moselle despite the warning and found death by drowning in the river after its collapse… Such diseases began from then on appearing more and more often. In 1374 the streets of Aachen witnessed terrible scenes caused by a similar epidemic, and they saw whole ranks of men and women, afflicted with this unfortunate disease, dance for weeks, sometimes to the point of exhaustion, and in this dance they died. Their bodies swelled and distended like pumpkins, and only the forceful tightening of the kerchiefs brought some relief. The last stage brought spasmodic shaking of the whole organism. It was said that the unfortunate were possessed by the devil, and the sick explained that they were possessed by the devil. Unfortunately, these were just the beginning. This disease, which was called St. Vitus or St. Jana1) entire towns were infected. Hundreds of the sick appeared in Cologne, thousands in the streets of Mecu, and infected in some as yet unexplained way people working quietly, even the remotest corners. On this is the origin of the tarantella, the “slower spalatta” portion of which was specifically intended to prevent the outbreak of disease (tarantism).

At the sight of the sick, farmers left their plows, craftsmen, workshops, kitchen women and children and joined the dancing mob, and the whole west of Germany looked almost like one herd of dancing madmen who, to the general scandal, often committed highly scandalous immoral acts too. A certain Feliks Plater, from the 16^th century, recalls that in his youth the authorities of the city of Basel ordered several strong men to dance with girls who were haunted by St. Vitus, which sometimes resulted in their complete recovery. There were cases when a girl possessed by this disease danced continuously for four weeks, pausing only in madness for brief moments for food or short sleep, during which the dance movements, however, did not cease. After four weeks, complete physical exhaustion set in, and the patient with injured and sore legs was transferred to the hospital, where after some time she lived to see a complete recovery. As an effective means, in some regions, the music of whole orchestras was used, which, playing for the sick to encourage dance, intensified the passion and led to ever faster and dizzying revolutions, thus hastening the complete end through recovery, and often death.”

A well-known naturalist physician, Janbattista Porta, states in his work Magia Naturalis from the 16th century that he owes the excellent results of his method of treatment to the power of musical instruments specially constructed for his purposes. He claimed that musical instruments made of medicinal plants produce sounds endowed with the same healing properties that characterize the material from which they come.

We will limit ourselves here to mentioning the importance of music among primitive peoples during the ceremonies of expelling evil spirits (healing from possession). In primitive peoples, music, religion and medicine are in a very close relationship.

In 1878, performed at Randall’s Island Asylum in New York, there was a very interesting event. In the great hall of the institution, 1,400 sick women were gathered and treated by means of playing the piano [for them]. The result of this original therapy was generally successful. Under the influence of such repeated musical sessions, a significant improvement was found in a significant number of patients. All patients turned out to be particularly sensitive to rhythmic sounds; melodies without definite rhythm showed no marked effect, except in those cases where the power of association was intact.

As to the tonic effect of rhythm, let us mention the effect upon a weary military column marching in the dust in hot weather, the sound of a drum, the shrill sounds of a military march, or the melody of a merry song; the unit forgets about fatigue, its strength increases, the soldiers are again ready for further marching effort or for battle.

In 1892, Dr. Hunter of the hospital in Helensburg, England, placed a piano in the infirmary. Dr. Hunter describes the results of listening to singing and piano playing by patients in the following words: “In several cases, the relief or at least alleviation of pain was very marked; in seven cases (out of ten) there was a decrease in fever.”

Two other clinical observations are mentioned here. Russian doctor Dr. Bieszyński reported in 1896 about the successful results of the treatment of a case of night terror in a three-year-old child. After unsuccessful treatment attempts by all known means, the author decided to try music treatment and recommended the little patient’s mother to play Chopin’s waltz in the evenings. The result was not long in coming and turned out to be very successful. After four nights the treatment was discontinued: the patient’s condition immediately worsened again. Mother resumed playing the piano; at first she played every night, then every other night, then every third night, until she stopped altogether. This time the result of the treatment turned out to be permanent, because there were no more recurrences.

A French physician, Fournier-Percay, treated his son, who was suffering from constant pain and insomnia, by playing the flute. The result of this therapy was completely satisfactory.

Everyone who visited military hospitals during and after the war surely noticed how much desire for entertainment music was in them. Music soothed suffering, gave new moral strength, revived hopes and stimulated the desire to recover. It was, in one word, an undoubted strong healing factor. Health resort doctors are well aware of the beneficial effect of concerts on patients. What is the positive effect of music?

Dogiel performed a series of experiments on humans and animals in order to explain the influence of music on healthy individuals and came to the following conclusions:

1. Music has an effect on the blood circulation in man and animals.

2. Blood pressure goes up or down in some cases.

3. Music generally makes the heart beat faster.

4. The respiratory movements undergo mostly the same changes as the circulation; however, an independent influence was also observed.

5. Changes in blood pressure depend on the pitch and intensity of tones.

These experiments were performed at the University of Kansas and published in the American Journal of Physiology. American and European physicians devoted much time and effort to this issue. We will quote here a few excerpts from the relevant works. “Pain is a special state of our senses, associated with unpleasant sensations; we refer to the occurrence of pain as a specific irritation of central or peripheral origin. Music is also a specific stimulation, of external origin, which reaches our senses in a different way and evokes impressions. These two different impressions, of course, cannot co-exist in our consciousness, and the one that gains the upper hand overwhelms the other. When the pleasant sensation becomes stronger, the pain subsides. Since the exact equivalent of two different sensations in our consciousness is generally impossible, music will not always be able to dull the sensation of pain. The same considerations also apply to insomnia, which depends on the constant irritation of the consciousness. Music, having an opposite effect on the respective centres, neutralizes the existing irritation and enables sleep to occur.”

It may be assumed that the human body has the properties of vibrations synchronous with the vibrations of music, just as it is in the world of inanimate matter. Certain states of mental agitation correspond to the high notes of the musical scale, and certain states of depression correspond to the low notes.

The physical effect of music is explained by the influence that the brain exerts on the sympathetic nervous system, which governs the activity of all organs. This is how we can understand the influence of music on nutrition, digestion and restoring disturbed organic balance.

We also note here that an American physician, Dr. Robert Schauffler, developed a whole musical pharmacopoeia, according to which each disease corresponds to a specific piece of music, intended for the treatment of this particular disease.

If this idea seems ridiculous to us, let us not forget that music had many faithful supporters among the eminent physicians, not only passive but also active. Strümpell was a first-class pianist, Billroth played the violin wonderfully, Richard Morrison, the famous Boston physician, was a famous cellist, Ryszard Cabot, prof. internal medicine at Harvard University, is an excellent expert on violin and chamber music. One could mention here a long list of doctors who are also great supporters and performers of music. Billroth, the famous German surgeon and musicologist, wrote his reflections on music shortly before his death. In this work, which appeared only after his death, the author discusses in detail the influence of music from the point of view of physiology and psychology. Here’s what Billroth says about rhythm:

“Rhythmic movements represent an essential property of our body. Respiratory and heart movements are rhythmic; also our muscles can perform rhythmic movements with ease. It is very possible that all muscular movements, both voluntary and involuntary, result from the summation of numerous rhythms, very short and elusive. The precondition for the assimilation of music, which consists in a more or less developed awareness of the recognition of rhythmic movements, is probably an innate trait both in man and in some animals.”

Three senses respond to rhythm: rhythm can be seen, it can be heard and it can be felt by touch. If these three modes of perception simultaneously respond to the phenomenon of rhythm, then the greater part of our nervous system is affected by it, which in turn must resonate throughout our system.

“Rhythm is life.” The future will show us to what extent music should enter the therapeutic arsenal of scientific medicine. There is no doubt, however, that both sick and healthy people will either enjoy the specific rhythm of contemporary music or in the immortal melodies and wonderful harmony of the old masters: whether yesterday or today, it is always the lyre of Apollo, the father of Aesculapius, that sounds, sound waves that kill bacteria

The peculiar discovery of a Norwegian scientist.

It has recently been reported in the world press that a Norwegian, Alfred Minsaas, has found that certain bacteria can be killed by certain specific sound vibrations. The Norwegian scientist is said to have managed to keep meat fresh for a longer time by means of sounds, because, as he claims, putrefactive bacteria die under the influence of tones. Due to the fact that this discovery could have far-reaching consequences, wide scientific circles became interested in it.

Alfred Minsaas has been researching methods of preserving foodstuffs since 1912 and set himself the goal of his work to find a way to keep foodstuffs fresh for a long time. Minsaas claims to have arrived at his curious discovery by meditating on the “sacred baths” of the Hindus in the Ganges, which baths have a healing effect. There must be a great danger of infection for them, and since they are not susceptible to this infection, evidently the water must contain some germ-killing properties.

Minsaas came to believe that the roar of the flowing masses of water gave the water its bacteria-killing properties. The Norwegian scientist therefore tried to copy the sounds of the strong fall of the waters on a kind of organ given to him by one of his admirers. Minsaas’s conjectures were confirmed by experiments carried out in America, which showed that sound vibrations of more than 80,000 per second kill not only bacteria but even fish. High sound vibrations also have an unpleasant effect on people.

Conducting his interesting experiments, the Norwegian scientist was able to keep cut flowers, e.g. asters, fresh for 5 weeks with the help of sounds. According to Minsaas, people who have had any kind of organic disease feel unpleasant pains in the previously diseased place when exposed to certain sounds. The Norwegian scientist claims that sound vibrations are as necessary for the existence of every living creature as air, light and food. For example, if an animal were placed in a place where it lacked neither light nor air nor food, and the vibrations of sound were completely absent, the animal would die in a very short time.

According to Minsaas, sound vibrations are harmful or useful, depending on their type and influx. There are no sound vibrations that would be meaningless. Minsaas considers the sounds of the city to be harmful to health, while the natural sound waves, produced by the rustling of wind in the trees, birds singing, the sound of falling rain, the murmur of a brook, etc., work salutary.

In this statement one could find an explanation of the fact that staying in the countryside is very good for health and nerves for a permanent resident of the city. It is not only air and rest that do this miracle.

Scholars who have hitherto studied Minsaas’s experiments are of the opinion that it might perhaps be the key to various ancient mysteries, and that therefore it should be of interest. The aim of future research and experiments is to investigate how vibrations, sounds that the human ear cannot hear affect the human body. The interesting theories of the Norwegian scientist, if thoroughly researched and confirmed, can undoubtedly have a serious impact not only on science, but also on practical life.

(“I. K. C.” April 1, 1933.)

Translator/compiler’s note: The original Polish as a power point presentation can be found HERE. (File name: Hidden Power of Music) Native Polish speakers are welcome to contact me to point out needed corrections. This is a machine translation. I do not read or speak Polish. Tomira Zori was one of the disciples (J.S.P) in the books Discipleship in the New Age I (pp. 662-670) by Alice A. Bailey.

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LIBRARY OF KNOWLEDGE

DUC of the “HEJNAL” monthly, Wisła, Śląsk County.

publisher and editor: J. K. Hadyna

has published so far:

PAMIETNIKI JASNOWDZIĄJA from her life’s journey through the ages; preceded by an introduction about the essence of clairvoyance, the New Era, etc. On wood-free paper in a linen binding with the likeness of the author.

ZMORA – an occult novel based on real experiences – A. P.

MEDIUMISM AND THE BIBLE – L. Denis: The role of mediumism in the development of humanity. The Surprises of a New Life On Grief for the Dead The Law of Spiritual Growth After Crossing the Boundary. What It Feels to Be Apart from Friends Who Are Survived. Life on the Other Side. The Right and Wrong Uses of Relationships with Spirits. The 6th sense or spiritual eye.

SECRET OR SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE – K. Chodkiewicz

MEDICAL ASTROLOGY – Fr. Prengel

ANATOMY OF HUMAN INVISIBLE BODY COLLECTION OF SONGS – K. Chodkiewicz

THEOPHRASTUS PARACELSUS – W. Mirski

A LOOK AT THE FUTURE – Agnieszka P.

FOR A SUNNY TOMORROW – J. Dąmbska.

HIDDEN POWER OF MUSIC – Tomira Zori.

SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE MONTHLY – the only magazine of this kind in Poland, promoting spiritual development and rebirth of man in the name of the ideals of Christianity, and giving knowledge of the higher laws of existence and the purpose of man on earth. The varied content of the journal is filled with outstanding works by local and foreign authors in the field of spiritual knowledge, philosophy, meta-psychology, occult medicine, mediumism, spiritualism, astrology, etc., giving the entirety of esoteric knowledge.