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The Harmonics of Sound

Sound has been a source of divine inspiration since the beginning of time and has been regarded as the very foundation of creation by many traditions. Archeological records indicate that all ancient cultures developed orthodox musical systems based on a pentatonic scale. While there might be a supernatural or metaphysical connection to account for how so many far-flung cultures came to this same conclusion, there is a very simple and down to earth explanation for it as well. The notes were derived from the naturally occurring harmonics inherent to sound itself.

Pythagoras was among the first recorded in the Western world to have established a mathematical basis for the natural harmonic series. He was also the first to tweak the tuning of an instrument in such a way that eventually led to the divorce of Western music tunings from these harmonics. By contrast, ancient Eastern culture adhered to the natural harmonics and chose to remain true to the Kung, or cosmic tone of the universe.

The ancient Chinese were meticulous in recording their astronomical observations. Like Pythagoras, they also found the mathematical underpinnings of music. But, unlike Pythagoras, they correlated these musical patterns to those they found in the cosmos, which were slightly irregular in their repetition. This is an important point because it exemplifies one of the main philosophical differences in Eastern and Western thought.

Pythagoras preferred a two-thirds division on a string to show an orderly, mathematical progression of the harmonic series. After seven such divisions, twelve distinct notes were produced. This was akin to the seven known planets traveling through the twelve zodiacs. He displayed these ratios geometrically in a circle. Upon the thirteenth division, the cycle was supposed to repeat, but it didn’t. That next note is actually just a little sharp, or higher in pitch, than the original note. This became known as the “comma of Pythagoras”. Because of his preference for symmetry, Pythagoras chose to de-tune the scale a bit so that all twelve notes would fit into one octave and the entire progression would fit perfectly into a circle. This became known as the Circle of Fifths.

The ancient Chinese also discovered this problem, but they chose to deal with it quite differently. In keeping with their belief that everything follows its own Tao, they elected not to confine the pattern to a perfect circle. Instead, they displayed it as an expanding spiral. This was also in accordance with their observations of the planets, which did not orbit in perfect circles either.

Because their tunings stayed true to the natural harmonic series, the Chinese developed linear styles of play in which one note was followed by another in serial fashion and the chord progression was built-up in the memory of the listener. So, in Eastern music, listening is not a passive act. It requires focus and paying attention to detail.

In stark contrast to these ideas, Western music became vertical with many notes stacked on top of one another and played simultaneously. The chords allowed the music to be delivered all at once so, the listener had little responsibility to pay attention or be patient for the whole of the sound to be delivered. This basic difference in philosophy can also be seen in the contrasting ways the East and West developed medicine and science in general.

Dividing a string is not the only way to experience the harmonic series. Let’s take a mythical journey back to a time when humans lived in caves and imagine how sound might have become sacred music in the first place. Caves are reverberant spaces. The hard, smooth rock walls would reflect or echo any sound produced inside the cave. Never having heard an echo, Bruno, our first-time cave dweller, was disconcerted by this phenomenon every time he made a sound and thought perhaps other people or creatures in the cave had created them. He eventually determined it was the sound of his own voice. As part of a ritual blessing, he made sounds and gestures to ward off any harmful spirits in his new home. Then, to encourage beneficial spirits to protect him, he made one long sustained sound. Suddenly the faint echo of women’s voices began to emerge from the cave. This startled Bruno, but he accepted it as the voices of the spirits who had answered him. What our mythical Bruno experienced might well have been the beginnings of musical harmony.

Sounds of a certain pitch correspond to waves of a certain length. If the wavelength of the sound Bruno created was the same as the distance between two walls of the cave, a standing wave would have been created. If sufficiently energized, the second harmonic of that wave would have been produced, which was the octave. Because it was higher than his own voice, Bruno may have thought it to be a woman or a spirit.

Other harmonics can be produced in this manner. In fact, the interiors of several gothic cathedrals and other temple structures are designed specifically to enhance the production of harmonics and simulate the ethereal sounds of angels or other heavenly beings. This type of rich harmonic environment is also why it just feels good to sing in the shower.

Some content excerpted from The Sage Age – Blending Science with Intuitive Wisdom
© 2008 MaAnna Stephenson
Content may be used freely with proper credit and a link to www.SageAge.net

New Lightning Types May Affect Our Psyche

Between the lower boundary of the ionosphere of the sky and the ground plane of the Earth exists a cavity that is continually energized by 40 million lightning strikes a day. This energy makes the cavity resonate and creates an electromagnetic (EM) standing wave that bounces between the sky and Earth. It travels at the speed of light, as do all EM waves, and circumnavigates the entire planet about 7.86 times per second. It is called the Schumann Resonance (SR) and studies show that it likely plays a critical role in psi activity.

The frequency range of the SR is between 1-40 Hz with a dominant frequency of 7.8 Hz which falls in the Extremely Low Frequency (ELF) range of the EM spectrum used for radio waves. It travels in a west to east direction and is longer at night than during the day. This is due to the rotation of the Earth and the sun’s rays compressing the ionosphere on the daylight side of the planet. It is primarily energized by lightning but the North American power grid energizes it as well because the ninth overtone of the dominant wave frequency (7.8 Hz) is 60 Hz, which is the operating frequency of the grid. (Most of the rest of the world’s power grids run at 50 Hz.) The SR is named for the physicist who first mathematically predicted its existence in 1952, Winfried Otto Schumann, although Nikola Tesla was the first to document his observations of it in 1902. Tesla was also the first to suggest the possibility of wireless radio communication.

The SR acts as a carrier wave for the sound of lightning activity all over the globe and this can be heard with a radio receiver tuned to the ELF range. Because the SR’s dominant frequency of 7.8 Hz is also in the middle of the alpha-theta range of brainwave activity, it has been studied as a carrier wave of psychic and healing abilities. In 1969, Robert C. Beck researched the brain activity of healers. They all entrained to the Schumann Resonance in both phase and frequency.

Professor Michael Persinger of the Psychophysiology Laboratory at Laurentian University noted that ELF waves propagate more easily from midnight to 4:00 a.m. and that they are easier to transmit from west to east rather than east to west. Persinger surveyed the ESP literature for any correlation and found that there was a direct correspondence in time and direction in both telepathic and clairvoyant episodes with the SR. Persinger also observed that the same geomagnetic disturbances and magnetic storms that affect global communication also disrupt the SR and psi experiences.

Although there are several accurate mathematical descriptions about how lightning behaves and a few theories about how it originates, to date no one is positively sure how it is generated. What we do know is that lightning makes amino acids, which is thought to be a critically important ingredient in causing life to arise from the primordial soup. Lightning also splits apart molecules in the air and by doing so makes nitrogen available to plants.

Most folks think one lightning bolt is pretty much the same as another. Amazingly though, new forms of lightning have been discovered in just the last few decades. While 75% of all bolts fire within clouds, most of those that strike toward the Earth are considered negative bolts. They are less than an inch wide and burn at about 50,000 degrees, which is hotter than the sun’s surface. Recently, it has been confirmed that some lightning bolts work in reverse and lower a positive charge to the ground. Unlike negative bolts, which burn for 10 milliseconds, positive bolts burn for hundreds of milliseconds with 10 times more amps. This has required NASA to develop new safety requirements for aircraft and space shuttles.

Another new form of lightning that is a concern for space flight is sprites, which is an acronym for Stratospheric/Mesospheric Perturbations Resulting from Intense Thunderstorm Electrification. Their official classification is as Transient Luminous Events or TLE’s. These new bolts are plumes of EM energy rising anywhere from 15,000 feet above the clouds to 50 miles high and 25 miles wide. They were predicted as early as 1925 by Scottish physicist C.T.R. Wilson, but weren’t documented until 1993 by Walt Lyons at the Yucca Ridge Field Station in Colorado.

Soon afterward, blue plumes called jets were found. They shot out into space. Later discoveries have been named elves, which is an acronym for Emissions of Light and VLF perturbations from EMP events. They are the most powerful bolts of all and can shoot anywhere from 10 to 50 miles up into space all the way through the ionosphere.

Since lightning plays a direct role in creating amino acids and, therefore life, and since humans are so attuned to the Schumann Resonance, it will be interesting to see what discoveries lay ahead in the investigation of these new types of lightning and how they affect life on Earth. It will be especially interesting to see how it may affect those who practice the intuitive arts.

Some content excerpted from The Sage Age – Blending Science with Intuitive Wisdom
© 2008 MaAnna Stephenson
Content may be used freely with proper credit and a link to www.SageAge.net