Shamanism

Recently someone gave me a CD of singing shamans from indigenous cultures. As I listened with distaste to the squeals, shouts and general cacophony, a fearful thought came: "Surely I'm not required to do this, too!"

It was almost a year since I had been reluctantly inducted into shamanic healing by a call too clear to ignore: the miraculous recuperation of my son from mono and my father from depression and a rare blood disease. Both recoveries appeared to be directly traceable to the healings I administered after traditional medicine failed to deliver (see "Called to Heal," Aquarius, June '99). In response I had quit my job teaching psychology and committed to fulltime shamanism.

Of course, sound vibrations have always been a basic tool in the shaman's kit. According to Fred Alan Wolf in The Eagle's Quest, a book on the physics of shamanism, sound has two functions - descriptive (ordinary words) and sacred. With the latter, mere pronunciation invokes a change in matter. When we are physically, emotionally, spiritually or mentally ill, certain aspects of our body - mind are vibrating at the wrong frequency. Sacred sound puts the vibration right. Furthermore, sacred sounds have their most profound effect when sung or intoned rather than spoken.

By working with the deaf, scientists have discovered that sound vibrations enter the body through skin, hair and bones as well as the ear. High frequency sounds charge the nervous system, while low sounds ground and calm. Very high frequencies can dissolve kidney stones and levitate objects. Sonograms and MRIs employ ultrasound to "see" through matter. Ancient myths and scriptures also tell how sound is creator, but only recently has this idea been reflected in the theories of quantum physics. Sound waves weaken as they move away from their source, but never disappear, which, along with intention, may explain how astral healings use sound work. My mentor, Peruvian - born Oscar Miro - Quesada, teaches that the long "e" sound activates the pineal gland and the crown chakra; the "ah" sound activates the heart chakra, bringing feelings of unconditional love while the long "o" sound brings healing earth energy into the body. I have been using other Andean sacred sounds to activate my medicine wheel and bring healing energies to my clients.

However, the thought of intuitively accessing sacred sounds never occurred to me... until I heard the discordant sounds of the music healers CD, that is.

The night I received the CD I awoke with an upset stomach and a suspicion that Spirit was once again at work, sending me not - so - subtle hints regarding the "singing." By morning the queasiness had worsened.

"OK," I grumbled, "lI'll sing. Just guide me, as I really have no clue how to begin. And by the way you may not have picked the best candidate since I'm more than a little tone deaf!" Immediately the nausea subsided.

I had a workshop scheduled for that day, so with no time to experiment, I decided I would use the CD this time and figure out how to use my voice later.

Well, guess what! My CD player broke down. However, just as fears of embarrassment around bursting into sound hit my solar plexus, one of the workshop participants announced that since she did "toning" she'd be glad to help.

The workshop went exceptionally well and the participants assured me the toning had added a powerful dimension to the experience. Later, when I had some alone time, I proclaimed to Spirit, "All right. I'm going to open my mouth and you're going to have to do the rest." Dark, rich tones emerged, mostly vowel sounds with a few consonants scattered here and there. Surprisingly, the experience made me deeply happy. I experimented some more, naming specific people or situations for whom/which I wanted to sing. Each time the sound was different. Sometimes it was not singing, but glossolalia, strung out in a grammatical, rhythmic sequence.

Since then I have been incorporating intuitive sound vibrations into my practice. One client told me, "The sound quieted my mind so my soul could listen." Another broke into tears and then identified an emotional issue that had been keeping her stuck for months. Few seemed to think it weird or distracting.

So how does one distinguish between sacred and ordinary sound? Ancient language systems such as Hebrew and Sanskrit are frequently identified as sacred. Claims have been made that in these systems sounds actually produced objects and events. For example, if one said the word "wolf," this animal would manifest in physical form. Having worked with ancient Andean syllables, I can verify they definitely produce vibrations in my own body and have effects on my clients. I am now also convinced that Spirit works through specific individuals, helping them access sacred sounds that may once have been known, but are now lost to history. And although I tend to "sound off" when Spirit comes calling with a new task, invariably I end up in humble awe of the gifts being offered.