ML: I know that you are familiar with Professor Masuru Emoto and his studies with sound and water crystals. The negative effect on crystal formation due to loud rock music is parallel to your experience as a guitarist in a rock band. Yet not all heavy rock music is negative to my focus or sensibilities. While much of it is harsh noise, some of the music seems to actually have a positive effect on my emotional outlook. How is this possible? And how does this relate to music therapy? I mean nothing works better for me from an emotional standpoint than to listen to Tuvan throat singing, or the music of Loreena McKennitt or Sevara Nazarkhan, but once in a while I get a strong craving to listen to Metallica or Led Zeppelin. Afterwards I feel sated and invigorated. That has never been something that I could rationalize from a spiritual perspective.

JG:   Personally, when I first began my investigation into the healing effects of sound, there was so much information out there focusing on the negative effects of rock n’ roll, that I put down my electric guitar for many years.  Then, while working on a book, I came up with the formula “Frequency + Intent = Healing”. Very simply, this means that the sound coupled with the intent (or consciousness) of the person making the sound creates the effect of the sound. Thus I don’t think that any one musical genre or type of music can be unconditionally categorized. I believe this is really true and something we should all understand. The formula may well be one of the more important teachings I’ve manifested on this planet. It keeps people from getting stuck in their belief systems that this type of music is bad or only this type of music healing.  I also believe that we are all unique vibratory beings and what works for one person may not work for another.   Thus, I think that any type of music, depending upon the time, place and need of the individual can potentially be healing and transformational. 

What we need to do is have balance with regard to the extraordinary spectrum of music that is available for our listening pleasure. I never found out what the exact music Dr. Emoto used which he qualified as “heavy metal”, but I’m pretty sure that what was affecting the structure of the water was not only the sound, but the intentionality of the sound.  There’s a lot of negative music out there—with very negative lyrics, etc.  And I think this is probably what was affecting the water.  And that still doesn’t mean you should never listen to such types of music—it simply means that it’s important that if music is a energy nutrient for your body, mind and spirit, that you get a balanced diet of sound.  Listen to all types of music.  Experience it all—just be balanced about it. 

I want you to know that after I came up with the “Frequency + Intent = Healing” formula those many years ago, I picked up my guitar again.  I realized that some of the most positive music in the world was rock music—the Beatles and “All You Need is Love” are wonderful examples of this. Now, along with sounding my chakras and creating other healing sounds, I also still play guitar!

ML: The tradition of sound healing is very ancient in origin. There are many ancient sites around the world seemingly built with the concept of acoustics in mind. Has there been an archaeological consensus on who may have been the first culture to have discovered or routinely used sound healing? I know that sound healing has been a shamanic practice since remote times and the Hindu culture has a goddess of very ancient origins, Saraswati, who is the Goddess of Music and Medicine. Such a designation combination cannot be by random.

JG:   Hmmm….that’s a loaded question. You can investigate nearly all the different esoteric traditions on the planet and find out the ancients of their tradition had an awareness of the use of sound as a creational and healing energy.  So, who did sound healing originate with?  That’s a bit like asking where the original primordial language came from. Whatever answer anyone can give with regard to that is guaranteed to offend all the other cultures that believe that their language was Divinely inspired and was therefore the first. So, I’ll suggest that perhaps Atlantis or Lemuria  were the first places where sound healing was practiced.  Since neither of these places has ever been officially confirmed to exist, it’s a pretty safe answer. And probably true as well. 

ML: Do the modalities of sound healing relate to quantum physics? An ancient Egyptian proverb states that, “he who understands music, understands the cosmos."

JG:  I’d heard that it was Pythagoras, the ancient Greek, who said that.  But then again, he studied in ancient Egypt, so he may have borrowed from it when he is said to have said:  “If you want to understand the secrets of the universe, study the monochord”.  The monochord is simply a single string, that when plucked, demonstrates the phenomenon of harmonics.

ML: What are harmonics and how do they work in sound healing?

JG:  When a string is plucked, it goes up and down and while it does this, it is simultaneously going up and down at many different frequencies which are mathematically related to it. Let’s say the first time it goes up and down, it does so at 100 HZ (cycles per second). This is called fundamental frequency.  The first overtones vibrate at 200 HZ.  And the next overtone at 300 HZ.  And the next at 400 HZ. and so on and so on. They’re all mathematically related by whole number ratios.

What’s important about this is that much of nature,  from the biological growth to the orbital distances of the planets seem to adhere to harmonic relationships. And many perceive therefore that such harmonic relationships are important for creating healing sounds.   For those with greater interest in this important topic, I refer them to my book: Healing Sounds: The Power of Harmonics.

ML: What about Buddhist Om chanting, how does it relate to sound healing? It has been said that Om is the most sacred sound of the universe and I’ve seen studies that showed that several stars are known to emit an Om intonation.

JG:   Well, many Hindus and Buddhists believe that OM is the original, primordial sound of manifestation.  And I’ve created a CD called Ultimate Om (Spirit Music) which is nothing more or less than hundreds of voices chanting the OM in the sacred Pythagorean ratio of 2:3 (I mentioned this ratio before in terms of the tuning forks I used on my friend). It’s a wonderful CD that some people have on 24/7 because they believe it helps create a sacred, calming and harmonizing field for them.  So, I obviously like the “Om”.  But I have created a number of different recordings using different mantras from different traditions and I’m very eclectic—I like sacred sounds from all different venues, Hindu, Buddhist, Hebrew….every tradition has sacred words of power and I work with them all.  Incidentally, it’s important to realize that the OM mantra can be sounded in any key, so that any information about a particular frequency being the “OM” is simply incorrect.

ML: I thought your novel, The Lost Chord, was well written and a fascinating story. What motivated you to write fiction and do you think there are lost chords or tonal notes out there waiting to be discovered?

JG:  What motivated me was very simple—I awoke from a dream in which I had written a novel about sound.  As I was waking up, I heard a voice say “Get yourself a Power Book”.  Now, this obviously was about 10 years ago, and in truth, I’d never heard of a ‘Power Book’.  But within a week, someone had delivered a nearly new and affordable Power Book to me and within a couple of months, I completed The Lost Chord (Spirit Music).  I really like it as a novel—many people who have read it compare it to kind of a Celestine Prophecy  It’s got a fun storyline—about someone discovering a series of frequencies that are both addictive and create inter-dimensional gateways.  This “Lost Chord” is stolen by a madman messiah who wants to take over the planet.  There’s a lot of information about the power of sound to heal and transform, coupled with a good adventure.  My only regret is that I’ve never marketed the book properly—I self published it, but my area of expertise is in the record business.  So, if anyone out there reading this has a book publishing company and wants to take on a wonderful project—just be in touch. It would also make a great movie! of sound.

ML: American prophet Edgar Cayce once said that sound would be the medicine of the future. Are we witnessing the beginning stages of the formation of this new medical tradition?

JG:  Yes, indeed.  I just returned from the International Sound Healers Conference in Santa Fe, New Mexico  There were over 600 people at the conference.  I’ve been in this field for over 25 years and I can truly attest to the fact that with regard to Cayce’s statement, the future is now.  where it was my pleasure to do a number of presentations.

ML: We spoke about your experience in Rosslyn Chapel earlier, has there been any other ancient sites where you have had extraordinary sound encounters?

JG:  One of my favorite experiences was in the ancient Mayan city of Palenque, where a Brujo (a magician) took me and several other people on a tour at night.  He took us into ruins that had barely been unearthed and were not available for daytime tourists to see.  In one of these ruins, he turned to me, pointed at an arch over a doorway and said: “Make sound here!” Then, he turned off his flashlight.  I made sound and the room became illuminated. It wasn’t as though a light had been turned on, but everyone could basically see each other. Then, he turned his flashlight back on and we continued. Later, I spoke with the people who were with me and they experienced the same thing. It was quite outrageous. I have a much more detailed account of this in Healing Sounds and in Tantra of Sound (Hampton Roads), co-authored with my wife Andi, we even detail the sound I used in Palenque as part of an exercise.  Tantra of Sound, incidentally, won the 2006 Visionary Award for Best Alternative Health Book.  We are most grateful for this acknowledgement of the importance of this book.

ML: When did you first encounter Shamael, the Angel of Sacred Sound? Were you surprised by this entity’s appearance?

JG:  In Shifting Frequencies (Light Technology) as well as in my recording “The Angel & The Goddess” (Spirit Music), I detail this experience as well.  It was my 42nd birthday—I think about 15 years ago and this being appeared to me, announcing that it was Shamael, Angel of Sacred Sound and that I was to act as a conduit for its energy.  Needless to say, I was pretty disoriented by the experience. And, since I knew a bit about the angelic realm, and beings such as Raphael, Michael, Uriel and other archangels, I was a bit confused because I’d never heard of Shamael. About a week later, someone delivered a book called A Dictionary of Angels and there was a reference to Shamael as being the Divine Herald and Master of Heavenly Song. So, I figured there must be something to this being and began first working by myself with this energy.  I created a recording called “Angel of Sound” (found on the CD The Angel & The Goddess). Then, through this recording I started introducing others to Shamael.  From my perspective, Shamael is actually the correct name of the angelic being called Metatron. All the other archangels have Hebrew names except for Metatron, which is a Greek word meaning “above the throne”. From my limited knowledge of Hebrew, Shamael translates loosely as either “Voice of God” or “Hear Me God”. 

ML: Some researchers claim that certain types of phantasmal or ghost activity is virtually the same as a recorded sound or image stuck in time, perpetually repeating. Have you ever encountered ghostly occurrences that could be attributed to sound echoes or loops? How would such an occurrence be possible and is it possible to turn such an activity off?

JG:  Michael, I’ve had so many of these experiences, it’s impossible to really discuss this without going into a book length article.  I will tell you however, that nearly 20 years ago, when I was working on a recording called Dolphin Dreams (Spirit Music) that was being created for the birth of my son Joshua, I had a pretty unforgettable experience.  It began in my recording studio after I turned the power “on” for the recording equipment and was preparing to mix down the multi-tracks of this recording.  First, despite the fact that there were no machines that were actually operating and producing sounds, dolphin sonics began to come out of the speakers.  Then, when I did press “play” and the recorded sounds were really coming out of the speakers (as they should have been), the control knobs on the mixing board began moving up and down by themselves.  Something or someone was having a good time mixing this recording without me.  I was with a friend who was assisting me with the project and we both realized what was going on. At the time, it seemed pretty humorous. I shrugged my shoulders, pressed stop on the recording equipment and said aloud to whomever or whatever was there:  “Please, I’d rather do it myself.”  And after that, I was no longer getting such assistance—at least at that level of physical contact.  I do certainly appreciate inter-dimensional assistance and that seems to be the case in the creation and mix of many of my recordings.  I don’t mind if there’s an occasional track that I never created that somehow manifests as part of a recording, but I think it’s important for me to actively be part of the process. Doing a mix down without me was just unacceptable—at least at the time.  I think later on, I did find a mix of a project that I’m sure I never created.  And we may have used that mix at another time, but that’s another story.

ML: Do you believe that cymatics or sound therapy could, at some point, elevate or evolve the human soul to a higher level?

JG:  I think that ultimately, we can work with intentionalized sound—that is consciously created sacred sound that people throughout the world are simultaneously creating—and I believe that we can totally shift and change the vibrational rate of all the beings on the planet, manifesting planetary peace and healing.  I call this process “Global Harmonization” and I believe it’s not only possible, I think that such a process may be the key to the continued evolution of our species and the elevation of our consciousness.  We are currently in the process of creating a “Temple of Sacred Sound” on the www.soundhealersassociation.org website that will allow people throughout the planet to gather in sacred cyberspace temples and not only hear each other, but also hear themselves.  Currently, the Internet is useful for activating the Global Mind of the planet.  In Tibetan Buddhism there are three different aspects of being: body, mind and speech.  Sound or speech is the interconnecting part between body and mind.  Thus with something such as the “Temple of Sacred Sound”,   through making sacred sound together, we’ll be able to use the Internet to activate not only the Global Mind of the planet, but also the Global Heart.   It’s very, very exciting!

I want to thank Jonathan for taking the time out of his busy schedule to be interviewed. Truly, he is one of the most engaging individuals I’ve ever interviewed. To learn more about Jonathan Goldman and sound healing please go to: http://www.healingsounds.com/

Jonathan Goldman has produced 23 original recordings for meditation, relaxation and self-transformation, including the 1999 Visionary Award-winning Chakra Chants and Grammy-nominated Tibetan Master Chants. His books include Healing Sounds: The Power of Harmonics (Inner Traditions), Shifting Frequencies (Light Technology), The Lost Chord (Spirit Music), and Tantra of Sound (Hampton Roads), coauthored with his wife Andi and winner of 2006 Visionary Award for “Best Alternative Health Book”. He also facilitates Healing Sounds® throughout the planet.

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Michael Lohr is a university researcher, professional journalist, spiritualist, outdoorsman, treasure hunter and adventurer. His writing has appeared in such diverse magazines as Cowboys & Indians, Esquire, The Economist, National Geographic and Men’s Journal, to name a few.

His webpage can be found at: http://www.internet.is/artist/writer/michael_lohr.htm