Sound & Consciousness

by Sa Silvano

Sound is a vibration.  We are vibration.  Sound is the gift and power we possess that enables the expression of our own vibration.  Our expression has the power to impact on the world around us, just as the sounds in our environment have the power to impact us.  Certain sounds or series of sounds (music) can take us through time and space into the past moving us from sadness to joy in a moment.  Sound can move us into states of peace or agitation, into love or fear, harmony or dissonance.  The vibration of sound moves through our own vibration impacting it, altering it either positively or negatively, depending on the sound created.

Some sounds are Sacred sounds.  Cultures and religions, tribes from all around the world have throughout time embraced song and chant as an expression of their connection with the Divine, as a prayer, as a means of moving into altered ecstatic states, as part of rituals
and rites, as part of initiations and healing processes.  Sacred space is created and maintained through the resonance of chants and hymns.

The sound of "Om" is an affirmation of the Divine Presence within all that is.  This sound is sacred sound and when vibrated or sounded it is said to transform the dissonance within us, moving us into a place of stillness, moving us into a state of quietude and beingness.

We have the power to alter vibrations around us through the sounds we produce, through our communication.  Are we aware of the resonance of our voice?  Are we aware of the energy and vibration held within the sounds that form the words we speak?  Are we
aware that each time we create and express a sound we change our own vibration, the vibration of the space around us as well as the vibration of those who are within our environment?

When we speak, what kind of energy does our own resonance, our vibration, our words hold?  Does each word hold meaning or do we just make noise to avoid knowing ourselves within the silence. Do we soothe with our sound?  Is our sound deep or high, active or passive, quiet or loud, gentle or aggressive, mellow or shrill?

When we join our voice with others, are we in tune or out of tune.  Have we found expression for our unique self within the song.  If we find ourselves out of tune, how does this reflect in our relationships with others, with life, with our environment.  There is a native American saying, Mitakuye Oyasin – All our relations.  Brooke Medicine Eagle author of Buffalo Woman Comes Singing translates this beautifully. 

“Used to represent the full circle of Sacred Life, of which we are a part.  This sacred circle includes not only two-legged relatives of all colours and persuasions, but also all the peoples with four legs, those with wings and fins, the green standing (tree and plant) people, the mineral and stone people, those that live within and crawl upon the Earth, those in the starry realms, and those ancestors who have gone beyond, as well as those children of generations to come.  Everything, both known and unknown, is included in the phrase of wholeness and holiness.”

Have we found our place within the sound of Mitakuye Oyasin?   Do we offer harmony through our sound expression or do we add to the dissonance in our environment.  Much of our youth today listen to music that is full of sounds that are harsh, discordant.  Why???  Perhaps our youth are only expressing the energy that is prevalent on the planet today.  Perhaps our youth are highly sensitive and are feeling this dissonance acutely within their psyche.  Perhaps their only way of dealing with the impact of the destructive energy on the planet is by expressing the sound of it, thereby releasing it from within themselves. 
So what happens to the sound that is released?  Can we now learn to transform dissonance into resonance?  Do we recognize the need to become aware of our sound and the power of it?  We have forgotten the power of sound, the power we possess to affect the world around us.  Let us become more conscious of the sounds we express, the words we speak.

Your name is sacred sound.  With what resonance do you offer your name?  Your name summons you.  Let us become aware that when we are given a name, we are given the power to summon the person whose name it is. How do you call others.  When others call us, the utterance of our name holds the power to summon us. Do you like the sound that you are summoned by?  

Let us speak all names with respect, with honour, with the awareness that when someone gives us their name, they have given us a precious gift - the gift to bring that person into dialogue and sharing with us. 

It used to be that the name of a thing was the sound of the thing itself.  Now there are so many meaningless sounds, empty sounds, sounds that do not match that which they name.  How often do we sound out when silence would serve us better?

We need to begin to listen as much as we express.  Let us discard from our environment those sounds that are dissonant for they will harm us.  Let us hearken to the sounds around us and become discerning, allowing only those sounds that lead us to experience harmony and peace.  Let us sound our own name in gentleness, chanting our vibration into well-being.  This is powerful.  We can bathe in sounds that are harmonious, melodious, sacred, gentle, mellow.  Our being needs this to maintain balance in a world that is often harsh and noise polluted.  We can treat ourselves to the most healing       sounds, that which is found in nature - flowing water, birdsong, the breeze.  The nature kingdom is full of sacred sound if only we take the time to listen and receive the healing resonance within these sounds.

If you remember the sacredness within everything, every experience, if you remember that you are one with all that is, if you remember that the Source, the Divine permeates the entire Universe, then..... then you will remember too that sound is Sacred and Divine and you will add your own Sacred song to the song of the Universe with Grace and Joy.

From my heart to yours
Sa Silvano

Sa Silvano is an established energy worker and healer. Her passion is facilitating people’s reconnection to their hearts and to their source. Sound is a key element incorporated in all of her work. Sa and her husband Claudio have recently moved to Adelaide from Perth where their work was widely acclaimed. Together they facilitate Sound Journeys (sound healing circles), workshops, sweat lodges and also private healing sessions. Ph 8390 0503 or email sa@sacredradiance.net
You can also visit her web site at www.sacredradiance.net