HOMEOPATHY, A SONIC PHENOMENON

by C.J.Wansbrough Published in Prometheus Unbound Vol 2 No 1 Autumn 1995

To the twin on the right, Spider Woman said: 'You are to help keep this world in order and balance after I have made it alive. Now go to all places which are still soft, put your hand on them, so that the earth will fully solidify. That is your duty. And you will be known as Balance. To the twin on the left, she said; ' You are to help keep the world in order when life is put upon it. Your duty is to send out sound so that it can be heard throughout the land. When you have done this you will be known as Echo and all sounds will echo the creator.'
Echo travelled, sounding his call through all the Earth from one pole to the other. The whole Earth trembled, the universe responded in tune. All became an instrument of sound, for carrying messages resounding the praise of the creator of all. Everything was tuned to his sound. (Hopi Creation Myth)1

The idea that the earth was created by sound is as old as time itself, and many creation myths bear witness to this. It was in the sixth century however, that music and science were appended together. Pythagoras was responsible for conceiving of a world order bought about by music. His contribution to civilization was fundamental, and is desribed by A. Koestler in the following way "The sixth century (BC) evokes the image of an orchestra expectantly tuning up, each player absorbed in his own instrument - then there is a dramatic silence, the conducter enters the stage, raps thrice, and harmony emerges from chaos. The maestro is Pythagoras of Samos, whose influence on the ideas, and thereby on the destiny, of the human race was probably greater than that of any single man before or after him".2
Through a flash of extraordinary lucidity Pythagoras conceived the universe to be intimately related to our own individual state. This doctrine of microcosm reflecting the macrocosm, of potentised nature holding up a mirror to our own existential states, became a source of universal significance in all esoteric schools of thought throughout ancient history.
Pythagoras distinguished three types of music:
1. Musica Instrumentalis-- the music created by an instrument
2. Musica Humana -- the unheard music made by each human organism
3. Musica Mundana -- the music made by the cosmos which was better known as the music of the spheres.3
Pythagoras believed that between these three divisions there existed an essential identity which could be conceived of in mathematical terms. Since he realised that all matter was in a ceaseless state of vibration and that all existence was intimately related by its ability to resonate with its surrounding reality, Pythagoras conceived of a universe governed by the law of harmonics. For him, musica instrumentalis and humana were of the same essence since plucking a string on a violin could arouse similar sympathetic vibrations in the human instrument. Moreover he extended his perceptions to include the cosmic movement of the planets and insisted that they obeyed the same laws as that of the individual. These ideas were then expanded and modified by Plato who developed a more highly evolved theory of the cosmos based on the universe as a musical-numerical system. From Plato onwards we see this conception dominate metaphysical thought. Aristotle, not content with a cosmos that was mathematically elegant, tried to create a mechanical model of the universe which would actually work.

During the first and second century the concept of cosmic harmony was eagerly taken up by the early Christian fathers. An example is Clement of Alexandria who used it principally as a metaphor to convert pagans away from idol worship by captivating them with a perfect image of the Christ figure . In the following words Clement transmits unaltered pure pythagorean idealogy " It is this (New song of Christianity) which composed the entire creation into melodious order, and tuned into concert the discord of the elements, that the whole universe might be in harmony with it".4

The notion of music and world order then seemed to become enmeshed in more esoteric traditions during the dark ages and resurfaced in all its glory during the Renaissance period where it remained as the predominant theoretical paradigm of that age. The Hermetic tradition with its associated emphasis on the essential congruity between the human soul and the cosmic spirit then used this fundamental axiom of harmony to underpin the vast literature which came to be written around the period of the Renaissance until the seventeenth century when Science then came into its own.

I have used the above preamble to illustrate and introduce an idea that has been as fundamental to all mystical traditions as mother's milk is to the new-born. The principles underlying this particular view of reality are basically mystical and are deeply embedded in Neoplatonic and Hermetic thought. The purpose of such an introduction has been to draw attention to the fact that the principle of the law of harmonics and similar ideas have been present throughout history. In order to proceed with a discussion on harmony and homoeopathy I will first present some basic principles of acoustics and then compare them to our own homoepathic model.

Sound is first and foremost a vibration whose pitch is determined by the frequency of that sound. It can also be understood to be rhythmic and takes the form of waves which are measured in cycles per second. Such periodicity is rhythmic in nature and represents the universe in a ceaseless state of vibration. Even the most solid aspects of matter are constantly vibrating at high speeds . In fact only by constant movement can we perceive the formlessness of solid matter. The movement of atomic particles becomes more like an oscillation at the rate of about 1015(5). Everything is subject to vibration. Inanimate objects vibrate more slowly but they vibrate nonetheless, and though not all vibrations create a sound they still may affect us at subtle levels. Dion Fortune in the Cosmic Doctrine describes vibration as " the impact of the rhythm of one plane upon the substance of another". As we move up along the electromagnetic spectrum we increase in the level and speed of vibration, until we get to light which is in the range of 41 octaves above sound and yet unpotentised may have a subtle effect on our anatomy. The effects of unpotentised light were demonstrated in the following experiment. Purified water was charged using a ruby laser beam and found to have an similar effect on the human organism as is produced during a hot flush. If then, we accept the possibility of potentised remedies being in a state of ultrahigh vibrations, then we must also assume their behaviour emulates certain principles of acoustics.

Such an assumption leads us to compare our own complex state with that of an orchestra, a metaphor that has been used throughout history to demonstrate and compare the principles of health with that of harmony and concord. We could conceive of such an orchestra being made up of seven sections, namely; 1. The conductor 2. The string section 3. The brass section 4. The wind section 5. The percussion section 6. The Keyboard section and 7. Gamelan section . At one level one could compare the composers symphony with an archetypal pattern that is intimately related to the next level of symphonic health, namely that of 'musica humana'. Each level could be compared to an orchestra at work and each section of the orchestra acts as a nodal point of stability (a chakra) and within that section the instruments represent minor chakras, and moreover each principal chakra represents a note in the octave. Each section has a principal state of maximum harmony. The overall state of being is however controlled by the conductor who directs and oversees the musica humana of the human individual. If each chakra is in a state of concord with its partners, then the conductor is in a position to direct the symphony in perfect harmony. Coherence or concord is an essential feature of this model which is overseen by the conductor who would represent the constitutional remedy. Discord would be a matter of degree, so that by giving a remedy to the conductor, concord would be restored, but if a section or several sections had gone into states of severe discord then remedies would have to be directed towards these sections. A feature of this model is that each section may be playing some part of the symphony and yet be in total concord with the necessary whole. This is precisely the biochemical picture of the living state, microdomains right down to molecular machines all functioning coherently doing different things at different rates yet all in step with the organism6.

This model though vastly simplified represents one aspect of the Quantum Coherence theory which proposes that organisms are coherent space-time structures, and that this is the essence of biological organization. Such a vast hierarchical complexity of levels represents different sonic fields all coming together into one harmonious whole. Any deviation from this source of symphonic attunement will upset the general scheme of the bodies harmonics and bring about disease and a different sonic pattern. Furthermore such a model of harmonic coherence describes in terms of music and octaves the successive stages in the harmonious development of an evolving human being. It further explains the successive states of an individual as he changes from one remedy to the next, having either evolved into a state of higher harmonic coherence, or having descended into a lower state of vibration. Each constitutional state represents a sonic pattern of morphic resonance which entrains with a particular homeopathic remedy and demonstrates an existential state. Moreover some remedies will be far more important and universally applicable because of their ability to resonate with certain fundamental chords that are set off. In other words some aspects of potentised nature will be more dramatic than others because of their ability to harmonically entrain with certain fundamental frequencies that the human anatomy plays.

ENTRAINMENT AND RHYTHM

To further explore this model I would like to comment on an aspect of sound called entrainment. This is a phenomenon of sound in which powerful rhythmic vibrations of one object will cause the less powerful vibrations of another object to lock in step and oscillate at the first object's rate. The best example of this process is to imagine a room of grandfather clocks where the pendulums are put into motion each in their own individual time, so producing different swings. However if one were to leave the room and come back the next day, one would find all the pendulums are swinging together at the same rate. This locking into step of rhythm is called entrainment and is an aspect of resonance. Resonance however is passive while entrainment is active since it involves changing the natural oscillations of one object and replacing it with that of another stronger object. Entrainment is a process which occurs within our own bodies. and is found throughout nature. Our heart rates and brain waves all entrain to each other, and our brain waves pulsate and oscillate at particular frequencies that can be measured just like sound waves, in cycles per second. There are four basic representations of different brain wave states based upon the cycles per second of the brain. They are Beta, Alpha, Theta, and Delta waves.

As the functions of the human body can entrain to each other, it is possible to use external rhythms to affect the internal mechanisms of heart rate, emotion, respiration and brain wave activity. Such effects were amply demonstrated by R. Sankaran's anomalous provings of Ragas in his most recent book 'The Substance of Homeopathy'. It is this principle of external entrainment which is the basis of a new field of sonic technology called Bio-Acoustics 8, which analyses the voice with a frequency analyser for missing or stressed frequencies, and then acts as a guide for the possible reintroducion of missing frequencies into the individual. Empirical work suggests that such sounds can be discovered and then generated by a special audio frequency generator during a 2-3 hour consultation, and furthermore that they seem to have the ability to entrain the bodies rhythms and create health in some of the most chronically incurable diseases such as emphysema, zinc poisoning and so on. How does this happen? One theory behind this sonic technology is the idea that brain waves act like a conductor in an orchestra and when an individual is healthy they maintain a sonic harmony throughout the body, but when an individual falls sick these imposed harmonics fail and appear in the voice as stressed notes which have to be introduced to entrain the body to its original harmonic state. Furthermore according to Sharry Edwardes, the leading exponent of this sonic science, the best sounds to create health fall within the voice range and appear to be multiples of brain wave frequencies9. This entire process is astonishing since it implies that the body might necessarily contain certain nodal centres of harmonic coherence which act as centres for entraining the infinitely complex human individual10.

Another theorist and scientist Dr Tomatis, recognised for his experimental breakthroughs in the field of neurophysiology, has devoted much time to considering the effects of sound on the human anatomy. According to him, the primary function of the ear is to provide the cells of the body with electrical stimulation or cortical charge. The cells of Corti deep in the inner ear, transform waves into electrical input which is then distributed throughout the whole body toning up systems and imparting greater dynamism to the human being. Moreover he has found that these cells respond to higher frequencies which he calls "charging sounds" in contrast to lower tones which he feels supply insufficient energy to the brain and may exhaust the individual. Sonic training with high frequency sound can lead to increased motivation, better concentration, and generally greater energy.11

A fascinating study along similar lines was done at the Institute of HeartMath. This work demonstated that people who experienced deep feelings of love and compassion were able to create a coherent electrocardiogram, in contrast to other individuals whose feelings of anger and frustration produced incoherent and disparate ECG patterns. The HeartMath hypothesis indicates that the heart produces the strongest electromagnetic field in the body and is therefore the master oscillator, or using my orchestral analogy is the conductor of the existential symphony. Furthermore in another study done by the same researchers, G Rein and R McCraty were able to produce the first direct experimental evidence to support the hypothesis that the presence of a loving state can produce physiological effects at the level of DNA. Rein and McCraty also concluded that "the results extend our understanding beyond the psychoneuroimmunology model which only considers the effects of the brain/mind on the immune system and support the ideas that the heart plays a key role in regulating the ability of the mind to effect the body. It is likely that coherent heart frequencies can also mediate immunological effects by a direct action on the DNA molecule. This new understanding of the regulatory role of the heart can be considered as a new discipline which we call cardioneuroimmunology."12

CONCLUSION

The one common feature of these conflicting theories is that they are based on an underlying concept of a coherent existential state that is in a ceaseless state of harmonic adjustment. The facts inevitably point to some form of sonic patterns that maintain a coherent state of health and even intimate the presence of certain harmonic centres that maintain such a state. The American psychologist George Leonard in his book the Silent Pulse writes " More than 2500 years ago, the philosopher Pythagoras told his followers that matter was frozen music, an intuition fully validated by modern science, we now know that every particle in the physical universe takes its characteristics from the pitch and pattern and overtones of its particular frequencies. Before we make music, music makes us --The way music works is also the way the world of objects and events works". The German poet Novalis writes " Every sickness is a musical problem. The healing, therefore, is a musical resolution. The shorter the resolution, the greater the musical talent of the doctor." Regardless of how we wish to speculate on such esoteric matters, there is no doubt in my mind that we have moved from realms of metaphor and mysticism to the realms of animated reality, where such a conception of the universe can lead to a far greater appreciation of the unifying principles that hold our universe together. Moreover it also leads to a reevaluation of our own theories on homeopathic medicine, since the foregoing implies the possibilities of certain crucial remedies that might resonate with these harmonic centres and thereby bring about an acceleration in our own evolutionary state. It is my belief that certain remedies exist that can actually accelerate the consciousness of a person by their ability to entrain with certain sonic patterns in the individual. To fully accept a model based on acoustics, we have to understand the laws of harmonics. In the case of sound, when one takes a fundamental note such as C and strikes it on an instrument, for example a cello, one obtains the fundamental plus its overtones. The “truer” a note is, the more overtones it has, and these are harmonically related to the fundamental note. Such a remedy would only fully realize its potential if it created a harmonic of sufficient quality and richness, thereby possibly creating a wave of sufficient amplitude and concentration to cause permanent changes in the state of the individual. Remedies would not only be limited by the quality of their complex notes but also by the octaves they accessed when they began to work. This concept would imply a far more intricate hierarchical structure than our present three tier Kentian model, and would open the way to validate a multitude of prescribing techniques, since the sonic model lays the ground for a health model of enormous conceptual possibilities.

References
1. Guardians of the Sacred Land Survival International 1994
2. Sleepwalkers by A.Koestler New York 1959
3. The Music of the Spheres Jamie James Little Brown & Company 1993
4.Ibid
5. Stalking the Wild Pendulum by I. Bentov Bantam 1979
6. The Rainbow and the Worm by Mae-Wan Ho World Scientific 1993
7. Sonic Entrainment by J. S. Goldman at IV International MusicMedicine Symposium 1989
8. Bridging the Gap between Psychic and Science by Sharry Edwardes
Signature Sound Technologies published papers 1982 -1993 Signature Sound Works.
9. What is Sound Health ? as above
10.In Search of Subtle Matter by C. Wansbrough Prometheus Unbound Vol1 No1.
11. The Physician, the Ear and Sacred Music by Bradford S. Weeks, M.D.
12. ECG Spectra: Measurement of coherent and incoherent frequencies and their relationship to mental and emotional states by R McCraty, M. Atkinson, and G. Rein.
Modulation of DNA by coherent Heart frequencies by G. Rein, and R.McCraty Institute of Heartmath California
13. The World is Sound by Joachim-Ernst Berendt
East West Publications 1983