image credit: Perla

Music takes us out of the actual and whispers to us dim secrets that startle our wonder as to who we are, and for what, whence, and whereto.

This quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson has been playing on my mind as I contemplate music this weekend since we are having our annual music festival here in Powell River.

My old dog Tricksy was a connoisseur of good music. I remember a time I was listening to some heavy metal rock music. Shortly after the music started, she got up from the floor beside me, with her ears perked up, a scowl on her face, she looked at me and then to the speakers on the wall. She gave me one more disgusted look and walked out of the room. When I listen to classical music, she lies with her head between her paws, and a dreamy look in her eyes.

Dr Emoto from Japan has been experimenting with what the effects of the environment have on the crystallization of water. One experiment was conducted to determine the effects of music. Photos taken of the frozen crystals formed from the effects of music by Beethoven, Tibetan sutras and Kawachi folk dance were harmonious and beautiful, whereas those of heavy metal music were broken and discordant. In research on the effect of music on plants, it has been found in one study at Oxford University in 2001 that classical music was better than fertilizer for stimulating plant growth. In another study by scientists Creath and Schwartz, it was found that seeds germinated faster with the music of Carlos Nakai and Paul Horn than with pink noise or with nothing.

What does this tell us about how we can be affected by the kind of music we listen to? A few weeks ago, I was in the front of our home doing some gardening while my husband was painting the porch. The neighbor was blaring hip-hop music while he worked on his car. Every other word in the songs was the F…word. My husband said, “How do you like that music?” I thought, if Tricksy were here, she would go and hide under our bed like she did during thunder and lightning.

On the spiritual healing journey, using music as therapy is wonderfully healing. It can uplift us to transcendental heights; it soothes the mind, and heals the heart. Some of my favorite uplifting music is from Vivaldi: The Four Seasons, and Sacred Music, Mozart: Serenade in G Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, Piano Concerto #21 in C, and Nawang Khechog a Tibetan flutist: Music as Medicine.