ON THE POWER OF THE VOICE

In many ancient traditions, the power of sound was recognized as a tool for healing. Yogic mantras, Tibetan chant, Gregorian chant, shamanic songs, Qabalistic prayer are all examples of sound used for healing, spiritual communication, and awareness. Each of these traditions is, in religious aspects, completely unrelated, so it is interesting to note they each developed a vocal practice. Perhaps such religions recognized a universal truth we now take for granted, the power of the word. Think about it. We use our voices to communicate. We convey not only literal meaning with the words we use, our speaking invokes images and ideas in others, and we convey emotions as well. Even the sounds we make can carry emotional currents. Has something someone said ever made your blood boil or your skin tingle? We have the ability to entertain or to curse with our voices, to manipulate or to love, to despair or to pray.

     While we are all born with our vocal power intact, born signing, if you will, events throughout our lives eventually alter the use of our natural voice. We are told to be quiet, that we sing off key, that we hurt someone we loved with our words, and soon we self-censor. We know that our voices are powerful because they bring out so many reactions in others. In fact, our voices carry tremendous energy. It is the fear of that power, the judgment of it, that eventually interferes with it. The belief that only a handful of people can sing is a misguided one, for with few exceptions, everyone has the gift of vocalization. To deny it is to deny your truest self. The voice is a tool for communicating from our hearts, for releasing and healing, and for creating that which we desire.

     Today, there are remnants of the ancient knowledge of sound in our culture. We say that “music soothes the savage beast” and have heard the story about trumpets bringing down the walls of Jericho. But we have lost our true awareness of the power of the voice. We speak, some of us for hours on end, and we don’t even know what we are saying. We ramble, we gossip, we drain our energy and that of others all because we have no awareness. We say things like, “this job is killing me” and “I’ll try”. We are afraid to say “yes” and “no.” We use the word against ourselves when we say, “I can’t do this” or “I’m so stupid”. We are bombarded sensorial with so much noise, traffic, machines, radios, televisions, and interference it is no wonder we have lost our sense of “sound intuition”.

     The purpose of VOCAL ALCHEMY is threefold. We meet to become aware of the power of sound, silence, the word, and the voice again (awareness). We strive toward vocal integrity by making sure we are not speaking against ourselves or others, but rather speaking from a place of integrity (transformation). We open up to our creative spirit by exploring breath, sound, and the space between the sounds and awaken our connection to the source of life...to free our truest voice (mastery).

     How are you using your voice in this world?