Sound healing has been known by mystics, healers, and spiritual teachers since ancient times, and is now being echoed in the words of visionary doctors and quantum physicists, who—like the ancient mystics—declare that the world is sound. The first secret is this: Everything is in a state of vibration.

If you examine the basic tenets of the planet’s different religions and spiritual paths, each has an understanding that the world was created through sound. Some examples include:

• In the book of Genesis, from the Old Testament, one of the first statements is: “And God said, ‘Let there be light.’”

• In the Gospel according to John, from the New Testament, it is written: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

• From the Vedas of the Hindu tradition comes the writing: “In the beginning was Brahman with whom was the Word. And the Word is Brahman.”

• The ancient Egyptians believed that the god Thoth created the world by his voice alone.

• The Hopi Indians tell the story of Spider Woman, who sang the Song of Creation over the inanimate forms on Earth, bringing them to life.

• In the Australian Aboriginal tradition, the sound of the didgeridoo was responsible for creating the world.

• Many African legends from different tribes tell of the origin of the world through sound.

• According to the sacred Mayan text the Popol Vuh, the first humans were given life solely through the power of the word.

• In Polynesia and the Far East, the gods and goddesses struck gongs or blew conch shells in order to create the world.

In addition to the various sacred texts of this planet that describe sound as the major force of manifestation, the ancient mystery schools that existed thousands of years ago in Rome, Athens, Egypt, India, China, and Tibet had vast knowledge of the power of sound to heal. The various writings that have survived from those times indicate that in such traditions the use of sound as a therapeutic tool was a highly developed spiritual science, based upon an understanding that vibration was the fundamental creative force of the universe.

In India, there’s a saying: “Nada Brahman”— the world is sound! The words of the ancients are now echoing those of our top scientists, such as quantum physicist Michio Kaku, who has declared, “Everything is music.” Modern physics, in fact, tells us that this dimension and others are actually composed of tiny strings that vibrate at different rates.

Frequency

Sound is currently understood as being a wave. Usually, this wave manifests as moving air, which takes the vibrations of an object and causes them to travel. Sound waves are measured in cycles per second. Scientifically, these cyclical wave measurements are called hertz (Hz). The measurement of a sound is called its frequency. One cycle per second is written as 1 Hz. Extremely slow waves create very deep, bass sounds; extremely fast ones create very high, treble sounds.

Resonance

Resonance is the natural vibration of an object—the specific frequency at which it vibrates. Every object has a resonant frequency, whether or not we can hear it audibly. A book has a resonant frequency, as do the individual pages. The chair you might be sitting on has one; so does the glass from which you may be drinking.

There are two separate categories of resonance. The first is called free resonance—when an object will begin to vibrate only when it comes in contact with a frequency that exactly matches its own. This is true, for example, with tuning forks. If you have a fork of a certain frequency (let’s say, 100 Hz), then strike another with this same frequency and bring it near the original one, the first will begin to vibrate and sound along with the second struck one. In fact, you can put ten tuning forks of the same resonant frequency (100 Hz) near each other, strike just one of them, bring it near the others… and all ten of the un-struck tuning forks will sound. However, if you change the frequency of that first tuning fork by even 1 Hz—so that it now has a vibration of 101 Hz—there will be no resonance with any of those of 100 Hz. When you bring this first tuning fork near them, the others will no longer sound.

The second category of resonance is called forced resonance. This occurs when one vibrating source produces vibrations in another object even though those two objects may not share the exact same frequency. Thus, the vibrations of one can entrain or change those of the other. Vibrating sources that are subject to the influence of forced resonance will resonate with many different frequencies.

As Dr. Randall McClellan has noted in The Healing Forces of Music, water is an example of a substance that responds to forced resonance, as are all the different materials from which we construct our musical instruments. We can, for example, hit many different notes on a violin, piano, or guitar and hear them all. Of great significance in the world of sound healing is the fact that the human body is a complex vibratory system that also resonates in this manner, responding to all sorts of different frequencies.

There are many frequencies that affect us and to which we can resonate. The various parts of our bodies—our organs, bones, tissues, and different bodily systems—all have their own specific resonant frequencies. Together, these frequencies create a composite harmonic: our own personal resonance or vibratory rate. We’re like an extraordinary orchestra that’s playing and creating the “Suite of the Self.” When we’re in a state of wellness and are performing this wonderful Suite of the Self, we call this condition of balance and harmony sound health. However, what happens if the second-violin player loses his or her sheet music and begins to hit the wrong notes—the wrong harmony and melody? Soon, not only is this musician playing out of tune, but he or she is also playing out of time and the whole string section sounds off, affecting the entire orchestra.

When a portion of the body is vibrating out of ease and out of harmony, we call this condition “disease.” I come from a family medical doctors, and I have the greatest respect for traditional allopathic medicine. But continuing with the metaphor of the body being like an orchestra, allopathic medicine would deal with the string player who’d lost his or her sheet music by either giving this poor individual enough drugs to pass out and no longer play, or else, analogous to surgery, cutting his or her head off with a sword. These steps obviously remove the out-of-tune musician, and those wrong notes that were so poorly affecting the orchestra are no longer present … but neither is the second-violin player! What if it were instead possible to somehow restore the sheet music to this person? What if we could somehow project the correct resonant frequency to whatever part of the body was vibrating out of ease and out of harmony?

This is the very basis of sound healing, and it’s fundamental to our understanding of the use of sound to heal and transform. It’s simple and it makes much sense—and it’s all based on the concept that everything is in a state of vibration, including the body. Almost every modality of sound healing utilizes the approach of enhancing the correct resonant frequency of a part of the physical, emotional, mental, or spiritual body. When applied to the physical self, these resonant frequencies have the ability to charge the energy of failing cells, bringing them back to a state of health. Regardless of whether the technique involves an electronic device, an acoustic instrument, or the human voice, most often it uses this concept of resonantfrequency healing, in which the natural, healthy vibrations are restored.

Through rejuvenating and restoring the body’s own resonant frequencies, any imbalance ceases and healing occurs. This principle of resonant frequency is employed in the most common methods of sound healing. There is, however, one additional approach to sound, which is currently being applied in modern medicine—using frequencies to eradicate unwanted rogue cells and dissolve substances, such as crystallized minerals in the kidneys. This technique is also applied in more innovative sound healing to rid the body of unwanted bacteria, viruses, and fungi.

In the Old Testament story of Joshua and the walls of Jericho, after several days of encircling the city while beating drums and blowing horns, Joshua’s men “shouted a great shout” and the walls collapsed. Some of you may recall a television commercial in which Ella Fitzgerald would sing a note and shatter a glass.

These are both illustrations of the use of resonance; in these examples, it dissolves the structures. When applied in this manner, the resonance eradicates unwanted invaders from the body. Such use of sound can be very effective in dealing with the resonant frequency of a bacteria or virus that’s attacking the body. In these situations, the frequency of a specific invader is projected to that pathogen with enough sound energy (amplitude) present, that it shatters like a glass.

This approach to sound healing is not as widespread as the first, which focuses on using frequencies to enhance the natural, healthy resonance in order to create health. It is, nevertheless, an equally important consideration for the application of sound. In addition, sometimes the two are applied together, with one sound enhancing the healthy frequency of an organ, for example, while the other is disturbing the field being generated by an invading virus. Sometimes the two frequencies are one: While the healthy resonance of an organ is strengthened, the invading virus (or whatever) becomes weakened and is destroyed.

Excerpted from The 7 Secrets of Sound Healing, by Jonathan Goldman, published by Hay House © 2017. Available at all bookstores or online at: www. hayhouse.com.

Jonathan Goldman is an internationally renowned writer, musician, and teacher. The director of the Sound Healers Association and CEO of Spirit Music, Inc., he is an authority on sound and healing and a pioneer in the field of harmonics. He is the author of such books as The Divine Name, Healing Sounds, Shifting Frequencies, and The Lost Chord. A Grammy nominee, he is the creator of numerous bestselling, award-winning recordings, including “The Divine Name” with Gregg Braden, “Reiki Chants,” and “Chakra Chants.” He is a lecturing member of the International Society for Music Medicine and has been inducted into the Massage Therapy’s Hall of Fame. www.healingsounds.com.