On Music as Magic: A Vibrational Transformer

Today, I’d like to talk a little about music and sound as magic. Of all the ways we can change the way we feel, think, express ourselves, and even move our bodies, music is one of the most universally recognizable, practical and accessible. So much so, I think, that we sometimes take it for granted. But let’s think about it for a moment. (Illustrating this with a family portrait of my Finnish folk musician ancestors, just for fun!)

Music is, literally, vibration. When we listen to music, our bodies vibrate differently, resonating with what we are hearing. What’s more, what we resonate with has the ability to conjure up emotions and thoughts in us in a way that viscerally and effortlessly bypasses the analytical mind, even when no words are put to the music.  A dissonant chord can instantly conjure up anxiety. An unexpected harmonic change can leave us in cathartic tears. A scintillating harp arpeggio can make us feel fluttery and joyful. A shaman’s steady drumbeat can transform our state of consciousness by literally changing our brainwaves.

Listen closely to the effect music has on you. It can awaken, agitate, numb, soothe, heal  or hypnotize. Music is magic, pure and simple. Every melody is a spell.

The interesting thing about music as an energetic modality is not only how it affects the individual, but how music has evolved in all its forms during different periods of history, in different cultures, mirroring the developments of its physical environment aside other forms of art and literature.

Imagine for a moment living in Vienna the 1700s, when the height of entertainment was to sit patiently through a three hour opera, accompanied by a perfectly coordinated orchestra of musicians that had learned to play their instruments since childhood, and studied the intricacies of music theory until they mastered it - without ever having heard the sound of an electric guitar, an airplane, or a firetruck. How different people’s brains must have been!

Now, imagine being a sitar player in North India at the same time. What did that world sound like?

And now, think about how The Beatles inspired masses of young girls to scream and faint with excitement…and yet how much more wild the world’s ideas of aesthetics and self-expression became after the advent of punk and The Sex Pistols.

Classical music, once the epitome of order and harmony, became much more dissonant after the World Wars. People were finding new ways to express the collective Zeitgeist, and with the music, their emotions found a time-capsule, to be re-expressed and reinforced whenever people hear it.

Music, and the mentality it channels, can change the face of the world, if we let it. It can move masses of people to experience things they never even imagined before. How does your favorite music make you feel?

What we let in our ears can affect us energetically as strongly as what we put in our mouths. Sometimes, day to day, it can be hard to control this aspect of our energetic environment, and as psychically sensitive people, it’s important for us to pay attention to what we do have influence over.

Personally, as a professional musician, I’ve always been hypersensitive to music, but since my clairaudience became fully active, it’s gotten to the point that I can get severely anxious if I don’t take measures to protect myself from sound pollution or music that doesn’t resonate with my current state of mind. Public spaces that play loud, unpleasant or saccharine music are especially tough and ubiquitous.

I highly recommend keeping a pair of earplugs in your pocket, and a pink noise app handy on your phone. See how you feel after a week of actively blocking out music and noise you do not actively choose to hear. (It has been a life-saver for me!) Also, try putting on an album of forest sounds in the background at home, and see how much calmer your house feels. Over time, these adjustments can have a huge impact on the quality of your overall energy.

So, think about how and why you listen to music day to day. Really listen, and pay attention to how it makes you feel in your mind, body and soul. Reflect on the sounds in your environment. What would you change if you could, and how? Juxtapose sound with silence. Then, use music and sound to your best advantage. Use it to transform and refine your energy. Use it to inspire, to heal, to soothe, celebrate and to release - in short, to reinforce whatever you most need to be and express at a given moment. Drink it in, enjoy it, and allow it to work its magic. It is your birthright. Use its power wisely.