Using Naturally Reverberant acoustic space

Many indigenous peoples believe that any naturally reverberant acoustic space can produce contact with the spirits that dwell there, in effect they can be ‘animated’ by the physical stimulus of sound.

But what is actually happening is that cliffs, valleys, caves, forests, and mountains are all imbued with the power to resonate - to ‘sing’ in response to sounds made by humans as well as wind, birds, and animals.  By vibrating at various pitches, the different notes produced can thereby resonate human organs.

The most important feature of these naturally acoustic places is that they produce a unique sound consisting generally of a whole range of pitches and that these physical vibrations can be felt.  What happens next is then dependent on the frequency of the sound – the effects are not dissimar to that of a sub-woofer speaker although the intensity is far less and thus the effects more benign.

A reverberating low frequency [infrasound] tone or tones, a long low vibration that acts to resonate the organs often produces visions and hallucinations,  but it can be other organs and then healing may take place. In other words, depending on the vibratory frequency, the effects will either be a hallucination, vision, or a healing type action. 

The effects of these acoustic spaces was once well known and they were often marked by petroglyphs, pictographs, other rock carvings and other rock art.

In Siberia, places with this property were often used in combination with ‘long song’ which is described in a separate section – see Singing and humming.

Observations

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• Celtic – Using reverberating sound and chanting to induce trance states – the role of the megalithic structures and barrows
• Commentary on the paper by Jahn, Robert G., et al; Acoustical Resonances of Assorted Ancient Structures, Technical Report PEAR 95002, Princeton University, March 1995
• Dr T Levin - Kaigal-ool longsong and the cliff
• Mayan – Using reverberating sound and chanting to induce trance states
• Paul Devereux - Native American Indians - Mazinaw Rock
• Proust, Marcel - Extract from the Death of Cathedrals
• The Means of achieving spiritual experience - Shaivism – 19 Reverberating sound and chanting