The Healing Power of the Human Voice: Mantras, Chants, and Seed Sounds for Health and Harmony

194 Pages·2005·8.72 MB·English

by  James D'Angelo

The
HEALING POWER
of the
HUMAN VOICE
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The
Healing Power
of the
Human Voice
Mantras, Chants, and Seed Sounds
for Health and Harmony
JAMES D’ANGELO
Healing Arts Press
Rochester,Vermont
Healing Arts Press
One Park Street
Rochester, Vermont 05767
www.InnerTraditions.com
Healing Arts Press is a division of Inner Traditions International
Copyright © 2000, 2005 by James D’Angelo
Originally published in the United Kingdom in 2000 by Thorsons under the title
Healing with the Voice: Creating Harmony through the Power of Sound
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form
or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or
by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publisher.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
D'Angelo, James.
[Healing with the voice]
The healing power of the human voice : mantras, chants, and seed sounds for
health and harmony / James D'Angelo.
p. cm.
Earlier edition published in the U.K. under title: Healing with the voice: Thorsons,
2000.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ebook ISBN 978-1-59477-638-0
print ISBN 1-59477-050-6 (pbk.)
1. Music therapy. 2. Sound--Psychological aspects. I. Title.
ML3920.D24 2005
615.8'5154--dc22
2005007694
Printed and bound in Canada by Transcontinental Printing
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Text design and layout by Priscilla Baker
This book was typeset in Sabon, with Avenir and Minion as display typefaces
Dedicated to my great teachers
Nicolai Rabeneck
Dr. Francis C. Roles
Jan Gorbaty
Jean Catoire
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Contents
Acknowledgments viii
(cid:1)
Preface ix
1 An Introduction to Sound Healing 1
2 The Nature of Sound and Vibration 7
3 The Power of the Resonating Voice 15
4 Complements to the Resonating Voice 23
5 Breath and the Resonating Voice 30
6 Meaning of Vowels and Consonants 44
7 General Instructions for Toning and Chanting 57
8 Natural Sounds 65
9 Discovering Your Fundamental Tone 84
10 Mantras, Chanting, and Vocal Improvisation 89
11 Toning the Chakras 108
(cid:1)
12 Overtoning 131
Notes 139
Resources 142
Recommended Reading 164
Index 171
CD Directory 178
Acknowledgments
I wish to express my gratitude to my wife, Georgina, who helped to edit
the manuscript, taught me the inner workings of word processing, and
without whose support the book could not have come to be. My thanks
to my dear friend Brian Lee for his contributions to the Resources and
support; to Serge Beddinghton-Behrens, Don Campbell, Jonathan
Goldman, Grethe Hooper-Hansen, Solveig McIntosh, and Warren
Kenton for being an inspiration in this endeavor; and to Rollin Rachele,
Kay Gardner, and Linda Whitnall for contributing materials.
viii
Preface
Music has always been central to my life. The performing of classical
music and jazz, as well as my own improvisations at the piano, still
remain acts of enchantment. There is a sense of wonder at what the
combination of sounds which we call “music” can do to expand the
emotions and heighten awareness. To make music from the printed
notes on the page or from the imagination is to be transported to other
worlds, experiencing moments of pure ecstasy. I had always wanted to
know exactly what was happening to the listener of these sounds. What
was actually going on at each level of the person bathed in the sounds
I was producing?
In 1992 I was asked to lead a music workshop, something I had
never done before. I observed how the participants let go of their per-
sonalities and became bundles of joy and liberation. They might as well
have been nine-year-olds. Through a simplicity of means and fully-
directed attention they allowed the sounds and rhythms they produced
to be a method for tuning and thus purifying their human instrument—
body, mind, and spirit. This first taste of working this way with music
and sound encouraged me to draw together much diverse knowledge I
had amassed about the esoteric aspects of music, which included the
unique writings of one of my mentors, the French composer Jean
Catoire. This went hand in hand with the practice of meditation and
sacred dance, the experience of choral singing, the study of Indian
music, and the investigation of the pioneers in the ever burgeoning field
ix