Magic Under The Black Sun: Magick of Music

Here is the handout from another workshop I taught last week: The Magick of Music

The principle upon which the magic of music rests is resonance. Sound is created by waves of denser and lighter air moving at a particular frequency and those waves hitting the body and being interpreted by the ear as the sounds we know. Resonance defines the ability of a sound wave's vibrations to set off similar vibrations in another body. It is through resonance that sounds are able to physically affect objects and energies. Essentially, sound waves can change the energies of the things it interacts with to be more like the energy embodied by the sound – the magickal principle of like attracts like becomes like creates like.

On of the easiest ways to think about how music interacts with the human body and its energies is to use the chakra system. A chakra is an energy vortex in the body that is believed to rule over a particular kind of energy. Each chakra resonates with a particular pitch (the note that is sounded), timbre (the quality given to a sound be the instrument that created it), and vowel sound.

Chakra	Pitch	Timbre
Root	Middle C	Bass and Percussion
Sacrum	D	Brass and woodwinds
Solar Plexus	E	Flute, woodwinds, strings, piano
Heart	F	Harp, organ, flutes, wind chimes, strings
Throat	G	Harp, organ, piano, high strings
Third Eye	A	Harp, organ, piano, wind chimes, high strings
Crown	B	Harp, organ, piano, wind chimes, high strings

One of the easiest and most effective ways to use sound and music is through toning. Toning is not quite singing a particular vowel, word, or phrase at a particular pitch. In ceremonial magic toning is often referred to as vibrating a word of power. It's rather impossible to describe in words. Here is a charts of basic sounds and their correspondances.

Basic Sound	Chakra	Energetic Effects
Ay (hay)	Heart	Love, healing, balance, akashic memory
Ah (cat)	Throat	Creative expression, clairaudience
Aw (saw)	Solar Plexus	Inspiration, clairsentience, psychicism
I (eye)	Crown	Mind over emotions, heart intelligence
Ih (bit)	Throat	Creative expression, clairaudience
Ee (see)	Third Eye, Crown	Clairvoyance, spiritual vision, higher consciousness
Eh	Throat	Creative expression, clairaudience
Oh (note)	Sacrum	Creativity, reserve energy, higher emotions
Aw (cot)	Solar Plexus	Inspiration, power, psychic sensitivity
Oo (boot)	Base	Vitality, life force, kundalini
Uh (but)	Throat	Creative expression, clairaudience