Musical esoterica

In the myth of Amphion and Zethus, two brothers are charged with the building of the walls of Thebes. Zethus admirably commits to the construction with tremendous energy and labor, as would be expected such a physical feat. Amphion, on the other hand, chose a different approach: he played the lyre and the stones fell into place on their own. The plot of the myth is straight forward enough, however whimsical or fantastic. The interpretation of the myth can be a clue to understanding the true scope of music. Indeed, there are quite a lot of hints that our intellectual forefathers left us that suggest that we embark on a serious study of the deeper aspect of music. Orpheus, the sirens, the fall of the walls of Jericho, and even Plato’s creation myth in the Timaeus all point to the importance and even primacy of understanding music if we are to understand our own existence and the world in which we live.

From the Ancient world through our modern Era, there have been groups that have cultivated this point of view in the hopes that this understanding of music should not be lost. The pythagoreans were some of the earliest torch bearers that we know of. The neoplatonists continued to emphasize this, being relayed to various scholars through the Middle Ages such as Jacques de Liège, Dante Alighieri, Bernard de Clairvaux. Beginning in the early Eighteenth Century, the Freemasons became the primary custodians of this musical lore, and now with the introduction of the internet, a tremendous amount of this hidden knowledge has become accessible.

The responsibility of safeguarding this precious knowledge is now more a matter of respecting the potentialities that music can reveal to us. Scientists are discovering and (or rediscovering) surprising new applications of sonic and acoustic technology, from ultrasounds and lithotripsy to the surprising field of acoustic engineering and even the psychological ramifications of techniques like binaural beats. In this sense, we are truly heeding the clues these great intellects have left us. I believe we are not finished understanding and utilizing the great number of technical possibilities that exist through sound and certainly have a long way to go in understanding the totality of musical phenomena in our existence as individuals and as collective entities of life and matter.