This past Friday night, our Wisdom Circle was led by my husband, Stephen.
He is a lover of music.
Music, for him, is a powerful force that unlocks the joy, peace, hope in his heart.
Stephen created a program that focused on the favorite song of each of the members of our Circle.
He created a CD of everyone's songs and then played them for us one by one.
Before and after each song played, the person in the group who had chosen that song, shared a story about the meaning of the song in their lives.
We were all taken back to that place in our own lives when we first heard the song, whether we were in high school, college, or at other times.
Memories came forward, and each of us healed a part of ourselves that was waiting to be released and surrendered.
For some, it was a long standing hurt or betrayal.
For others, it was a missed opportunity.
For others, it was a chance to remember a joy that was experienced to a depth
beyond measure.
Each individual was able to participate in the experience of the music and create
their own healing.
So, although, within a Circle there are individual experiences, the group as a whole heals together as well.
Music has a magic of penetrating our walls and our inner fortresses.
Music moves in places with ease whereas words in normal conversation cannot seem to access.
The river of Music has a flow to it that overtime can wear down even the largest
boulder in its path.
Where once a damn was built over many years of pain and suffering, slowly but surely, the gentle flow of music finds its way through.
It's truly amazing how this happens without any notice, any fanfare, any announcement.
Music heals the core within as it catches us unaware and unguarded.
There are things that we allow ourselves to feel through music that we shut down in other discussion or conversation.
The power of music to heal has been written about for centuries.
In Europe in the 19th century, patients were diagnosed as being 'out of tune' and were prescribed specific songs and melodies to reestablish their rhythm and health.
Here is a little excerpt from my son's research paper on Music Therapy in Behavioral Health:
Specific musical pieces or musical dances were prescribed for patients based on their
symptoms of disease. It was thought that the role of the physician and nurse was to tune the patient through the use of the healing power of the music(MacKinnon, 2007). Specific plans were created for each patient including movement and music that would help their hallucinations, or other maladies.
MacKinnon (2007) also goes on to state that there was a belief that music was inherent in our bodies. Our bodies naturally make many sounds and health is often defined by the presence or absence of these sounds. Historical techniques with music were focused on trying to reestablish the natural music and movement of the body. The diagnoses were made for insanity by listening to the sounds that the patient made as well as those sounds that the patient heard as in hallucinations. Then the music therapy treatment plan was organized in an effort to normalize these sounds.
MacKinnon (2007) describes that in the late 1800’s some of the asylums had positions for Music Directors. They were responsible for providing the music for the weekly asylum dances. The director would be assigned the responsibility of writing pieces that were suitable for the patients that were housed there at the time. Each of the mental disorders that patients had were considered to be “arrhythmias” (Mackinnon, 2007, p.18). The Director wrote music to treat the arrhythmia and reestablish the patient’s natural rhythm and internal harmony.
In Australia, the focus was a bit different. MacKinnon details the use of sacred songs and hymns that would be sung by patients individually or in groups to bring them back to harmony. It was believed that there was a direct link between the body, the soul and music. Creating spiritual harmony was thought to be part of the treatment plan for music therapy.
Horden (2000) describes the use of music in asylums in Baden, Germany in the late 19th This was a model treatment center for psychiatric illness and it advertised that it utilized music and singing as part of its treatment plan. The belief was that the soul has a rhythmic quality and the best way to effect and treat its problems is by musical means. Both staff and patients collaborated together with music therapy in an effort to create an environment that was healthy for all. Horden (2000) also describes other accounts of music therapy use in Britain in the early 20th century when professional musicians were brought into hospitals to play but were carefully concealed behind screens. They were trying to incorporate the healing sounds without the distraction of watching a performance.
For all of recorded history, music has been used to heal.
Many believe it heals the essence of our souls...the essence of who we truly are.
Many believe it is the language of the soul...and that's why it can be used to communicate when nothing else works.
Open to the beauty of the unique music that is you and allow the sounds and the rhythm of the universe to heal this Spirit within.
