I have given quite a few presentations over the years in the United States where I would chant in different languages. Some chants are ancient Buddhist mantras, others- indigenous African songs, Arabic prayers and sometimes the language of my true self comes through. The latter sound I have come to know as my angelic self-language. It was through the knowing of my inner language that I came to embrace other ancient sounds because they vibrate me and connect me to the Infor-realms. With its ancient power and deep passion, fear is dissolved, waves of strength surged into me, until finally I am overcome with feelings of bliss and enchantment. 

The healing properties of the voice are extremely profound. The only way we can get access to the inside of cells and molecules and organs and limbs without being cut open is by making sound. Making a humming sound, you vibrate the body in a very extreme way. When you vibrate the body, you affect everything inside it, you can give yourself a positive massage or you can mess things up. If you don’t use your voice, it’s like an instrument lying on a shelf going more and more out of tune. Singing is not only one of the most powerful forms of meditation – working with the emotions and with the psyche and psychology – it is also a profound means for healing and one which everyone has access to, but in general doesn’t understand or use.

What are we without voice and language? It is like a bird who does not sing, a lion that does not roar, a snake that does not hiss and a wolf that does not howl. Our ancestors chanted, danced and sang to stay alive and connect with the divine. These days, we would rather rely on pills and machines to heal ourselves. For years, I have encouraged people to chant but in America, they look at me as if I have two heads, like I am doing something weird and then promote fake pills and techniques. 

AEIOU The Primordial Sound of the Universe

I come from an ancient tribe whose language is quite tonal. Every word begins with a vowel and ends in a vowel giving each sentence an elongated resonance compared to English language that seemed to cut down resonance with consonants. Being from an Islamic background, prayers are recited in Arabic and there I found the rich resonance of vowel sounds, the sweet sense of sound in the call to prayer as it reverberates through my being. When I studied Buddhist chants, I also found the play of vowel sounds. The chant of Aum, Ah, Om Mani Padme Hum reminding me of the sounds that awaken the cells of my body and mind, separating the cells, creating a type of transparency that makes you invisible, light enough to walk between and betwixt worlds.

During my studies of shamanic healing, I found that their chants is based on a very extreme form of resonance. They take a single note and sequentially amplify the component parts of that note. All notes contain a series of other notes, and they give the note its quality. They use harmonics to identify speech and the source of sound. Their chants work with the cavities of the mouth, pharynx, larynx and in such a way that you can selectively amplify the harmonics and make them louder than the fundamental note itself. What you hear is the lower, slightly drone-like fundamental and above it the flute-like sounds, which sound very magical because they are absolutely pure, because they themselves have no harmonics.

Nothing will vibrate you except your voice

There are more widespread talks about frequency and vibration and about machines that can help us vibrate higher and heal but very little is said about the fact that no machine can vibrate a human being. Our vibration comes from our voice and the language we speak that is innate to our DNA. With many cultures around the world on the verge of losing their language, it will become very difficult for us to raise our vibration or connect to God with English. The is because the English language is vibrationally low- owing to the fact that it is borrows from different languages and has no purity.

There is a pervasive sense of disenchantment in the world today. I think this is quite literally disenchantment — the complete lack of a role for chant in our modern lives. All the situations in which members of traditional cultures came together to chant have been eroded away, leaving us disempowered and helpless in a desacralized world.

When we use our voices in this way, we literally vibrate our brains and bodies, experiencing a form of vocal healing and purification… bringing dissonant parts of our physical, emotional, mental, or social makeup back into resonance. We cleanse and tune the chakras, learning sonorous massage, truly healing with sound, to safely set free redundant or outmoded parts of our selves.

Chant and sing to save your life!

Chanting and singing bring joy and ecstasy back into our lives, by allowing us to acknowledge and become part of a power and dimension beyond our own — to praise and participate with the divine. It can also improve our health by reducing stress levels. Humming as we meditate can stop our mind wandering on to past problems and future fears.

Chanting seems to stimulate the emission of endorphins in the brain, which give rise to enhanced awareness, profound calm and deep meditative states. Socially, it creates a sense of community. People have always sung and chanted when they needed to work together. But in the West singing has been marginalised. Singing in a group helps to overcome the isolation of modern society.

When the going gets tough, sing and chant.

Yours Truly in Love and Light,

Khadijat Quadri, LCHMC, CHt