Chapter 12: The Language of Love

       Music was the language of the cosmos from the beginning of time, when the sound of creation sang out as one magnificent ohm…m…m…m…m that swelled and reverberated throughout the emptiness of the universe. This single note of oneness spawned the eight notes of the scale, with their sharps and flats, shooting off into space to manifest as stars. The stars arranged these notes into song that brought the angels into being, and the angels took up the chorus of praise and wonderment as they found themselves alive in such a magnificent state of being. And so it followed that music was one of the first gifts from Love’s angels to humanity, as part of their effort to open the channels of communication between us and all of the Divine Cosmos.

       In the first days of human consciousness, when the world was young and all dwelt in peace; the most beautiful, harmonious music could be heard in every part of nature. While ambling through the forest, one would hear the songs of wind and trees. Those who sat beside a stream or on a riverbank heard the soothing melodies of water rippling over rocks. At night people heard the music of the spheres ring out from the moon and the stars, reminding them of their origins in the heartbeat of Universal Love.

       After humans created evil with by sparring for superior rank in the grand scheme of things, the sound of this heavenly music grew dim to their arrogant ears. People communicated solely with spoken words, which defined everything so precisely; there was no room in their consciousness for the non-verbal wisdom they had once received from Universal Mind. Love assigned certain angels, muses, and gods to seek out those sensitive souls who would hear divine melodies if they were sung or played directly into their minds. These individuals would be the musicians who kept the sound of music alive in each culture.

       History books report that “the Egyptians were responsible for developing early stringed instruments, such as the lute and the harp in its primitive form,” and “the Greeks discovered the importance of numbers in music in which they based much of the theory of music.” But how would they have made such monumental discoveries if it hadn’t been for the angels who taught them the methods for creating these instruments, and how to write music using numbers to count out the rhythm? Yes, human beings are creative and intelligent, but their ideas and inventions are not accidental discoveries: each one is a gift from those divinely ordained agents of Love who enter the mind during sleep, daydreams, and periods of focused contemplation.

       Music is a language that, even without lyrics, expresses the essence and emotions associated with universal themes; and so it can be understood by people who speak in different tongues. For this reason, Love hoped that music would penetrate the walls of misunderstanding that had been built by the fears people had of one another. Love sent Uriel, angel of creativity and patron angel of music, to present each culture with the style of music that would speak to the souls of its people. Gradually, flocks of angel muses spread these various musical genres around the world, cultivating a broader taste in music so that people of different nationalities would appreciate each other’s musical gifts.

       In ancient times, Pan, god of nature and music, traveled the world, playing his reed pipes on river banks in every country. In Greece, his instrument was known as the Syrinx;  in China his pipes were made of bamboo and called the pai xiao, and in the Americas he played pipes made of reeds, bamboo, river cane, bone, copper, and ceramic. In each part of the world, Pan used whatever material was most plentiful or easily obtained to form the pipes that he would play for the local people. The musicians of each culture learned from Pan how to fashion their own pipes, and he taught them to play haunting melodies that evoked in the listener such emotions of loss and longing that a glimmer of their lost connection to divine oneness tortured their memories with bittersweet beauty.

       Uriel introduced the drum to many cultures very early on, because it was so simple to make with hollowed sections of tree trunks or gourds, and a piece of animal skin stretched over the top. The drum allowed wordless communication between the drummer and his listeners, as well as between the drummer and nature, and so it was one of the greatest of Love’s early revelations.          

    In parts of ancient Africa, specific patterns of drumbeats conveyed messages between distances.  In Africa and the Americas, as well as other parts of the world, drums were used in religious ceremonies.  In America, the drum helped participants of a pow-wow to feel connected spiritually and to resonate inwardly with the heartbeat of the Earth Mother. The shamans who were the priests of early nature-based religions used the drum to communicate with the spirits of a place and to request healing for the sick.

       Uriel knew that the musical components of harmony, pitch, melody, rhythm and emotion involve regions of the human brain that can’t always be reached by other healing methods. But while the shamanic drumming was healing for some, the same sound was grating on the ears of the Europeans who eventually came to America. As with all things in the earthly dimension, music crosses cultural boundaries only when the listener is open to the gift of a novel experience.  However, any music with a strong beat can promote synchronized brainwaves, and a slow tempo creates a serene state of mind that opens a door between the physical and spiritual dimensions.  So Uriel introduced different styles of meditative melodies to draw musicians and listeners of various cultures into that calm inner space where divine communication takes place.

       In ancient China, Benzaiten, goddess of music and art, introduced the seven-stringed zither, which became known as the qin. This instrument was played by the sages, those men who were honored for the wisdom that came to them in their moments of quiet contemplation. The Chinese recognized the qin as an instrument whose melodious notes had the power to lift the human spirit and encourage communion with the divine elements of life. In fact, the ancient sages, having received instruction from a goddess, taught their students that the principle of qin-playing was similar to the art of government, and would aid the search for harmony: celestial harmony between humans and nature, harmony between people, and harmony within oneself.  They said that one who learns the principle of playing the qin could also be a good governor.

       The ancient sage, Confucius, did not become governor, but his mastery of the qin opened his inner ears to the wise council he then passed on to others.  As one who was deeply connected to his divine source, he realized that the goal for the Chinese should be unity under Heaven, with peace and prosperity for all people. He taught Love’s golden rule to the people of China in this way: “Do not do to others what you would not like yourself. Then there will be no resentment against you, either in the family or in the state.”  (Analects 12:2)

       Mastery of the qin was one of the four traditional arts that Imperial China’s monks, scholars and ladies of elite society strove to attain. As with all things, those in power frequently found ways to restrict the use of certain musical instruments to the privileged minority; and so the music that was gifted to the earth for the purpose of creating harmony among people was denied to the masses, as if peace and harmony was a gift intended only for the upper class.

       As the centuries passed, a vast array of instruments was introduced throughout the world. Those instruments that required trained experts and costly materials to build were played only by those who considered themselves to be more deserving than the “ordinary folk,” but there were still those simple instruments that the peasants, serfs, or slaves could build themselves, and . . . there was the instrument of the human voice!

Israfel, angel of song, loves to inspire musicians with ideas for putting the creative words of Love to music. Song lyrics have been composed by people on every strata of society; many songs have told the stories of their lives and romantic loves, but others were inspired by Israfel, who visits songwriters in their dreams or while they are engaged in the kind of repetitious work that leaves the mind open to divine inspiration.

        Very few ancient songs were written down for future generations, but the Hebrew scribes, so diligent about documenting stories and songs on their scrolls, recorded the Songs of Solomon and the Psalms. Some of these lyrics sprang directly from those emotions that were spawned by humanity’s separation from eternal Love, and others were more divinely inspired. Many of the Psalms were composed by King David, so we might say he was not among the simple people who were barred from the upper class realm of music. But King David was a poor shepherd boy prior to his ordination, and even after he became a great king he found himself wrestling with his carnal desires, whereas other royals wouldn’t lose a wink of sleep after committing adultery or murder!

       In one of David’s Psalms, number twenty-two, he sang from the depths of his tormented heart: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer; and by night, but find no rest.” Like humans of every place and every age, David could not understand why one as all-powerful and compassionate as Love, who he called Lord, did not save him from the evils and suffering of this life. However, when David listened to the still, small voice deep within: that part of the self that is in communion with All-That-Is, his songs were full of joy and praise for his Creator. David’s Psalm 148 alludes to the choruses of praise that he had heard sung by angels and the beings of nature, all of whom are integral parts of the great cosmic love song:

Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord from the heavens; praise him in the heights!

²Praise him, all his angels; praise him, all his host!

³Praise him, sun and moon; praise him, all you shining stars!

⁴Praise him, you highest heavens, and you waters above the heavens!

⁵Let them praise the name of the Lord, for he commanded and they were created.

⁶He established them forever and ever; he fixed their bounds, which cannot be passed.

⁷Praise the Lord from the earth, you sea monsters and all deeps,

⁸fire and hail, snow and frost, stormy wind fulfilling his command!

⁹Mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars!

¹⁰Wild animals and all cattle, creeping things and flying birds!

¹¹Kings of the earth and all peoples, princes and all rulers of the earth!

¹²Young men and women alike, old and young together!

¹³Let them praise the name of the Lord, for his name alone is exalted;

his glory is above earth and heaven.

¹⁴He has raised up a horn for his people, praise for all his faithful,

for the people of Israel who are close to him. Praise the Lord!