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reprinted
from Spirit
in the Smokies
Self Discovery and Empowerment with Sound by Norma Gentile
I have sung my whole life. My mother tells the story of how I would sing along with her from the crib while she practiced violin, and as a child, I insisted on studying violin and piano. When I reached the university (University of Michigan '76-'82), I was torn between music and medicine. I tried to stretch and do both, but one semester of opera rehearsals until midnight and calculus at 8 a.m. did me in. Music won. I ended up with bachelor's and master's degrees in voice performance, which meant I was training to be an opera singer and to teach this style of singing to others. I fell totally in love with Spanish music of long ago in my second year of college. Here I was, training in the modern operatic style of singing, but I was attracted to music of the 1200's-1600's, music that evoked my own heart response rather than an accepted generic emotion while singing. During college I also dabbled in past life regression and aura reading, mostly at a very simple level. I did some channeling but didn't know enough to call it that at the time. The altered state was similar to what I experienced while singing. When I finished college, however, I put away the metaphysical portion of my life in order to function in the world of professional music, particularly the teaching and performing I pursued in Spain. Upon returning to the US several years later, I began to put both music and esoteric healing together for myself. On one occasion, while driving late one Christmas eve night, I became nauseous. I had worked all day when I received a last-minute call from a church choir director. His entire soprano section was down with the stomach flu. I agreed to sing a rehearsal and that evening's midnight service. Being a night owl, I felt I could drive the 90 minutes to my family's home afterward and be there for Christmas morning.
Toning Discovered to Ease Stomach Flu Symptoms There I was at 1:30am, driving through the inner city of Detroit, feeling nauseous and generally pretty awful, chiding myself for having gotten the flu too! I was listening to a recording of Mozart's Requiem, when I realized that every time the tonic pitch (the main note which the music starts and ends on) was played or sung, my stomach cramps eased up. I began to hum the pitch and found that my body relaxed into the tone. After about 10 minutes, the effect reached a plateau, and I knew I cold easily make it home. I was tired for a couple of days afterwards but didn't have any more cramps or fever. After a bit of diarrhea, my system soon returned to normal. On another occasion, I found that I was experiencing a nerve problem in my jaw. After studying Alexander Technique for a year to resolve the pain, I had an insight that it was occurring from a spiritual level and that I needed to address it at that level. I had heard about a form of hands-off energy work called 'Attunement", and so I committed to do a workshop and to be on the receiving end of the process. As soon as I made the calls, the pain lessened considerably. I went through with my commitment, and it was definitely a turning point in my life. I remember walking in the door to the Attunement workshop and hearing--plainly spoken inside my head--that the man seated in front of me at the registration table would be "very important to me for the next seven years." He turned out to be one of my teachers for this process as well as a mentor, and someone who helped me take my next step in music.
10th Century Abbess/Composer Inspires Change In 1990, I decided to take several months and work specifically with someone to deepen my experience with Attunement. This meant going to live in the California desert. Since there was a shortage of other musicians there, I went to the University library at home to look for some solo chant music to take along. As I was walking down the library aisle, I noticed the chant books were bound in black and brown and gray--except one in a rosy salmon color! I was curious, picked it up, and noticed it was by a female author/composer named Hildegard von Bingen. It appeared to be written in her own Latin texts. I had never heard of her (and I was present, and mostly awake for two years of music history classes. I was intrigued by the new find. I packed my Latin dictionary along with a few songs from the book, and off I went to California. There I stayed in a spiritual community, (Emissaries), and they gave me a nice room to sing in each day. As I sang her music, people had varying reactions to it. Some loved it and scheduled themselves to be near the room; others politely asked me if I could sing elsewhere or later. I noticed that when I sang through a chant (and it took me a few weeks to get to this point), the room felt warm afterwards. The change of atmosphere was palpable to others also, and I started singing Hildegard's chants for small groups of people regularly. It was clear to me that these people were very affected by music, and I felt that Hildegard's chants provided an especially clear medium for spirit.
Transition to Powerful Meditation Concerts Over the next several years, small chanting groups developed into the Candlelight Meditation Concerts that I do now. I use Tibetan Singing Bowls and have the audience hum to accompany the chants. During concerts and workshops I channel one of my primary guides, who I believe was also a guide to Hildegard. This guide has different names, including a version of Seth; the archetypal female energies of Mataji; and a Hathor being, among others. I have been told that when the group focuses on a tone I offer or the tones we all do together, participants notice an immediate energy shift in the room. Many have told stories of seeing loved ones who had died recently, or of communing with their guides, or seeing spiritual teachers appear in the room. There are sounds which I associate with a heightened energetic state, such as meditation or musical performance. Usually they are prolonged tones, and can be either low- or high-pitched. Often people will ask me if this could be mistaken for tinnitus, better known as ringing in the ears. Since I believe they are indications of the presence of helpmates (guides or angels), I welcome them. I find that when I give my attention to the ringing, it becomes stronger, more tones become audible, and eventually they settle into a comfortable overall chord of sound. If I am working with a client, often several tones will become audible. I will focus on one tone, bringing that particular guide more into the healing process. This can be helpful when the client wants specific information (such as on their physical health) or when my own intuition is telling me that there are too many "cooks" for the healing. After a decade of working consciously with the altered state so easily achieved through sound, I believe it affects us at a primary level. Sound can also intensify the vibrational pattern underlying an issue, which can make one uncomfortable. Used with the intent of opening to spirit, sound gives a group of people something to focus on and allows Spirit to come through more clearly. Because of this, people tend to be more open to learn new things. There have been times while singing that I have felt as if two other bodies were interfacing mine, two other parallel life experiences or incarnations. When I practice singing at home, I always have pen and paper handy to note the insights I receive. Sometimes, these are as simple as remembering errands or making a grocery list. Other times, the insights are more about my own motives or another's desires in working out a challenging situation. I feel that sound magnifies the unconscious intent of the speaker or singer. This allows me a greater ability to clarify my intentions and my life. Today I use audible sound with great care and teach others to use it very gently in workshops. A tone sung with an intent of receiving and drawing out the essence of another (receptive sounding) is very different from a tone sung with the intention of healing another (projected sounding). Since I never assume that physical healing is the ultimate healing which a soul desires, I find that helping others create their own healing with receptive sounding is the most powerful and simple tool I can offer. I am honored to provide this space to others and humbled at being able to hear and see the intimate interaction of spirit and human being. I feel that encouraging expression of our creative spirit, whether through music or any other endeavor, is a means of both planetary and personal blessing.
Norma Gentile, MM, is a professional singer and trained intuitive healer who specializes in the music of Hildegard von Bingen. She has a private voice coaching and intuitive healing practice in Ann Arbor, Michigan where she resides.
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