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Sacred Space, Sacred Sound: The Acoustic Mysteries of Holy Places

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REVIEW OF SUSAN HALE'BOOK
SACRED SPACE SACRED SOUND

SACRED SPACE SACRED SOUND
THE ACOUSTIC MYSTERIES OF HOLY PLACES
By
SUSAN ELIZABETH HALE
Foreword by Don Campbell

Susan Hale takes us on a autobiographical spiritual journey to many magnificent holy sites and illuminates for us what the experiences can be within sacred spaces. The principal thrust of Sacred Space Sacred Sound is to reveal that the sacred is not about religion in the strict sense and that it is found in many places around the world. What draws us into the picture is the easy, natural flow of her lively poetic writing. This is not the long-winded, heavy laden jottings of a researcher and/or scientist with no particular gift for prose.

The other side of the coin of this book is "sound" and how it is expanded, resonated and enhanced within the confines of the spaces she has visited. Her background as a singer, music therapist and workshop leader working with sound again gives her an advantage over the typical researcher. Like an intuitive acoustic archaeologist Hale writes totally from deep personal experience so that we are brought into the living presence of sacred spaces transformed into magical temples of harmony where the potential for healing is so magnified. Even if we have been to these places her writing will awaken new perspectives for the eye and the ear.

At the outset Sacred Space Sacred Sound is well-grounded in some basic ideas regarding acoustics and our human capacity to create sound, especially the vowels and their accompanying harmonics, through the brain, tongue and breath. From here we are on her autobiographical sound journey around the world as she sacralizes the natural world of caves, the body of the Earth, mountains, singing tombs and stone circles. Hale is constantly re-enchanting these places so that the reader identifies with the wonder and the knowledge the early peoples would have had. And wherever Hale enters into those worlds sound follows. She hears these landscapes and experiences them of temples of sound. For example she writes: " Each forest, depending on its genus, has its own keynote." and "Stones have been used to create medicine wheels, stone circles. cathedrals, burial chambers and figures in the landscape. Each type of stone has its own acoustic property.".


No book on sacred space and sacred sound would be complete without such sites as Newgrange (Ireland), the Avebury and Stonehenge circles, the Egyptian pyramids and the Tibetan stupas, the latter described by Hale as "representations of the legendary Mount Meru, the central pole between heaven and earth." Hales devotes a chapter to each of them and offers her insights as well as those of researchers Paul Devereaux, Aaron Watson, David Keating, and Iegor Reznikoff on the sites links with sacred sound.. With Newgrange we learn that its entrance "acted as an acoustic projector that amplified tones in the chamber", with Avebury that when Hale placed her face and chest into one of its crevices and sounded into it, "overtones began to ring through me as well as the gray sarsen."; with Stonehenge that "the horseshoe arrangement of stones in the center to be subtly shaped to focus sound in a way similar to the way light can be focused by a parabolic mirror" ; and with the Egyptian pyramids that it is possible that "the sounds from the (ancient Egyptians') instruments and from the King's Chamber sarcophagus had impinged upon the ancient scribes and subliminally influenced the design of written symbols"

The intoning of mantras and chants are recurring themes as they are the essence of sacred sound phenomena. Wherever Hale goes she brings them into play and explains their meaning and significance. For example, one chapter is given over entirely to Gregorian chant. Also, having lived many years in the American Southwest she brings us very close to the spirit of Native American chanting. For Hale there is never a moment when the voice cannot be used to return to the natural bliss that the pure soul contains.

Hale is powerfully drawn to the English and French cathedrals, especially Notre-Dame Cathedral at Chartres, and to Rosslyn Chapel in Scotland, made famous in the book The DaVinci Code. With the English cathedrals she is enamoured of their great choral tradition as it is revealed in Evensong (Chapter 15). She writes of Chartres: "Chartres is not only a place where music is played. Chartres is music. The cathedral echoes the slightest sound. Even whispers sound like angels beating feathery wings through heavenly space." Fascinating knowledge emerges in the Rosslyn Chapel chapter regarding the stone cubes that appear on the curved arches between the pillars in the Lady Chapel. There is a general belief that "these cubes relate to some kind of musical notation". This has been pursued by Scottish composer Stuart Mitchell who thinks he has unravelled this mystery and created a musical score of these cubes (See Caduceus Issue 72)


Sacred Space Sacred Sound is so very well balanced between intellect and emotion. It is well-researched (containing copious footnotes with suggested listening, a discography, a categorical bibliography and index) and has a wealth of knowledge of the sound phenomena and the history of the sacred sites. At the same time it is always heart warming and inspirational as Hale relays her experiences as a gifted travel writer and poet. So the knowledge is assimilated so enjoyably and easily. She has presented us with familiar landscapes and great architectural spaces and transformed them into spiritual oases. The book lends fresh meaning to the word "sacred" and is a glorious hymn to both the ecstasy and serenity to be found in sacred spaces and Nature itself.


James D'Angelo, author of The Healing Power of the Human Voice

From the moment this books touches your hands it begins to sing to you and the Earth.
If you have ever thought of sharing your voice whether in sacred ceremony or in the shower, by chapters end you will be singing, humming, whispering and listening to your own sacred space and sound.
In this book Susan takes your hand as if traveling right alongside her, traveling through the mountains of Taos to the "Isle of Glass" to the space of Norte-Dame de Chartes to the labyrinth in her own back yard, the invitation to sing, make sound, and song, reverberates the soul to a divine space around and within you, allowing it to delight your senses in silence with the precious gift of breath.
It is best said in her book " Song is a way to arrive at silence, Listening is a way to arrive at prayer."
Kathy Parra-

This is truly excellent. The style of writing is engaging and personal. The decription of sacred sound in ancient sacred sites is inspirational, and mind opening. I thoroughly recommend the book and the author. Thankyou.