Reconnecting Science & Spirituality

For anyone interested in metaphysical concepts, you may already be aware of the notion that sound affects matter, that sound creates reality. There is evidence across many ages, religions, and civilisations, that ancient populations had a spiritual or intuitive understanding that sound had a form-shaping power. It is not a new idea or concept that we are only just discovering, but one with a long and mysterious history, that can often make us wonder how these civilisations of the past came to possess such knowledge without the need nor access to the technology we have today.

The truth is, in earlier times, spirituality and science weren’t seen as such separate and opposing modes of thought. They both contributed to a greater understanding of the universe. But at some point in the centuries preceding us, the connection between science and spirituality was severed. This was partly, dare I say, due to the institutionalisation of religions as an imitation of the empires that sought control of and obedience from their subjects. We are at a point where science is starting to catch up with the ancient understandings of the how the universe works, and so, with the scientific development of something like Cymatics, we are slowly reaching a point where we can see science reconnecting with spirituality, science reconnecting with art, music connecting with art. We are slowly re-learning that nothing is separate, and that everything is connected.

Cymatics is proof of this connection. It is the study of how vibration creates visible patterns in matter, the patterns being very geometrical, ordered, and… beautiful. Cymatics unites sacred geometry with music, as it is evident that many ancient sacred geometrical designs follow many of the same contours. Therefore, these patterns and shapes formed by audible vibration allow us to see sound. To see the invisible. With each sound generated in our world, these patterns are occurring whether we can see them or not, all around us, all the time, not just within the experiments. And so, if form emerges from vibration, we can see that these patterns, influenced by sound, exist to shape our reality, meaning that ultimately… sound creates reality.

Cymatics: A Potted History

*To read more about each key player, please read this* *article by Cymascope.*

Ernst Chladni, Normal Modes & Nodal Lines:

Described as the ‘father of acoustics’, the German physicist and musician, Ernst Chladni (1756-1827) is famed for his invention of Chladni plates. He used these plates, which were essentially rigid metal surfaces, to demonstrate the varying modes of vibration, specifically normal modes.

In short, normal modes, are the specific and natural way an item may vibrate when left to move on its own. These items could include anything, since everything is always in motion and therefore, everything has the ability to vibrate, for example, it could be something as small as a guitar string to a whole building. Often, in more scientific vocabulary, these ‘items’ would be described as ‘systems’ which is used to mean “a group of things that are connected and can move or interact together in some way.” The reason for this is to encompass both simple systems, such as a pendulum swinging, and more complex systems, such as the atoms inside a molecule. So, if we are discussing the normal modes of a system, it means “the natural vibrational patterns that happen when that group of connected parts is left to move on its own.”

In music, the evidence for vibration, oscillation, and normal modes is much more clear. When the hammers in the piano hit the strings, the strings vibrate. When a violinist bows the strings of the violin, they vibrate. When a harpist plucks the strings of a harp, they vibrate. We can see it in real time how the motion of hitting, plucking, or bowing creates the sound, causing the vibration… or causes the vibration which creates the sound.

It is this ‘activity’ that Chladni was exploring and experimenting with. He developed a technique, using his metal plates, that comprised of lightly dusting the plates with sand and then drawing a bow across the edge of the metal until it resonated. The vibration that this created would cause the sand to move across the surface to form a pattern that followed nodal lines where the surface remained still. These patterns came to be known as Chladni figures or Chladni patterns.

Now, I cannot mention ‘nodal lines’, without giving credit to Robert Hooke (1635-1703), an English polymath whose knowledge spanned many subjects including physics, astronomy, and architecture. Although he had many major discoveries and contributions to society within his multiple careers, it has been noted that in 1680, it was Hooke who had initially devised the experiment that Chladni would go on to imitate. The experiment entailed a glass plate covered with flour with a bow drawn across the edge, naturally resulting in the formation of the same nodal patterns related to the modes of vibration. Hooke’s discovery was known to be pioneering and yet it was Chladni who seems to have taken most of the credit, having published his own version of this technique in his 1787 book ‘Discoveries in the Theory of Sound.’ As we can see, over a hundred years had passed between Hooke’s first exploration and the publication of Chladni’s book. Perhaps, nothing much came of Hooke’s findings during his lifetime, and Chladni was the first to revisit them after his death? Nevertheless, whatever happened within that century, it is clear that both men, in their own way, contributed to our current understanding and knowledge of these mysterious sound-induced patterns.

Margaret (Megan) Watts-Hughes & The Eidophone:

One lesser-known figure in the history of Cymatics research is Margaret (Megan) Watts-Hughes (1848-1907). She was a Welsh singer, songwriter, scientist, and philanthropist who also experimented with the concept of visualising sound. Using her invention, the ‘Eidophone’, which was very similar to what would become Hans Jenny’s tonoscope, she produced geometric patterns purely from the resonance of her voice, referring to these patterns as ‘Voice-Figures’ or ‘Voice-Flowers’, since she found that when she used coloured glycerine, intricate flower-like patterns were produced. Describing the patterns she created as ‘beautiful crispations’, she noted that they would ‘only appear if the pitches sung were not too forced’.

Her process is described below, in her own words:

“In 1885, while seeking means to indicate readily the intensities of vocal sounds, I first met with these [voice] figures, and, owing to their variety both in form and production, they have since absorbed much of my attention. The apparatus I have employed I call the eidophone. This is very simple. It consists merely of an elastic membrane, such as thoroughly flexible soft sheet-rubber, tightly stretched over the mouth of a receiver of any form, into which receiver the voice is introduced by a wide-mouthed tube of convenient shape. In some cases the receiver may be dispensed with, and the membrane be stretched across the open end of the tube itself.”

— Margaret Watts Hughes, Century Magazine (1891)

Hughes was essentially exploring the literal manifestation of sound into form using her voice, a concept that blends intuition and creativity with scientific inquiry. Her discoveries were fascinating because she merged science and art in a very unique and creative way. Instead of simply recording the shapes she generated in a very orderly and scientific manner, she took it one step further and began to create art with them. She did this by photographing and drawing them, as well as taking impressions of the voice figures through applying a coated glass plate onto the moist forms, however unfortunately, whatever this coating was remains unknown. This approach allows her work to sit at the intersection of science, music, and art, which is very reflective of cymatics itself, that also sits at the intersection of science, sound, and visuals.

Hughes’ work was published in 1891 in The Century Magazine and was exhibited from the late 1880’s onwards at the Musical Association rooms, the Royal Institution, and the Royal Society, which only began allowing women to exhibit scientific work from 1976. It was in 1888 that Margaret displayed her Eidophone and Voice Figures, ‘becoming the first woman to present an invention there’. Despite this, she was still seen as a woman working outside of academia, meaning her findings were viewed more as curiosities than real science. This is why much of her contributions to this research, although astonishingly brilliant, have often been left out of mainstream discourse. Nevertheless, we can remember her now and bring her work back into focus. In 1904, her research paper ‘The Eidophone; Voice Figures: Geometrical and Natural Forms Produced by Vibrations of the Human Voice’ was published. I have shared some examples of her work below.

““Everything owes its existence, solely and completely, to sound.””

— Hans Jenny

Hans Jenny & Modern Technology:

Having talked about nodal lines and patterns, which were the terms used to understand this phenomenon many centuries ago, it is important to note that they essentially fit under the same umbrella as Cymatics, a more modern term conceived by the Swiss natural scientist and physician, Hans Jenny (1904-1972).

Jenny’s work drew upon the discoveries of the people before him, except he took it further, exploring different shapes, substances, and mediums. His ability to progress the findings of Hooke, Chladni, and Hughes was greatly assisted by the technological advances of the 20th century. Hooke and Chladni had been limited by their somewhat simple plates, violin bows, and sands. Hughes was to some degree limited by her own voice. There was only so far that they could push it. But Jenny, he had crystal oscillators and tone generators; devices that could generate and output repeating waveforms in a broad spectrum of frequencies. Having connected a metal plate on which he could apply various pastes, powders, and liquids, he was able to see how different frequencies affected his different inert substances. He found that through the application of these frequencies to the various substances, he could generate endless beautiful geometrical patterns. All different. All unique, depending on the frequency applied and the substance used. The higher the frequency, the more complex the pattern. He noted that many of these patterns were akin to the universal patterns that we see in Nature and the natural world, just like snowflakes, diatoms, or flowers, all very reminiscent of the geometric symbols known as mandalas that appear in many ancient spiritual traditions.

hans Jenny, the abstract machine and diagram.jpeg

Using his tonoscope, ‘a device that makes sound waves visible by displaying their vibrations’, Jenny was able to create harmonic images of the patterns that he generated. He compiled his findings into a book titled ‘Kymatic (Cymatics)’ which was published in 1967. A second volume of this book was published after his death in 1972, sharing his completed body of work.

“The principle underlying Cymatics, that of periodicity, is so ubiquitous in nature (and in Nature), that it is found in all manner of phenomena... [It mirrors] biological forms and natural processes, as well as flowers, mandalas and intricate geometric designs … these experiments seemed to reveal the hidden nature of creation, to lay bare the very principle through which matter coalesces into form.” ”

— Jeff Volk

Tree Rings

Lotus

Diatom

Snowflake

The Three Principles:

From Jenny’s experiments he noted three fundamental principles of vibration and wave motion:

The Pole of Kinetic-Dynamic Process (Wave Form): The fact that one can hear the sound as a wave. Audible kinetic and dynamic processes, aka plate vibrations, cause energy transfer that leads to the plate’s oscillation and the movement of the substance’s particles (sand etc.). These dynamic physical changes often go hand in hand with sound, hence why they are audible.
The Pole of Patterned-Figurative Formation (Particle Form): The fact that one can see the visible patterns and figures that the sound creates on the plate.
Essential Periodicity: This is a term created by Jenny to explain the complete process evident in his findings. Essential relates to the patterns that are the essence of the physical world. Periodicity relates to the periodic cycles that are rooted in the physical plane. Together, this concept accentuates the innate order and rhythm within the natural world.

Conclusion:

It is clear that Cymatics lives right on the edge of modern physics and ancient metaphysics. It lives in a space similar to that of quantum physics and the double-slit experiment, which explores the wave-particle duality that ultimately implies that consciousness affects matter, that observation isn’t passive but participates in the creation of reality. Cymatics, on the other hand, is form arising out of vibration, a wave becoming a visual, physical reality, affecting the particles, implying that vibration organizes matter into form, that it is the invisible sculptor of the visible. All of these concepts directly link to spiritual beliefs and manifestation through demonstrating the notion that reality is not fixed, instead it is responsive. What we may ‘observe’ or ‘tune into’ begins to collapse potential into actuality. It is an essential creative force, and one I will explore further in Part 2, so stay tuned!