Click here to hear MP3 file: Windharp Medley (Best experienced using headphones.)

Personal Comment By Artist Ross Barrable:

I have found that the experience of listening to a group of wind harps (while being aware of the harmonics) has taught me to embrace a whole new level of listening. While listening to the wind harps there are several extended moments wherein the initial effect is one of “stilling the mind” and therefore it doesn’t seem to be a reflective experience at all. It is simply….. AHH …. What is that? In that moment one experiences being totally in the now, experiencing this sound as new, without an overlay from the past, and yet paradoxically the sound always seems strangely familiar and timeless.

This quality of harmonic sound seems to support this movement of conscious awareness into a state of stillness in the now, i.e. it relaxes the mind, and its endless temporal dialogue takes a temporary vacation. "Stillness is the breeding ground for all revelation." How long one is able to hold this state of stillness is totally an individual experience but there is no doubt that certain sounds support this shift in awareness.

Listening as Transformation

It is only in the now of time that true listening can exist, without the minds subjective dialogue dominating the moment. To be able to still the mind and truly listen is the preliminary goal of all contemplative practices which certainly demands focused attention and discipline.

It has been my direct experience that a group of Wind Harps create an ambient soundscape which supports true listening in the moment without expectation or a comparison to other sonic impressions.

While listening in the moment one feels a sense of being totally held and supported through the sound, complete, full, content, right now, in this moment. . . . Now in Eternity. No thought, no movement, just being-ness in the sound.

“Harmonic Music, which on the whole seems to have been lost in our culture, might help us hear the state of things, were it to come to life. That is , music- the active understanding of the cosmic laws of harmony- may have a role to play in the effort needed globally to harmonize the current situation; not through proselytizing, but through calling for better listening, and thus perhaps, helping to create conditions where people might hear an important message calling to them. . . within them.”
-- David Hykes of the Harmonic Choir

“When we listen or sound in this manner, our entire scope of consciousness changes. We begin to understand the inter-relationships of ourselves and the cosmos and we may find answers to previously unthought-of questions. Barriers within ourselves disappear, as do those between ourselves and others. We begin to experience a 'Oneness' that helps us realize our interconnectedness with all things. This is an awareness that the spiritual Masters from different paths have spoken of throughout time."
--Jonathan Goldman "The Power of Harmonics"

People’s Comments about Listening to the Windharps

- "I had never heard one and it stopped me in my tracks, I was riveted to the sound. In fact, I had the feeling I had heard it somewhere else; it was a very strong emotional feeling of being connected to somewhere else. I can't describe it, I was surprised at how it made me feel-- a lot like , I want to go back to the sound and just stand with it until I remember-- it was far away, very far and serene."

- "I couldn't tell where the sound was coming from, I thought it was from inside my head..."

- "It's like being in nature, like when you are going through a canyon and hear the sound of the wind through the rocks."

- "Sounds like walking across the Golden Gate Bridge at night without the sound of the traffic."

- "Sounds like whales..."

- "Like walking into a deep green forest and hearing the sounds of the trees communicating between each other, you feel like you are not alone. . ."

- "Sounds like the wind talking..."

- "Sounds like an air violin."

- "Sounds like angels singing from across the cosmos!"

- "The sound is very familiar to me; it takes me to the center core of my being in my body and at the exact same moment to the periphery of my being and all the places and spaces that connect me to my being."

- "A language unto itself."

- "Sounds like you are traveling through time."

- "Sounds like people talking to you from heaven — other worldly..."

- "Are we still on earth?"

- "Sounds like an ancient spirit... haunting beauty..."

- "Distinctive voice, ranging from deep vibratos to a higher pitch as if matter were de-materializing itself and transforming into a higher vibration."

- "Sounds like a call to penetrate into inner space..."

The Wind/Earth Harp
by Jamie Sams/Midnight Son
Author: Animal Medicine Cards, Sacred Path Cards

It was Aristotle who first wrote of the Aeolian harp and taught the children of Earth to listen to the music of the spheres.  He spoke of the spirit of the wind which carried the Muses across the earth's surface and played the silvery strings of the Aeolian harp, giving a voice to the Spirit of the Earth.  This harp was crafted with the elements of nature and brought music to the ears of those who could hear with their hearts.

Much time has passed since the days of Aristotle and once again we find the Muses weaving the song of the Earth Mother and her children. These harps are designed with the essence of sacred geometry and alchemically blended metals which comprise the harp's body.  The sound frequencies sent through the enchanted winds lift the heart of the listener and bring the remembering of ancient and future times.

The diamond-shaped inner mechanism reflects the inner and outer world (as above, so below) and encases a bowl which reminds the viewer of the Grail within each being.  The spiraling strings which surround these components represent the sacred spiral of life as well as the uniqueness found in the DNA of all humans.  The alchemical use of silver, gold, and copper are ancient Celtic symbols for the balance of body, mind, and spirit.  All in all, this exquisite piece of transformational art blends the wholeness of life with light, color, sound, and reflects the joy of the human spirit when set free.

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