25678696-Magical-Use-of-Voice-Phil-Hine.pdf

Magical use of voice

By Phil Hine

Speech is the main form of communication used in our culture - we are all capable of making a

wide range of noises with our mouths, and as the word "en-chant-ment" suggests, the voice has

played a powerful role in magick, in all ages and cultures. The aim of this essay is to examine the

ways in which the voice can be used in magick, and suggest exercises which will help the reader to

develop the range of vocal techniques.

In all cultures, the voice has been an important carrier of power, and most mystery traditions and

religions make use of songs, chants, and prose to worship or bring about gnosis. From dramatic

choruses to hymn and prayer, from working songs such as sea shanties and battle songs to children's

skipping rhymes and folk spells; the power of voice is amazing. Orators, both political and religious,

have used the power of their voices to project their charisma and enthuse mass audiences - look at

the crowds that Billy Graham attracts for example. The sound of a spoken phrase can go far beyond

its meaning to speak directly to the Deep Mind. An extreme example of this is described by Nandor

Fodor, a Jewish psychoanalyst who notes the effects of listening to Adolf Hitler's "rabble-rousing"

speeches. He had heard these speeches on two occasions on the radio, and recalls that although due

to its raucous harshness, Hitler's German was totally incomprehensible to Fodor (who was a native

Hungarian),he felt that:

"ever so slowly, my blood began to boil, and I wanted to shout and scream. It was not a rage

against him. It was with him, like a flow of lava is with the volcano."

Modern politicians very often resort to a speech pattern known as "pathic", which combines tone

and the pacing of words to project an underlying message that no matter what they are talking about,

they are "in control", and "everything is fine - don't get alarmed". The waking mind can be easily

bypassed, so that meaning is carried directly to the Deep Mind, stirring the appropriate emotions

which the speaker wishes to stir.

We can use our voices to convey and project emotional messages very effectively, and tone often

betrays our true feelings on a subject, despite what we actually say. Young children are often

confused by a verbal threat delivered in a light tone of voice. Therapists and healers can pick up a

great deal of information from a client's manner of speaking. The huge differences in accents in a

country allows us to identify a persons origin, even though they have been resident in another

region for years. Using soothing tones can lull people into relaxive trance states, while shouting and

hyperventilating can propel us into excitatory states - as demonstrated by cults such as the Shakers.

Elsewhere we find that the voice can be an aid to martial prowess - ranging from war cries and

battle songs, to the articulation of short syllables during martial arts duels, which are designed to act

as carriers for chin (jin) or to distract an opponent.

Speech also has a cosmological dimension. That, "in the beginning, was the Word" is a concept

common to many cultures, as is the idea that the correct pronunciation of certain Divine names will

bring about the end of the world. Also, there is the idea of the "Rule of Names", most eloquently

expressed in Ursula Le Guin's "Earthsea" stories - that if you know the "True name" of an entity,

then you can command it". William Burroughs, in "The Place of Dead Roads", puts it another way:

"As soon as you name something, you remove its power....If you could look Death in the face he

would lose his power to kill you. When you ask Death for his credentials, his passport is indefinite".

This principle is well-known to all those who delve into the depths of the psyche - that vague, un-

named fears can be "tamed", once they are recognised, and having been named, can be isolated and

drained of their power to terrify. I will be looking in some detail at some of the magical vocal

techniques based on this principle later.

Use of Voice

The way in which we use our voices is a powerful way of projecting our personalities. the way in

which we deliver speech in a given situation can reveal many things (both to ourselves and others)

about our feelings. To use speech effectively we must be:

(i) Confident

(ii) Aware of others

(iii) Relaxed

(iv) Clear in our thoughts

(v) Aware of how speech affects a situation.

With practice and experience, we can learn to use our voices so that we can carry emotions and

feelings to others, ranging from stirring people to enthusiasm and action, to lulling gently into

relaxation using soft words and tones.

Group Chants

Group Chants are one of the most effective (and fun!) ways of raising energy, especially when

combined with dancing, stylised movement, gestures, and swaying. Some of the most popular

chants are those taken from Amerindian sources, such as:

I am the Circle,

I am Healing you,

You are the Circle

You are healing me,

Unite Us

Be One

Unite Us

Be as One.

We are at one

With the Infinite Sun

Forever, Forever, Forever

Such chants as these express and reinforce a sense of belonging, both between immediate group

members, and with the wider world or universe. Chants tend to build up slowly, and pick up speed

as people feel the growing rhythm and pulse of the words and beat, which "carries" people along - it

is easy to get so caught up in the chant that you begin to enter a trance state - but don't just take my

word for it - try it out! The Darksome Night and Shining Moon chant of Wicca is another good

example of a group chant - especially when each line is chanted by a different group member. The

words of the chant serve to resume the central concepts of Wicca - the four elemental directions, the

magical weapons, and the complementary natures of Goddess and God, Darkness and Light.

Spinning mantra

In the most commonly used form of chants, each member of the group repeats the entire verse.

However, the "Spinning Mantra" differs in that one member intones the first line of the chant, the

next person, the second line, and so on. One note can be used throughout, with the same syllables

stressed in each line. Another variant is to start the Spinning Mantra off, and have the members of

the group wander around, stopping briefly in front of each other to chant their lines. This can be

very disorienting, but is very effective if performed with a large group.

Group AUM

This is a simple group exercise. All sit in a circle, with eyes closed. After taking a few deep breaths,

begin a long drawnout A-U-M chant. It need not be synchronised, and is very effective in relaxing

people. It is a common experience that the AUM is chanting itself, through the members of the

group.

Hog Calls

Here, one member of the group makes up a sound, call or statement and shouts it out, and the rest of

the group shout it back at them. This can be especially effective as a kind of freeform invocation,

for example, if everyone is familiar with the qualities, attributes and features of a God or Goddess.

It can be used as light-hearted introduction to designing invocations. This form of repetition is

commonly used in tantrik ritual, as salutations given to the god who is the object of the ritual. The

example below is just a few of the 108 ritual salutations to the god Ganesha:

Salutations to him who has an elephant's face

Salutations to him who wields the mace

Salutations to the son of Gauri

Salutations to the lord of planets

Salutations to him who transcends all qualities

Salutations to him who is lion-like

Humming meditation

This begins in a similar fashion to the Group AUM described above; each member of the group sets

up a humming note, which can change in tone and power at will. The Humming should be kept up

for at least 20 minutes for people to feel the effects of it.

Soundscapes

The idea of Soundscapes is for the group to explore how to use words, tones and sound patterns to

build up a "picture" - creating the atmosphere appropriate to the chosen theme. My favourite

example of a vocal Soundscape is one produced by an experimental drama group, when asked to

express the theme of "Sweets". The group members each chose "mantras" used in advertising

jingles and developed individual rhythms, so that the resulting Soundscape was a mix of:

"Only the crumbl-iest, flaki-est choc-late, tastes like choclate nev-er tasted bee-fore!" (drawn out,

sung high)

"Hot choclate, Drink-ing choclate." (Chanted fast).

"Skit-tles" (repeated with a pause inbetween).

"Mars-Bars" (Bass chant).

"Smartie-People-are-happy-people" (light refrain)

Get the idea? It's useful to get people to brainstorm ideas about a particular subject or theme, and

then to choose one word or phrase to use as the beginnings of a chant. You can also use

soundscapes to evoke and exaggerate moods, and develop group-grown chants for rituals and spell-

casting, more of which later.

Why does singing and chanting have such a powerful effect on us? Repetitive or boring tasks are

easier to perform if there is a tune in the background, or if someone starts to sing. I remember with

particular fondness the "work songs" which were evolved when I spent a few months picking

oranges and grapefruit in Israel, and they certainly livened up what was a boring and strenuous task.

Songs and chants establish rhythms, which not only distract from the boredom of a task, but also

seem to add energy and help "carry" each person along. Group spirit and enthusiasm is raised. One

of the key factors seems to be rhythm. rhythms carry our consciousness along, from heartbeats, to

cycles of breathing, sleeping, night-day and the passage of seasons. rhythms promote associated

body movements and adjustments, and act as a signal to begin movement without conscious effort,

so that less energy is expended when you begin; for example, it has been shown that soldiers can

march further, and in better form, with less fatigue, when accompanied by a marching band. The

feeling of being "carried" comes from the structure that rhythm gives to our time-sense, and the

pattern gives a sense of continuance. It becomes a motor attitude, and one's attention is freed (if this

is desired). rhythms also become "mirrored" by our brain activity, and they have powerful

physiological effects on us. Music Therapists have found that people suffering from Aphasia or

Huntingdon's Chorea (both neurological disorders which impair speech) can carry a tune, and group

singing is a common element in therapeutic voice training. Rhythms are everywhere around us, and

group chants and songs reflect this fact and bring us towards an enhanced sense of participation in

the world.

Raving & Drooling

Modern practitioners of shamanism may come to rely on a 'silver tongue' as much as sleight of hand

or any other trick. The words we use, and their underlying message, can make or break any

developing situation. Knowing how to speak, when to speak, and perhaps most importantly, when

not to speak comes only with experience and practice, and of course, attention. Through our voices

we can lull our clients into trance, laugh away the demons of despair, and shatter smug pomposity

with the unexpected crude remark - profanities may be sacred in themselves, especially when you

consider the comedian as sacred clown; the feared satirist or the impersonator of public figures. Our

pagan heritage around the world abounds with lords of misrule and authority-parodying jesters.

Humour is a powerful weapon, especially when directed against the rich, powerful, and the self-

important.

Primal Poetry

Just for the purposes of discussion, I want to distinguish between 'ordinary' speaking and 'sacred'

speech. Sacred speech, in this context, refers to those occasions when we are using speech

(probably combined with other modes of display) to bring about a magical change - such as in

inducing group trance, communing with spirits, being a horse, raising energy, and so on. At these

times, the way in which we deliver speech is different from our usual habits of talking in that there

may be an enhanced deliberateness in our enunciation, or greater care taken in projecting the subtle

nuances of emotion - awe, ecstasy, gentleness or martial ardour. Whether our words well up,

unbidden, from the Deep Mind, or have been carefully linked together in prolonged brainstorming

sessions, it is highly likely that we will try and find a certain distinct rhythm around which to frame

our words.

The Deep Mind often speaks to us in verse. Cross-cultural studies of the vocal patterns of people in

the throes of possession show a striking similarity, that of a rising and falling intonation at the end

of each phrase, with each phrase punctuated by a pause or groan. This pattern emerges regardless of

native language and cultural background. The English version of this rhythm is known as Iambic

Pentameter. You can hear it also in the frenzied oratorical deliveries of evangelical preachers and in

the apparently meaningless gush of words and phrases from those who have been seized by the

'Holy Spirit'. It wells forth from the Deep Mind as unconscious or deity-inspired poetry &

communications. People who are overshadowed by a deity during ritual often seem to stumble over

their words, as though they are trying to fit their words around the rhythms of the trance. I would

conjecture that the more complete the spirit-possession, the less laboured the sacred speech, as the

persons self-awareness' will be all the more completely submerged by that of the entity.

As the Deep Mind calls to us with a particular rhythm and meter, so do we attempt to call into the

depths of our being by rhythmically pulsing our speech. Sound, like light, sets up rhythms in our

brains, as experiments with electro-encephalographs (EEGs) have shown. These internal rhythms

reflect the sounds which propel us into varying degrees of trance, whether it is the gentle, watery

lapping of the Moon or the thundering frenzy of Pan. If we are caught off-guard, and susceptible,

their effect can be devastating. J.F. Hurley, in his book, "Sorcery", describes a trance condition

known in the Philippines as Lata, which is brought on by a startling sound, after which susceptible

people will imitate actions that they see or words that they hear. Philippino head-hunters took

advantage of this susceptibility by paralysing their victims by using sharp, piercing cries.

This sort of talent appears in many cultures and settings. Pat Crowther, writing in her book "Lid Off

The Cauldron", mentions 'calls' which, when used in open spaces, can draw the unwary to the caller.

Forcefully projected, stattaco hissing noises, reinforced by jerking body movements, can also

precipitate trance. Peter Redgrove, in his short novel, "The God of Glass", makes use of the syllable

SATATATAT, which, when chanted, at the same time as whirling around, produces in its initiates a

disassociation, which culminates in a bee-hum - the Om of ultimate being.

Mantra - Sound carrying Thought

The term mantra should be familiar to most readers. It is usually associated with sounds or words

that when spoken or sung, evoke a particular magical power or energy. Two of the best-known

mantras are AUM or Om, The term mantra is derived from the sanskrit root "man", which means,

'to think'. Thus the uttered sound is merely an aid to the focusing and direction of thought, and

initiates of Tantrika regard the different types of mantra as vehicles for articulating spiritual energy

as sound. For example, there are 'seed' mantras such as Hrim, Krim and Srim. which represents the

quintessence of the power of particular deities; there are also mantras which are based on texts, and

have symbolic, rather than literal meanings, and, as in most cultures, spells and mnemonic formula.

In tantrik ritual, or Puja, the seed mantras are pronounced from the diaphragm, the throat, rolled

around the tongue and finally closed off with the nasal sound "m". Mantras may be uttered 'in

silence', as it were, and be none the less effective. Similarly, Cherokee shaman songs may be sung

or thought, and remain effective. According to one medicine man, the same song could be used for

'every purpose there is', adding that it is 'the intention of the heart, and the knowledge, that really

count.' In techniques such as japas (recitation), the practitioner repeats a sound or phrase repeatedly,

moving eventually from spoken speech to 'silent' speech. The original words may degenerate into a

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