Cymatics, Solfeggio and Binaural Beats: How vibration and sound can heal us

When we speak about the word “healing”, what instantly comes to mind is energy healing, crystals, chakras, Reiki, past life regression and so on. ‘Sound’ rarely crosses your mind. Sound is not thought of as something that can be used in meditation or healing sessions or anything remotely associated with Spirituality. But it is one of the many tools used on spiritual journey and an effective one. Solutions to many modern day problems could be found in Cymatics. This article takes a brief look at the role Cymatics, Solfeggio and binaural beats play in Spirituality.

How sound affects us

Even though ‘Cymatics’ was a word coined by Hans Jenny in 1967, the work was originally begun by Ernst Chladni 180 years ago in 1787. Chladni showed that when a plate or a membrane is subjected to vibration, the surface is divided in regions that vibrate in different direction with no vibration nodal lines between them. Chladni proved this by moving a bow on a metal plate covered lightly in sand particles till resonance was reached. It was observed that the sand particles concentrated and aligned themselves to the nodal lines immediately. These came to be known as ‘Chladni figures’.

Hans Jenny built upon the work of Ernst Chladni by publishing ‘Cymatics: The Study of Wave Phenomena’ in 1967. Jenny, built a tonoscope. He made use of quartz sand on a black membrane which was caused to vibrate at various sound frequencies. The sand formed patterns on the membrane (Chladni figures). The patterns formed were rather basic at low frequencies but as the sound frequency was increased, the patterns became more and more complex. Many of these experiments on cymatics can be found on youtube.

Cymatics is a method to literally make sound visible. Now if you have read my article on thoughts, you would know that each thought has a vibration and how important it is to have positive thoughts in mind. But cymatics gives a brief idea on the power of sound and how it could be used in a positive way. Hymns that are chanted, mantras that are chanted or prayers, all have words in them. These words hold specific frequencies within them, similar to how thoughts have specific frequency within them. That is why, just like positive thoughts, positive words and positive sound frequencies are equally important.

If you spend time with any of the ancient cultures like the native North Americans, South American tribes or the Buddhists or Hindus, you would notice that each time they chant a prayer, it is done so at a specific tone. Ancient tribes also indulge in ceremonial drumming and chanting, which is usually at a particular frequency of sound, resulting in an incredible rush of positive energy, trance and ecstasy. These positive notes of sound cause a corresponding positive effect and feeling on the body.

I have to warn you that the opposite is also true. Any sound that is not based in resonance or divine light, often results in negative effects on the body and emotions. A simple example is this: You will feel extremely good and positive listening to a classical instrumental music (Bach or Mozart) or a song with positive words or a prayer. On the contrary, the mere sound of the background music of a horror film causes your heart to race, and can you feel fear inside you. This is explained by cymatics. While the positive frequency of classical music or a prayer brings about a positive reaction from your body, sound of a horror scene has a negative effect. This is why repeated honking after getting stuck in traffic causes many people a headache. It is not the traffic that actually hurts us but the impatient honking that releases a negative frequency in the surrounding area.

It is interesting to note that Hindu temples have bells where the deity’s statue is located. These bells are manually rung before praying. The actual reason for ringing the bell has rarely been discussed but the frequency at which these bells ring and the vibration of the bell itself sends positive energy up your body that can be felt. These bells carry a frequency that sends positive energy and vibes across the surroundings and through the worshippers. Tibetan bowls or Tibetan singing bowls are common items sold at spiritual shops and online that have been purchased by many. These bowls are filled with water and vibrated with a stump to produce a sound that instantly sends positive energy across the room. These bowls are also attuned to a specific frequency of sound using cymatics. The positive effect of chanting “OM” during meditation is shown by cymatics in this video.

Many monks levitate during meditation because they increase the vibration of their body to such an extent in a deep trance that it defies that laws of physics. It has also been suggested by many that the power of sound was harnessed in ancient Egypt to lift the heavy block of stones to build the pyramids. It is impossible even by modern engineering methods to build such a structure and cymatics could have played a role in levitating each block into position.

The effect of cymatics are not seen just in sand or powdered solids, it has also been observed in water and even fire. Sounds, vibration and frequency affects everything. Both sound and words are powerful, just like your thoughts. While sound is important due to the effect of its frequency on our being, words are important because it helps us become more positive and spiritually inclined when used as affirmations. These words in the form of positive affirmation ultimately imprint on the subconscious and become positive thoughts. You can use these to your advantage by healing yourself & others and progressing spiritually.

Solfeggio frequencies

An American naturopathic physician and herbalist by the name Dr. Joseph Puleo came across a set of sacred numbers with repeating sequence of 3, 6 and 9 while examining Chapter 7 of The Bible. He deciphered a set of 6 numbers which were the 6 sound frequencies of the six missing tones of the ancient Solfeggio scale. These 6 sound frequencies later came to be known as the “Solfeggio Frequencies”. There are more than 6 Solfeggio frequencies with repeating sequences of 3, 6 9 but the ones given below are the most commonly referred to. In the book ‘Healing codes for the Biological Apocalypse’, Dr. Leonard Horowitz has said that the Solfeggio frequencies were so powerful, that it was buried and never came out in public. It has been alleged by some that the frequencies were deliberately locked away from the public eye.

Solfeggio frequencies have been said to have originated from The Bible but it has been pointed out by many that the frequencies may have also been in use in Hinduism, unknown to mankind. Hindu mantras are usually chanted and are inherently potent in effect. Many of these mantras are chanted at frequencies of sounds that have been shown to create a powerful positive experience. Adding the next number in sequence to Dr. Puleo’s original 6 frequencies, we get a set of 7 frequencies which represent the 7 chakra system (read about Chakras here).

The 7 commonly used Solfeggio frequencies and its characteristics are:

396 Hz – Liberating Guilt and Fear
417 Hz – Undoing Situations and Facilitating Change
528 Hz – Transformation and Miracles
639 Hz – Connecting Relationships
741 Hz – Awakening Intuition
852 Hz – Returning to Spiritual Order
963 Hz – Divine Consciousness or Enlightenment

These frequencies are in sequence of 3, 6 and 9 as seen here:

396 Hz = 3 + 9 + 6 = 18 = 1 + 8 = 9
417 Hz = 4 + 1 + 7 = 12 = 1 + 2 = 3
528 Hz = 5 + 2 + 8 = 15 = 1 + 5 = 6
639 Hz = 6 + 3 + 9 = 18 = 1 + 8 = 9
741 Hz = 7 + 4 + 1 = 12 = 1 + 2 = 3
852 Hz = 8 + 5 + 2 = 15 = 1 + 5 = 6
963 Hz = 9 + 6 + 3 = 18 = 1 + 8 = 9

There are more of these frequencies in sequences of 3, 6 and 9 which go on like 1074 Hz, 1185 Hz, 1296 Hz, 1317 Hz and so on. Nikola Tesla had famously said, “If you only knew the magnificence of the 3, 6 and 9, then you would hold a key to the universe”. Even though he was speaking about electromagnetic field, it does appear to be apt for Solfeggio frequencies as well.

Each Solfeggio frequency has a specific purpose. These tones contain the frequency required to balance our energies and heal us. For example, the 528 hertz (Hz) frequency can be used to repair DNA and is a frequency of Universal miracles. It is interesting to note that patterns (Chladni figures) are also observed when a plate or membrane is vibrated with Solfeggio frequencies.

Our modern day music is completely out of sync with the original Solfeggio frequencies or divine cymatics because a different tuning application was used in ancient times as compared with current times. Ancient tuning practices used “just intonation” as compared with “12TET” used in current times. That is why you must be careful what you listen to. You body will react in the corresponding manner to the songs you listen to and with most modern day songs out of sync, it becomes difficult to find the perfect frequency in today’s music. Solfeggio frequencies are available on YouTube and also available for download on several websites.

Binaural beats & Isochronic Tones

Consider, for example, that you are listening to a tone of 200 Hz in your left ear and a tone of 205 Hz in your right ear through earphones. Your brain would automatically perceive an illusory tone of 5 Hz that is a numerical difference of the 2 tones (i.e 205 – 200 = 5 Hz). This third tone is called a binaural beat. The brain produces this new frequency of 5 Hz. This is called the frequency follow response where the brain automatically aligns the brainwaves to this frequency. A Binaural beat is an auditory tone perceived by the brain, when 2 tones of different frequencies are subjected to each ear such that their frequency difference is less than 40Hz and both tones are within the frequency of 1500 Hz (i.e < 1500 Hz).

Binaural beats have now been used for a variety of purposes since being discovered including meditation, relieving pain & aches, lowering stress and anxiety, overcoming depression, changing habits and behaviour patterns, increasing focus of students and so on. You can find the binaural beats of your specific choice on YouTube. Building upon the work of Heinrich Wilhelm Dove from 1839, biophysicist Dr. Gerald Oster wrote a paper called ‘Auditory Beats in the Brain’ in 1973 to catapult binaural beats into everyone’s awareness. In his paper, he wrote, “It is possible that hormonally induced physiological behaviour changes may be made apparent by measuring the binaural-beat spectrum.”

Remember, binaural beats will only work on headphones and when both sound frequency tones are heard together. Brainwave entertainment is considered safe for ages 16 and above but should not be used by people with mental disorders, epilepsy, people with pacemaker, pregnant women or those prone to seizures.

Advancement of technology also gave birth to Isochronic Tones. These are potent computer generated fast audio pulses which are often masked by nature sounds like a beach or rain or birds chirping. Isochronic tones gently bring your brain to the required brainwave frequencies. You can find more about how to use Brainwave entertainment in a separate article on meditation.

From this article, you might have now understood how powerful vibration and frequency. Sound is all around us, right from the sound of an alarm that wakes us up in the morning to the sound of a yawn before you sleep at night, yet this world of vibration works in mysterious ways behind the shadows. With the right knowledge, you can wield the power of sound to benefit your spiritual progress and for your wellbeing.