Songs That Save Our Lives
Do you know those times when your heart is breaking, and then you hear a piece of music, and you feel your life has been saved? You were drowning, and then this melody, harmonic progression, lyrical phrasing, lifts you up and out, creates space around you where the crushing water of grief was closing in, and you feel it drain away as the sonic structure gives you ground to stand on.
We all have those songs and artists that have gotten us through a difficult time. When we weren’t sure how we’d make it, but we do make it, because music expanded our inner world, and thus, our capacity to endure and find a way through. Who among us has not told (or at least thought about telling) an artist that their music saved their life?
Like the return of the sun after the the longest night of the year, which we’ve recently celebrated, the right song at the right time can return a glimmer of hope to a troubled soul. It can shine light on a path forward where we couldn’t see before. It cracks us open so the light can get in.
We can give this gift of music to others when they are unable to reach for it themselves. A friend recently told me that when her mom was in a rehabilitation center after a stroke, she remained catatonic for some time. My friend then brought her music from her favorite musical. Once her mom heard the music, her expression came alive, and from then on, she remained present and began to heal. We know that hearing is the last sense to go when a life is winding down. Perhaps hearing familiar, beloved music was the thing that helped my friend’s mother anchor herself in physical reality once again.
How can music have such power to transform our lives? From a magical perspective, my experience is that music creates architecture within in our brains. Let me explain.
The Architecture of Song
Music is structured very similarly to how our brains work. Play a note, and we have a point of focus. From emptiness, form has emerged, and we now have something upon which to fix our awareness. Then a second note is played in relationship to the first note. Now we have a line, a distance between one note and the next. When two notes are played together, or right next to each other, our brains process the relationship between the notes, and this spacial relationship gives our brains a sense of movement or distance. Then a third note is played, and this gives us a third point in space. Now we have 3-dimensional space being activated in our brains. From here we create scaffolding from different patterns of notes, their varying relationships building shapes in our minds.
The spacial relationship between two notes is called an interval. The spacial relationship between 3 notes is called a triad. 3 or more notes played simultaneously are called a chord. Once we reach a note that is oscillating twice as fast as the first note, we have an octave, and a sense of vertical space is achieved.
Music can sound epic or dramatic when it has large intervalic jumps.The spaces between notes are big and sweeping, giving the feeling of a cathedral or plunging mountains. These large spaces between notes create a vast inner universe, and we can easily find ourselves contemplating life’s great mysteries in the midst of such grandeur.
Likewise, songs with small spaces between intervals can evoke a sense of spookiness or unease, as though something is skulking just around the corner but we can’t see it. A minor second interval, for example. The two notes are so close together that they create dissonance, which happens when the oscillations of each note don’t beat in a simple ratio. 30:31, rather than the 2:3 or 4:5 of harmonic intervals. Dissonance feels creepy, as though something is looking over our shoulder. Dissonance breaks apart structure, and thus “spooky”music can be well suited for opening into the spirit world, for the dissonance jars us out of ordinary consciousness, and the beings living just out of sight become more perceptible. We can use dissonant music to disassemble architecture that is no longer serving us as well.
Music can be thought of as an auditory symbol. A symbol encapsulates a quality of inner space. We may not know how to describe a mystical experience, but we have symbols that can evoke that experience in a way that transcends words. The image of the Holy Grail comes to mind. Music does this for us as well, as the spacial relationships between notes build upon one another and paint an inner landscape. When used with lyrics, the structure of the music can reinforce the lyrical message, and deepen our understanding of the song.
By thinking about music as a map of 3-dimensional space, we can build, shape, tear down, and reform our inner landscapes as needed or desired.
The Inner Sanctuary
Once we know how the architecture of music works, we can use this understanding to strengthen and enhance our magical spaces. Consider a piece of music you love for ritual. Why have you chosen this piece over another piece? What elements of this music are resonant with the theme of your ritual? Does something deep and pulsing bring to mind Hekate’s cave? Do bells and chimes awaken a sense of celebration? I encourage you to spend some time with your favorite ritual music, and take note of which sounds create visions and/or feeling tones for you, and why that might be.
One practice I have long valued is the building of an inner sanctuary; a familiar place where I can begin journeys through the Otherworld; a place of protection and rejuvenation where I can center myself before a journey or return to when I need to ground or rest, but don’t wish to return to the physical world just yet. There is also wisdom in creating an inner sanctuary so that we have a place to gather ourselves upon leaving our body at the time of death.
Music can help us create these inner temples when visualization alone is difficult, for it engages a second sense, that of sound, and thus helps us fill in any gaps we may have in our Inner Eye.
I invite you to try this exercise: You’ll need a piece of music that evokes for you the type of feeling you would like your inner sanctuary to have. You’ll also need paints, pens or pencils of many different colors, and suitable paper for your chosen medium.
As you listen to the music, allow yourself to paint or draw. Let the music guide you. Remember, this isn’t about whether you are “good” at drawing or painting. This is about how music can guide your imagination to create inner landscapes. It is about what you experience as you allow music to take shape through you. Allow yourself to drop into flow as you create shapes and sizes and patterns according to what the music inspires. Your inner sanctuary may morph and change many times before it settles, so be patient with this. The process, not the result, is the magic here.
Try this exercise as many times as you like, with different pieces of music. The first piece you choose may not be the right resonance for bringing your sanctuary to life. Or your sanctuary may form out of several pieces combined. Multiple sanctuaries may reveal themselves, to be accessed based on differing moods or needs.
If you are a musician yourself, you may write a piece of music based on the inner sanctuary that develops through you, thus creating a song specifically to evoke this space. In this way, art and music combined can deepen the understanding of each, as you bounce back and forth between both disciplines to weave a tapestry around you, a vehicle in which you can traverse Otherworldly realms.
It is my wish for you that this practice enhances your magical work as well as your enjoyment of music. May the music you love be ever a portal into the rich worlds of the Imaginal!
Would you like to make song-magic with me? I am developing a singing class called “Enchantment”; where we will approach singing and music through the lens of magic. If you would like to learn more and be notified when this class is open, please visit: https://sharon-knight.lpages.co/enchantment-class/
All photos in this post are by MARIOLA GROBELSKA
If you enjoyed this post, we suggest you also check out Music Saved My Life by Pagan Song blogger Mama Gina.
For more information about Sharon Knight, including her collected articles here on Pagan Song, her bio, and links to Sharon’s sites on the web, check out Sharon’s page on Pagan Song.
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