Patterns and Meaning in Music

[Lou Gold]

Just to share my personal musical journey, with a disclaimer that music tastes are personal preferences, I myself, having 50GB of music library, listened and played music from ancient to most contemporary, my favorite period now is medieval, and this is what I mostly play and listen now (together with ambient and some modern classical). Here is an interesting event - a lecture on the medieval music and a concert by my favorite ensemble La Morra. As the lecturer said - the medieval music bears a very special "finesse and grace" that was lost in later periods. This concert mostly presents pieces of non-sacred music, but the sacred music of this period is a special treat, especially the outstanding genius of Hildegard von Bingen.

A few years ago I had a visionary dream where I saw a beautiful landscape and two men standing, holding strange harp-like instruments and playing/singing music of unbelievable beauty that sounded very medieval yet strangely unearthly. When I woke up I was totally fascinated. How come my own mind could possibly come up with such unbelievably captivating music on its own? Being a player through my whole life, I have never been any good at composing. I still have a strong sense that I was hearing music from transcorporeal realms. Anyway, that dream sparkled a strong call and interest in the medieval music, and I dropped classical guitar and started playing the Baroque guitar and delving into the medieval repertoire.

YES! Medieval music is extraordinary. Last year, for many months, I made it part of my personal spiritual practice to sleep every night with Hildegard's music playing softly in my room. (Highly recommended!) I suspect that in the Western tradition Medieval times were the pinnacle of consensual cultural integration under the power of the Great Mother. The great cathedrals taking a century to build are an outstanding artifact of Her presence (nowadays replaced by things like Trump Towers).

Eugene asks, "How come my own mind could possibly come up with such unbelievably captivating music on its own?" I would respond, hopefully non-arrogantly, that perhaps you accessed the "universal mind." Perhaps, folks can forgive me if I note one of my standing beefs with this forum and the analytical modality in general:

WHERE IS THE VOICE OF THE GREAT MOTHER?

[Eugene I]

Eugene asks, "How come my own mind could possibly come up with such unbelievably captivating music on its own?" I would respond, hopefully non-arrogantly, that perhaps you accessed the "universal mind." Perhaps, folks can forgive me if I note one of my standing beefs with this forum and the analytical modality in general:

WHERE IS THE VOICE OF THE GREAT MOTHER?

As Bach said on his deathbed: "Don't cry for me my dear as I'm going where the music is born"

Also, as one NDEr said about his encounter with the Divine: "It was masculine and powerful and at the same time feminine and nurturing"

[Soul_of_Shu]

WHERE IS THE VOICE OF THE GREAT MOTHER?

As usual, what is focused on determines what is missed ... we are never actually forsaken from that ever-present voice either, singing between the lines, just not attentive.

[Lou Gold]

Eugene asks, "How come my own mind could possibly come up with such unbelievably captivating music on its own?" I would respond, hopefully non-arrogantly, that perhaps you accessed the "universal mind." Perhaps, folks can forgive me if I note one of my standing beefs with this forum and the analytical modality in general:

WHERE IS THE VOICE OF THE GREAT MOTHER?

As Bach said on his deathbed: "Don't cry for me my dear as I'm going where the music is born"

Also, as one NDEr said about his encounter with the Divine: "It was masculine and powerful and at the same time feminine and nurturing"

I guess I'd be labeled a "trinitarian" because my faith is in the Father, Mother and Child within a Great Mysteriousness. Not put forth to argue about it, just a way that works for me.

[Eugene I]

I guess I'd be labeled a "trinitarian" because my faith is in the Father, Mother and Child within a Great Mysteriousness. Not put forth to argue about it, just a way that works for me.

Exactly, as another NDEr Nancy Danison said about her encounter with the Source: "It is like a child: curious and creative"

[Lou Gold]

I guess I'd be labeled a "trinitarian" because my faith is in the Father, Mother and Child within a Great Mysteriousness. Not put forth to argue about it, just a way that works for me.

Exactly, as another NDEr Nancy Danison said about her encounter with the Source: "It is like a child: curious and creative"

Eugene, We seem to have somehow moved into a synchronicity connection, so I'd like to flow on with it. Here's an archetypal legend that I truly love about what is named as the "Child Jesus of Prague."

At one time Santa Teresa de Avila sent an ornate small statue of the Child Jesus to a rich patron of the Catholic Church in Prague. It was given to the church and installed in its own altar. It exhibited some healing powers and gained a following. Later, during one of the religious wars associated with the Reformation, the church was badly damaged, the altar was destroyed and the statue vanished. A priest who loved the image dug through the rubble for weeks and finally found the image, which had lost its right hand, the hand of agency and blessing, the hand of spiritual power. The priest was sad because he couldn't fix it. He thought of hiding it. Then a voice "of God" said, "No don't hide it. Place it in full view at the front of the church and pray to the Holy Mother for help", which he did. The next day a passing craftsman saw and took it, returning in a few days with it fully repaired. He and the priest then built a new altar and installed the image which soon exhibited many times more healing power and today is still venerated as a major iconic miracle-producing image.

The archetypal lesson is that societal childhood trauma must be revealed so it can be healed, become creative and release even more power. In an emerging modern psychological/medical model, this would be called by someone like Gabor Maté, The Wisdom of Trauma.

It's also related to the Magical Child meme, drawing on the work of Piaget and popularized by Joseph Chilton Pearce.

In an aesthetic rather than analytic fashion the Brazilian painter Petrônio Bax portrays Menino Jesus de Praga as embedded in the deep sea, which is an archetype for the unconscious, the amniotic fluid of the Mother, and a deep dive into the psyche.

[Lou Gold]

Eugene, We seem to have somehow moved into a synchronicity connection, so I'd like to flow on with it.

Oops, I got so caught by synchronicities with Eugene that I've wandered way off the music theme. I like it though, so I'm gonna post it again under another theme.

[Soul_of_Shu]

Oops, I got so caught by synchronicities with Eugene that I've wandered way off the music theme.

Pretty much like every other topic posted in the 'general' section But I appreciate your good intentions.

[Lou Gold]

Oops, I got so caught by synchronicities with Eugene that I've wandered way off the music theme.

Pretty much like every other topic posted in the 'general' section But I appreciate your good intentions.

I confess that my intuitive ways are quick to connect more and more dots and disrespect the disciplined focus purpose of linearity.

[Lou Gold]

OK, my intuitive sensibility now back on track, I literally stumbled upon this extraordinary Oliver Sacks story of how music saved his life after a fall from a cliff during a foggy day morning hike in the Norwegian mountains where he Musicked Down the Mountain. I hope you can read it. It's an extra-special treat in the way Maria Popova orchestrates this retelling of the story.