"The Healing Power of the Human Voice"
REVIEW
What resonates long after finishing James D’Angelo’s
The Healing Power of the Human Voice is D’Angelo’s spiritually
inspiring and physically embodied message that the human voice contains
the seeds of healing. Reminding us that ‘at the spiritual level
we are all connected to the One Sound of Sounds, but cut off from
its full impact, ’ D’Angelo invites the reader on a journey
of re-discovery of their own inner and outer pearls of sound vibrations.
Starting with breathing techniques for a healthy and connected sound,
he assures the hesitant it’s not the quality of the sound that
matters as much as the intention behind it. He then enticingly invites
us to re-connect to our inner source of sound in a childlike spirit,
by starting with the natural sounds of our emotions such as yawning,
sighing, wailing, which, he emphasises, are ‘intended by nature
to be purifiers.’ Within this context, it is not surprising
that his exercises are literally rituals, with guidelines for starting
and finishing mindfully, implicitly acknowledging the spiritual potential
of vibrations to penetrate our being and allowing us to be our own
sound healers.
The book then explores the varying textures and qualities of speech
sounds and their potential spiritual significance. It gives practical
tips on how to find your own fundamental tone, and to experiment with
and wonder at the essential vibrations contained in our names. It
then moves into toning, chanting sacred mantras from various religious
traditions, and overtoning the chakras to heal and re-tune the body.
The rituals for giving voice in a sense become containers for sacred
physical, emotional and spiritual possibilities: a means of re-connecting
to our inner world, and paradoxically, ‘letting go’ of
our often enclosed, cut off inner personal world in order to ‘allow’
a state of transcendence. Here again is the implicitly wise encouragement
to connect first to what is inside, to feelings, emotions, (which,
he points out, literally means, to move out from), rather than attempting
a kind mystic flight that ignores the intensely personal, the vulnerabilty
of re-connecting with the power and potential our own voices. This
reveals D’Angelo’s spiritual understanding of the pathway
to transcendence through entering into our humanity through our relationship
with our body and feelings, through voice and ritual.
Sound and movement rituals are clearly described alongside simple
diagrams of D’Angelo demonstrating the movements. The CD is
an auditory sampler of vocal passion; his full bodied baritone demonstrates
each sound ritual with loving commitment, exemplifying the many years
of musical and spiritual research, exploration and practise. His instructions
demonstrate the potential latent in every detail: for example, wonderfully
fruity instruction to ‘squeeze as much juice as you can from
the opening consonant,’ acknowledges the implicitly grounded,
visceral qualities of earthy consonants. The ‘natural sounds’
are given as much importance as the more overtly sacred sounds, and
the keening in particular, is a most extraordinary example of the
astonishing range of a voice connected to deep wells of emotion. As
in all of his rituals, after a series of repetitions he will remind
you to ‘take the sound inside as a meditation, tuning into them
in outer silence,’ implying the ongoing resonance within. It
is in the silence that we can feel the sound literally resonating
within our being, feeling the effects of the ritual ripple through
us in inner space. Silence following the voiced sounds are as important
as giving voice itself. All is connection, sound and silence need
each other.
D’Angelo’s passion for creating connections is clear in
his curiousity about the connections between language and sound, and
the acoustical impact of speech sounds, as well as the inherently
spiritual impact of sound frequencies created by the specific arrangements
of tone and syllable in mantras. This leads the reader to re-consider
the classic linguistic notion that the connection of sound and signifier
is arbitrary. For example, his invitation to consider your own name
as ‘a sound formula that embodies who you are’ is a glorious
invitation to resonate with one’s own inherent characteristics
from an entirely new perspective. It provides thought provoking reflections
on how language from various spiritual traditions can create insights
into the nature of sound, the literal potency of the Word to create,
and the spiritual consciousness of our ancestors that lies lurking
unknown inside our modern language. Generously, D’Angelo’s
appendix creates new pathways and connections for his readers, listing
other sources of research, teaching and voice and sound therapies.
The Healing Power of the Human Voice is a sumptuous journey, as D’Angelo
constantly moves from the spiritually healing aims of voice work,
to the visceral joys of producing gibberish, from the musically technical
(is it a pentatonic scale or a major scale?), to the sublime moments
of connection through sound and silence. D’Angelo’s own
psycho-spiritual wisdom is implicit in his invitation to connect to
the body, to the emotions and sound within. By coming in to land first,
he provides strong foundations from which our voices may take flight,
allowing vibrations and their residual silent echoes to create “a
quiet pulsation of energy that feels like pure love, a great clarity
of mind, and a deep serenity of spirit.” It is a book buzzing
with possibilities for anyone interested in any aspect of healing,
and is a profound reminder that the voice is both a resonator of the
immance of spirit as well as a pathway to transcendence.
Katharine Firth, 2007.
Available through James D'Angelo. See BOOK
page.
Katharine Firth is a voice teacher, psycho-spiritual psychotherapist
and chaplain at the Multi-Faith Chaplaincy at the University of the
West of England.
Press articles
Excerpt from Daily Express article on 11 September 2000
HOW TO SING YOURSELF WELL
Over the past eight years James has been compiling his repertoire
of rituals from spiritual practices around the world. His workshops
contain everything from Tibetan chants to more modern breathing exercises.
He calls his exercises rituals because he says they are much more
than music. It’s a more emotional practice, he says. It brings you
out of yourself to a different state in much the same way as meditation
and yoga. In fact, the noises he produces sound more like a series
of groaning, wailing, sighing, hissing and humming noises - exaggerated
and accompanied by specific hand movements. The movement is there
to encourage the sound, says James. Voice and body movements have
always gone together. I find that if people move while they make the
sounds it opens them up and encourages the more introverted people
to get properly involved.
It is this self-consciousness that James sees as the main enemy.
He always runs his workshops in groups large enough for those who
are reluctant to get involved to be inspired by those more extrovert
but small enough that they do not feel embarrassed. James sees the
reluctance to express our emotions vocally as a destructive trait.
When we laugh, we laugh in short bursts and try and control ourselves.
We are denying a natural emotion that even conventional doctors agree
is good for us. The same philosophy says it isn't right for men to
cry but this is necessary and we can do ourselves more damage by holding
back the tears. All I’m really trying to do is to prolong and intensify
these natural reactions and when I see what a glow it gives people
I know I’m on to something.
As I keep laughing away at myself I can’t help but see what he means.
I really am feeling more uplifted. When I leave James, I step out
into the rain, splashing through the puddles, chuckling to myself
all the way to the station.
John Triggs
Copyright Express Newspapers 2000
