Thanks for this fantastic excerpt. It reminded me of learning a few polyphonic traditional Georgian songs, where the tones and the words lure the sickness from a patient's body, and encourage it via an aural trail of rose petals towards an open window, and back out into the landscape. And the fact that so many of the stone circles I have been to in Aberdeenshire have incredible aural properties and foci right by the huge recumbent stone, (similarly in our chambered cairns). Looking forward to the rest of the book.
Not being steeped in any religion my ideas of spirituality come primarily from listening to and writing music. The joy's of singing in groups or just sitting with a guitar is my idea of heaven.
The one time I saw Prince perform was during his Musicology tour. He reminded everyone where the foundations of his extraordinary gifts in music came from. I for one, singing with 15 thousand other voices at the end of Purple Rain experienced once again the kind of magical healing that music can bring. I am ever grateful for those moments.
Fascinating. The Death and Resurrection Show covered very similar territory. https://archive.org/details/deathresurrectio0000tayl I fear we've had 50 plus years of hero's journey/shamanistic metaphors for music and it's led to a dead end of bro culture and short term cultural imperialism. Perhaps we could explore the other trail: the female-led lament, also ecstatic but grounded, more complex, more humble. No explosive narrative arcs of redemption, but a sharing of sorrow. In short, more soul and less spiritual escape. Thanks for the 'stack.
"the mystical writings of Sun Ra (which we discussed in chapter one)"
Since then, Peter Adamson and Chike Jeffers have done an episode on Afrofuturism (mostly Sun Ra and Octavia E. Butler) on "The History of Africana Philosophy":
"When we encounter a text attributed incorrectly (by contemporary standards), we consider it a forgery or plagiarism."
And this reminds me of Jorge Luis Borges, at the end of "Pierre Menard, Author of the Quijote" (here in James E. Irby's translation):
"Menard (perhaps without wanting to) has enriched, by means of a new technique, the halting and rudimentary art of reading: this new technique is that of the deliberate anachronism and the erroneous attribution."
"Menard (acaso sin quererlo) a enriquecido mediante una técnica nueva el arte detenido y rudimentario de la lectura: la técnica del anacronismo deliberado y de las atribuciones erróneas."
Interesting chapter. I wish your book was in hardback for my bookshelf.
Did music have it's own Council of Nicaea where facts that didn't fit the narrative were dispensed with?
Did J S Bach have a hand in this with his system of equal temperament? Could it be that Thelonius Monk was a reincarnated musical figure from ancient history trying to reintroduce the quarter tone.
I look forward to learning more about your book. I am interested that you added Robert Johnson. As a blues fan, I visited Crystal Springs and spent a day with his granddaughter Teresa (Odell) Guynes. Her story was very different to the myths suggesting Robert Johnson sold his soul to the devil or similar. The reason he came back as a much improved musician was pretty much that he took a sabbatical, if you will, and spent a lot of time learning and honing his craft. It's not as exciting a story as the legend.
I always wondered, did the mystics of old see ‘fiery chariots in the sky’ because that’s what they were used to seeing? Would a modern day mystic perceive the same thing as a UFO? I don’t know but am thoroughly enjoying this study of music and mysticism and very much appreciate it. I think a lot of musicians are ‘natural mystics’, as Bob Marley would say. That’s why we do it.
There’s a wonderful classical composer, Jonathan Leshnoff, who is a Jewish mystic and has done many major compositions (including for major orchestras like the ASO) based on the sephirot in Kabbalah. In 2016 I commissioned him to write an art song for me based on two texts from the Merkabah mystical tradition. So to give the coda of Ted’s essay a soundtrack, here’s the video: https://youtu.be/5-LvZqPiLdk
Robert Fripp calls musical inspiration an event “when music strolls into the room and takes you into its confidence.” I find this quite apt to describe the magic of music
Speaking of James Bond, just this year a documentary was released on Amazon Prime called. “The Sound of 007”. It traces the Bond theme song and the songs written and performed for each film through the franchises history. I like the Bond theme a lot, and all it’s various arrangements, so I enjoyed hearing the story behind it all.
Ecstasy from music? I just assumed everyone knew about that, maybe teaching about it would be a good idea?
Have thought for awhile that the first words, as in "Let there be light", were sung. From the lowest to the highest , at which point light sparkled forth.
Ted is almost like a prophet, or at a bare minimum a guide to regions unglimpsed by most.
I'm rather well-versed in Judaism, have been reading a page of Talmud daily where Rabbis Akiva and Ishmael are mentioned often. Halfway through the cycle where in seven and a half years that one page a day allows one to complete the whole thing. Familiar with kaballah too.
But this merkavah angle is a bit new to me. (Pronounced with a vee rather than a bee sound). Ezekiel's visions involved a chariot as well. Was it all supplanted by the internal combustion engine?
How do we buy the book, preferably with your John Hancock?
Merkavah means "chariot" in Hebrew and it referred originally to the fiery chariot that Elijah rides on to ascend to the heavens (2 Kings 2). Elijah never dies. Instead, his name and possible presence are invoked at every Passover seder, as the forerunner of the messianic age. For Christians, John the Baptist plays this role in the Gospels, as a clear stand-in for Elijah.
The two rabbis mentioned, Akiva and Ishmael, both lived in the second century CE and are extensively mentioned in the Talmud and other rabbinic literature from late antiquity. Both were martyred by Rome after the crushing of the Bar Kokhbah revolt in 135. However, they appear again, more as characters than historical figures, in the mystical literature that began being written a few generations after their deaths. This mystical literature was a direct result of the rabbis' decision to suppress all future politico-military attempts to rebel against Rome and "force" the coming of the messiah. The messianic impulse was rechanneled into mysticism. The modern world has seen the opposite occur: as Charles Péguy wrote, what was once mystical, in modern times, relentlessly becomes political.
Thanks for this fantastic excerpt. It reminded me of learning a few polyphonic traditional Georgian songs, where the tones and the words lure the sickness from a patient's body, and encourage it via an aural trail of rose petals towards an open window, and back out into the landscape. And the fact that so many of the stone circles I have been to in Aberdeenshire have incredible aural properties and foci right by the huge recumbent stone, (similarly in our chambered cairns). Looking forward to the rest of the book.
Not being steeped in any religion my ideas of spirituality come primarily from listening to and writing music. The joy's of singing in groups or just sitting with a guitar is my idea of heaven.
The one time I saw Prince perform was during his Musicology tour. He reminded everyone where the foundations of his extraordinary gifts in music came from. I for one, singing with 15 thousand other voices at the end of Purple Rain experienced once again the kind of magical healing that music can bring. I am ever grateful for those moments.
Fascinating. The Death and Resurrection Show covered very similar territory. https://archive.org/details/deathresurrectio0000tayl I fear we've had 50 plus years of hero's journey/shamanistic metaphors for music and it's led to a dead end of bro culture and short term cultural imperialism. Perhaps we could explore the other trail: the female-led lament, also ecstatic but grounded, more complex, more humble. No explosive narrative arcs of redemption, but a sharing of sorrow. In short, more soul and less spiritual escape. Thanks for the 'stack.
I have a few personal annotations:
"at least on a few transformative occasions, maybe at a memorable concert you still think about years later"
This made me think of Adam Zagajewski's "Try to Save the Mutilated World":
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/57095/try-to-praise-the-mutilated-world-56d23a3f28187
*
"the mystical writings of Sun Ra (which we discussed in chapter one)"
Since then, Peter Adamson and Chike Jeffers have done an episode on Afrofuturism (mostly Sun Ra and Octavia E. Butler) on "The History of Africana Philosophy":
https://historyofphilosophy.net/afrofuturism
*
"When we encounter a text attributed incorrectly (by contemporary standards), we consider it a forgery or plagiarism."
And this reminds me of Jorge Luis Borges, at the end of "Pierre Menard, Author of the Quijote" (here in James E. Irby's translation):
"Menard (perhaps without wanting to) has enriched, by means of a new technique, the halting and rudimentary art of reading: this new technique is that of the deliberate anachronism and the erroneous attribution."
"Menard (acaso sin quererlo) a enriquecido mediante una técnica nueva el arte detenido y rudimentario de la lectura: la técnica del anacronismo deliberado y de las atribuciones erróneas."
Hi Ted
Interesting chapter. I wish your book was in hardback for my bookshelf.
Did music have it's own Council of Nicaea where facts that didn't fit the narrative were dispensed with?
Did J S Bach have a hand in this with his system of equal temperament? Could it be that Thelonius Monk was a reincarnated musical figure from ancient history trying to reintroduce the quarter tone.
I look forward to learning more about your book. I am interested that you added Robert Johnson. As a blues fan, I visited Crystal Springs and spent a day with his granddaughter Teresa (Odell) Guynes. Her story was very different to the myths suggesting Robert Johnson sold his soul to the devil or similar. The reason he came back as a much improved musician was pretty much that he took a sabbatical, if you will, and spent a lot of time learning and honing his craft. It's not as exciting a story as the legend.
Thanks Ted. There's a natural mystic blowing through the air: music is magic, sorry for all scientists who don't feel and thus make that connection.
I always wondered, did the mystics of old see ‘fiery chariots in the sky’ because that’s what they were used to seeing? Would a modern day mystic perceive the same thing as a UFO? I don’t know but am thoroughly enjoying this study of music and mysticism and very much appreciate it. I think a lot of musicians are ‘natural mystics’, as Bob Marley would say. That’s why we do it.
There’s a wonderful classical composer, Jonathan Leshnoff, who is a Jewish mystic and has done many major compositions (including for major orchestras like the ASO) based on the sephirot in Kabbalah. In 2016 I commissioned him to write an art song for me based on two texts from the Merkabah mystical tradition. So to give the coda of Ted’s essay a soundtrack, here’s the video: https://youtu.be/5-LvZqPiLdk
Sir Jo Cocchi,
“Music is magic”.
Well said!
It took me a while in my career in science, but I finally made the connection.
I also feel sorry for the scientists who don’t feel and make the connection.
Thanks to Ted!
Robert Fripp calls musical inspiration an event “when music strolls into the room and takes you into its confidence.” I find this quite apt to describe the magic of music
Will this book ever come out in hardcover/paperback - I would love to add it to my collection of your other works on my shelf. thanks, Garth
Speaking of James Bond, just this year a documentary was released on Amazon Prime called. “The Sound of 007”. It traces the Bond theme song and the songs written and performed for each film through the franchises history. I like the Bond theme a lot, and all it’s various arrangements, so I enjoyed hearing the story behind it all.
Ecstasy from music? I just assumed everyone knew about that, maybe teaching about it would be a good idea?
Have thought for awhile that the first words, as in "Let there be light", were sung. From the lowest to the highest , at which point light sparkled forth.
Ted is almost like a prophet, or at a bare minimum a guide to regions unglimpsed by most.
I'm rather well-versed in Judaism, have been reading a page of Talmud daily where Rabbis Akiva and Ishmael are mentioned often. Halfway through the cycle where in seven and a half years that one page a day allows one to complete the whole thing. Familiar with kaballah too.
But this merkavah angle is a bit new to me. (Pronounced with a vee rather than a bee sound). Ezekiel's visions involved a chariot as well. Was it all supplanted by the internal combustion engine?
How do we buy the book, preferably with your John Hancock?
Merkavah means "chariot" in Hebrew and it referred originally to the fiery chariot that Elijah rides on to ascend to the heavens (2 Kings 2). Elijah never dies. Instead, his name and possible presence are invoked at every Passover seder, as the forerunner of the messianic age. For Christians, John the Baptist plays this role in the Gospels, as a clear stand-in for Elijah.
The two rabbis mentioned, Akiva and Ishmael, both lived in the second century CE and are extensively mentioned in the Talmud and other rabbinic literature from late antiquity. Both were martyred by Rome after the crushing of the Bar Kokhbah revolt in 135. However, they appear again, more as characters than historical figures, in the mystical literature that began being written a few generations after their deaths. This mystical literature was a direct result of the rabbis' decision to suppress all future politico-military attempts to rebel against Rome and "force" the coming of the messiah. The messianic impulse was rechanneled into mysticism. The modern world has seen the opposite occur: as Charles Péguy wrote, what was once mystical, in modern times, relentlessly becomes political.