The Metaphysical Site

Tuning Forks

My interest in tuning forks was sparked a few years ago by an experience with the Ohm forks from the Acutonics system. It was amazing to experience the beautiful low frequencies of those forks zip through my body. I was already familiar with the wonderful sensations in the body from holding and playing my Tibetan singing bowl. The tuning fork is much more specific than a bowl. It is like comparing a laser beam to a shower. They both feel amazingly wonderful, but they have different purposes. Since that experience, I have found that there are a wide variety of systems and ways of using tuning forks on the body. There are an infinite number of frequencies, so theoretically, there are an infinite number of tuning fork frequencies available.

We are beginning to understand that at the atomic level of matter, everything is in vibration. And that includes us. Sound is vibrational energy. It travels in a wave and pushes molecules around as it moves. It is useful to understand a little about how sound travels in order to understand how tuning forks work. Sound moves at different speeds depending on what it is traveling through. Typically, the denser a material is, the faster sound moves through it because the molecules are closer together. In the air, sound moves at about 770 miles per hour. Sound moves through water about 4 times faster than through the air. It moves through steel, like railroad tracks, about 15 times faster than through the air. Have you ever heard or read about aboriginal hunters who put their ears to the ground to hear where the animals are walking or running? That is because sound travels through the ground faster than it travels through the air. Our bodies are about 80 percent water, so we can assume that a sound wave will move through the majority of our body at approximately the same speed sound travels through water. That is four times faster than through the air. Because our bones are denser than the soft material of the body, sound will move through our bones faster than through the soft tissue.

Tuning forks are made to sound at one specific frequency. For example, a tuning fork made to ring at 440 Hz is usually what musicians tune their instruments to. This frequency is standard for instruments so that all of the instruments in a group will sound harmonious when playing together.

Both of my sons learned how to play the recorder when they were in Grade 5. Listening to the class perform together was an exercise in tolerance and patience. If you have never played the recorder, they can be really out of tune if your blowing is too strong or too soft. Just imagine a class of 30 kids doing this all at once. Ouch for the ears, but important to encourage the kids. They were having fun. The parents were trying not to cringe.

A doctor will sometimes use a tuning fork to test whether or not a bone is broken. When a sounding fork is placed on the skin where the sound can travel through the bone, a patient will usually experience excruciating pain if the bone is broken.

Music therapist and naturopathic doctor, John Beaulieu spent over five hundred hours over two years in an anechoic chamber. With no stimulus or noise, he sat there listening to sounds of his own body. "He began to correlate different states of consciousness with different sounds of his nervous system. Being a trained musician he noticed that the high-pitched sounds of his nervous system consisted of several sounds in different intervals. Then one day he brought two tuning forks and tapped them. Immediately, he observed that the sound of his nervous system realigned to the sound of the tuning forks." (from an article called "Biosonic Repatterning")

One set that I use pretty well every day is the perfect fifth tuning forks. This set consists of the musical note C tuned to 256 Hz, a frequency directly related to the frequency of the earth, and the musical note G tuned to 384 Hz creating the interval of a perfect fifth when they are played together. Research conducted by Dr. John Beaulieu, music therapist, and naturopathic doctor and Dr. George Stefano, neurologist, showed that these frequencies stimulated the production of nitric oxide in the body's cells within 30 seconds. Normal nitric oxide production is inhibited by stress and illness among other things. Here is a list of the physical benefits when your cells are producing and releasing nitric oxide.

- Relief from stress, more energy and stamina. - The autonomic nervous system is balanced, better clarity of mind, less depression. - Nitric oxide strengthens the immune system. - Circulation is improved. - We have better digestion.

Tuning forks are like lasers. Some people say they are like surgical tools. Because of their precise frequencies they can have more precise effects. There is some fascinating research being conducted relating to frequencies and the human. I believe that tuning forks hold the potential for great precision as a healing tool.

About the Author

Pagans & Heathens & Friends: What music, if any, do you prefer to use during rituals or meditation? ?

I'm always looking for something new to try. I have a rough time getting into a trance state without music, and I need to change my music frequently to help it keep working.

I love Native American spirit flute music to meditate from or do rituals. Depending on the energy needed I would listen to the Didgeridoo or even Native American drums and singing. I like the Celtic flute when trying to get in touch with Northern Deities and when calling on the element of wind and rain I like old Chinese (usually 5th dynasty) flute or full accoutrement music. Just sets me at peace and helps me focus on things or intents I am working to manifest.
Blessings to you

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THURSDAY Nighttown, 12387 Cedar Road, Cleveland Heights. Amina Figarova Sextet, 8 p.m. From Azerbaijan, piano virtuoso leads dynamic Dutch sextet. (216) 795-0550. Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage, 2929 Richmond Road, Beachwood. World War posters through Tuesday. Free with museum admission.

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