Music of the Periodic Table

This is the Hydrogen absorption and emission spectrum. Each of these colors has a unique tone.

Music of the Periodic Table, what is it?

Years ago when looking at the nature of matter, it became clear that all matter is in motion and hence, is vibrating. Vibration creates a tone or a light or any number of wave forms that go by a variety of names: x-rays, gamma rays, radio waves, microwaves, sound waves, and many more. This launched me on a search to find the tones of elements. I wrote to many famous physicists to ask if this was possible. I can honestly say that I have been blown off by some very well known scientists and I still did not find out how this would work.

Now, my father was a physicist and whenever I asked him about my quest, he responded in a similar manner. However, a few months before he died, I changed my question to, “How can I learn more about physics?” He was just shy of his 91^st birthday, still working, a professor emeritus, advising graduate students and doing research.

I pulled down a few textbooks from his shelf and started to page through them. Suddenly he pulled the book I was holding from my hands and went back a dozen pages and there was a picture of the spectral fingerprint of Hydrogen with the measurement in Ångstroms and in Hertz. An Ångstrom is a measure of a wave that is 10^-10 meters per cycle and Hertz are measured in the number of cycles per second.

My initial imagination was that each element would have a tone and there would be a scale of 88 or so notes (the number of stable element) creating a progression of tones. But now here was something else, a picture of the elements as a rainbow of colors. Reading Joy Gardner’s book on “Vibrational Healing through the Chakras,” there is a reference to someone who has identified individual elemental tones. More on that subject as my research develops.

My father had initially told me that the nature of atoms was too complex to describe as a single tone and now here was a phenomenon that showed a picture in light, of this complexity. Each element has its own unique spectral fingerprint. This is how astrophysicists can determine the composition of stars.

This is a forum for me to share my insights and explorations. About a month ago while working on converting the colors of the spectrum into tones, I suddenly had a strong impulse to set the calculations aside and look at what work already existed in the area of sound and vibrational healing. Part of the impetus was that I had just finished cleaning my father’s study. I literally threw away several hundred pounds of notebooks full of numbers and graphs that only meant something to him. Here I was, filling up a notebook with numbers and pictures – Was I turning into my father? I returned to my favorite question that always got me in trouble in school, “So what?” I wanted to know if there was way to apply this to the broader healing community.

What a world is out there with so many people writing about sound and healing. Using intuition to guide my first purchase, I picked Joy Gardener’s book. (A review of her work will come later.) She has done extensive research and her work gave me a good overview of vibrational healing.

This blog is where I will share my insights into the tone and light of the elements. My intent is to add to the body of knowledge in the realm of healing. Next I was guided to Ted Andrew’s book, “Sacred Sounds: Magic and Healing Through Words and Music.” He also presented a very deep understanding of the work in the mystery schools. As I continued to search for a survey of work with sound and healing, the work of Jonathan Goldman emerged. Here was a person who really did his homework. He addressed many of the questions that I have been contemplating. There will be several posts related to his work.

As a footnote, when I first conceived of music based on the elements, I carefully guarded my “idea” so no one else would “take” it. Gratefully, I was given the guidance to share my ideas, that collaboration was the key to actualization. Another piece of advice reminded me that if others “took” the work I would have many more impulses. When I made this energetic shift all of the doors began to open.

This blog is a record of my journey as I open myself to help raise the energy of myself, my community and the world. It’s just a small goal. I trust you will enjoy this as much as I do.