Most people seem to be aware of the existence of Tibetan Singing Bowls. Their particular sound is hard to forget if you've been fortunate enough to be in the same room as someone who has played them. The particular sound that comes from striking a bowl is registered in the body at a cellular level, and those who've experienced it will tell you that it's a special treat to be around them.
Though most people have heard of Tibetan singing bowls, there exists a more elusive instrument of the same type made out of quartz crystals. The quartz crystal singing bowls are said to be infused with the spirits of those who play them, and are among the legends of the hippy generation who came to predict the future generations as "different" and a call from Spirit to heal the many ailments of the planet. The legends called these different generations: The Indigo Children, the Rainbow Children, and the Crystal Children. Each of these generations were to be born amongst society, and have built-in spiritual immune systems to resist the social brainwashing of the culture.
When I first read about this subject, I was open yet very skeptical. Anything that has language that tickles the emotions of an individual to make them identify with some sort of unique special snowflake that is meant to save the world, usually reeks of manipulation and bullshit. The relationship between these myths and legends, and their connection to hippy culture is almost inseparable; however, just because something comes from a culture we don't understand doesn't mean the information is wrong.
We know that throughout many culture music has always had a nearly mystical power to hypnotize the mind, speak to the heart, and heal the soul of the listener. Those who really feel a connection with music have never found this to be a secret. In fact, there are countless quotes from musicians throughout history that have said these very things!
When Spirit Calls
My journey in becoming a Sound Healer is quite an interesting one, and certainly wasn't something I could have told you I would be inclined toward, even a year ago. But as they say, when Spirit calls, you answer. The call came to me the moment I first heard the crystal singing bowl sing In January 2018 in Little Rock, Arkansas. I walked into a rock collectors shop called Crystal Springs Mining while on a date, just to peruse their collection. There were many of these little shops in that town, and we had been in several stores already, buying a few knick-knacks here and there. You know, the typical behavior a tourist does when in a town a thousand miles away from home.
In all of the shops we went to nothing particularly stood out, and I was mostly grabbing those said knick-knacks out of social politeness in a tourist town and spending quite a bit of time checking out the collection of shiny rocks. In that particular shop was where I saw the Crystal Singing Bowl labeled "B Note", and the salesman could tell that it caught my eye, and offered to make it sing for me. As I like to tell people, I didn't stand a chance. From that moment I knew I had to have that bowl, and not only that bowl, but I had to go on a quest to find the rest of the bowls and their associated notes. Considering that I had never seen a Crystal Singing Bowl before, I didn't realize how easy it would be for me to find them all, or how easily they would make their way to my possession.
Acquiring the Singing Bowls
The G-Note "The Throat Chakra"
The first bowl was the G-Note from that shop. I'm quite a conversationalist I've been told, so it seemed rather appropriate that my first bowl was associated with the Throat chakra. Spirit likes to show you personal signatures if you're listening. Initially, I thought this to be a mere coincidence, but the deeper I go into this realm the more I recognize the synchronicities.
The C-Note "The Root Chakra"
The second bowl I found was at a shop in Ashland, Oregon. It was the C-Note, which is associated with the Root chakra, a little poke at my impulsivity as Spirit would later have me know. I scrounged together all the money I could to get that bowl and tried to avoid dipping into my crypto investments, which I eventually caved on with absolutely no regrets.
The F-Note "The Heart Chakra"
Then there was the F-Note. Associated with the Heart chakra, this is by far the largest bowl in my collection. The story behind this one is quite an interesting twist of fate and was just another weird unfoldment in my path to becoming a Sound Healer. A friend of mine who regularly checks for deals on the Facebook marketplace, for one reason or another, saw this 16" F-Note Crystal Singing Bowl listed for the price of $150! The moment I heard about it I jumped at the opportunity and called the guy who was selling it. He answered my call and told me that there were a couple of other people who had expressed interest in the bowl as well, which was no surprise at all. At $150 this is a steal, especially when a crystal singing bowl of that size is normally $600-$800 brand new. I still hoped that I would get the bowl, but I let it go from my mind, since it was nothing more than a prayer to be able to have him call me back. That prayer was exactly what I needed because the next day I received a call that BOTH of the people who expressed interest fell through and that I could come to pick the bowl up. Needless to say, I was absolutely elated.
The previous owner of the F-Note was a Sound Healer and told me a short version of his story. This man was in his 70's and he said received the call from Spirit to be a Sound Healer in the early 90's. He was previously a businessman with a successful business, but as they say: When Spirit calls, you answer. Once he received the call he sold his previous business, bought all the bowls he could and became a Sound Healer.
The A, B, D, and E Notes!
The rest of the bowls I acquired do not have fantastic stories or anything out of the ordinary. I suppose the truth of the matter is actually quite extraordinary, though not very impressive. They all arrived unbroken and in one piece. I simply ordered the rest of the bowls online, each 10". The remaining notes were A, B, D, and E. They came with some pretty interesting beginner reading material, the B and the D are both color coded as Purple and Orange respectively.
The First Healing
Now, I wouldn't be a Sound Healer if I haven't performed a healing, right? I would just be some guy who had crystal singing bowls (who in their right mind would have those in the first place?). As mentioned previously, my journey began less than a year ago from the writing of this article, and my actual practice has been going on for even less time. I initially just wanted to play my Crystal Singing Bowls in public, just to give people a taste for the purity of the sound; however, at some point, my intuition took over while playing the bowls, and I started to See a totally different dynamic occurring while I would play the bowls. I could actually see how certain people responded to certain notes and would be able to elicit responses from people intentionally. These responses were something beyond a normal response to music. I felt like I was tapping into something beyond, as though I could sense the energy of those who were paying attention.
While I would play the singing bowls in public, it would be fairly common for people to approach me, just to check out these instruments and sounds they've never experienced before. Then someone approached me with a different intention: the intention to be healed. At this moment I could feel the dynamic of who I was change, and I instantly knew how to help them. I needed to be the Sound Healer they needed me to be. I had that person play the singing bowls with me, and tell me which bowl they felt most connected with. When playing these bowls there is a technique to get them to sing properly, but when you are "connected" to a bowl, I have found that someones ability to make it sing is almost immediate, as though they just know how to play it.
The Instructions
This was the first time I had done anything like this, and my instruction to them was intuitively given. There was no prior information I had that allowed me to tell them what I did, but I could tell that it was what needed to be done. Once the person found which bowl resonated with them, I had them attempt to get it to sing. Initially, the singing wasn't very intense or loud, but the bowl wanted to sing for this person. It was the E-Note, associated with the Solar Plexus Chakra and Self Love. This person was having trouble loving themselves.
What came next was a stream of thoughts that I knew this person needed to hear, though I knew nothing of their life or where they came from. I was focused on making sure this person knew they deserved for themselves the love they so willingly give to others. I let them know that the reason they felt drained of life was that they weren't giving themselves the energizing love to themselves, the way they give to others. I let them know about the gift of love that they bring to this world, and that if they wanted to keep giving it they would have to give it to themselves, and that one cannot pour from an empty vessel.
As I channeled these messages while playing a combination of the others bowls, the E-Note started to singing very loudly. It became piercing and easily the loudest bowl singing. The note sustained for about 45 seconds before settling amongst the much more subtle sounds of the other bowls. The process wasn't very long, but the energy exchange that occurred in that time was incredibly powerful. The person was elated and had an enormous smile on their face, which wasn't the case upon our initial meeting about ten minutes prior. The moment was finished and the healing was done. After they left my presence, I felt unexplainably exhausted though incredibly satisfied. It was that experience that got me to accept my role as a Sound Healer, no matter how bizarre that sounded. It was my calling.
Stepping into my Role
After that experience, I was as convinced of my role as a Sound Healer as the person who initially came to me for that healing. There were too many dynamics that went on at that moment that were beyond my understanding for me to outright deny. I was raised to consider rational explanation and using logic to understand the world around me. The closest thing I've been able to come to understanding the phenomenon of Sound Healing is the art of hypnosis and placebo, which still doesn't account for my physical energy levels actually being drained after I do a sound healing.
I've always been very intuitive and sensitive to others, but it's been through a more classical psychology lens that I had applied my understanding of other peoples problems and given advice. I certainly never felt like there was any mystical voodoo going on. It's only been since I acquired my first Crystal Singing Bowl that I started to have increasingly more peculiar experiences in the realm of what I consider to be the supernatural, and things have only been getting more weird with increasing frequency this whole year.
In any case, I don't see this as anything outstandingly unique, only fairly unusual. There have been many who have walked this path before me, and they have left many pieces of advice in all sorts of mediums, as well as more particular instructions which I still have yet to learn. This is the path that was given to me and that I have chosen to accept. I look forward to documenting it and sharing it with the STEEM Community.