Quest Magazine

Music of the Spheres: Our Relationship with the Anonymous Dead

By Michael English 

Originally printed in the July - August 2006 issue of Quest magazine. 
Citation: English, Michael. "Music of the Spheres: Our Relationship with the Anonymous Dead." Quest  94.4 (JULY-AUGUST 2006):145-149.

Theosophical Society - Michael English

The Music of the Spheres is an ancient Pythagorean concept, wherein Pythagoras was fascinated by the harmonics of a vibrating string on a Greek instrument-the lyre. He discovered an amazing correspondence between the order of musical intervals and the spacing of planets. For Pythagoras, there appeared to be a direct mathematical relationship between music's vibrational frequency and the corresponding position of planetary bodies; it seemed that the order of notes on vibrating strings were, somehow, an intrinsic property of the whole universe.

Interestingly, modern physics is now revisiting the concept of vibrational string harmonics as a much sought-after TOE-Theory of Everything. That may be considered as a grandiose claim unless taken in context, which I will qualify shortly. However, modern string theory asserts that, sub-atomically, all physical reality is made from the relationship between one phenomenon-tiny vibrating strings of energy'and the differing properties at this smallest of scales is due to the differing vibrational patterns the strings can perform. Brian Greene states, "far from being a collection of chaotic experimental facts, particle properties in string theory are the manifestation of one and the same physical feature: the resonant patterns of vibration'the music, so to speak'of fundamental loops of string" (Greene 15-16).

This becomes interesting from a metaphysical and theosophical perspective, due to some amazing conceptual correspondences between modern string theory and investigative research done in the early twentieth century by Annie Besant and Charles Leadbeater. Yet, just as metaphysics postulates inner dimensions of being, string theory, too, relies on extra, hidden dimensions that may be equally real as the reality we experience here.

Exploring the re-emergence of the Pythagorean harmonics as a modern description of the basic structure of our Universe, and its metaphysical relevance, is worthwhile, especially considering the prophetic words of Madame Blavatsky: "'the hidden meaning of Apollo's HEPTACHORD'the lyre of the radiant god'whose shell only has now fallen into the hands of Modern Science '" (Blavatsky 167).

First, let's clarify the scientific concept of a TOE. Theoretical physics is often considered the essential science because, from a reductionist perspective'peeling away the external layers to find the most elementary constituent in nature'it deals with what are considered the basic building blocks and the glue that sticks them together. Everything is supposedly derivative from this level.

Knowing the elementary particles and the forces that operate between them, you should be able to understand how they combine to form atoms, molecules, and on to complex organisms. But theoretical physics has become bound within a self-referencing paradigm due to another principle, the doctrine of materialism. As Rupert Sheldrake indicates: "materialism starts from the assumption that only matter is real; hence everything that exists is either matter or entirely dependent on matter for its existence" (Sheldrake, 202).

Guided by the materialist doctrine, physics has advanced by leaps and bounds, discovering that everything is made of atoms, which are made of subatomic particles, and certain forces, operating between these fundamental particles, either stick them together or move them apart. It seemed only some fine details were required to put this together as a complete description of everything, or TOE. But here's the qualification'materialism only leads towards a complete theory of all possible physical interactions; it doesn't necessarily explain "everything."

For example, everything in this physical existence is made of energy, but what is energy and where does it come from? Materialism doesn't know; it appears from the Big Bang and then we only know it by the properties it conveys when it interacts: mass, charge and spin.

Or, at a different level: How do we explain the emergence of consciousness? Materialists can't adequately answer this, because they look at dead matter as the basis of consciousness, not as in metaphysics where consciousness is the basis of consciousness. The TOE physicists are working towards is a theory that accounts for all energetic, and therefore, they argue, all physical interactions. But this creates a "hermetic paradigm," wherein the outcome of the theory must, in some way, correspond with matter. Therefore, when physicists say a TOE, we should realize that there are definite limitations. (However, I applaud its description of physical nature.) 

That said, let's delve deeper: 

Pythagoras seems to have been so fascinated with the mystical abstraction of numbers that he experimented mathematically with the harmonics of the vibrating string and became impressed with the remarkable similarity between musical intervals and the spacing of the planets' (sub-atomically 67).

Or from the post-modern scientific perspective:

. . . since the Pythagoreans taught that the order of notes of a vibrating string pervades the whole universe, they would have been moved to learn, two thousand years later, of the work of Nambu, who was able to show that the hadrons, or strongly interacting particles, are also quantum manifestations of this Pythagorean ideal (Peat 53).

The question arises: Why are physicists exploring the idea that fundamental particles, such as hadrons (or photons, electrons, etc.) are vibrating strings? Isn't there already a suitable theory? This goes to the heart of a problem that's dogged physics for decades now. Yes, there is a very precise theory for the small-scale universe-quantum theory-and an incredibly precise theory for the large-scale universe'Einstein's general relativity. Yet, the enduring problem has been that these two theories have resisted all attempts to unify them into one description, negating any TOE. For a greater appreciation of why these two theories remain mutually exclusive, I'll outline each, to show how string theory resolves the problem.

In the early twentieth century, physicists discovered all matter was not made from solid billiard-ball atoms; rather, these atoms are actually composites'basically, a cloud of electrons orbiting a central dense nucleus. Later, they realized the central nucleus is not solid either, but made of even smaller parts'protons and neutrons'which in turn, are made of yet smaller components'quarks.

Really, at this most fundamental level, we should stop thinking of these so-called "particles" as being made of matter; they are fluctuating amounts of energy that display certain well defined properties; that's basically what "quantum" means. In fact, the current way of thinking about the elusive quantum is as an energetic excitation of its underlying field.

For example, the quantum known as a photon, or particle of light, is a vibrating excitation of the all-pervasive electromagnetic field. To make matters even more difficult, these quanta live in a world of their own which does not follow the rules of our classical world. They perform what seem impossible feats; including fluctuating in and out of existence, being in two places at once, and there's a quantifiable level of uncertainty in the quantum world.

Uncertainty is an inherent part of the quantum world. Because quanta are, in principle, incessantly energetic, it's impossible to know in the same moment, both the position and momentum of a quantum particle; the more you know the position, the less you know the momentum, and vice versa. Quantum physicists resolve this by dealing in a very precise way with the probabilities of where the particles might be.

If this all sounds a bit bizarre'well, it is. But quantum theory has been pursued due to its successes, and is the basis of all electronic equipment. Thus, as Greene indicates:

By 1928 or so, many of the mathematical formulas and rules of quantum mechanics had been put in place and, ever since, it has been used to make the most precise and successful numerical predictions in the history of science (Greene 87).

So, even though physicists themselves often refer to quantum theory as weird or bizarre, it has been relied on for an understanding of the microscopic world we can never see. In its mathematical formulation, quantum theory treats particles as dimensionless points; idealized points of no size, but being assigned certain values and properties. However, these rules don't apply to the macroscopic world. In the macroscopic world, we know where things are without any uncertainty (except car keys and teenage children), and at this, scale physicists rely on Einstein's general relativity.

General relativity deals with the nature of space, time (as a four-dimensional continuum known as spacetime) and gravity. In simple terms'the presence of mass/matter/energy causes the spacetime fabric to curve, just like the mass of a bowling ball on a trampoline mat would cause that mat to curve. So for Einstein, gravity is not an attractive force, rather, it's the geometrical curvature of the spacetime fabric that causes spatial bodies to follow certain orbits. General relativity is so precise that, as Einstein predicted, even light would follow the spacetime curvature, and this was one of the first experiments performed to verify its accuracy.

General relativity sees spacetime as a smooth, continuous medium from one point to the next without any fluctuations. This presents the nub of the problem for physicists:

General relativity is a theory about the structure of space-time, curved geometry being determined by the amount of energy and matter present. But matter and energy are quantum mechanical in nature, so a complete account of space-time geometry cannot ignore the quantum nature of the matter and energy which creates its very form (Peat 17-18).

Thus, if quantum theory treats particles as transient fluctuating excitations of the field, but general relativity says the spacetime field is a smooth continuum, we see the crux of the problem. General relativity cannot account for these microscopic fluctuations in its formulation; and the fluctuations of the subatomic world do not appear in our macroscopic reality. This becomes an intractable problem if we imagine magnifying in on a region of space; as we reach the microscopic size of the quantum world, we encounter a wildly fluctuating "quantum foam" which defies general relativity. And this is why string theory is such a revelation. Rather than elementary particles being dimensionless points, in string theory they do have dimension, albeit incredibly small, at about the level where the uncertainty principle kicks in.

In string theory, the basic idea describes quanta as little loops of energetic string. So, if we could magnify a quantum particle, such as an electron, to an observable size, rather than being a point of energy, it would be a loop of energy, or vibrating string. Just as the string on a musical instrument, whether a lyre, heptachord, or violin can carry a certain vibrational frequency depending on its length, the microscopic strings have specific resonant frequencies. It is the frequency pattern that is then interpreted as the various particles that make up the real world (that is, real to us).

String theory took a while to gain momentum, because other critical developments had not been made at that time. One was the idea that there are many more spacetime dimensions than the three of space and one of time apparent to us! In string theory, the strings can be "open" like a small piece of thread, or "closed" like an elastic band, flat like a Frisbee, or assume even more complicated shapes, generically referred to as "branes." This alone could account for many, though not all, particles in the quantum world. However, if these various string shapes and other bits are assumed to move through extra, hidden spatial dimensions, then we can account for all the quantum particles of nature, both those that carry force (bosons) and the ones that act as matter (fermions).

As it turns out, the best description of nature, as we know it, could be derived from 10 spacetime dimensions, with 6 of them having curled up so tightly at the beginning of the universe that they're not apparent to our senses. As Michio Kaku states: ". . . and when strings move in 10-dimensional space-time, they warp the space-time surrounding them in precisely the way predicted by general relativity. So strings simply and elegantly unify the quantum theory of particles and general relativity (New Scientist 32-36).

Unfortunately, here we hit another snag: five competing string theories emerged out of this new paradigm; obviously about four too many, if we want one unified description of nature, or TOE. This is where the most acclaimed move in string theory was made. If the strings and other shapes are moving about in their 10-dimensional framework, but also wrapped around a tightly bound eleventh dimension, then specific relationships among the various string theories emerge; so called "dualities," or ways of linking the theories together. While difficult to grasp without going into a lengthy description, basically these dualities show that the nature of spaces smaller than that of the quantum uncertainty level are equivalent to our large spatial dimensions. Or as one of the key contributors to string theory says: "according to T-duality, universes with small scale factors are equivalent to ones with large scale factors" (Veneziano 37). Put another way, the five string theories turn out to be loose approximations of a superior theory, rather blandly named M-theory.

To summarize before launching into the metaphysics: string theory, or M-theory, unites general relativity and quantum theory by saying that at the elementary level, tiny strings and branes of energy vibrate around and through extra, hidden dimensions. The extra dimensions can only be curled up in very specific ways, but end up looking like bundles of twisted shapes. The way strings wind and vibrate about the multi-dimensional space gives rise to what we perceive as different particles, like electrons, quarks, photons, etc. and their properties. A way of thinking of this is like the way different musical notes are produced through a saxophone by pressing valves which modify the space through which the wind or energy passes; the shape of the inner dimensions gives rise to the outer vibration.

It is very interesting to compare this to the clairvoyant work of Besant and Leadbeater from their 1909 theosophical classic, Occult Chemistry. Almost a hundred years ago, they researched the most elementary level of physical nature, not with electron microscopes or particle accelerators as we do today, but with the power of the mind. They used special psychic techniques, they'd been trained in, to focus the inner vision of their minds in on the smallest scales of the physical world. (There are serious dangers to advancing psychic abilities prematurely, so don't try this at home.)

So what did they find this world is made of at the smallest scale of physical reality? Tiny bundles of twisted string-like shapes! In his work Anima, Stephen Phillips, depicts their "Ultimate Physical Atom" (UPA), or the most elementary constituent of physical reality. Very few physicists have bothered looking at their work, but in doing so, Phillips realized they were actually viewing subatomic particles, or in our new understandings, the superstrings of string theory. And amazingly, their UPA is like a bundle of string that winds and vibrates as it spins on its axis and is wrapped around an inner cylindrical dimension. Here are all the elements of string theory, but Besant and Leadbeater proposed this at the beginning of the twentieth century.

The important features of string theory involve spin, charge, ten dimensions around a cylindrical eleventh, winding capacities and vibrational patterns. The UPA has similar features, like ten string-like bands that wind around an inner cylindrical dimension; it also has charge, spin and it vibrates-all fascinating correlations and, at least conceptually, the same.

However, in metaphysics, the UPA is only the elementary level of the densest plane/field of being'the physical. There are other subtle levels beyond the physical fields; other dimensions of being, where our Soul, or individualized consciousness, remains as a continuum in the after-death state, and this is the reason that the bulk of humanity has always intuited some form of after-life (such as heaven, nirvana, and so on.)

In metaphysics, these physical fields, which are the focus of our senses, have crystallized out higher vibrational fields or the extra, hidden dimensions. The nature and properties of some of those higher fields is that of mental properties, thus our consciousness can survive the inner dimensions, but our physical body cannot. As Madame Blavatsky states: "Being is an endless cycle within the one absolute eternity, wherein move numberless inner cycles finite and conditioned" (Blavatsky 221, emphasis added).

This concept involves one of the major principles in metaphysics and probably the most important paradigm shift for our understanding of human nature. In Eastern metaphysics, rather than our consciousness dying or stagnating in an "after-life," we are (or more correctly, our consciousness is) a reincarnating entity in its own right; one which focuses that consciousness into the physical world for a life-period by connecting with a suitably complex brain and body. Then, before withdrawing consciousness at death of the physical body and withdrawing to the hidden inner dimensions (the "inner being"), it assimilates earthly experiences before being karmically, or magnetically, drawn back to the physical fields; the Buddhist "samsara," or wheel of birth and death, from which Gautama Buddha released himself.

This is a whole new science, involving the processes of psycho-magnetism rather than electromagnetism, and a metaphysical understanding of the inner dimensions. So, does string theory, or M-theory, in any way support this axiom of metaphysics? Is it possible that there are "inner dimensions" where consciousness descends, or emerges from and returns to?

Perhaps the post-modern M-theory is just on the cusp of uncovering this. Consider these fascinating comments from one of the leaders in this field, Michael J. Duff who, in his article "The Theory Formerly Known as Strings," states:

We have always supposed that the laws of nature break down at smaller distances. What T-duality suggests, however, is at these scales, the universe looks just the same as it does at large scales. One may even imagine that if the universe were to shrink to less than the Planck length [minimum meaningful length in quantum theory], it would transform into a dual universe that grows bigger as the original one collapses. (15)

It may take centuries for our understandings to evolve to the metaphysical view of our consciousness as a continuum that can be liberated from its subtle magnetic attraction to matter (as at death) and shift its focus to other inner dimensions. But perhaps theoretical physics has just begun to discover the science of how this could be.

I particularly like Blavatsky's quote with respect to this concept:

Maya or illusion is an element which enters into all finite things, for everything that exists has only a relative, not an absolute reality'Whatever plane our consciousness may be acting in, both we and the things belonging to that plane are, for the time being, our only realities. (39-40)

Finally, I wonder if the discovery of microscopic string harmonics was what Blavatsky was alluding to when stating:

Do not attempt to unveil the secret of being and non-being to those unable to see the hidden meaning of Apollo's HEPTACHORD-the lyre of the radiant god, in each of the seven strings of which dwelleth the Spirit, Soul and Astral body of the Kosmos, whose shell only has now fallen into the hands of Modern Science ' (167)
References:

Blavatsky, Helena P. The Secret Doctrine, 7th ed. vol. 1. Adyar: Theosophical Publishing House, 1979.

Greene, Brian. The Elegant Universe. London: Jonathan Cape, 1999.

Duff, Michael J. "The Theory Formerly Known As Strings." Scientific American, vol.13:1, 2003.

Kaku, Michio. New Scientist, January 18, 1997 [PF: Contact author.We need name of article here]

Smith, E. Lester (Ed.) Intelligence Came First. Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1990.

Murchie, Guy. The Music of the Spheres: The Material Universe from Atom to Quasars, Simply Explained. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, 1967.

Phillips, Stephen M. Anima: Evidence of a Yogic Siddhi. Adyar: Theosophical Publishing House, 1996.

Peat, David, F. Superstrings and the Search For the Theory of Everything. Chicago,IL: Contemporary Books, 1988.

Sheldrake, Rupert. A New Science of Life. Rochester, NY: Park Street Press, 1995.

Veneziano, G. "The Myth of the Beginning of Time." Scientific American, vol. 290:5, 2004.

The Living Well

By Sherry Pelton

Originally printed in the July - August 2006 issue of Quest magazine. 
Citation: Pelton, Sherry. "The Living Well." Quest  94.4 (JULY-AUGUST 2006):139-143.

Come, bring your dipper
Fill your cup.
Dip into the Living Well,
Source of your being.
The wellspring is yours.
Draw from it to find the sustenance you need.

---Sherry Pelton

Theosophical Society - Sherry Pelton is a former teacher and business owner and today, works as a composer. A member and co-founder of the Phoenix Study Group, she and her husband, Del, pide their time between Scottsdale, Arizona, and Port Orford, Oregon.

What is this wellspring that is always available to us, and how do we find it? This deep well restores our powers. It gives us the ability to heal, grow, and transform. Its source is our inner divinity. To find it and dip into its replenishing waters, we need only be still and listen to our inner voice. We may imagine it in any way. The knowledge that it is there, and that we can find our own way to dip into it, is what gives us comfort and strength.

Most of the ancient teachings of the world's religions provide clues to understanding this powerful source by identifying sound and vibration as inherent in all that exists. Without vibration (or the "big bang," as scientists call it) our world would not have come into existence. In the Bible, the Gospel of John reads: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God" (John 1:1). The word is sound which is produced by vibration. The Book of Genesis begins: "And God said, Let there be light; and there was light" implying that word, i.e., sound or vibration, existed first in order for God to give this command (Genesis 1:3). The whole system of Hindu religion and philosophy is based on the science of vibration, and is called Nada Brahma, meaning "all the world is sound," or "God is sound." Lao-tzu spoke of the Great Tone, "the tone that goes beyond all usual imagination" (Berendt 171). Ancient Indian wisdom reads: "First song; then Vedas or wisdom" (Khan 17). In the Qur'an, we are told "Our word for a thing when We intend it, is only that We say to it, Be, and it is" (Koran 16:40). A centuries old Eastern legend relates that when God made man out of clay and asked the soul to enter, the soul refused to enter this "prison-house" until God commanded the angels to sing. As the angels sang, the soul entered, drawn by the music.

In Cosmogenesis of Blavatsky's The Secret Doctrine, stanza 3 begins, "THE LAST VIBRATION OF THE SEVENTH ETERNITY THRILLS THROUGH INFINITUDE. THE MOTHER SWELLS, EXPANDING FROM WITHIN WITHOUT, LIKE THE BUD OF THE LOTUS," and stanza 3 continues, THE VIBRATION SWEEPS ALONG, TOUCHING WITH ITS SWIFT WING (simultaneously), THE WHOLE UNIVERSE AND THE GERM THAT DWELLETH IN DARKNESS: THE DARKNESS THAT BREATHES (moves) OVER THE SLUMBERING WATERS OF LIFE.

There is an I Ching hexagram, "The Well," and it "represents the deep, inexhaustible divinely centered source of nourishment and meaning" (Wingbook 48). The Living Well is another representation of this same source.

The Mystery of Entrainment

The teachings of Hermes Trismegistus were central to the spiritual work of Hermetic societies in late antique Alexandria. They are still considered important inspirational writings, and have greatly affected modern day theologies. The teachings of Hermes Trismegistus aim to awaken gnosis, the direct realization of unity between the individual and the Supreme.

Hermetic philosophy is based on seven principles, one of which is that, "all is in vibration" (Goldman 28-31). This is the first premise toward understanding the power of sound. "All" includes objects that we normally think of as inanimate or non-vibrating such as rocks, water, thoughts, colors, light, words, and actions. Since everything has a vibration, it is important to know that one vibrational field, if it is stronger, can pull another vibration into it. For example, if one holds two tuning forks and strikes one of them, the vibrating fork will pull the other into an equal vibrational level. Since we are all vibrating bodies, just as tuning forks are, the different rhythms and frequencies of our bodies may be changed through entrainment.

Entrainment is the ability of one object's powerful rhythmic vibrations to change the less powerful vibration of another object, causing the object with the less powerful rhythms to synchronize with it. If we believe that all is a part of an interdependent whole, then we know that our tonal level not only affects those who are in our immediate surroundings, but also all that exists. Any thought, word, or action affecting our vibrational level reaches out to the vibrational level of others. Vibrations are both sent and received. A beautiful statement about this interdependence is attributed to Chief Seattle in famous speech of 1854: "Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of the earth. Man did not weave the web of life; he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself."

Negative vibrations pull to the negative, but positive vibrations can deflect them by pulling to the positive. Sometimes it may be necessary to move away from the field of a destructive, negative force. News heard on television or the radio over and over again can often pull the listener into a negative field. This is not being informed. It is more like being sucked into a black hole. On the other hand, if we find ourselves uplifted by certain music, poetry, scenery, or just the presence of another, the vibrational field resonates with us, is a positive and healthy force, and can be used for our own well-being.

Music is a great source to help us to tap into this positive vibrational field. Plants that receive a daily dose of classical music to grow stronger, students who increase their test scores by listening to Mozart, cows that give more milk when serenaded, and cowboys who sing their gentle songs at round-up time to keep the herds calm, are all using music as a resource for tapping into this great power. In 1892, when Oliver Wendall Holmes wrote Over the Teacups, he advised: "Take a music bath once or twice a week for a few seasons, and you will find it is to the soul what the water bath is to the body" (Holmes 47).

Pythagoras and Modern Physics

Modern physics and the ancient wisdom teachings are moving closer together to unveil the secrets of how the universe was formed (and continues to change) by exploring the power of sound and vibration. String theory, for example, explains that the basic ingredients of the universe are not point-like particles, but tiny strings vibrating in ten (or more) dimensional space.

The cosmic acoustic theory of Dr. Wayne Hu and Dr. Martin White offers evidence supporting the idea that,

inflation, in the first moments after the big bang, triggered sound waves that alternately compressed and rarefied regions of the primordial plasma. After the universe had cooled enough to allow the formation of neutral atoms, the pattern of density variations, caused by sound waves, was frozen into the cosmic microwave background radiation. The sound spectrum of the early universe had overtones much like a musical instrument. If one blows into a pipe, the sound corresponds to a wave with maximum compression at the mouthpiece and maximum rarefaction at the end piece. But the sound also has a series of overtones with shorter wavelengths that are integer fractions of the fundamental wavelength. The wavelengths of the first, second and third overtones are one half, one third, and one fourth as long (Hu and White 44-53).

Interestingly enough, their study with its concentration on overtones that affect the formation of the universe is similar to Pythagorean teaching. What is an overtone? Every musical tone you hear is not just one tone, but is made up of several tones. These are in mathematical proportions, and are very easy to hear on a piano if you strike a very low note, immediately release it, and then listen to the sounds above it in the moments that follow. Some musicians who play certain musical instruments have to learn how to produce the sounds of the overtones.

Pythagoras developed a whole mathematical system governed by overtones. He also taught about the Music of the Spheres (Campbell 98). Pythagoras proposed that just as all the planets and everything in space relate to sound vibration, so do we, each with our tonal or natural vibrational level. When we are not in that healthy, natural tonal level, illness occurs. Pythagoras also thought that one could be cured by using certain tones to bring one's vibrational level back into balance. Today, medical researchers are studying the possibility that vibration may be used to heal diseased parts of the body—i.e., changing unhealthy vibrations to those of a healthy one. This notion does not seem so far fetched when we consider that ultrasound is commonly used for diagnosis or treatment. We often use the word sound to indicate health and wholeness. The word "health" comes from the Old English, hal, a root word signifying "whole, healing, hale, and inhaling." Health in Middle English means "to make sound."

Unlocking the Secrets of Resonance

Resonance is the increasing intensity of sounds by sympathetic vibration. Through resonance, one vibrating body can reach out and set another body into motion—just like tuning forks. It is because of resonance that a singer with a powerful voice is able to shatter a glass. When the singer's voice matches the resonant frequency of the glass, it causes the glass to vibrate. Too much sound energy causes the glass to break. The Biblical story of Joshua tells us that he marched his troops around the wall of the enemy seven times, then they gave a powerful shout, causing the walls to come tumbling down. This story relates how Joshua knew about the power of sound and vibration. The physical phenomena of resonance forms an integral part of our lives, but we rarely pay attention to it.

When searching for a specific program on the radio, we hear static until the broadcast waves meet the waves of the radio transmitter and resonate with them. F.P. Journe, a watchmaker, applied the phenomenon of resonance in his invention of a unique wristwatch chronometer which uses two entirely independent movements interoperating in harmony with each other. If one is set for one time, and the other is set for another, they eventually come together and show the same time. Napoleon once forbade his troops to march over a bridge, fearing it would collapse from the effects of resonance. The highly precise pressure regulators of the Bureau International de l'Heaure, at the Observatory of Paris, as well as the radio broadcast time signal sent from the Eiffel Tower, were fitted less than forty years ago in separate rooms of catacombs, at a depth of twenty-six meters, in order to eliminate fluctuations in temperature and atmospheric pressure from resonance interference.

Resonance and its effects are all around us, affecting our daily lives on a routine basis. In our own bodies, every organ, bone, and tissue has its own separate frequency, just as the instruments of an orchestra have their own frequencies. Together they resonate, making up a composite frequency, a harmonic that is each person's own personal vibratory rate. This is similar to the total sound that an orchestra makes when all of the individual instruments are played together. If all of the instruments are in tune, and playing "in harmony", the result is a pleasing sound. If not, it is discordant. In our physical bodies, we call this disease or say we feel unwell.

Our surrounding vibrations can help us reach a state of harmony or discord. So what is harmony? It is agreement, accord, right proportion, and right rhythm—a pleasing arrangement of the parts, and it is beauty and order. The use of music is the easiest and most direct route to bring us to a level of beauty and harmony. Once we bring ourselves into harmony, we also come into a state of healing. There are many stories of those who have healed themselves of disease through the use of music, and of those who have made great strides by listening to music before or after surgery. There is data to suggest that those with learning problems can be helped by listening to music, and that babies who listen to Mozart (specifically) are not only calmed, particularly if the music has been played in utero, but also that their developing brains are helped. Listening to music, especially classical music, helps one to come into a sense of harmony. however, one must be careful about music choices. For example, listening to overly romantic music, day after day, may create a feeling of sadness or longing. And you certainly would not choose a requiem to help you get energized for a day of housecleaning!

How to Tap into the Healing Power of the Living Well

To tap into the healing powers of the Living Well, it is helpful to fully understand the four concepts discussed:

All is in vibration
Everything is a part of an interdependent whole
Entrainment
Resonance

Another factor to consider is that not only does everything have vibration; it also has harmonic relationship to a musical note. When an inharmonious sound is produced, the disturbing vibrations will upset all of the vibration in the object and the field. The reverse occurs when a harmonious note is produced. The resulting vibration is peaceful, calm, and harmonious. What happens in a symphony orchestra if the various instruments are not tuned to the concertmeister? The resulting sound is discordant—not in harmony.

The Living Well allows us to find our own musical notes or frequencies and be in harmony on all levels. In this way, we stay happy, healthy, creative, and productive. But most importantly, we stay in tune with the grand concertmeister; the one of which we are all a part. We all have the ability to create our own harmony, by surrounding ourselves with harmonious vibrations, and with all that is beautiful and orderly. One can learn to see beauty in all things, but there are definitely certain colors, sounds, smells, and textures that are more pleasing to us than others. Even the snake charmer knows this as he mesmerizes the cobra with his music.

Vibration also creates light, but what we often see is a distorted impression that it makes upon our mind. Our minds are not "ourselves"—not the knower or the self—but rather a material reflection of the self that knows, is conditioned by past thinking, and modified by the present. Since thoughts have their own vibrations, each mind has its own rate and range of vibration. Whenever consciousness vibrates, it changes the mind's vibrational level. In a state of perpetual motion, the pictures are forever changing. Waking or sleeping, we are constantly building our mental bodies. Even a passing thought draws some particles of mind stuff into the mental body and shakes other particles from it. When the mind is attracted to certain thoughts, feelings, or sensations it reproduces in itself the vibrations of the attractive thing, and so becomes like it. When repelled, however, the mind reasserts itself by rejecting the not-self's vibrations and reinforcing its own.

Either way, the mental body is thrown into waves, as is the matter in the field, and therefore affects the consciousness of others. The finesse or coarseness of mental matter stirred into vibration depends on the quality of these vibrations: When a lofty thought causes the mental body to vibrate, then particles of denser matter are shaken out, and particles of finer matter take their place. In this way, vibrations of consciousness are always shaking out one kind of matter and building another. It does not always follow immediately, but works as a seed. For this reason, we need be concerned about the music, television, and films that that we expose ourselves and our children to, as well as the language that we use and hear. The vibrations that they produce have effects. If we want to have a strong, well-vitalized mental body, then we must work at thinking well. We are our own builders, and fashion our minds for ourselves, while simultaneously affecting the vibrations of others.

If we set out to make each day harmonious, each day can be a day of beauty. Beauty is not just the province of artists, it is necessary for all beings. By creating harmony and order in all actions, discordant notes can be eliminated. Even the most mundane tasks can be made beautiful by the way we approach them and think about them. Negative vibrations pull to the negative, positive pull to the positive. Remembering this, we can make better choices, and choose vibrations that will make us well instead of sick. This knowledge is our Living Well; it is always available to nurture us.

Here is some sound advice on how to tap into it:

Choose appropriate music to energize your activities, and to get in touch with your own wellspring. Identify music that speeds up or slows down the pulse rate, music that is better for digestion, music that is better for relaxation, music that charges you up and shifts into a more active gear. For healing or stimulating the mind, classical music or Indian ragas are wise choices

Remember that you are an instrument. Sing vowel sounds on a variety of tones, and with a variety of rhythms, to exercise your internal organs. Notice, as you go from low tones to high tones, where you feel the vibration within your body

Sit quietly in your home while listening for all of the sounds that are around you, and then eliminate the negative ones that invade your space. That includes general noise, chatter, and dissonance.

When asking that age-old question, "Why are we here?" the answer may well be that we are here to bring harmony and unity to ourselves, to others, to the universe, and finally to harmonize ourselves with the infinitely pine. Happiness is being in harmony with the universe.

Sherry Pelton is a former teacher and business owner and today, works as a composer. A member and co-founder of the Phoenix Study Group, she and her husband, Del, pide their time between Scottsdale, Arizona, and Port Orford, Oregon.

References

Berendt, Joachim-Ernst. Nada Brahma: The World is Sound., Rochester, VT: Destiny Books, 1987.

H.P. Blavatsky, The Secret Doctrine vol. 1 (Quest edition). Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1978.

Campbell, Don. Music Physician for Times to Come. Wheaton, IL: Quest Books, 1991.

Goldman, Jonathan. Healing Sounds: Power of Harmonics. Boston, MA: Element Books, 1992.

Holmes, Oliver Wendall. Over the Teacups. New York: Houghton Mifflin,1891

Hu, Wayne and Martin White. "The Cosmic Symphony," Scientific American (February 2004).

Khan, Hazrat Inayat. The Mysticism of Sound, Boston, MA: Shambhala Publications, 1991.

The King James Holy Bible.

The Holy Koran.

Wingbook, R.L. The I Ching Workbook, New York: Double Day, 1979.

Therapeutic Touch: Healing Based on Theosophy and Science

By Nelda Samarel

Originally printed in the July - August 2006 issue of Quest magazine. 
Citation: Samarel, Nelda. "Therapeutic Touch: Healing Based on Theosophy and Science." Quest  94.4 (JULY-AUGUST 2006):127-131.

Theosophical Society - Nelda Samarel is the Director of the Krotona School of Theosophy in Ojai, CA and Western District Director of the Theosophical Society in America. A practitioner and teacher of Therapeutic Touch for over twenty-five years, Nelda has taught TT throughout the world, received national funding to research its effectiveness, and published several articles on the subject in professional journals.

Therapeutic Touch (TT) is quite familiar to many theosophists, and for good reason. Developed in the early 1970s by two life-long theosophists, TT is taught and practiced in Theosophical Society lodges throughout the United States and the world.

The persons most influential in developing the technique are the late Dora Kunz, a gifted clairvoyant and healer and past president of the Theosophical Society in America; and Dolores Krieger, Ph.D., R.N., professor emeritus at New York University Graduate School of Nursing. For over three decades, both professionals and the lay public have used TT in homes and in health care settings. Drawing on a natural potential that can be developed in all individuals, the TT technique is gentle, simple to learn, and easy to use. It harmonizes with other approaches to health and can be used very effectively in combination with traditional health care practice.

TT is neither faith healing nor "laying-on of hands." It is a contemporary interpretation of several ancient healing practices. Although derived from these ancient practices, it differs from them in several significant ways. TT is not done within a religious context, nor does it require a professed faith or belief in its efficacy by the practitioner or the recipient. Another significant difference between TT and the laying-on of hands is that TT requires no direct skin-to-skin physical contact between practitioner and recipient. It is an energetic method of healing, based on a postulated re-patterning of energy, a process in which the practitioner uses the hands as a focus to enable people to move toward increased health.

The positive effects of TT are manifested physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. Research findings have documented its effectiveness in bringing about a state of deep relaxation, resulting in a decrease in physical and psychological stress. In addition to easing disorders caused by stress and chronic tension, TT is particularly effective in relieving pain, accelerating the healing process, and generally increasing feelings of well-being at all levels.

What is Therapeutic Touch?

What exactly is this healing phenomenon? TT may be defined as a holistic process based on the natural potential to use the hands to consciously re-pattern energy with the intent to heal. TT is holistic in that it affects our entire constitution, not merely the physical dimension, but the emotional, mental, and spiritual dimensions, as well. As a process, it is ongoing, dynamic, and continuous; the effects of the treatment are cumulative and increase over time. Every person has the natural potential to heal others; healing is not a "gift," it may be taught and learned. With sufficient practice, every person may heal using only the hands as the instruments for healing. A key concept of TT and a vital and integral part of the method is the conscious intent of the practitioner. In fact, research has demonstrated that, without a healing intent, the method is not effective. We are all aware that, when we suffer physically, emotionally, mentally, or spiritually, the simple presence of another compassionate human being is of great comfort. When our full attention is given to this effort, that is, when our conscious intent and motivation to assist is added to our physical presence, whatever we do is profoundly more effective.

According to theosophical teachings, human beings are energy fields and, according to modern science, energy is in constant motion. It is the pattern and rhythm of that motion, the vibration of energy, which determines our relative health or illness. TT works on the pattern, or flow of the recipient's energy.

The objective of TT is, of course, to heal. However, to heal is not to cure. To cure is to make healthy, to be rid of all symptoms and to restore health. It is possible to be cured of a cold or a headache. It is not possible to be cured of terminal cancer, or of a chronic and debilitating illness. Although all individuals may not be cured, all may be healed.

The word heal is derived from the Old English haelen, to make whole again. To make a person whole is to assist them to a condition where all dimensions—physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual—are working synchronously. Furthermore, it is implied that this is the natural state of being; this is the way we initially were and are meant to be; to make whole again. Healing, then, means to restore energetic order and balance to all dimensions of the human being. When order and balance are restored, it is possible for a person to do whatever it is they must do, fully and to the best of their ability. The person with a cold who is healed is then free to rid themselves of all bodily symptoms of the cold; the person with a headache no longer experiences headache pain. The person with a terminal illness who is healed becomes free to do what they need to do, that is, free to live the remainder of life with quality and to die with dignity and peace.

When all dimensions of the human are working in synchrony, healing occurs naturally. The TT practitioner assists the recipient to move to that state where healing may occur. Thus, the recipient heals himself; the practitioner merely places the recipient in the best possible condition for healing to occur.

Theoretical Assumptions Underlying the Practice of TT

An assumption is a premise, a statement that is assumed to be true because it has not been researched or validated. There are seven assumptions underlying the practice of TT. Three are posited from the scientific perspective and four are posited from the theosophical perspective.

Assumptions from the Scientific Perspective

Controlled clinical trials for TT, to date, have tested only its efficacy and safety because no way of testing its mechanism of action has been available. However, these assumptions regarding the mechanism of action have held true for thirty years.

The first assumption is that the human being is an energy field. We do not have energy fields; we are energy fields. In our WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) world, many question the reality of unseen energy fields. However, we all accept the presence of energy fields, whether or not we see them. For example, sound is an energy field. We do not see the sound waves, but readily accept the reality of the invisible waves created by one's vocal cords traveling through the atmosphere to reach another's ear drum, creating what we experience as the sound of another's voice. We readily accept the reality of the unseen gravitational energy field, invisible as it is. When we are holding an object and let go, there is no doubt as to what will happen to the object; we never wonder if the object will remain where it is in mid-air, travel upward, or sideways. Based on our knowledge of the gravitational field, we can predict with surety that the object will fall to the floor. The human field, while not visually perceived by most people, is a reality. The basis of TT is that this field may be perceived by touch. The concept of the human as an energy field is entirely consistent with modern physics, whereas Newtonian physics posits a WYSIWYG universe.

The second assumption underlying the practice of TT is that illness is an imbalance in the human energy field, which is in constant motion, as are all energy fields. This dynamism is orderly; it is patterned, balanced, and symmetrical. In the individual who is fully evolved physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually, the energy field is perfectly patterned or ordered, totally balanced, and completely symmetrical. Of course, other than the great teachers of the world (such as Buddha or Christ) none of us are fully evolved. Our energy fields are, therefore, never totally balanced and completely symmetrical.

However, if the pattern, balance, or symmetry of one's field is considerably disturbed, this disturbance or arrhythmia may manifest in a variety of ways: physically, we may get a cold, headache, or other physical ailment; emotionally, we may feel agitated or depressed; mentally, we may find ourselves having negative thought patterns or an inability to think clearly; and spiritually, we may question our own beliefs. It is posited that, when the energy flow is restored to its normal state of balance and harmony, health will be restored.

Several points need to be considered with regard to the assumption that illness is an imbalance in the energy field. First, this may imply that the energy imbalance precedes and causes the illness. It is entirely possible, however, that an illness may precede and cause the energy imbalance as, for example, in the case of a so-called accident. If a normally healthy individual falls, and fractures a leg, the fall and the broken leg will cause the subsequent energy imbalance. However, if this individual is "accident-prone," suffered frequent mishaps, it is likely that an energy imbalance is be the cause.

Another consideration, from a somewhat different viewpoint, is derived from the framework under which TT was developed. Shaped within the theosophical worldview, the development of TT was also influenced by the theory of Unitary Human Beings, articulated by Martha Rogers in her Introduction to the Theoretical Basis of Nursing. It is the conceptual model used to guide the nursing curriculum at New York University. According to this model, the linear model of our universe is flawed and, therefore, cause and effect cannot be known definitively. And so we do not see causal relationships, but rather reciprocal relationships (97). Applied to TT, we would say that there is a manifest illness. We cannot assume whether the energy field imbalance caused the illness or the illness caused the imbalance. However, we can say that there is a direct relationship between the energy field imbalance and the illness; one cannot appear without the other; modifying one will, therefore, modify the other.

The final consideration with regard to this second assumption is that the direct relationship between illness and energy field imbalance does not negate germ theory. Germ theory is the theory that foreign organisms, bacteria for example, cause physical illness and to restore health, medical care may be required, including medication. There is no conflict whatsoever between energy field theory and germ theory. Let us use the example of an individual with a streptococcus throat infection (strep throat). What is the cause of this problem? Is it an energy field imbalance or the streptococcus bacteria? Should this person be treated with TT to correct an energy field imbalance or with antibiotics to eradicate the causative bacteria? Clearly, medication is required to eradicate the bacterial infection and it would be dangerous to do otherwise. However, we may consider the reason this individual succumbed to a particular infection when others sharing the same space have not. An energy field imbalance has compromised this individual's immune system making him more susceptible to foreign organisms and to infection. This person will recover much more quickly when treated with TT, but still requires an antibiotic to eradicate the causative bacteria. This last consideration leads to an essential mandate regarding treatment with TT: it is not a substitute for medical care; rather, it is an adjunct to medical care.

The third assumption underlying the practice of TT is that the human being is an open system. The term system, that is, a set of things working together, or an interconnecting network, implies that we are unified wholes. Not only is each component of the physical body linked and interdependent, but also similarly, each dimension (physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual) is linked and interdependent.

An open system is one that is in constant interaction with its environment. According to General Systems Theory, every system that is living is open and interacting with its environment; a closed system cannot live.

We all have experienced this openness with our environments. For example, when entering a new place, perhaps a room where we never have been, we immediately feel "at home" with the place or the people and want to remain there. A colloquialism often used to describe this is that the place has "good vibes." The opposite experience occurs when we enter a new environment and, for no apparent reason, feel uncomfortable with the place and the people and want to leave. The colloquialism used here would be that the situation has "bad vibes."

We generally feel good and uplifted when around peaceful, joyous people and feel uncomfortable when with angry or restless people. There is no choice but to be open to our environments; it is not possible to close ourselves off from the energy fields around us, or to close our fields so others do not affect them. Our skin, our perceived boundary, is not a boundary at all. In fact, our boundaries are undefined.

Without this third assumption, TT could not be effective. The first two assumptions, that humans are energy fields and that illness is an imbalance in the energy field, are insufficient. If the recipient's energy field is not open, the TT practitioner could not have any effect on it.

Assumptions from the Theosophical Perspective 

Many wonder why TT is taught and practiced worldwide in theosophical lodges and ps. Not only was TT developed by two lifelong theosophists, but it reflects the theosophical world view and is, therefore, consistent with theosophical doctrine and practice. From the perspective of the theosophical world view, there are four assumptions underlying the practice of TT.

The first assumption is that there is but one reality, an underlying Unity of all existence. In other words, all life, in fact, the whole manifest universe, emanates from one source. All existence is interconnected. Metaphorically, we are all sparks of the one flame. If there is only One, it follows that matter and energy are two expressions of that One; and that they are equivalent. Therefore, any change in the subtle energy field affects the grosser physical, and likewise, any change in the physical affects the more subtle energy. Thus, when TT alters the subtle human energy field, effects may be experienced in the physical body.

The second assumption is that an innate intelligence or wisdom prevails throughout the universe. Our universe is patterned, ordered, and purposeful, with an inherent harmony, a tendency toward equilibrium. The pattern and order in the universe is undeniable. The sun rises in the east and sets in the west. Furthermore, the time of sunrise and sunset may be accurately predicted. Acorns that fall from oak trees germinate and produce new oak trees, not maple or elm trees. The seasons follow one after the other in an orderly cycle. The tendency toward equilibrium is a manifestation of the law of karma, the Great Law that restores balance in the universe. It is the Great Equalizer, restoring equilibrium or, as Plato described it, the Good (Allegory of the Cave, Republic VII). Healing is a natural consequence of this tendency toward equilibrium, toward the Good. Our bodies, emotions, minds, and spirits enjoy this natural tendency toward the Good, and TT merely enhances this natural tendency toward order and health.

The third assumption is also related to karma, the law of adjustment, of cause and effect. We are not in a position to know what karma is and how it plays out. If an individual is ill and suffering, perhaps it is their karma to experience the healing effects of TT. Perhaps the fact that this suffering individual crossed my path is my karma in order to provide me with the opportunity to learn and to grow through our mutual interaction. Of course, we cannot eradicate another person's karma, but we may influence or mitigate it. We can help smooth out scars of past experiences (samskaras), through facilitating the person's inner change. Regardless of how we may speculate, TT provides the opportunity to alleviate suffering in others, to act in compassion.

The fourth assumption is that consciousness is primary. It conceives, directs, and governs gross physical matter. And so, our conscious intent, if properly directed, can affect the subtler energies, resulting in changes physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually.

A Compassionate Universe

When practitioners provide TT, they are instruments of compassion; when I provide TT for another, I do not feel compassion, I am compassion. Our universe is compassionate, and when I am doing TT, the universe is acting through me; I am simply acting as an instrument of the universal healing energy, fulfilling the universal dharma of compassion. If it is the karma of the person receiving TT to achieve greater health, it will happen. If it is that person's karma to suffer from some physical, emotional, or mental affliction, perhaps the TT may assist them to have the strength and insight to better deal with their illness. Whatever the result, we cannot place a value on the outcome, nor can we desire any specific outcome. As Dora Kunz frequently reminded the nurses she taught for decades, TT is offered with no attachment to the result, knowing that "the outcome is not in our hands."

Some people ask, "What do theosophists do other than meditate and sit around discussing?" An outgrowth of both the theosophical worldview and modern physics, TT is a compassionate intervention used worldwide to alleviate suffering. TT is an example of theosophy in action.

Therapeutic Touch

As generally taught and practiced, TT consists of five steps usually performed while the recipient is seated in a chair with eyes closed and feet flat on the floor.

  1. Centering: The practitioner assumes a meditative state of awareness, achieving a calm, focused state of being and mentally making the specific intention to assist the recipient. Because this state of awareness is maintained throughout the entire treatment, TT is often thought of as a moving meditation.
  2. Assessing: Practitioners move their hands, at a distance of two to four inches, over the recipient's body from head to feet, assessing whether the energy is flowing in a balanced, unbroken, evenly distributed manner, or whether there is a need for balancing, which may include, but is not limited to, areas of blocked energy, energy imbalance, energy deficit, or energy congestion.
  3. Balancing: With a brushing motion, the practitioner clears blocked energy, energy imbalances, or congestion to achieve a more balanced energy flow in the recipient.
  4. Energy transfer: If the recipient is experiencing energy depletion, the practitioner consciously serves as an energy transmitter. The energy is transmitted and transformed, through the practitioner, and passed on to the recipient. It is important to note that the practitioner does not act as an energy generator sending personal energy, but as a transmitter of universal energy.
  5. Stopping: It is important to know when to end a treatment. These steps are not discrete, but fluid. For example, the practitioner reassesses from time to time, rebalances, and may combine several steps. The emphasis of TT is on system balance and, therefore, when the recipient's energy field seems balanced or improved, the practitioner ends the treatment.

A typical TT treatment lasts approximately 10-20 minutes, although treatments may extend up to 30 minutes or more. For more detailed information, see Therapeutic Touch: A Practical Guide.

References

Macrae, Janet. Therapeutic Touch: A Practical Guide. NY: Alfred A.Knopf, 1988

Plato. The Dialogues of Plato. Tr. B. Jowett. New York: Random House. 1937

Rogers, Martha. An Introduction to the Theoretical Basis of Nursing. Philadelphia: F.A. Davis Company, 1970.

Biography

Nelda Samarel is the Director of the Krotona School of Theosophy in Ojai, CA and Western District Director of the Theosophical Society in America. A practitioner and teacher of Therapeutic Touch for over twenty-five years, Nelda has taught TT throughout the world, received national funding to research its effectiveness, and published several articles on the subject in professional journals.

Anne Frank and Uncle Willy

By Edward Tick

Originally printed in the July - August 2005 issue of Quest magazine. 
Citation: Tick, Edward. "Anne Frank and Uncle Willy." Quest  93.4 (JULY-AUGUST 2005):130-135

tick

Last year my wife Kate and I traveled to the Netherlands with our children Gabriel and Sappho. We made this trip in honor of our son, who was graduating high school and leaving home for art school. Kate and I wanted to give Gabe a rite of passage by taking him to see Vermeer, Rembrandt, Van Gogh, and the worlds that had produced them.

We arrived in Amsterdam on the Friday evening following Easter. While taking a respite in a quiet canal-side cafe, we realized we were near Anne Frank's house. A short stroll brought us to 265 Princengraft, a building snuggled into a residential section of Amsterdam that overlooked a picturesque canal. Though it was the evening of the Jewish Sabbath, to our surprise the museum was open. We felt grateful to be able to honor the Sabbath and begin our tour of Amsterdam in this manner.

Men, women, and children of various ethnic backgrounds walked in a heavy, attentive, prayerful silence through stark rooms still darkened by blackout shades. This was the place where Anne, her parents Otto and Edith, her sister Margot, Fritz Pfeffer, and the Van Pels family—Hermann, Auguste, and their son Peter—hid together from the Nazis for more than two years. Large pictures from the 1940s show daily life in Amsterdam and then in contrast, the life in the concentration camps under the Nazis. Excerpts from Ann's diary are displayed on the walls: "One day this terrible war will be over. The time will come when we will be people again, and not just Jews."

Visitors are taken back in time when entering the kitchen and common room where they had "to whisper, tread lightly during the day, otherwise the people in the warehouse [below] might hear us." Coming to the front office that served as a bathing area on Saturday afternoons Anne wrote that she and her sister "scrub ourselves in the dark, while the one who isn't in the bath looks out the window through a chink in the curtains." Finally there is the bedroom where the movie magazine cutouts still hang that Anne used in a desperate attempt to bring some glitter to her shadowy, shut-in existence. Similarly, the board game Peter received for his birthday lies where he and Ann used to play.

A visit to these rooms brings the Holocaust of World War II and the present-day global warfare against civilians up-close and personal. These rooms stage the brute reality in which the Frank family lived and the moral tragedy humanity has inherited, a tragedy in which goodness and innocence struggle to survive ultimate evil. We are all familiar with Anne's famous words, "In spite of all that has happened, I still believe that people are basically good at heart," and we gain strength from this brave twelve year-old girl. But there are aspects of this tragedy that are not popularly known.

In these lonely rooms Anne and her companions learned about the gas chambers. She wrote, "The English radio says they're being gassed. I feel terribly upset." And at the end of the Annex tour, a video reports Anne's death due to typhus and deprivation in Bergen-Belsen in March 1945. The last witnesses to see her alive testify that her innocent, loving, and hopeful spirit had succumbed to a devouring hopeless despair. It is difficult to put that end together with Anne's inspiring writing.

Sadly, this story has become our common legacy. It symbolizes not only the 6 million Jews and 6 million non-Jews that the Nazis exterminated, but also the many millions of civilians who died or were murdered in purges, genocides, wars, and epidemics throughout the last century. It has happened all over: in Soviet Russia, Viet Nam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Bosnia, the Middle East, Africa, the World Trade Center—up through the present Iraqi war. The huge numbers of anonymous dead are impossible to imagine or personalize when we try to comprehend such massive slaughter. Anne Frank's diary gives us one story, which we relive vicariously when we read it or watch the play or movie versions. In this way, we practice our duty to "Never Forget," to partake in the ritual of remembrance for people who lost so much. Such remembrance is meant to serve the world as a sanctified safeguard against such slaughter happening again.

In the last room of the museum stands a pedestal. On the pedestal lies a book called L'Zachar, In Memoriam. Eight hundred fifty-eight pages long, with a hundred and thirty names on each page, it carries the names of the 103,000 Dutch Jews killed in the Holocaust. In Memoriam was published in The Hague in 1995. It stands open to page 208 where Anne's is only one in nine columns of the names of all the members of the Frank clan killed by the Nazis. The page is slightly smudged by the thousands of visitors who touched it like a holy relic at the end of their pilgrimage through her house. I saw the book, touched it, and ached over it. But Anne's hand was not the only one of the dead to rest upon my shoulder. This visit to Anne Frank's house brought an old family mystery to the surface, as well.

My paternal grandparents and most of their relatives migrated to America in the early 1900s. But I had one great-uncle who remained in Europe, fleeing to Denmark. He kept in contact with our American family until the Nazi takeover of Europe, and then was never heard from again. We have always feared we lost him and other blood relations in the camps. I thought my missing great-uncle was named Willy and that he was my grandmother Minnie Wasserman's brother. Willy had fled from Russia to Copenhagen around the time Minnie came to New York. Family rumors stated that he had relocated to Amsterdam. Laying before me was a list of Nazi victims; perhaps there was evidence in this book that would reveal the fate of my lost great-uncle.

With trembling fingers I leafed through the pages of In Memoriam. There, on page 799, was Willy Leopold Wasserman, who died at age 56 in Auschwitz. He was about the same age as my grandmother. I fell into a chair and wept in my wife's arms. When my heart quieted, I spoke with the museum staff about how to find out if Willy was indeed my uncle and, if so, how I could learn about his life and reconstruct this lost piece of family history.

The non-Jewish man staffing the information desk compassionately spoke of his visit to Hiroshima where he too cried to his depths. We affirmed together that the Anne Frank House, Hiroshima, and the atrocity site at My Lai, that I visit annually when I lead groups to Viet Nam, are among the great peace memorials of the world. He wished me "Shalom." A Jewish staffer— ironically, she was named Anne—told me how to research Dutch Jewish records. She informed me that discoveries like mine had occasionally happened to others. Then she left to photocopy the page with Uncle Willy's name for me. She returned a few minutes later with the memorial book, which she held out to me. She said the staff and director wanted me to have a copy of it. I was overwhelmed, befuddled, and humbled. Silently, we held hands.

I carried the book against my heart as we walked back to our hotel. I called my father immediately and asked him to begin researching from his end. I set the book on a chair, as an altar next to my bed, and opened it to Uncle Willy's name. As I awaited my father's answers, I prayed that Willy Leopold Wasserman was my lost uncle—giving me a bloodline that stretched into the gas chambers—and I prayed that he was not.

Over the next two days my father and I exchanged a flurry of phone calls and e-mails that zipped between Amsterdam and Florida as we struggled to discern whether Willy was our lost relative, the lost piece of our family history. Was the blood of my family spilled in the camps? Had my uncle's spirit cried out to me to fight against the evil that causes these losses?

I've always felt keenly that when any person is attacked for his or her membership in another race or religion, then the same thing can happen to me, that evil is can strike any of us indiscriminately, arbitrarily, with utmost cruelty and meaninglessness. Regardless of Anne Frank's beautiful and innocent vision, evil exists in this world we share. The famous psychoanalyst Bruno Bettlehiem, himself a survivor of Dachau and Buchenwald, responded to Anne Frank's sweet vision with, "If all men are good, there never was an Auschwitz."

It is common for members of groups that have experienced oppression or extermination to feel survivor's guilt. Even when we are historically or geographically removed from the direct experience, we identify, suffer, idealize, and search for ways to carry the legacy. Dr. Stephanie Mines, another Jewish psychotherapist specializing in treating severe trauma, said, "I grew up with Anne Frank in my heart. She is my model, my heroine, and my inspiration. For years I thought I might be her reincarnation." Willy being a blood relation would justify my collective survivor's guilt, granting me direct permission to feel as I do—that I am a survivor of war, trauma, and Holocaust.

As much as I wanted Willy to be my uncle, I wanted him not to be my uncle. As a Jew, I contemplate my relatives and their communities who were victims of the Holocaust and Russian pogroms. My family has survived such tragedies and more. Those are enough. The legacy of annihilation is replete with both profound suffering and with ambivalence. We all wish to escape, to cling to what Michael Ortiz Hill calls "the fetish or certainty . . . that my life and my death are possessions of mine." Nobody wants their line to stretch into the furnaces of hell, for nothing else so completely destroys this belief.

But what about those whose names and stories we do not know? Anne Frank's legacy makes the Holocaust personal by allowing us to intimately share the lives of a handful of victims, but how do the others impact us? What is their legacy? What are our spiritual, religious, and cultural relationships and responsibilities to all the anonymous dead? Ethnic groups that inherit holocaust and genocide sometimes think that the quest to annihilate their race or religion was aimed personally and especially at them. But history since World War II makes it apparent that genocidal slaughter is a world problem that concerns every national, ethnic, racial, and religious group on this planet. Terrorism has put the final exclamation point on the lesson that humanity has received since the beginning of the practice of mass impersonal death. Impersonal vulnerability is everyone's modern-world legacy.

We know we live in an era of holocaust and genocide but are barely capable of remaining sensitive and responsive before so many anonymous deaths. We shake our heads, look the other way, our faces sadden, our hearts constrict when we hear large statistics of mass deaths. Soon we go numb, as we do from watching too much war coverage on TV. For this reason, a visit to Anne's house is most relevant for our times. It shows us how the human spirit responds to or is broken by terror, whether that terror is generated by attacks from outside or propaganda and dictatorial control from within one's own government.

During the 1930s and 1940s, Anne Frank, her family, and all the other Jews under Nazi occupation were subjected to a new and terrible form of terror. Other forms of terror came, not much later, to Russia, Japan, African nations, the Balkans. On a September morning in 2001, three thousand of the people who went to work in the World Trade Center never again emerged, and we Americans became terrified as never before. We, too, experienced helpless shock and the unremitting fear that meaningless, unexpected, and anonymous suffering and annihilation might happen to us or our loved ones at any time.

The flurry of e-mails with pointed questions demonstrated that Willy Wasserman was not my blood uncle. My lost uncle came from my grandfather's, not my grandmother's line. He was from my mother's branch, not my father's. And his last name was Waldman, not Wasserman. In the end it didn't matter. I experienced the discovery—and the loss—of Willy Wasserman as if he were my uncle. I was touched by one of the anonymous dead and he is anonymous no more. Willy Leopold Wasserman was born on November 8, 1888. He was from Bautzen. He married Alice Berta Rosentiel, who was 11 months older and from Luxemburg. They arrived in Auschwitz together. Both in their mid-50s, they must have failed the selection and been put to death on the day they got off the cattle cars. They both died in Auschwitz on October 19, 1944.

The story of Uncle Willy teaches me about our relationship with other anonymous victims of modern wars. From World War II and the Holocaust up through this most recent war against Iraq, we have created untold numbers of unknown dead. Though their names and histories may not be known, the world and our individual souls are weighed down with their suffering and pain. We become culturally, psychologically, and spiritually more unhealthy to the degree that we deny their memories. Whether it is personal or historical, we all have a significant relationship with and responsibility to these lost souls. We must find ways to honor them, give their sacrifice meaning, and end the worldwide slaughter without adding to it, whenever and wherever it occurs.

For our own sakes and for the souls of the dead, our challenge is a form of the spiritual movement that in Hebrew is called Teshuvah, which means Return. The concept of Return is the essential impulse behind spiritual healing. It is the governing principle of Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement. We must return these millions and millions of soul-numbing statistical deaths back to individual and personal status—give them their with names, faces, and stories—as In Memoriam begins to do for Dutch Jews. These anonymous dead must become real people again.

In this spirit of making the losses personal, in May 2003 thousands of Austrian schoolchildren researched and documented the lives of individual Jews, gypsies, or disabled persons exterminated in Austria during the Holocaust and wrote letters to them. In a public ceremony in Vienna on the anniversary of the 1945 liberation of the Mauthausen concentration camp, many of these letters were tied to balloons and released. This gesture helped rescue the anonymous dead. It also helped contemporary Austrians deal with a painful part of their own history which they were forced to confront, when the world criticized their election of a former Nazi operative to lead their country.

In this same spirit, one moving gesture of the recent anti-war movement occurred when protestors carried on placards and buttons the names of individual Iraqi women and children endangered by our bombing. Again anonymous and distant victims became real people. War became personal, not just through our personal losses, but also through the deaths we've caused. Such personalization is a form of spiritual action. It humanizes what would otherwise be unknown corpses. It fulfills Ezekiel's vision of preaching to the dry bones until they fill with breath again.

I cannot believe that my experience with Willy Wasserman was just coincidence. Some spiritual traditions teach that souls are alive after death, that when people die violently their souls wander restlessly until they are given rituals or remembrance. If souls are alive it may be possible for any one of the millions of anonymous dead to choose and call out to any one of us, demanding an encounter that changes our lives. Anne Frank, of course, is not anonymous. The publication of her diary by her father, the family's lone survivor, guaranteed that we would know her. We respond to Anne's memory precisely because she has become an individual we can see, picture, imagine in her daily particulars, and therefore know in a personal way. But what about all the others?

In Homer's Odyssey, Odysseus poured fresh blood for the shades in Hades to drink so they could instruct him. In an ancient custom of several traditions, survivors made animal sacrifices to the spirits of the dead so they'd come back to life and speak with the living. Who are the living sacrifices that enable the dead to speak today? Willy Leopold Wasserman emerged from the shadowy past and touched me in Anne Frank's home. He stepped out of the anonymous ranks of 103,000 murdered Dutch Jews and made my visit personal. My family's pilgrimage brought him the flesh and "blood" he needed in order to speak.

We the living, who carry the memories of the dead and make meaning of their sacrifices, are their lifeblood. By seeking, feeling, hearing their spirits, we allow them to speak to us, touch us, and teach us. Through a name, a place, a date, a wife's name, the anonymous dead become personal and individual once again. They come back to life within us and we become their living relatives. Thus Willy Leopold Wasserman has become my uncle. I light memorial candles in his name. Thus he lives again in us all. Together, we can give meaning to Willy Wasserman's life and the lives of each one of those listed In Memoriam.

Edward Tick has had a private practice in psychotherapy since 1975. His practice includes extensive and innovative work with survivors of severe trauma, especially war, sexual and substance abuse, severe mental and emotional disorders. men's issues, and psychosiritual healing. This is his first contribution to Quest magazine.

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