Through the pioneering work of Ernst Chladni (1756 - 1829) and Dr. Hans Jenny, it has been shown that sound affects physical matter. Chladni drew a violin bow across the edge of metal plates which were sprinkled with fine sand. Different rates (frequencies) produced certain geometrical patterns.

With more modern technology, the Swiss Dr Hans Jenny investigated what happens when sand, fungal spores, dust, water, etc, are vibrated by sound waves. He used crystal oscillators which can maintain an exact frequency, and invented a machine called the tonoscope, which allowed him to view the result of changing the sound in any way.

Using the tonoscope he was able to see the physical image, or "dimension" of a human vowel or tone. He called this area of research cymatics, and published his results in the bi-lingual 2 volume set Kymatik - Wellen und Schwingungen mit ihrer Struktur und Dynamik / Cymatics - The Structure and Dynamics of Waves and Vibrations. (Recently republished in one volume with many colour illustrations - see resources).

Amongst his more amazing findings was the discovery that when the ancient vowels of Hebrew and Sanskrit were pronounced, the shape produced on the tonoscope was that of the written symbols for those vowels. With modern languages there was no such effect. Also, when AUM is sounded the shape produced is that of the ancient written symbol for AUM (the Sri Yandra). This suggests that the ancients knew something! Perhaps when sounding in meditation, the vibration created the form in their minds. Hebrew, Sanskrit, Egyptian and Tibetan are generally considered to be "sacred" languages.

The suggestion from these findings is that merely by sounding sacred texts, by singing sacred vowels, we can resonate our cells back into tune - back into shape, restoring our cells and energies to a state of coherence, in which our energies are synchronised with those of God / Universe / Source.

He noted that many structures (such as cell shapes) found in nature under the microscope, were very similar in shape to structures produced in the sand or dust whilst under the influence of a vibration. Perhaps there is an "underlying vibration" in nature, which vibrates atoms into forming a visible shape - but the vibration is the reality, not the shape procuced. This finding is very much in tune with the ideas expressed centuries ago in the Bhagavad Gita - that all we see is illusion.

Jenny also found that water could be shaped and even exhibited an antigravity effect when vibrated by sound. Considering that our bodies are mostly water, through sound we are able to restructure the cells of our bodies.

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