(30) In constructing their temples of initiation, the early priests frequently demonstrated their superior knowledge of the principles underlying the phenomena known as vibration. A considerable part of the Mystery rituals consisted of invocations and intonements, for which purpose special sound chambers were constructed. A word whispered in one of these apartments was so intensified that the reverberations made the entire building sway and be filled with a deafening roar. The very wood and stone used in the erection of these sacred buildings eventually became so thoroughly permeated with the sound vibrations of the religious ceremonies that when struck they would reproduce the same tones thus repeatedly impressed into their substances by the rituals.

(49) Now where the Mercurius soundeth and is elevated or predominant, there the Mercurius of the spirit goeth also in, and is thereby affected, and bringeth it [the sound] before the princely throne in the head, where it is to be approved by the other four counsellors.

(10) Within those radiances, the natural sound of the Truth will reverberate like a thousand thunders. The sound will come with a rolling reverberation, [amidst which] will be heard, 'Slay! Slay!' and awe- inspiring mantras. Fear not. Flee not. Be not terrified. Know them [i.e. these sounds] to be [of] the intellectual faculties of thine own [inner] light.

(67) Now what is it that makes the Hearing, that you can hear that which stirs and makes a Noise? Wilt thou say that it is caused by the Noise of that outward Thing which gives the Sound? No! there must also be somewhat that must receive the Sound, and qualify or mix with the Sound, and distinguish the Sound of what is played or sung; the outward cannot do that alone, the inward must receive and distinguish the Noise. Behold, here you find the Beginning of the Life, and the Tincture wherein the Life consists; for the Tincture of the Crack in the Springing up of the Life, in the Breaking-open of the dark Gate, stands in the Sounding, and has its Gate open (next the Fire-flash near the Eyes) and receives the Noise of whatsoever sounds.

(45) The second counsellor is the ears, which have their rise also from all the powers in the whole body through the spirit; their fountain is Mercurius or the sound, which ariseth from all the powers.

(4) O thou who guidest the Bark of Rā, sound is thy rigging and free from disaster as thou passest on to the Tank of Flame

(61) In this pressing through and turning about existeth the tone, according to the quality of each spirit; and always one power affecteth another, for the powers are as loving brethren in one body; and the meekness riseth up; and the spirit generateth and sheweth itself infinitely.

(12) You honor me and whisper against me. You, the vanquished, judge those who vanquish you before they judge you, because in you the judge and partiality exist. If you are condemned by one, who will acquit you? If acquitted by him, who will arrest you? What is in you is outside, and one who fashions you on the outside shapes you inside. What you see outside you see within you. It is visible and your garment. Hear me, hearers, and find out about my words, you who know me. I am the hearing all can reach; I am speech undecipherable. I am the name of the sound and the sound of the name. I am the sign of the letter and the designation of the division. I . . . light . . . great power . . . will not move the name . . . to the one who created me. I will speak his name.

(121) Then the tone lays hold thereon, and goeth forth therewith at the mouth, eyes, ears and nostrils, and executeth that which is decreed in the council of the seven spirits: for as the decree of the council is, so also is the spirit; and the council can alter the same as it will.

(70) Thus now the Habitation of Man's Sound, wherein the Understanding is, must be from Eternity, although indeed in the Fall of Adam, Man has set himself in the Corruptibility, and in great Want of Understanding, as shall follow here. In like Manner also we find concerning the Smelling; for if the Spirit did not stand in the Sound, then no Smell of any Thing would press [or pierce] into the Essences; for the Spirit would be whole and swelled. But it standing thus in the Gate of the broken Darkness in the Crack and in the Sound, therefore all Virtues of all Things press in into that Gate, and try themselves by one another, and what the Essences of the Spirit love, that it desires, and draws the same into the Tincture; and then Hands and Mouth fall to it, and stuff it into the Stomach, into the outward Court of the four Elements, from whence the earthly Essences of the Stars and Elements feed. 7 1. And the Taste also is a Trying, and Attracting of the Tincture in the Essences of the Spirit. And so the Feeling also, if the Spirit of Man with its Essences did not stand in the Sound, there would be no Feeling; for when the sour Essences draw to them, then they awaken the bitter Prickle [or Sting] in the Fire-flash, which stirs itself, either by Griping, Thrusting, or Striking, and thereupon in all driving the bitter Prickle in the Fire-flash is awakened; and therein stands the Moving; [and] all in the Tincture.

(48) Thus the second counsellor in the head is the ears, they stand open, and in all that soundeth the sound goes forth through them.

(35) The second form or property of heaven in the divine pomp or state is Mercurius or the sound, as in the Salitter of the earth there is the sound, whence there grows gold, silver, copper, iron and the like; of which men make all manner of musical instruments for sounding or for mirth, as bells, organpipes and other things that make a sound: There is likewise a sound in all the creatures upon earth, else all would be in stillness and silence.

(11) Now the manner of the dawning of the Wrathful Deities is to be shown. In the above Bardo of the Peaceful [Deities} there were seven stages of ambuscade. The setting-face- to-face at each stage should have [caused the deceased] to recognize either at one or another [stage] and to have been liberated.

(30) Then the tone riseth up; and the hard spirit beateth, striketh or thumpeth; but the sweet makes that beating or striking mild; and the bitter divideth it according to the condition or kind of every quality; the fourth causes the ringing; the fifth causes joyfulness; and the compacted incorporated sounding is the tone or tune, or the sixth spirit.

(36) By that sound all powers are moved in heaven, so that all things grow joyfully, and generate very beautifully: And as the divine power is manifold and various, so also the sound or Mercurius is manifold and various.

(26) When experiencing miseries, through the power of evil karma, May the tutelary deities dispel the miseries. When the thousand thunders of the Sound of Reality reverberate, May they all be sounds of the Six Syllables. When Karma follows, without there being any protector, May the Compassionate One protect me, I pray.

(28) The second method of healing was by vibration. The inharmonies of the bodies were neutralized by chanting spells and intoning the sacred names or by playing upon musical instruments and singing. Sometimes articles of various colors were exposed to the sight of the sick, for the ancients recognized, at least in part, the principle of color therapeutics, now in the process of rediscovery.

(7) And when upon their hinges were turned round The swivels of that consecrated gate, Which are of metal, massive and sonorous, Roared not so loud, nor so discordant seemed Tarpeia, when was ta'en from it the good Metellus, wherefore meagre it remained. At the first thunder-peal I turned attentive, And "Te Deum laudamus" seemed to hear In voices mingled with sweet melody. Exactly such an image rendered me That which I heard, as we are wont to catch, When people singing with the organ stand; For now we hear, and now hear not, the words.

(3) From the midst of that radiance, the natural sound of Reality, reverberating like a thousand thunders simultaneously sounding, will come. That is the natural sound of thine own real self. Be not daunted thereby, nor terrified, nor awed.

(2) But thou wilt ask, What is the tone or sound? Or how taketh this spirit its source and original? Answer.