Music of the ancients

Hi all,

I've often felt deep and unconsolable pangs of regret at the fact that the wealth of music and song humanity has created in the tens of thousands of years before the present is, for the most part, lost to us. Irretrievably so, it would seem.

As an exercise in thinking out of the box, what are some ways in which we might access that music, whether now, or with the development of new technologies?

I know that shamans who drink the ayahuasca brew in Central and South America say they reach a stage where the plant teaches them a song, and there are those who believe it possible to gain windows on the past and future through the use of this type of powerful hallucinogen...

Has anyone else wondered what hauntingly beautiful music we have lost, and how it might be retrieved one day?

U.

[edit on 9-8-2004 by upuaut]

If you can get me some of this hallucinogen then i am willing to try for the good of humanity to be taught a song by a plant

Mmm, its reportedly not too difficult to make from a mixture of plants.
The psychoactive alkaloids occur in plants pretty much the world over, and another plant is needed for a compound which inhibits the rapid braking down of the psychoactives that would otherwise take place in our stomachs.
But I think I'll hold off for when I can make it to South America...

I'm glad you share this intrepid will to blast open those doors of perception

U.

With reckless abandon I will give everything a go, the only way to expand ones mind

[edit on 9-8-2004 by stumason]

There have been some attempts to recapture the music of the ancients.

www.medieval.org...


"Some clay tablets from Ancient Mesopotamia indicating a musical notation also exist, and attempts have been made to perform them. Some attempts have also been made for Ancient Egyptian music. This survey must conclude at this point, without a journey farther East, as it becomes more & more removed from the focus of the FAQ. The natural continuation for even music of Egypt or Sumeria is the classical Arabic tradition which formed in medieval times, and this is not treated by the FAQ."

You may find a google search on anapestic beats in biblical psalms to be helpful. Anapestic beats are 2 short beats and a long beat. It is the driving beat you hear in rap and some rock music.

The thing about psychoactive drugs is how do you know whether you are communicating with plants, travelling time and astral planes - or just plain tripping your tits off?

Originally posted by jadestonedoll
There have been some attempts to recapture the music of the ancients.

www.medieval.org...


"Some clay tablets from Ancient Mesopotamia indicating a musical notation also exist, and attempts have been made to perform them. Some attempts have also been made for Ancient Egyptian music. This survey must conclude at this point, without a journey farther East, as it becomes more & more removed from the focus of the FAQ. The natural continuation for even music of Egypt or Sumeria is the classical Arabic tradition which formed in medieval times, and this is not treated by the FAQ."

You may find a google search on anapestic beats in biblical psalms to be helpful. Anapestic beats are 2 short beats and a long beat. It is the driving beat you hear in rap and some rock music.

Thank you VERY much: I'll fish around. I wonder if perhaps there are downloadable samples of these performance attempts...

U,

Originally posted by VelvetSplash
The thing about psychoactive drugs is how do you know whether you are communicating with plants, travelling time and astral planes - or just plain tripping your tits off?

Yes, that is the question...

Here is my approach.
It is undeniable that the plant you have ingested is comunicating with you. It is doing so in a far more direct way than speech: its own biochemical essence is interacting with your's, directly altering your consciousness.

When we speak to others, we are attempting to evoke images and concepts in their minds, and we do so with more or less skill, and more or less success. Unfortunately, no matter how skillfully we word things and how compellingly we orate them, once the words have left our mouths the interpreting is left up to the listener... who may not be listening at all.

This is true with psychoactive plants also: the person who ingests them may not be 'listening' and may miss much of the communication... but on the whole, it must be considered a far more direct form of communication than speech. The very biochemical essence of the plant is guiding your perceptual processes far more directly than words do.

One answer to your question could be, then, that if you feel like you are just tripping balls, you probably aren't 'listening' to the plant. Like a piece of music that you listen to superficially, thinking: that's nice, it makes me feel upbeat... There is far more to be found in the piece of music, but what you mine from it will depend on the quality of your attention on it. You may or may not choose to listen to the lyrics, for instance. They can be appreciated only for their rhythm, or you can also tune into their meaning. How many times have I listened to a song I have known for years, only to REALLY hear some portion of it for the first time!

Talk to you,

M.

[edit on 9-8-2004 by upuaut]