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 Note: Andrea Mathieson is the maker of Raven Essences. Sound is an integral part of the Raven Essences, though I didn't start with this intention. In 1995, I stepped into my co-creative garden to make the first essence. Tuning in to the garden I heard, "Stop! You need to bring yourself to this process..." Taken aback, I wondered what to make of this message. Like a good student, I was following the guidelines of others. At that time, I had very little awareness of the complex alchemical nature of flower essences. Unlike scientific models where objectivity is paramount, essence producers are intimately involved in the creation process. Our consciousness is part of the vibrational signature of our essences. This explains why a Marigold essence made by two different people can have similarities, but also be distinctly different. 
Standing in the garden, I remembered my 25-year career as a musician. Music was a central part of my life.
Proceeding with the traditional process, I knew I must include some overtone chanting (it wasn't practical to bring my grand piano outside!). I held my hands around the bowl and felt a gentle 'thud' as the Datura's energy transferred into the water. Then I began to chant, and immediately felt a spiraling surge of energy race towards the sun. I was completely unprepared for this powerful sensation. The sound seemed to amplify and stabilize the synergy between the flower, water, and sun.
For the last decade, I've continued experimenting with sound with my essences. Whenever I make a combination for a client, I strike a toning bar and hold the bottle over it while the sound slowly decays. The long, pure tone synthesizes the different essences into a powerful, cohesive blend. Travelers can re-vitalize their essences with chant and conscious intent after they go through airport X-ray scanners. I recommend that practitioners periodically re-tune their essences with some form of sound when their remedies have become weary or over-worked. One practitioner was very distressed when her essences no longer tested in her polarity sessions. I suggested she recalibrate them using sound and the intention to meet her current frequency. She called back a week later delightedly reporting she'd used her tuning forks, and the essences were "back in action." Sometimes I suggest clients chant while taking their essences. One woman undergoing radiation therapy for breast cancer was handling the toxic effects of the radiation while also releasing old emotional patterns. I tuned in with my intuitive eye as she took her newly-created Cellular Release combination. As she gently hummed, I saw a dark rubbery armor dissolving, like tar sliding off the inside of a pipe. She later told me she felt a distinct opening in her energy-field. To test my intuitive experiences, I recently did an experiment with a Biopulsar Reflexograph machine that is able to record subtle energy shifts. I took several people through a simple three-stage experiment to record: 1. the effects of taking an essenceNot being a trained researcher, my observations are very rudimentary and subjective. What I did notice was that the essences, when taken alone, often produced a similar response to the chanting. However, when the two were combined there was a noticeably intensified response. Injured areas, such as an arthritic knee or muscle-strained neck, recorded dramatic volatility on the graph. The separate application of chant and essences brought a more general healing response to the same areas, but not nearly as intense as the combined application. 
As part of my journey, I wrote Gaia's Song, a collection of 120 poems and divinatory cards to help in selecting essences. I recorded excerpts from the poetry on a CD, along with music and sounds to evoke and amplify the healing people get from essences. Sound sources I have explored include crystal and brass bowls, cello, Tibetan tsingshas and toning bars, water, rubbed and tumbled stones, mortar and pestle, dried leaves, seashell rattle, and drumhead. There are many questions to explore. What happens synergistically when two vibratory fields, such as sound and essences, interact with each other? Do all essences respond to sound or are the Raven Essences particularly responsive because they were created this way? Perhaps the central question is Nature's, the one I heard ten years ago. Can we bring ourselves, body and soul, fully into the co-creative, alchemical process? Note: See Andrea's earlier article in Vibration here.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Andrea Mathieson is the producer of the Raven Essences. Created in her garden
in Maple, Ontario, Andrea has produced nearly 300 of these essences. Taking people through a co-creative process,
she makes specialty blends for practitioners. Her books, A Love Affair with Nature and
Gaia's Invitation -- Poems from the Sacred Earth, are used as divinatory tools to connect people
to the wisdom and beauty of Nature. Andrea would welcome your questions and feedback about this area
of research. She can be contacted at the Raven Essences Website,
or by email at info@ravenessences.com.
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