Everything is vibration.
The importance that vibration plays in our lives cannot be underestimated. According to R.E.D. Bishop, a distinguished professor of mechanical engineering and fellow of the University College London, vibration is all about us:
After all, our hearts beat, our lungs oscillate, we shiver when we are cold, we sometimes snore, we can hear and speak because our eardrums and our larynges vibrate. The light waves which permit us to see entail vibration. We move by oscillating our legs. We cannot even say “vibration” properly without the tip of the tongue oscillating. And the matter does not end there–far from it. Even the atoms of which we are constituted vibrate. It is not exaggeration to say that it is unlikely that there is any branch of science in which this phenomenon does not play an important role.
Bishop, pg. 1
It was the Greeks who first theorized the concept of atoms as the building blocks of all matter, believing that different forms of matter were made up of different types and shapes of atoms. The word atom comes from the Greek word atomos, which means “indivisible.” The Greek philosopher Democritus (ca. fifth century BC) contended that if any form of matter were repeatedly subdivided, eventually a point would be reached whereby that matter could no longer be divided–that point would be an atom. His theory of atomism hypothesized that nothing existed but these different kinds, shapes, and sizes of atoms and the void in which they moved (Jewish Encyclopedia, pg. 274). These atoms moved because of their vibrations and velocities, impacting with other atoms and creating and destroying various forms of matter in the process.
Later, the Greek philosopher Plato (ca. 427-347 BC) theorized that humanity’s perception of the world was essentially a shadow of true reality. In Book VII of The Republic, Plato describes a world in which men are imprisoned by chains attached to their legs and necks–unable to move or to see anything but the movement of shadows cast on the wall of the cave before their eyes. In this world of chains the prisoners only see the reflections cast by the shadows of reality behind them. This concept of only being able to see a shadow of true reality is relevant to the topic of vibrations in that our senses provide us with a perception of the material world that is essentially a shadow of the truth. We think we perceive reality, when in reality, we perceive the effects of the vibrations we encounter rather than being able to perceive those vibrations directly.
In spite of our inability to perceive vibrations firsthand, the concept of vibrations has nonetheless become a part of mainstream culture. For example, the 1960s pop song “Good Vibrations” by Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys describes how people put off vibrations through their emotions. That concept has further expanded so that today the idea that certain people possess “good vibes” while others put off “bad vibes” has become a part of everyday language.
The possibility that individuals could actually put off good vibes or bad vibes and have an effect on the material world moved beyond anecdotal accounts and stories into the realm of science with the publication of Masaru Emoto’s international bestseller The Messages of Water in 1999. Emoto’s work demonstrated that the vibration of the environment or the vibration of an individual in the environment has an influence upon the molecular shape of water crystals. Although some might not be surprised to learn that this vibration can come from music and spoken words, Emoto found evidence that water was also influenced by the vibrations of thought, the written word, and even pictures and images. Everything has a vibration and that vibration has been shown to have an effect upon the formation of water crystals. His research has recorded the effect of various types of music upon water crystals, the spoken word in a variety of languages, even the vibrations of thoughts and the written word, which he describes here:
We next thought about what would happen if we wrote words or phrases like “Thank you” and “Fool” on pieces of paper, and wrapped the paper around the bottles of water with the words facing in. It didn’t seem logical for water to “read” the writing, understand the meaning, and change its form accordingly. But . . . the results of the experiments didn’t disappoint us. Water exposed to “Thank you” formed beautiful hexagonal crystals, but water exposed to the word “Fool” produced crystals similar to the water exposed to heavy-metal music, malformed and fragmented.
Further experimenting showed that water exposed to positive expressions like “Let’s do it!” created attractive, well-formed crystals, but the water exposed to negative expressions like “Do it!” barely formed any crystals at all.
The lesson that we can learn from this experiment has to do with the power of words. The vibration of good words has a positive effect on our world, whereas the vibration from negative words has the power to destroy.
Emoto, pgs. xxiv-xxv
The implications of his findings are especially far-reaching when one considers that the human body is approximately 70 percent water. With this in mind, every word, image, and thought that individuals encounter in life, including the thoughts of others, cannot help but have a positive or a negative vibrational impact upon their physical bodies.
Interestingly enough, Emoto’s work also inadvertently confirmed one of the premises from a unique source–the psychic work of Edgar Cayce. Called the “father of holistic medicine” and “the most documented psychic of all time,” Edgar Cayce (1877-1945) became known for his incredible accuracy and for a psychic legacy that continues to help and inspire individuals all over the world. (Additional biographical information can be found in There Is a River by Thomas Sugrue and Edgar Cayce an American Prophet by Sidney Kirkpatrick.) Cayce contended that every thought essentially possesses an energetic vibration leading to the creation of “crimes or miracles” because of the impact of that vibration– literally healing or harming at some level everyone to whom the thought is directed. For example, during the course of a reading given to a forty-four-year-old businessman, Cayce admonished him to become aware of what was motivating his thoughts as well as his ultimate goal in his relationships with others. The reading asked, “Are thy thoughts always prompted by the desire to be of help to others? or are they the more often prompted by the desire to use others as thy stepping-stones to better things for thyself?” Along the same lines, the reading counseled him, “Know that thoughts are things, and as their currents run they may become crimes or miracles.” (2419-11)
In spite of the hundreds of books written about the Edgar Cayce material, relatively little exploration has been done on the wealth of information Cayce provided dealing with the topic of vibration. Even students of the Cayce legacy may be surprised to learn that the subject is discussed in more than twenty-five hundred readings. These readings suggest that all force is vibratory in nature, and they explore the topic of vibrations in terms of consciousness, healing, the material world, even the nature of God and physical reality. One of the few individuals to thoroughly examine the Cayce material on vibrations was longtime Cayce scholar Everett Irion, who stated:
Vibration is not only a deep subject, with far-reaching implications; it is a vast one, encompassing mathematical areas such as geometry and optics, the aesthetics of color, such metaphysical considerations as the nature of time and space, and various philosophical and theological concepts.
Irion, pgs. vii-viii
Irion pointed out that even though vibrations are the basis for all matter (and even consciousness) that exists, the subject remained relatively unknown by most individuals in spite of its importance. On one occasion, he used an analogy comparing vibrations to the roots of a tree in a forest. Although the roots support and feed the tree and without the roots the tree would not exist–no one ever cares about the roots. However, just as without the roots the tree could not exist, without vibration, there isn’t anything at all that could
