In the Beginning there was Sound....and it was very High-Pitched!

Anyone who has read my book Visitors From Hidden Realms (Eagle Wing Books, 2004) or been reading Alternate Perceptions for the last few years, probably knows of my interest in the subject of the pre-Columbian Peruvian whistling vessels. These ancient psycho-acoustical instruments have had sound engineers, psychotherapists and others scratching their heads in awe and wonder since Daniel Statnekov (author of Animated Earth) happened by happy accident (?) to re-discover their unusual sonic properties back in 1972. As Statnekov describes in his book, he happened upon a whistling vessel at an auction in Pennsylvania. Though his tastes had always been more oriented towards antiques from the colonial American era, he found himself inexplicably drawn to this ancient bottle. Then, one day some weeks later, he took it off the shelf at his home and, on impulse, began blowing into it. Without warning he had a mystical kind of experience. It was as though he had left his body and was flying through space. Later, when Statnekov was describing this experience to an archaeologist who had studied these vessels, this man of science stated that he couldn’t understand how something like that could have happened. That kind of an experience, he explained, was more like something to be expected from hallucinogens like San Pedro cactus or ayahuasca, which ancient Peruvians did (and some still do) use in ceremonies. The archaeologist furthermore continued that he didn’t recall anyone having “played” one of them either. Back then archaeologists had assumed that they were some sort of liquid containers. Not whistles.

New Mexico psychotherapist Don Wright has been making fully functional clay replicas of these vessels since 1980. He has made hundreds of them for people throughout the world. While attending Boston College, studying theology and psychology, Wright happened upon the whistling vessels through a college professor. Wright too had a mystical quality experience and he later apprenticed under Statnekov and learned for himself how to make replicas of these double chambered vessels from the ancient Chimu civilization of Peru. The Chimu, by the way, were one of the last civilizations to manufacture the whistling vessels and theirs were also some of the most high pitched. Other cultures that made them were the Chancay, Vicus, Moche, Inca, and others, going back at least to 500 B.C. Soon after the Spanish invasion of 1532 their manufacture ceased, and today modern Peruvians have no real knowledge, history or traditions that shed any real light on these truly remarkable instruments.

Don Wright, Keeper of the Peruvian Whistling Vessels, answers some of my questions

I recently contacted Don Wright, definitely one of the leading figures in this field and appropriately enough named the Keeper of the Peruvian Whistling Vessels in one article that I had read. I had a series of questions for Mr. Wright, and in an email he shared with me the following insights and information gained from his years of experience making the vessels and sharing his journey with hundreds of others:

Question: How common do these mystical and/or out of body experiences seem to be in connection with the vessels?

Don Wright: Actually, with almost everyone who participates in a session.

Question: Generally what are the main kinds of reactions, sensations, and perceptions described?

Don Wright: When the vessels finally become silent at the end of a session, most people are very relaxed and happy. They speak quietly as they describe their personal experience and the entire group will readily giggle or joyfully laugh quietly at the slightest humorous statement. Although they are not “stoned” or altered through smoking marijuana, it has frequently been pointed out that if a stranger suddenly observed the circle of participants, he may conclude the participants have been sharing the drug. The difference is, of course, that they are totally “sober.”

The experience can vary greatly and in the most part are indescribable due to the uniqueness of the experience, leaving us without descriptors or metaphors to describe it. Some common themes are being aware of and immersed in an environment expanded beyond the present room or space in which the vessels are being blown, experiencing winds moving throug the mind and body of the participant, being aware of valleys or jungles “below,” experiencing the presence of individuals, dwellings, or pyramids or caverns from past cultures. The primary experience has been, in the sessions I have conducted, one of an extremely pleasant comfort and unusual intimacy between participants who were strangers before the session.

Question: Is there any particular theory or belief system that you have come to favor with regard to them?

Don Wright: No. In fact, my experience has been that the less one expects of or projects upon the vessel session, the more profound the session becomes.

Question: Though people can be startled or initially frightened by the unexpected effects attributed to the vessels, the overall outcome seems to be positive for people I’ve read about or talked to. Has anyone ever described having a negative or harmful outcome?

Don Wright: Many years ago, one woman called me the day after the session and accused it of causing her cat to die. Other than that, VERY occasionally someone complains of an unusual ringing in heir ears for a day or so. I have come to

Right: Drawing of Pat's ET lady. During a whistling vessel workshop I conducted in late August for a small group of metaphysical minded folks in Florence, Alabama, Lenda, a former school

teacher and self-described clairvoyant, shared how she saw a small valley with mountains and a tall, thin woman with dark hair. Across the room, Pat became excited and described how she had been seeing a woman herself. "I thought 'my lady' was first and then Lenda picked up on hers." Pat wrote me later. "At first I heard the woman singing in my ears. ...My woman definitely left me with an extraterrestrial feeling."

Above: One young man "saw" these alien "eyes" it seemed just inches from his face (his eyes were closed) during the blowing of the whistle vessels. He also described hearing a feminine sounding whisper in his left ear. Interestingly, my wife Joan had heard a whisper like sound out of her right ear. Was an unseen whispering presence standing between them?

believe that the vibrations of the vessels during the session actually have the ability to re-sensitize frequencies that have been desensitized in the person in the past, and that what the person is experiencing is these unaccustomed frequencies again. This seems to be proven in that when I suggest this and ask the person to listen to very familiar music and note any change in perception, they invariably report an increased perception of richness in the music. The “ringing” disappears in a day or two.

Question: Have any clues, any writings or depictions turned up yet in Peru that might shed light on how these vessels were used and for what purpose?

Don Wright: Not to my knowledge. It is interesting to me, however, that we do suspect the vessels were used by all people and not just the royalty or priest classes. This is indicated by the locations and numbers of vessels found, and that they have often been obviously heavily worn through use and have often had damage repaired.

Question: Besides people having an immediate effect or reaction to the vessels at the time they’re being blown, has anyone described after effects or had seemingly related experiences later?

Don Wright: Although I seem to experience increases in my color and hearing perception, it may be because of my almost daily experience of blowing them during their construction.

Dr. Rick Strassman speculates for us about DMT and the Whistling Vessels

In Dr. Rick Strassman’s book DMT: The Spirit Molecule (2001) he speculates that meditative techniques and practices like “sacred” chants or visualization exercises might generate certain wave patterns that could induce resonance or sympathetic vibrations in the brain, perhaps causing a release of DMT (dimethyltryptamine) from the pineal gland. DMT is a psychoactive molecule that Dr. Strassman refers to as the “spirit molecule” (because of the way it can generate apparent mystical type perceptions), while he refers to the pineal gland as the likely “spirit gland.” He even speculates that DMT may allow us to perceive dark matter/energy and thus intelligences normally invisible to us, and notes that beings and experiences described by subjects in his own DMT studies might not even be distinguishable from the reports of abductees if references to DMT were removed from some of his own clinical reports.

When I tried to pin him down as to whether or not it had been firmly established yet that DMT is produced in the pineal gland, Dr. Strassman emailed me back: “No. Nothing hard and firm. It’s elusive, that’s for sure.” When I asked him about a possible DMT/Whistling Vessel connection, I learned that although they had “lost touch” with one another, Don Wright and Dr. Strassman were old friends. On the subject of the vessels he wrote: “They are very strange indeed. By all accounts, their effects are very psychedelic. We had a party at our house outside Albuquerque some years back, and about 3 or 4 of them were being blown at the same time. It’s like endogenous psychedelics are released thereby–DMT, 5-methoxy-DMT, etc.”

A Whistling Vessel induced “out of body” experience

I had my first personal experience with the Peruvian whistling vessels thanks to transpersonal psychotherapist Bonita Luz of North Carolina. She in fact introduced me and several other first- timers to the whistling vessel experience on the stage of a small auditorium at the University of Northern Alabama’s college campus in Florence, back in December 1999. One of these other first-timers, Tony Pratt of Antioch, Tennessee, had told me briefly, when we happened to bump into each other at a metaphysical gathering near Murfreesboro, that during the vessel blowing he had a kind of “out of body” experience. Recently our paths crossed again and I reminded him of his statement, and he emailed me this much more complete and incredible account:

“Yeah, the Peruvian whistling vessel experience was quite amazing. I had done some dabbling in shamanism as portrayed in the books of Carlos Casteneda. So, I knew a little about what was going on.

“First of all, I was amazed at how long I was able to blow into the vessel without taking a breath. It seemed like several minutes. And, the next day and subsequently I have been unable to blow on anything longer than 30 seconds. In fact, thirty seconds is a real strain. In my perception at the time it seemed more like 8-10 minutes without any trouble. I have forgotten the actual instructions she gave regarding this. And, the entire event is honestly rather vague at this point. I know we were all seated on a stage blowing on these things. But, the thing I still vividly recall was leaving my body and entering an opening or hole in the earth. When I emerged I came up out of a lake I felt like I was in another world, yet it was this world. Only, I was ‘seeing’ it with new eyes. And I had taken on the form or power spirit of a large bird or eagle. I was flying and soaring like an eagle and could see and understand everything happening in the jungle beneath me. It was an experience of totality and oneness that is indescribable other than to say I was aware of everything living in the jungle. In my awareness I was perceiving through every plant, animal, insect, and human inhabitant all at the same time. I could see the cycles of birth and death, the beauty and horror of creation. And, everything was as it should be. I felt a peace as I flew over the Plain and could see the different animal shapes and designs on the ground. I vaguely recall an understanding or ‘knowing’ would be the appropriate term in the language of shamanism. What this inner knowing told me was that the old shamans had designed and built these lines of the Nazca plain as a representation of their power spirits or particular animals they shared a particular attunement or affinity with when journeying or flying overhead. As a tradition passed down through the generations, it served as a visual tool and confirmation that what one was seeing below was real. It sounds bizarre that one would need to know that the real world was still solidly beneath when you are flying overhead in the form of anything from a monkey or jaguar or in my case an eagle. I think it was also a mental device to distinguish these ‘real’ events from simple dreams or imagination. This also served as a means of validating the journeying experiences of apprentices.”

Hmmm. A “mental device” for distinguishing a genuine paranormal perception from the mental noise of “simple dreams or imagination.” An interesting notion.

In recent weeks, I have had in my possession a set of seven Peruvian whistling vessels. These instruments are fully functional replicas based on the double-chambered vessels that were used by the ancient Chimu culture of Peru. I was told that they were made by Don Wright and though in mint condition, are probably about 20 years old. They are on temporary loan to me (what a great honor) by a gentleman in northern Alabama. Ken said the vessels were to be shared and experienced by others, and so I’ve been doing just that, doing public talks and demonstrations thus far in Tennessee and Alabama. The journey has certainly been an interesting and a rewarding one, and best of all, it’s an ongoing one.

It’s always fascinating to watch and listen to the participants as they react to and describe their personal impressions and experiences with the whistling vessels. Over and over again, we hear the same kinds of things being described. The funny internal humming or wind blowing like sounds in their ears, perhaps as though they were on a mountain, some will say, as well as anomalous noises like whispers, and visions or internal glimpses of people, animals, objects, and landscapes, often not part of ones local or familiar environment. In fact, they often seem to be Peruvian! People also describe bonding to the vessels, and may even express how they don’t want to let them go! They become very relaxed and outgoing. Former strangers are friends, and everyone seems happy and prone to laughter. Again and again, you also hear how seemingly effortless blowing into them is, even for people who get out of breath quite easily.

Into The Light....!

Dr. Melvin Morse is a pediatrician with the Valley Children’s Hospital Clinic in Renton, Washington, and a neuroscientist researching near-death experiences (with particular emphasis directed at those described by children). He authored a book awhile back that touched upon this research, entitled Transformed By The Light (Ivy Books, 1992), co-authored with Paul Perry. Dr. Morse really scrutinized his data carefully and noted one very significant pattern that certainly seems well worth repeating and reviewing these years later. He wrote of how modern neuroscience has discovered the circuit boards for mystical experiences within our temporal lobes (i.e., out of body experiences, tunnel imagery, white figures, some who resemble dead relatives, heavenly music, life review, lack of fear, etc.), that NDEs are nothing like standard medically described hallucinations (i.e., NDEs follow a sequential order, people know what is happening, they feel wonderful, in control and in no way detached), but that it takes the experience of a white light to become transformative! This was the great difference between a regular, if you will, out- of-body excursion and a powerful, transformative near-death experience. It’s the Light! Dr. Morse found marked differences in people who had undergone NDEs. He cited the following examples: these people exercise more than the “normal” population, they eat more fresh fruits and vegetables, they use fewer medications, have fewer psychosomatic complaints, miss less work, have fewer hidden symptoms of depression and anxiety, spend more time in solitary pursuits and in meditation, and often give more of themselves as volunteers, and frequently go into helping professions like nursing or special education.

Dr. Morse concluded that at the right temporal lobe and going deep within the brain from an area just above the right ear, that this was the anatomical location of the NDE. He calls it “the seat of the soul.” To those who felt that by pinpointing a specific brain site for the origin of such an experience lessened or diminished its spiritual importance by making it appear to be merely psychological, Dr. Morse disagreed. He feels that we’re simply talking about a physical location where mind, body and spirit come together and interact, and as physical human beings naturally any experience has to be processed and interpreted someplace in the human body. In addition, Dr. Morse feels that by being able to localize the experience it gives it substance and credibility, and so experiencers are reassured to learn that there is a part of their brain that is “coded” for such an experience, while scientists will be more inclined to study the phenomenon if there is indeed a physical location in the brain that exhibits these characteristics and qualities. And, alas, perhaps most important of all, there is the matter of the transformative light itself. Dr. Morse points out that none of the “reductionist researchers” have successfully found an origin for the light within the brain itself, and why again does the perception of that light so change the experiencers too? Dr. Morse also describes how NDErs have increased psychic sensitivity and precognitive experiences greater than those in a control group. He was also puzzled by how many of the NDE experiencers in his study described having continuing experiences with guardian angels, ghosts and other spirit forms. He speculated about electromagnetic phenomena as a key to these events and how physicists have found that the fundamental building blocks for everything breaks down into “light.” He noted that this was the same insight NDEers describe also. For example, Dr. Morse recalled how one NDEer described seeing “the light in my own cells and in the universe,” adding “I could see that light was God.”

In his study of numerous NDEers, Dr. Morse came upon one lady named Kathy who described once having had cancer of the thyroid gland, and how after radiation and chemotherapy treatments it had spread to other parts of her body and how she was told that she probably only had some six months to live. She wrote out her will, settled her affairs, and stayed at home with her family waiting for death. Due to a weakened immune system Kathy developed viral pneumonia and was taken to the hospital. One night her breathing and her heart stopped, and the medical staff rushed to save her. She had an NDE-type experience in which she was looking out over a beautiful valley and she felt intense joy. She stated that she became aware that a being of light had appeared at her side, and that it touched her, whereupon her entire body filled with light. In fact, it felt like the light was just bursting out of her. She seemed to understand that her children still needed her and that she would not be able to enter the lovely valley below. Remarkably Kathy quickly recovered from her pneumonia and her cardiac arrest, and a few weeks later was told that her cancer had disappeared! When she asked Dr. Morse if he thought that her NDE had anything to do with her miraculous recovery he wrote that he would find it hard not to believe that there had been a connection indeed. He pointed out that many scientific studies had shown that growth and regression of cancerous cells can be accompanied by electromagnetic fields of various intensities, and added that the pineal gland (interestingly enough) has been found to be sensitive to such EM fields and that it secretes hormones that effect the workings of the immune system.

The “Light Shout”

Dr. Morse felt that NDEs can change the electromagnetic field of the experiencer. In addition, he learned that at death an organism emits intense amounts of electromagnetic energy, a phenomenon called a “light shout.” Reportedly, as a cell dies, a strong charge of electromagnetic energy is released. This “light shout” can reportedly be more than a thousand times greater than found in the normal resting state of the dying organism. Dr. Morse adds that this is something NDEers actually see, its not a hallucination, and that on rare occasions bystanders also perceive it as well! Even people who were not emotionally attached to the dying person, or even knew that they were dying, may see this light.

I have an interesting story that a gentleman in New Jersey shared with me back in 1977. The event described (a light shout?) had occurred some years earlier. He was visiting this house where a 12- year-old boy was dying of a brain tumor. In a tape recorded interview with me this man recalled: “We were all sitting in the kitchen and there was a nurse with the boy...and the boy called out and we all went into the room and the nurse had already left the room to call the doctor I guess, because he had become rigid. I guess some kind of muscular spasm...and his breathing became very heavy and fast. Well, as we were standing there there was a light, which started (out a) very pale blue. He was in the corner of the room so that the headboard was against this area...and the length of the bed was against the solid wall and the window. The light blue light which went across through the air around those two sides of the room, but didn’t throw any light on the wall, created a brilliance, but didn’t reflect on the wall. It started as a minor light blue light, became brighter blue, and then turned white. Throughout all of this time, even with the white light, it didn’t show any brilliance on the wall. It then diminished in a blue and went out again, and by that time he had relaxed. He had apparently gotten rid of that rigid business and his breathing was back to normal. When this was happening Bob [another man in the room] was standing next to me. First I turned my eyes from left to right to see if what I saw would go with my eyeballs, figuring it was a trick of my eye, but as I’d turn my eye to the left I could still see the vision on the lefthand side of my eye. So then I said to Bob, ‘Bob, what do you see?’ and he told me exactly what I had seen, without my telling him what I had seen.

“The doctor came in about five minutes later and he had explained that he had gone through some kind of spasm, but he didn’t explain the light, and when he had gone I asked the nurse, ‘Have you ever seen anything like this before?’ She hadn’t really seen it, but I had explained what had happened, and she said, ‘Yes, occasionally you will see some queer phenomena with people who are dying or fighting death. There is sometimes some kind of force that changes into something that you can see.’ Because this kid was fighting death. He died about a week later.”

For more information and updates on Dr. Morse’s work on NDEs, readers may wish to visit his web site: www.melvinmorse.com.

Home