The Sounds and Semantics of Kusala Alternative Healing
So you can hear where it is that I’m coming from, and while this process of finalizing how I present myself to the world is relatively easy and simple, it’s also been a process that has been filled with distractions and constant dialogue from individuals that may, or may not, have relevance in the current conversation. It’s important for the audience to remain mindful of the fact that there’s only one of me, and many of you, and with all of the varying points of view that are coming my way, I may, or may not, agree to the same.
In fact, I may, or may not, be seeking your opinion at all and this is important for me to say as those whose opinions I do value, tend to know it, and those that persist in their requests tend to know that as well. I’m doing my best at staying positive in my writing despite all of the negativity that comes my way. For example, I have requests coming in from individuals that I haven’t spoken to in many years, and all I can say in return is to remind them of the choices they once made, and where those motivations were coming from. It goes without saying that I’m responsible for my own choices in life, just like everyone is, and wouldn’t expect this to be any different, despite the circumstances.
Moving forward with the name change, or rather, finalizing the current conceptual business model, I wanted to mention Joseph Rael — or Beautiful Painted Arrow — and the influence that his work in sound and vibrational healing continues to have on me. It’s for this reason why we’ll need to look further into his writings and visionary art work for a better understanding of the importance that words have in our lives, and furthermore, how those sounds interplay with our spatial awareness, and contribute to our overall well-being.
I was first introduced to his work after returning home from overseas, and near the beginning of my path in shamanism. Having met my first shamanic teacher at a local coffee shop, in Kent, Ohio, she introduced me to a group of healers, psychic readers, and others that were gifted in ceremonial work. Lillith is also credited with introducing me to hands-on healing, energy medicine, Toltec wisdom, and other non-ordinary types of visionary healing. During our drumming circles and scheduled ceremonies, she would often tell us of her time spent learning from Joseph, and being gifted one of her spiritual names that she continues to use to this day.
She would also tell us of his work in constructing sound and peace chambers and how his visionary experiences led to the creation of around 50 or 60 such chambers around the world. These kiva-like structures, ranging from a few to many feet in diameter and height, are intended to help change our individual and collective vibrational frequencies as we continue to grow as responsible spiritual beings into this next century. Although there are no Rael-sponsored sound chambers in Ohio that I know of, there are many located in the continental United States that can be readily visited with permission from their respective Chamber Keeper.
One aspect of Joseph’s teachings has to do with the use of sacred vowels and the spoken tongue. From the onset of reading what Joseph has to offer, he is direct about the differences that can be found when speaking American English, and that of his mother tongue. Born on the Southern Ute Indian Reservation, located in southwest Colorado, Joseph grew up speaking the Tiwa language as taught to him from his birth family and ancestral roots. In his writings, Joseph says that one of the main differences between these tongues is that Tiwa brings meaning to the world through the use of its verb-based language, while English reinforces the material world through the use of nouns.
In this case, or in the example of renaming Kusala Alternative Healthcare, he might also say something along the lines of: “We’re not healthcare, we’re healing. We’re in the active phase of doing, and that means attuning ourselves to the multi-dimensional being-ness that includes sound and vibration.” Of course, that’s just an example of what one might expect to read when learning from Joseph’s written words, and he would also encourage the reader to begin working with the sacred vowels that he presents, and to begin chanting these sounds in a sacred manner.
Joseph’s sacred vowels, as taken from his 1993 publication of Being and Vibration include his specific pronunciation to each vowel that is used in the English language. While I’m not sure how other sounds resonant in his native tongue, nor is it clear how these vowels inform, influence, and interplay with other native tongues, the basic meanings and slight pronunciation of these vowel sounds is as follows:
A – aah – Purification, Direction of the East, Mental Body
E – eh – Relationship, Direction of the South, Emotional Body
I – eee – Awareness, Direction of the West, Physical Body
O – oh – Innocence, the Infinite Void; Direction of the North, Spiritual Body
U – uu – Carrying, Center of the medicine wheel
He also goes into more detail regarding the metaphors that humans use in order to describe the vibratory essence of the world, and why aligning ourselves with these vibrations is essential in living up to our potential as, what Joseph describes as, “true humans.” A true human in this case is a listener, and the first humans as Joseph describes elsewhere in his writings, is a listener. So often you will see, read, and hear me commenting on the audience’s ability to listen with their inner ear as they attune their brows to the unknown, and other forms of sentience that exist in realities beyond our own. But, and this is important to remember, one has to fine tune their listening ability above all else.
If we were to look out how chanting the vowel sounds of Kusala Alternative Healing could possibly change the experience for the participant and increase their respective awareness throughout the attuning process, we would first reduce the vowels from the consonants, and by doing so, isolate the syllable sounds from the vibrations that may be occurring when we speak these words into being. Joseph’s chanting is all softly spoken, with little to no harsh guttural sounds emanating from these vowels. Kusala Alternative Healing, and its successor, Kusala Healing, would be reduced and chanted in the following manner:
Kusala Alternative Healing
u a a • a e a i e • e a i
Kusala Healing
u a a • e a i
When chanting for others or when going into a specific prayer that will benefit another person, group of people, or those sentient beings in the animal kingdom, one could begin with a reduction to the vowel sounds of these words. My name, Ryan Michael Faught, reduces to the following:
Ryan Michael Faught
a • i a e • a u
And although Joseph doesn’t mention the “y” of the sometimes “y” vowel sound that we use in the English language, I tend to include its use with these pronunciations as it seems to be an important aspect of my own vibratory essence, including how I pronounce my name. Ryan Michael Faught, therefore, would reduce to the following:
Ryan Michael Faught
y a • i a e • a u
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