Tantric Art – Composing Music For The Goddess Kali

August 25th, 2009 by Hans Havasi, under Music. No Comments

This article is meant to inspire artists and creators alike, on how they can use a process called resonance to create. We will illustrate this in our case by giving an example of how one can create music on the tantric Goddess Kali. We will start with a description of Kali followed by a short description of the process of resonance (which in fact is a much deeper law than the law of attraction) and end by speaking about how a composer can use the law of resonance to make his creations.

About Kali

Kali is the first of the 10 great goddesses in the tantric tradition. She has four arms, black skin, big glaring eyes and has a necklace with severed heads. She can be found in graveyards where she dances on the tombs while laughing at the mortality and pettiness of humans. Her deeper symbolism is that of time and death which are things that we humans fear and that is why she looks so terrible in our eyes.

A ghastly sight indeed, she will send shivers down the spine of most who do not yet know her mysterious ways. Now to a few words about resonance. But once you have understood her deeper meaning her grace will reveal itself to you.

About resonance

The main teaching of Tantra is the law of Resonance. This law is deeper and more profound than the law of attraction which is on everybodies lips after the movie ‘the secret’ came out.

Everything in the universe consists of energy which vibrates with different frequency. Energies with similar frequencies will be attracted to each other and start a process of resonance together. In this process they will start to exchange information between them.

During the day we move through different resonance spheres or areas and our moods and feelings react accordingly. If we are in a place where there is an ‘angry’ resonance we will also become angry if we have the energy of anger within us. The energy of anger in the place and our energy of anger will start to ‘resonate’ with each other.

If we go to a football game where the energy is wild and excited we will also become wild and excited. If we go to a peaceful and calm place we will also become peaceful.

A similar resonance can exist in a landscape, a color, in a room etc. If the resonance is the same for these different mediums we will start to feel the same resonance no matter if we were in the landscape or in the room. Music is the most powerful resonator as it can very precisely convey a certain feeling or mood.

For example, if you listen to heavy metal you will enter into states of rage, hatred and destruction. You will enter into a state of resonance with the people who made the music and the state that they were in when they made the music. You will enter into resonance with all the people who listen to that music and who resonate with that state. You will start downloading all their negativity and hatred.

On the other hand if you listen to harmonious, beautiful music you will go into resonance with harmony and beauty.

One of the quickest ways of entering into a state of meditation with a specific aspect is by meditating with music which has the resonance of that aspect, which is why music is so efficient in “jump starting” us to enter the desired mood.

Applying resonance in art

If you want to make music or art with a certain specific mood, you have to immerse yourself in that mood. You have to study it by looking at pictures and listening to music which conveys that mood. You have to act according to the mood as if it were already in you. In this way you will through the process of resonance, start to download the necessary information for the creation of the artwork.

By studying the subject/object on which you base your art work you will impregnate your art piece with the resonance of the studied object. Anybody who then contemplates your art will in turn be impregnated by that resonance.

Applying this knowledge to create music with Kali

Studying Kali will bring with it deep meditation and speculation on the subjects of life, death and time. These subjects might indeed be terrifying for those who have not delved more in them.

The music created by such a contemplation on Kali will very likely also convey a feeling of terror. This can be done by using drones and strong percussive elements. Also the minor tonalities from Arabia and India give an aura of mystique and danger.

In the end though, Kali will lead he who contemplates on her to a deeper understanding of the nature of life and death which in turn will lead to a mystical opening of the heart. (These effects can be achieved by string quartets and melodic lines which lead upwards).

We hope you found the article informative. In the process you learned about Kali, about the law of resonance and how this law can be applied by the artist who wants to make a piece of art on a specific subject, in our case Kali.