Instruments

Vibrations from the human throat focus astonishing Effects. From singing or recognizable words (see Music and Language, above) to the wordless cries, gibberish, or evocative singing techniques collectively known as glossolalia (“babbling tongue”), vocalizations feature prominently in mystic practices. Both the terms gibberish and jabber come, it has been said, from the 8th-century Arab alchemist Jabir ibn Hazyan, who disguised his forbidden formulas in terms so incomprehensible that would-be translators referred to his work as “Jabir-ish.”

In mystic practices, non-linguistic utterances and nonsense phrases often evoke sublime states of mind because they seem significant even though they defy discernable language. The “speaking in tongues” so popular in prophecy and evangelism; the channeled speech or singing of mediums and trance-artists; the passionate cries of sex, euphoria, and pain… all of them work as tools of magickal focus. Even primal sounds – snarls, growls, whining, and so forth – can contain mystic influence. And although hypertech practices tend to frown upon indecipherable words, the cyborg who snarls as he aims his chain-gun might not need Spheres in order to get his point across!