Open your mind and heart, lift your voice, and discover how the sacred art of chant can enrich your spiritual life. Chanting with an intention to open our hearts and minds to the presence of God in us helps us to be quiet in the face of mystery and learn how to hear what it has to say to us.... Chanting is holistic. It will transform you, you will embody the change, and people will notice the new, more grounded you. More important, though, you will notice the new, more grounded you. —from the Introduction The Sacred Art of Chant invites you to use your own voice to create sacred sounds—no matter your religious background or vocal ability. Drawing on chants from several different faith traditions, this invigorating guidebook is ideal for anyone who wants to enliven their prayer experience in a unique way and navigate a path to a conscious relationship with God. Chant isn’t just about monks or ancient Hindu gurus—this dynamic spiritual art continues to be developed and practiced today. Like other spiritual disciplines, chant can lead to limitless and unexpected benefits. With a steady practice and an open mind, you may find that chant helps you to: Cultivate clarity, focus, and compassion in your daily life Improve your listening skills Raise your energy level Improve your receptivity to other people Transcend the limits you impose on yourself Feel more comfortable in your own skin Ultimately, lead a more complete spiritual life

Open your mind and heart, lift your voice, and discover how the sacred art of chant can enrich your spiritual life. "Chanting with an intention to open our hearts and minds to the presence of God in us helps us to be quiet in the face of mystery and learn how to hear what it has to say to us.... Chanting is holistic. It will transform you, you will embody the change, and people will notice the new, more grounded you. More important, though, you will notice the new, more grounded you." --from the Introduction The Sacred Art of Chant invites you to use your own voice to create sacred sounds--no matter your religious background or vocal ability. Drawing on chants from several different faith traditions, this invigorating guidebook is ideal for anyone who wants to enliven their prayer experience in a unique way and navigate a path to a conscious relationship with God. Chant isn't just about monks or ancient Hindu gurus--this dynamic spiritual art continues to be developed and practiced today. Like other spiritual disciplines, chant can lead to limitless and unexpected benefits. With a steady practice and an open mind, you may find that chant helps you to: Cultivate clarity, focus, and compassion in your daily life Improve your listening skills Raise your energy level Improve your receptivity to other people Transcend the limits you impose on yourself Feel more comfortable in your own skin Ultimately, lead a more complete spiritual life

The Wakuenai of the upper Rio Negro region in southern Venezuela a form of singing called malikai for ceremonies of childbirth, initiation, and healing. This ritual chanting, a rich amalgam of myth and music, serves as a means of integrating individuals into a vertical hierarchy of powers relations between mythic ancestors and human descendants. In Keepers of the Sacred Chants, Jonathan Hill shows how the musical and semantic transformations of everyday discourse in malikai integrate the everyday world into a poetic process of empowerment. He interprets malikai through mythic narratives that explain the cosmos as an ongoing process of musically naming-into-being the species, objects, and activities that define individual humanness and society, and he further shows how semantic and musical meanings are joined to construct each chant and how these chants are manipulated in different contexts. Hill explains how the musical elements of malikai contribute to the success of performance, comparing different genres for which different musical criteria are appropriate. He considers the integration of speech and song through a close analysis of such elements as microtonal pitch rise, rhythm, and timbre, showing how these features are linked to poetic speech and imbued with social power. Hill's penetrating study of malikai is made within the context of Wakuenai history and cosmology and considers influences resulting from contact with the outside world. Because Northern Arawakan-speaking peoples have received less attention than others of the region, his book thus makes a significant contribution to Amazonian ethnography. It is the author's focus on malikai, however, that commends keepers of theSacred Chants to all interested in the multitextured uses of song and story by peoples of the world.

In this encouraging guide for both beginning and experienced haiku writers, Margaret D. McGee shows how writing haiku can be a consciously spiritual practice for seekers of any faith tradition or no tradition.

Including details about chanting's history and traditions as well as new scientific findings about the many medical benefits of humming and vibration, this guide to vocal meditation provides readers with easy instructions, breathing techniques, and tips on how to create unique, personal chants. Rep

"This innovative book explores religion through music - the source of spiritual elation, social cohesion, and empowerment in cultures around the world."--BOOK JACKET.