MODERN DAY TROUBADOURS
Today words, sound and music are being used as powerful tools for
transformation and healing by a group of dedicated individuals who could
be called Modern Day Troubadours! Gifted speakers and spiritual music
storytellers are using sacred sounds, mystical words and uplifting music to
help raise consciousness, shift perceptions and create closer connections
with humanity and the Divine. Following the age-old tradition of the
French troubadours who were singer-poets of medieval Europe, Modern Day
Troubadours are once again using artistic devises to activate inner wisdom,
profound healing and universal truths.
Carmen Warrington is a meditation guide, workshop facilitator for
corporations and general public and performer/producer of meditative
concerts around Australia such as Sounds of Peace and Inner World
Music. She has recorded a dozen guided meditation CDs that have helped
thousands of people all around the world find inner peace and power. She
is the best-selling author of "Today I will; 100 ways to make your life calm
and creative" and her 2nd book - "Who am I; discover your inner world" was
published May 2004.
Carmen uses her voice as an instrument to conduct guided meditations and
poetic soul journeys, using healing words to soothe the heart and mind, and
allow people to contact the real beauty within them - the spirit beauty.
I asked Carmen to explain a soul journey experience. "These are events
combining music and meditation journeys. The most vital part of the
process is for me to be in a soul conscious state, very introspective and
free, where I can feel and respond to the energy of the audience and be
brave enough to speak and sing on a soul level. I feel that what I do is like
mothering - I create a trusting space where people can feel safe and
experience their own innocence and their eternal qualities while I hold
them energetically in my arms & feed their soul".
Carmen said that a performance "feels like a ceremony to me - an
honouring of the moment, the person - a genuine feeling experience".
Sound contributes profoundly to our state of consciousness. The
difference between the random sounds of everyday and sacred sound
focused to uplift and transform is that sacred sound produces harmony
rather than dissonance. The more beneficial sounds we hear and feel, the
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greater the effect upon our energies. Bringing the body and subtle energy
field into a state of relaxation and balance is the key to facilitating deep
transformation.
The tradition of old sought to elevate the spirit, by creating an energetic
bridge between the everyday and the great archetypal energies and
esoteric teachings inherent in their poetry, music and song.
David Jones is Australia's premier drummer and percussionist. As a Modern
Day Troubadour, I asked David if he could share his intention when playing and
performing. "I become the instrument - my intent is to be an instrument
of God. Because the skill for me is something I don't need to pay
conscious attention to these days - I've been playing for 30 years - I like
to disappear and yet be fully present. I play from the heart and yet I like
to be very detached and watch the whole scene as it is occurring."
David further explained that "the play of energies between the musicians
on stage or in the studio and the energy loop that is set up between the
audiences, the listeners is something very fascinating and beautiful to me.
The predominant experience I have playing music is of divine joy. This is
whether I am playing jazz with James Morrison or totally 'edge of your
seat' improvisations with my own group or playing specific meditation
concert events. My attitude is always the same - I must heal, serve and
uplift.”
The Modern Day Troubadour like those in the ancient fraternity seeks to inspire
as well as entertain. Energy follows thought and with this awareness and
understanding, the Modern Day Troubadour empowers sound and music with
conscious thought to serve and transform.
For 20 years, Chris James has been teaching people that when they
uncover their natural voices profound doorways open into personal
development, spiritual awakening & personal empowerment. He teaches
meditation, energetic awareness and harmonics, the use of sound to still
the mind and to raise consciousness and in general the joy of singing. As an
International teacher, Chris opens festivals and conferences and has
released 9 CDs and a poetry anthology.
I asked Chris about his workshops. "In my workshops I tell participants to
optimise their experience by being present and focussed and then to
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expect miracles. That's when profound shifts of consciousness and
powerful physical healing can happen."
Lifting the spirit and gladdening the heart are clear intentions of the Modern
Day Troubadour. By using sacred and harmonious musical sounds of voice, words
and instruments, energies can be lightened and creative thought
stimulated. Sound is vibratory energy. With conscious thought we can
become more aligned with the higher frequencies of the unseen world that
exists simultaneously with our own. Electromagnetic fields and impulses in
individuals, in communities - even countries can be raised to a finer, more
refined frequency when groups of people come together to create
harmony.
Chris expanded on the inherent power of sound - "When I teach in another
country it feels sometimes as if you have to move the energy of the whole
country at the same time as teaching the group in front of you. And as the
teacher becomes more aware, the intensity of the esoteric aspect of the
troubadour's work becomes more profound." He said, "The age of the
conscious teacher, the troubadour, the mentor, is now upon us and our role
is to empower people leading them into awareness."
Sound Alchemy practised by Modern Day Troubadours activates the universal rule
of entrainment where sound vibrations of one object are projected upon a
second object with a similar frequency, which causes the second to vibrate
in resonance with the first. Uplifting, beautiful sound vibrations from the
spoken word, singing, sacred sound and music entrain our body systems,
our emotions, our mind and our spirit to resonate with the harmonic
vibrations of the cosmos. In this altered state of awareness we can reach
a point of stillness, a silence often referred to as a point of light, where
deep and profound transformations occur.
Sam McNally is a contemporary pianist and keyboardist, composer and
recording artist. Sam has recorded 5 CDs of his own music and has worked
in the Australian music industry for well over 20 years with artists such as
Tommy Emmanuel and John Farnham. A large part of Sam's musical focus
has been in the domains of healing and meditation.
I asked Sam to share some of the insights revealed to him through music
and composition. "There have been wonderful opportunities for me to use
my artistic expression in situations and atmospheres where the music is
working side by side with the power of silence. This is one of the lovely
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paradoxes - using sound to help bring people into a state of silence. That
applies to a less obvious extent in my contemporary jazz performances but
behind the curtain of the music is an attitude of wishing to bring people
into a peaceful state of focus - a point of focus - rather than a highly
extrovert state."
Sam continued, explaining what this state of inner silence can do for
people. "There is a state of inner peace that is possible to reach and we
know it when we reach it. It's a very happy place to be. A state of mind
where there is no unnecessary thought. A state of mind where we are not
thinking thoughts that have no benefit. For example, in a performance
space - if someone is listening to the music and having an experience of
inner peace they are in fact enjoying a state of inner silence. Inner silence
is not necessarily or literally no sound - like many terms in English it is not
literal. It means that there is no chattering of the mind with any
unnecessary thoughts."
Sound has been called the new medicine of the 21st century. Sound waves
are everywhere and everything has a sound. Sound Alchemy is the
transformation of denser vibrations of sound that contribute towards
disempowerment, disease and disharmony to a state of resonance where
each of us can experience the most refined vibrations of harmony,
empowerment and health possible. We can transmute dross into gold!
Susie Nelson-Smith has been a student of religion, spirituality and the
esoteric mysteries since she was 12 years old. A practising Natural
Therapist for 30 years she has been teaching and guiding people to
activate their inner wisdom by sharing her love and passion for sound,
transformation and the esoteric mysteries in her workshops and concerts
travelling around Australia and overseas for the past 10 years. Her focus
is to create an experience of deep transformation using crystal 'singing' bowls,
essential oils, colour, crystals and guided meditations with deep reverence, love &
respect. Susie teaches professional courses in Sound Therapy, Crystal
Vibrational Therapy with crystals and gems and Reiki. She has produced 2 Crystal
Sound CDs and her 3rd CD "Opening the heart to LOVE" will be released later this
year.
I asked Susie to explain what it means to be a Modern Day Troubadour in 2004.
"It is an enriching experience on many different levels. As a keeper of the
crystal bowl and a proponent of Sound Alchemy I have the opportunity to
assist people in awakening memories and knowledge, of strengthening
connection to Soul and of amplifying their inner truth. It's a calling - a
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soul pathway", Susie said, "It feels very familiar and comfortable to travel
and work with others in this way. At one level I am serving those I meet
being guided by my heart. I believe also that at another level, we all
collectively serve the greater consciousness every time one of us shifts
from darker into lighter. Everyone on earth benefits energetically because
the vibratory resonance on a global level is lifted from dross towards gold.
Each of us makes a difference not only to ourselves but too each other
and I feel my soul calling is to assist this process."
Modern Day Troubadours bring awareness with them, a new consciousness that
knows and understands every person is musical, has a beautiful symphony
of sound within just waiting to be realised. With the artistic devices
similar to the troubadours of medieval Europe - poetic words, harmonious
singing, sacred sound and music, Modern Day Troubadours focus on activating the
unique qualities of each person by uplifting, inspiring, informing and guiding
with clear intention to support each person's innate capacity to vibrate in
harmony with their truest self. As each of us activates the highest
octave within, we vibrate and then resonate with the divine sounds of the
cosmos.
Susie Nelson-Smith teaches professional 12 month accredited courses in
Crystal Sound Therapy using quartz crystal bowls and Crystal Vibrational
Therapy with crystals and gems. She has released 3 crystal sound CDs and
her last CD “Opening the heart to LOVE” is about to be released in the
USA. www.crystalsoundandlight.com
Contact details
Carmen Warrington
info@calmandcreative.com.au
www.calmandcreative.com.au
sam@sammcnally.com
www.sammcnally.com
David Jones
david@davidjonesdrums.com.au
www.davidjonesdrums.com.au
Chris James
cjames@chrisjames.net
http://www.chrisjames.net &
http://www.sacredsound.com
Sam McNally
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