Have you ever heard the sound of an iceberg melting?
PAULINE OLIVEROS November 1971
Group Activity
from Sonic Meditations
Begin this meditation with the greeting meditation (link). At the designated time for all persons to be present, begin on eight to fifteen minute imperceptible dimming of the house lights down to as dark as possible. When the lights are about halfway down begin the flood of white noise at the threshold of audibility. Slowly make an imperceptible crescendo to a predetermined sound level, safe for human ears. Approximately twenty minutes later introduce one brilliant light flash. After an hour from the beginning has passed, begin projections on the walls of colorful mandalas, patterns resembling the aurora borealis, or simply colors of the spectrum. The light intensity of these projections should be no greater than the threshold of visibility or just noticeable. These may continue for approximately thirty minutes. Thirty minutes before the white noise ends the space should be illuminated by white light slowly over about eight minutes from the threshold of visibility to as brilliant as possible. The brilliance must exceed normal house lighting and approach the intensity of daylight. The end of the light and sound should be sudden and synchronous. Darkness and silence should be maintained for ten minutes or more, then illuminate the space with dim blue light for continued meditation in silence and finally exit of the participants. The duration of this meditation is approximately two to four hours or more. All adjustments of light and sound intensity should be preset and preferably voltage controlled in order that all present may participate in the meditation, and that activities extraneous to meditation may be avoided. Participants must be comfortable, either sitting or lying down.
Variation:
If multiple speakers are used for the production of white noise, one or two persons per speaker could perform meditation movements such as tai chi in front of the speakers at a distance of two to four feet thus creating sound shadows. The sound shadows could gradually be complemented by visible shadows activated by just noticeable light sources. The duration of this part of the meditation could be approximately thirty to forty minutes and succeed or overlap the just noticeable projected images.