Javier Miqueleiz – A knight-errant seeking out treasures

Were The Beatles inspired by Bach in some way?

Well. On a subjective level, yes, at least for me. While listening to their music I notice some Bach “patterns”. More specifically, I would say their music shares the simplicity and positivity of Bach’s music.

On a more objective way, definitely some of their melodies are truly inspired by Bach. For example, if you listen to In my Life, you’ll notice the beautiful keyboard melody is clearly inspired by The Well-Tempered Clavier (more specifically, by the fugue of BWV 846). Another example, the fanfare of Penny Lane is inspired by The Brandenburg Concertos (to be more precise, by the third part of the second concerto, BWV 1047). Just 2 examples but I guess many more could be found. 😉

(Image on the public domain, taken from Wikipedia).

(Image taken from Wikipedia, believed to be on the public domain).

Kundalini and Fugue in B minor (BWV 579)

This post is about esoteric analogies between Bach’s Fugue in B minor (BWV 579) and kundalini cultivation.

Some of my exposition will be about what I sense cultivating kundalini while listening to BWV 579. This part will be, not surprisingly, personal and subjective. I will appreciate if someone could share with me his/her personal experiences on this (it would be interesting to see which part of the experience is personal and which one universal). The other part of this exposition will be more intelectual/rational. In this part I’ll build analogies or “bridges” between my subjective experience and the sheet music, providing the objective counterpoint to the subjective experiences.

I’ll focus on a specific part at the end of the fugue, where the effect of the music on an energetic basis is more intense. Musically it’s the most emotionally intense part, too (well… at least for me ;)).

You may find the fugue in B minor on www.youtube.com. Ton Koopman’s outstanding rendition is for example there. There is another version which provides the sheets matching the music (don’t know who the interpreter is, cause the video description doesn’t say anything about it :().

Kundalini rising

This part of the music corresponds to bars 3 and 4 of the following sheet. It begins at the 05′:11” timestamp of the youtube.com video with the music sheets. Or 05′:04” of the Koopman youtube.com video. And ends at the 05′:17” timestamp of the first video. Or the 05′:11” of the Koopman’s.

In this part of the music, I sense the kundalini energy rising through the spine. The raise is made up of 2 phases.

(Image copyright of Gil Deckel, published under a Creative Commons license. Taken from Wikipedia.)

Chakras 1-4 (3rd bar and beginning of the 4th): in this part I sense the kundalini energy rising. If we look into the score we see both the pedal (lower chakras) and the left hand (middle chakras) playing an ascending scale. A total of 8 notes are played by each one. The notes 1-3 and 4-6 are actually the same, so this makes a total of 4 different notes (4 chakras). In my subjective experience, the pedal makes the strongest effect, rising the kundalini from the very root chakra upwards.

Chakras 5-7 (end of the 4th bar): in this part of the music I sense the kundalini rising but in a more subtle (spiritual) way. I also sense the sexual tension increasing. Looking into the sheet, we see the right hand playing a double ascending scale .The right hand plays higher notes (more yin/spiritual) than the left one, or the pedal, so this matches the more spiritual sensation. We also see that the notes of the double ascension scale are closer in frequency, i.e. more dissonant (this matches the sexual tension increase, as dissonance is used to build tension in the music). The right hand plays a total of 7 notes. Notes 1-3 and 4-6 are the same, making a total of 3 different notes (3 chakras).

(The previous image is courtesy of Adam McLean. Taken from the alchemy web site www.alchemywebsite.com. Copyright Adam McLean 1997-2012).

Microcosmic orbit circulation

In this part, J.S. Bach breaks the tension in an unexpected and genial way. The left and right hands both play a counterpoint that makes the energy to circulate. In this part I sense the energy ascending through the back channel and simultaneously descending through the front one.

Note: the microcosmic orbit circulation belongs more to the Chinese system of qi gong meditation, rather than to the tantric/Indian of kundalini. If we are strict, the title of this post should be more like “Kundalini/qi gong and fugue in B minor (BWV 579)”.

(Image under public domain. Taken from Wikipedia).

This part of the music corresponds to the first bar of the following sheet. It begins at the 05′:17” timestamp of the youtube.com video with the music sheets. Or 05′:11” of the Koopman youtube.com video. An ends at the 05′:21” timestamp of the first video. Or the 05′:16” timestamp of the Koopman’s.

In the previous sheet we see the left hand (lower/yang frequencies) playing a “serpent” of semiquaver notes (a faster/yin transition). The right hand (higher/yin frequencies) plays in counterpoint another “serpent”, consisting of crotchets and quaver notes (a slower/yang transition). So, the yang frequencies/yin transition of the left hand are mixed with the yin frequencies/yang transition of the right hand. This constitutes an interaction (hieros gamos or sacred marriage) between yin-yang and yang-yin aspects of the music that makes the energy to circulate. Musically this part of the music is lived like a magickal and alchemical moment.

(The previous 2 images are courtesy of Adam McLean. Taken from the alchemy web site www.alchemywebsite.com. Copyright Adam McLean 1997-2012).

Weightless

Este post es sobre música, sobre rock progresista (ummm… hoy voy a abandonar los contrapuntos del Maestro). Y también voy a dirigir mi atención hacia el pasado, que es algo que suelo hacer en rarísimas ocasiones. Pero es que no es hoy, tampoco, un día normal.

Estoy ahora mismo escuchando una grabación de un concierto que Mike Oldfield dio en Carnegie Hall -New York- el 1 de marzo de 1993. Casi todas las piezas que interpretó ese día correspondieron al álbum Tubular Bells II, publicado el año anterior.

Como es habitual en los conciertos en vivo, la interpretación es más espontánea que en la versión de estudio. Y a ratos estoy teniendo la sensación de estar escuchando el álbum por primera vez, o de estar escuchando un álbum diferente.

Conforme escribo estas líneas estoy recordando la primera vez que escuché Tubular Bells II, en enero de 1993 (un par de meses antes de que el concierto que estoy escuchando ahora tuviese lugar). Viene a mi memoria la sensación inicial de extrañeza y asombro al escuchar una música tan novedosa y llena de creatividad. Y la sensación de fascinación de un poquito después, al haber descubierto una música llena de belleza y tan especial.

Asimismo, recuerdo lo bien que mi espíritu y mi corazón conectaron con el álbum. Porque este nos habla de un corazón que se siente aprisionado y que busca liberarse de las ataduras. Y también nos cuenta de un espíritu con la mirada fija en el horizonte buscando algo más.

La pista que más me gustaba, y que mejor expresaba cómo me sentía en aquel momento, era Weightless. Una pieza que tenía un aire que me recordaba a la música oriental y, por extensión, a todo lo oriental, que por aquel entonces me empezaba a fascinar. Y también, una pieza en la que los dos motivos principales eran el conflicto y la dualidad. Y en la que se van alternando el tema del dolor del corazón por seguir los caminos viejos, y los deseos que siente de cambio, y el tema de la búsqueda de la paz de espíritu y de la estabilidad. En la pieza, la tensión entre los dos temas se va incrementando, desde el principio en la que se exponen de forma suave, hasta alcanzar el momento de mayor tensión, en el que los temas han evolucionado, se han hecho más fuertes y el conflicto entre los dos resulta ya evidente.

Al terminar de escuchar el álbum he vuelto, poquito a poco, al momento presente, y me he dado cuenta de lo diferente que me siento ahora tras tantos años de crecimiento personal y de búsqueda espiritual. Y también he sentido que ya no sintonizo apenas con Tubular Bells II (tiene un aire quizá demasiado melancólico y hoy en día me va más la música llena de Vida del Maestro).

En resumen, un álbum perteneciente más a tiempos pretéritos pero por el que siempre sentiré un cariño especial.

Die Nuba

In one of my previous posts, I wrote about my aesthetic and spiritual experience watching the photographs of Die Nuba von Kau. I was so impressed by it, that last week I ordered a copy of Leni’s previous work on the Nuba people (Die Nuba). Again, I bought the book on ebay, to another German antique dealer. Today, the package arrived, and the photobook was in perfect condition. 🙂

As with Die Nuba von Kau, the experience watching the photographs on Die Nuba is awesome. But of a somewhat different kind. This work deals more with anthropology and a bit less with aesthetics. It has more texts explaining the photos, as well. In the end, the experience is very, very powerful. And spiritual, too (buy maybe a bit less than in Die Nuba von Kau).

In summary, another impressive work by Leni Riefenstahl. Full of Life and Beauty.

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Música para la Vía de la Izquierda

Hoy voy a abandonar los armoniosos acordes y contrapuntos del Maestro (Bach). Y me voy a sumergir en la música del grupo polaco Lux Occulta. Es una formación que perteneció al género de metal avant-garde (con influencias de metal negro y progresista).

Utilizo sus composiciones ocasionalmente (una vez al mes más o menos), como parte de la búsqueda espiritual. Es un tipo de música que considero valiosa para abrir la mente y el espíritu a nuevas posibilidades. A los caminos de la Vía de la Izquierda.

Recomiendo especialmente el álbum Dionysos, que es mi preferido para una experiencia espiritual.

Philosophy on a circle (or the map of the mind)

I’ve found another treasure on Eric A. Meece site. It’s an essay that proposes a 2-dimensional taxonomy of philosophy (and our minds, too). One of the polarities is spiritual/material. And the other intellectual/experiential. Combining the two dimensions we get four basic philosophic types (rationalist, empiricist, essentialist and existentialist). There is also a questionnaire to find out on which part of the map you are.

The correspondence between each part of the map and Jungian functions (thinking, sensing, intuition and feeling) is particularly interesting. It’s also – as far as I can tell – the novel part of the essay.

I found very appealing the diagram showing on which position some philosophers and scientists are. For example, Plato, Kant an Hegel would be essentialists. Schopenhauer, Jung and Campbell existentialist. Empedocles and Newton rationalist. Locke, Hume and Darwin empiricist.

Although I’m not very fond of tests, I took the questionnaire. I got 14 Experiential and 58 Spiritual. So, according to the questionnaire, I belong to the existentialist part of the map. The result surprised me a bit, cause I viewed myself more as an essentialist than an existentialist.

In summary, another interesting and useful work by Eric A. Meece.

Blog reviewing many tarot decks

Just found a very interesting guide about tarot decks. The guide reviews many decks and rate them according to their value for spiritual and esoteric work. The guide also contains details about the different editions of some decks (I found the explanations about Crowley Thoth tarot editions particularly useful). All reviews are the author’s personal opinion, but I think the guide still provides valuable information.

Die Nuba von Kau

Yesterday I received a copy of the photobook Die Nuba von Kau, by Leni Riefenstahl. I had bought it on ebay some days before. I was grately surprised by its great condition (looks like new). It continues to be true you can find great articles on ebay at a reasonable price. 🙂 The book came from a German antique dealer, by the way.

The book is from the first edition (the 1976 one). The quality of the manufacturing is impressive (in my experience, you can no longer find such a quality in present-day -manufactured books). The shining of the paper, the quality of the pictures and their colors are awesome. In the end, you can truly feel the magic and the art the photos contain.

The experience watching the photographs is awesome. For moments, you can truly grasp the archetypes of Beauty and Life that are the basis of all Leni’s works. Watching this photobook isn’t only an aesthetic experience, but also a spiritual one.

In summary, one more of the works of Leni Riefenstahl I’ve fallen in love with. A very interesting work as a photographer after her filmmaking career. Another part of her artistic quest for true Life and pure Beauty.

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Kundalini and Bach

I’ve been listening to Johann Sebastian Bach’s music for many years. Listening to his works (especially his organ works) has become a spiritual experience for me. It’s somewhat difficult to fully explain it with words. But I would say phrases like “finding the spiritual meaning”, or “not needing anything else to comprehend”.

Through all these years, I’ve become aware that Bach’s music is about duality. And that his music is a dialectic between the two pair of opposites. A very harmonic dialectic, so you can feel the original unity behind all the notes, chords, counterpoints and sounds.

I’ve been suspecting there had to be some relationship between Bach’s music and spiritual teachings (alchemy, tantra, kundalini, occult arts, gnosticism, kabbalah…). A few months ago, I had the intuition that in the Toccata in F major (BWV 540), some pedal notes do actually sound like the OM sound (this resemblance is particularly strong in Ton Koopman’s Teldec version… it’s not the version of BWV 540 I most like though…).

This week, in the middle of a very stimulating email exchange with a friend, I had the idea that maybe Bach’s music is what better reminds us of the primordial sound, of the original unity of the Universe. I decided to further research about it. Then I found Eric A. Meece’s essay, which provides many, many insights about the Toccata and the esoteric mysteries.

I immediately knew I’d found a treasure. I felt like finding the Rosetta stone. All the insights, all the interpretations, all the analogies were already there. Just to be read and appreciated. Well, to be honest, I think this Rosetta stone contains much more insights than I could possibly have discovered by myself.

I also strongly recommend watching a couple of videos created by Eric A. Meece. The first shows how each section of the Toccata matches each chakra. In the second one, he shows the matching of each part of the Toccata to the major arcana of the tarot.

In summary, a breakthrough in my experience listening to Bach’s music. And also a mystical and spiritual one.

The Complete Metropolis

Hace apenas unos minutillos he visto la nueva versión de Metropolis, obra de culto para muchos entusiastas del cine. Se trata de una versión editada en el año 2010 a partir de una copia hallada en el Museo del Cine de Buenos Aires. Y en la que aparecen casi todas las escenas que se creían perdidas. La noticia sobre este proyecto de restauración se hizo pública en julio de 2008. Y fue acogida con gran expectación por muchos entusiastas de este film.

Las nuevas escenas permiten una mejor comprensión del mensaje de la película. Y también muestran más detalles sobre la trama y los personajes. Por ejemplo, la rivalidad entre Fredersen y Rotwang aparece de manera mucho más explícita. Asimismo, el Hombre Delgado asume un papel más importante y mucho más siniestro. Como último ejemplo, las escenas del rescate de los niños tienen una duración mayor y son mucho más dramáticas.

Lo que me ha decepcionado un poco de esta versión es la calidad de las nuevas escenas, que es muy inferior a la de las antiguas. Se sabía que la copia hallada en Buenos Aires no era original, y que estaba mal conservada. Pero aún así, dada la expectación que había levantado la nueva versión, yo esperaba quizá algo “más”. En cualquier caso, se trata de una versión muy interesante y que yo recomiendo sin ninguna duda.

Kundalini rising

Microcosmic orbit circulation