Narrativ Magick with Sound and Words – How Vibration Shapes our World

As an Urban Mystic and narrative artist, I know that words are not just tools for communication. They are instruments, spells, shaping our reality. Every syllable, every sound carries power – healing, connecting, destructive. Magicians have known this for ages, long before we heard about it in modern psychology or neuroscience seminars.

Sound and Mythology: The Primal Forces of Creation

Before words became sentences, and before music rang out in choirs and bands, sound itself was the first form of magic. It is the breath that flows through the world, the invisible force that shapes realms and opens hearts. Wherever people listened consciously, hummed, or sang, sound became a tool – to heal, to connect, or to create spaces where life itself could be felt.

• Hinduism – “OM”“OM” (or “AUM”) is regarded as the primal sound of the universe, the first vibration from which all emerges. Chanting it consciously connects us to this cosmic force – the vibration that permeates all life. Sound here becomes a tool for resonating with creation itself.

  
  

• Judeo-Christian Tradition – “In the beginning was the Word”In the Gospel of John it says: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Words are not mere language; they are creative power. They organize, shape, and manifest reality – a reminder that language has always held power.

  
  

• Mesopotamian MythologyThe gods shaped the world by speaking names or incantations. Words called things into being – a clear example that magic has always lived in language itself.

  
  

• Maori & Polynesian Creation StoriesHere, the world often begins with song or the recitation of sacred names. Sound calls form out of chaos, linking identity, memory, and creation – an early example of the magic of sound as a creative tool.

Primal sounds appear in countless other traditions as well: with Thoth in Egypt, in Tibetan mantras, Gregorian chants, or among the Muses of Greek mythology. Everywhere, the principle holds: sound can create, transform, and heal worlds.

The Magic of Music – From Primal Sound to Today

From these primal sounds grows the music we know today. Rhythm, harmony, voices, and instruments affect body, mind, and heart.

Shamanic Practices: Sound as a Tool for Consciousness

In shamanic traditions, drums, rattles, or rhythmic chants are often used to deliberately alter states of consciousness:

• Rhythmic sounds influence brainwaves, such as alpha and theta waves, linked to relaxation, inner openness, and trance-like states.

• EEG studies show that drumming rhythms produce measurable changes in neural activity.

• Sound therapy can positively affect heart rate, blood pressure, and stress hormone levels – tangible effects on body and mind.

Of course, shamanic trance is just one example. Sound is everywhere in our daily lives: a mantra during meditation, music accompanying yoga, the playlist driving a BodyCombat class, and yes, even the vibes at a heavy metal concert can carry us, body and soul.

Modern artists like the Norwegian band Wardruna bring ancient Nordic sound traditions into today’s world: their drums, flutes, and chants create spaces during performances that combine meditative depth, myth, and bodily experience – a living bridge between past and present. Whether soft, loud, gentle, or intense, music transforms, connects, and enlivens, no matter the context in which we hear it.

Word Magic – The Power of the Spoken

Alongside music, the spoken word holds its own ancient magic. Humans have long recognized that words shape reality. Rituals, incantations, and formulas contain power: Druids, healers, and practitioners spoke words and names, often repeated rhythmically, to bring about healing, protection, or transformation.

A famous example from another culture is “Abrakadabra”, originally Aramaic, written on amulets to ward off disease – a reminder that words can universally influence reality. Similarly, Mesopotamian incantations, Celtic name rituals, or Polynesian recitations follow the same principle: language is not merely communication, it is a tool to direct energy, open spaces, and effect change.

Sound and Urban Mysticism

And today? many of us still feel this power in the moments when music moves us, words make us marvel, or when we consciously speak a mantra, hum, or affirmation. Sound and language connect us to an ancient practice that makes the invisible magic of everyday life tangible again. Whether in choirs, bands, personal rituals, or small, magical moments, those who listen and speak shape reality in a way that is deeply rooted in history and alive in the here and now.