top of page
Amanda Chance

Unlocking Inner Harmony: The Power of Alabaster Crystal Bowls in Sound Healing

Updated: Feb 28

Of all the energies that shape our existence, sound stands out as one of the most potent. It weaves through the fabric of our consciousness, resonating with our innate spirituality. Sound isn’t merely an auditory experience; it permeates every cell, influencing our minds, emotions, and even our life force. As we delve into the ancient wisdom of Egypt, we discover that our ancestors understood the healing power of sound long before modern science caught up.


alabaster crystal bowl


The Acoustic Magic of Ancient Egypt

The people of ancient Egypt possessed profound knowledge about sound’s therapeutic properties. They believed that specific sounds could generate vibrations capable of healing.


The ancient Egyptians were fascinated by the power of vowels. They recognized that these sounds held acoustic potency. Through a method called “toning,” they manipulated vowel sounds using breath and voice to create therapeutic vibrations. These harmonious tones were believed to reorganize the body’s structure to a more harmonious state.

Heb Sed Court

It is said that they even constructed some of their temples to amplify these tones. One such place is the Heb Sed court of the Djoser complex in Saqqara. If you look at a map of the court, you will see that amidst a sea of regularity, there are irregularly shaped chambers on the eastern side of the court. Each enclosure has a different length, width, and depth. The chambers on the western side are also irregular, but not to the same extent. What is not visible on these maps are a set of aqueducts that run on the tops of these chambers, which we refer to as the Harp of Thoth. Today, when we visit Saqqara, we listen to the tones that resonate in these spaces, but we think that in ancient times the chambers were used as spaces to heal certain parts of the body using the vibrations that emanated from them.


Properties of Egyptian Alabaster


Crystal singing bowls, believed to emit pure resonance, send sound waves reverberating through the body, fostering harmony via sympathetic oscillation and resonance. In contrast, the human voice possesses its unique richness and complexity, shaped by vocal cords, resonance chambers, and emotions. But imagine if your singing bowl could resonate with your innermost emotions, feelings, and life force, producing a sound that truly defines you. Enter the alabaster singing bowl—a vessel that harmonizes with your essence as you walk the path of sound and self-discovery.


Egyptian alabaster is not, as its name indicates, a true Alabaster (i.e. Gypsum) stone. Egyptian alabaster is a dense, calcium carbonate stone that has been quarried near Hatnub, Egypt from at least as early as the reign of Khufu (c. 2589 – c. 2566 BC). The mineral name of the low-pressure, form of calcium carbonate, CaCO3 is Calcite or calcspar. Calcite bowls have different properties than quartz bowls making them uniquely beneficial to the human body and uniquely symbiotic to the crystal themselves. Yes! Unlike quartz, calcite benefits from your touch.


scalenohedral calcite

The Scalenohedral form is the most common crystalline structure observed in calcite crystals. These crystals are aptly named after their resemblance to scales.


The faces of these scalenohedral crystals exhibit chirality, meaning they possess mirror-image symmetry akin to your two hands. These chiral faces occur in pairs. Fascinatingly, research indicates that the growth of scalenohedral crystals can be influenced by their interaction with chiral biomolecules, such as L- and D-amino acids. The prefixes “L” and “D” originate from the Latin words “laevus” (left) and “dexter” (right), respectively.


Now, imagine playing an alabaster crystal bowl with your fingers. As you do so, the amino acids (specifically L-cysteine) in the surface layer of your skin comes into contact with the bowl’s surface. This interaction may facilitate the bowl’s “growth.” In return, the alabaster bowl offers you sympathetic resonance, harmonizing your cells with its unique frequency.

Choosing an Alabaster Crystal Bowl


Crystal bowls and the human voice both contribute to vibrational healing, but each offers a distinct experience. Crystal bowls operate on the principle that everything in the universe, including our bodies, is in a state of vibration. When our bodies are out of balance, diseases can occur due to blockages that disrupt healthy frequencies. Some practitioners believe that crystal bowls positively impact brainwave frequency and consciousness, charging them with healing vibrations during sound meditation.


The bowl or bell shape of crystal singing bowls provides them with characteristics similar to the human voice. This quality is why they are known as singing bowls. In linguistics, a formant is a concentration of acoustic energy around a particular frequency in the sound spectrum. Formants are elements of sound that give vowels their distinct qualities and are crucial for distinguishing different vowel sounds. Each vowel has three formants, corresponding to three overtone pitches. These formants arise from resonances in the vocal tract during speech production.


First Formant (F1):

Inversely related to vowel height.

Higher F1 frequencies correspond to lower vowel height, and vice versa.

For example, the vowel /i/ (as in “beet”) has a high F1, while /a/ (as in “cat”) has a low F1.


Second Formant (F2):

Somewhat related to degree of "backness".

Front vowels have higher F2 frequencies, while back vowels have lower F2 frequencies.

Lip-rounding can also affect F2.


Third Formant (F3):

Less frequently used than F1 and F2.

Relates to the roundness of the lips (e.g., /ʊ/ and /uː/).

F3 contributes to vowel quality but is not as prominent as F1 and F2.


When selecting the shape of your alabaster bowl, pay attention to the following characteristics:


Height: Consider how tall you’d like the bowl to be. A taller bowl may produce different resonances compared to a shorter one.


Opening Size: The size of the bowl’s opening matters. A wider opening can create a broader range of tones, while a narrower opening may focus the sound.


Roundness: The curvature of the bowl affects its sound. Experiment with different roundness levels to find the one that resonates with you.


As you explore multiple bowls, tapping them gently, you might discover that combining their individual tones allows you to evoke the melodic vocal toning reminiscent of ancient Egyptian practices. Let the harmonious vibrations guide your journey!


Determining your Unique Sound


Alabaster crystal bowl
Semerkhet's bowl from the 1st dynasty of Egypt, c. 2920 BC

Every object has a natural frequency at which it would oscillate if there were no external forces or damping. When an external force (such as sound waves) matches this natural frequency, the object responds with increased amplitude. Resonance leads to amplification of vibrations. For example, when you sing near a piano, the piano strings that match your voice’s frequency resonate and produce the same note. Likewise, tuning a radio to a specific station adjusts its resonant frequency to match the broadcast frequency.


So, when you play an alabaster bowl of your natural frequency, it will help you to resonate to a more balanced state. Right now, the only examples of personal alabaster bowls that we have from antiquity come from a cache of over 40,000 bowls found in the Step Pyramid in Saqqara. It was interesting to discover that of all of the treasures that could have been salvaged from many of the early dynastic kings, their bowls were the only things preserved.


Remember, when you sing near a piano and hear it echoing your note, that’s an example of sound resonance—the piano strings vibrating in response to your voice! A very similar phenomena will happen when you play your crystal bowl of your natural frequency. Playing different bowls will allow you to feel which one resonates with you the most. It is best to do this when you are in an optimal state of health, so that you can return to this state whenever you like.


Harnessing Vibrational Energy


Whether through Egyptian toning or alabaster singing bowls, the intention is to harness vibrational energy for healing and transformation. In essence, both toning and playing an alabaster bowl invite us to listen, resonate, and heal—to rediscover the ancient echoes that connect us across cultures and millennia.


Want to learn more about healing with alabaster singing bowls? Subscribe to our website to learn when we will be posting new articles on this and other subjects regarding vibrational energy in ancient Egypt.


Not all alabaster bowls are resonant! If you would like to own an authentic Egyptian alabaster singing bowl visit the Kemet Art shop in Giza and speak with the owner or Mohammad Awyan about purchasing one of these rare bowls.


 

About the Author

Mohammad Awyan Archaeo-Acoustics & Sound Healing Egypt

Amanda is a double board-certified physician who has been practicing Internal and Lifestyle medicine for over 15 years. She is passionate about supporting non-pharmacologic lifestyle changes to reverse illness and improve wellbeing. Amanda is also a Chopra certified meditation coach and provides spiritual retreats around the world.


Amanda is also an author and entrepreneur. She has published a book called “The Disciple’s Guidebook” which helps readers understand biblical parables and prophecy. Amanda has been working on yoga/mediation equipment to help people continue a daily home practice. She now lives in Egypt with her husband and family.   


Join Amanda and Mohammad Awyan in April for our Archaeo-acoustics & Sound Healing Tour and learn more about the secrets of Memphis and the Saqqara necropolis. This is not your average tour - it’s a unique and immersive experience that will leave you feeling re-connected, inspired, and enlightened.

379 views0 comments

Comments


bottom of page