Layne Redmond
Sounds True
2000

This CD is an excellent introduction to the principles of chakra meditation. In three long chants with drum and other accompaniment, master frame drummer Layne Redmond and her associates take the listener on a journey through the body's energy centers. The chants are composed of Sanskrit seed syllables such as vang and lang, and there is a specific set of syllables that corresponds to each chakra and its visual representation or yantra.

The first chant, "Garland of Letters," is slow and hypnotic—it has a kind of lulling effect, but without dulling the brain. The music is spare and very focused on the rhythms of the frame drum, which are stately and steady. The seed syllables of the first through sixth chakras are chanted in order, beginning and ending with aum, and the overall effect is one of a holy procession of some kind.

"Lotus of Light," the second chant, consists of the fifty letters of the Sanskrit alphabet, chanted quickly twenty times for the thousand petals of seventh chakra. I felt as if I were being pulled along by the arm with some urgency, and yet the drone style of the chanting had a very calming effect. It was like being the eye in a small musical hurricane.

The final chant, "Elements into Light," takes you on a journey through the first six chakras by going through the Bija Mantras, or key frequencies, of each one. They represent the elemental energies associated with each chakra being drawn through the body.

Roots of Awakening has a lot to recommend it. On a musical level, it's an interesting mix of middle-eastern-style drumming with sitar, flute, and other instruments, all played by talented musicians. The rhythms are deep and hypnotic, and the use of windwands and udu drums give the music an aboriginal flavor at times.

As an aid for meditation, this CD is also satisfying. The booklet gives a good overview of the chakras, their various symbols and syllables, and the overall philosophy of the system which I found very helpful as a novice. And whether you're particularly interested in the chakra system or not, the chants and music serve very well in coming to a sense of intense concentration and timelessness.

[Originally published in Reclaiming Quarterly #82, Spring 2001]