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The Music of the Spheres is an ancient Pythagorean concept, wherein Pythagoras was fascinated by
the harmonics of a vibrating string on a Greek instrument-the lyre. He discovered an amazing
correspondence between the order of musical intervals and the spacing of planets. For Pythagoras,
there appeared to be a direct mathematical relationship between music's vibrational frequency and
the corresponding position of planetary bodies; it seemed that the order of notes on vibrating strings
were, somehow, an intrinsic property of the whole universe.
Interestingly, modern physics is now revisiting the concept of vibrational string harmonics as a much
sought-after TOE-Theory of Everything. That may be considered as a grandiose claim unless taken
in context, which I will qualify shortly. However, modern string theory asserts that, subatomically,
all physical reality is made from the relationship between one phenomenon-tiny vibrating strings of
energy and the differing properties at this smallest of scales is due to the differing vibrational patterns
the strings can perform. Brian Greene states, "far from being a collection of chaotic experimental
facts, particle properties in string theory are the manifestation of one and the same physical feature:
the resonant patterns of vibration the music, so to speak of fundamental loops of string" (Greene 15-
16).
This becomes interesting from a metaphysical and theosophical perspective, due to some amazing
conceptual correspondences between modern string theory and investigative research done in the
early twentieth century by Annie Besant and Charles Leadbeater. Yet, just as metaphysics postulates
inner dimensions of being, string theory, too, relies on extra, hidden dimensions that may be equally
real as the reality we experience here.
Exploring the re-emergence of the Pythagorean harmonics as a modern description of the basic
structure of our Universe, and its metaphysical relevance, is worthwhile, especially considering the
prophetic words of Madame Blavatsky: "the hidden meaning of Apollo's HEPTACHORD the lyre of
the radiant god€¦whose shell only has now fallen into the hands of Modern Science" (Blavatsky 167).
First, let's clarify the scientific concept of a TOE. Theoretical physics is often considered the essential
science because, from a reductionist perspective peeling away the external layers to find the most
elementary constituent in nature it deals with what are considered the basic building blocks and the
glue that sticks them together. Everything is supposedly derivative from this level.
Knowing the elementary particles and the forces that operate between them, you should be able to
understand how they combine to form atoms, molecules, and on to complex organisms. But
theoretical physics has become bound within a self-referencing paradigm due to another principle,
the doctrine of materialism. As Rupert Sheldrake indicates: "materialism starts from the assumption
that only matter is real; hence everything that exists is either matter or entirely dependent on matter
for its existence" (Sheldrake, 202).
Guided by the materialist doctrine, physics has advanced by leaps and bounds, discovering that
everything is made of atoms, which are made of subatomic particles, and certain forces, operating
between these fundamental particles, either stick them together or move them apart. It seemed only
some fine details were required to put this together as a complete description of everything, or TOE.
But here's the qualification materialism only leads towards a complete theory of all
possible physical interactions; it doesn't necessarily explain "everything."
For example, everything in this physical existence is made of energy, but what is energy and where
does it come from? Materialism doesn't know; it appears from the Big Bang and then we only know
it by the properties it conveys when it interacts: mass, charge and spin.
Or, at a different level: How do we explain the emergence of consciousness? Materialists can't
adequately answer this, because they look at dead matter as the basis of consciousness, not as in
metaphysics where consciousness is the basis of consciousness. The TOE physicists are working
towards is a theory that accounts for all energetic, and therefore, they argue, all physical interactions.
But this creates a "hermetic paradigm," wherein the outcome of the theory must, in some way,
correspond with matter. Therefore, when physicists say a TOE, we should realize that there are
definite limitations. (However, I applaud its description of physical nature.)
Pythagoras seems to have been so fascinated with the mystical abstraction of numbers that he
experimented mathematically with the harmonics of the vibrating string and became
impressed with the remarkable similarity between musical intervals and the spacing of the
planets€¦ (Murchie 67).
References:
Blavatsky, Helena P. The Secret Doctrine, 7th ed. vol. 1. Adyar: Theosophical Publishing House,
1979.
Greene, Brian. The Elegant Universe. London: Jonathan Cape, 1999.
Duff, Michael J. "The Theory Formerly Known As Strings." Scientific American, vol.13:1, 2003.
Kaku, Michio. New Scientist, January 18, 1997 [PF: Contact author.We need name of article here]
Smith, E. Lester (Ed.) Intelligence Came First. Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1990.
Murchie, Guy. The Music of the Spheres: The Material Universe from Atom to Quasars, Simply
Explained. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, 1967.
Phillips, Stephen M. Anima: Evidence of a Yogic Siddhi. Adyar: Theosophical Publishing House,
1996.
Peat, David, F. Superstrings and the Search For the Theory of Everything. Chicago,IL: Contemporary
Books, 1988.
Sheldrake, Rupert. A New Science of Life. Rochester, NY: Park Street Press, 1995.
Veneziano, G. "The Myth of the Beginning of Time." Scientific American, vol. 290:5, 2004.