The Sacramental Use of Music
at the End of a Life
Music-Thanatology Training at Lane
Community College
Professional/Academic Research Paper
Julia Smith
Sept. 30, 2011
Acknowledgments
I would not have had an interest in exploring music-thanatology as sacramental if I had not
experienced the transforming power of the sacraments both as a recipient and a celebrant in the
Holy Order of Mans. Therefore I wish to express my gratitude for the work of the late Father
Paul Blighton in bringing the esoteric teachings to the streets in the formation of the Holy Order
of Mans in San Francisco in the late 1960s. I would like to thank Brother Rick Harris for
introducing me to the Order on the streets of Portland in 1971. I extend thanks to my teachers in
the Order who guided and encouraged me on my spiritual journey. I am grateful for my dearest
friend and companion on the way, the late Brother John Smith. Lastly, I would like to thank all
the brothers and sisters who shared their light in those wondrous Camelot days of the Order
when we beheld firsthand the mystical presence and miraculous indwelling power of the Christ
through sacramental initiation.
A music-thanatologist serves the needs of the dying through the use of harp and voice. While
offering a vigil, the music-thanatologist uses the prescriptive qualities of music to respond to the
physical and emotional needs of the patient. As the patient approaches death, however, or the
passage from the physical plane of existence to a discorporate form of life, there is often a need
for spiritual assistance as well. A musical vigil can embody spiritual or mystical elements and
create an environment in which these elements are active in assisting the patient and his or her
family during this time of transition. The liminal condition of the one who is dying, the
consciousness of the music-thanatologist and the music itself all become interacting elements or
energies in this process.
In the following pages, I would like to explore the sacramental use of music at the end of a
life. Through a study of the nature of sacraments both traditionally and esoterically, a study of
sacred elements contained in music, and an exploration of the service of a music vigil offered for
the dying, I will show that a music-thanatology vigil may be deemed sacramental in nature.
Viewing a music-thanatology vigil from this perspective can bring a greater awareness of the
spiritual energies that surround the dying patient and their loved ones. This understanding can
also increase our appreciation of the opportunities present in a music vigil to link one world with
the next through the unique and conscious use of sacred music at the bedside.
The Catholic Church has delineated seven sacraments and maintained in them in various
forms. Because Catholics have developed an extensive theology of these sacraments over the
past 2,000 years, I would like to begin a study of sacraments with their ideology and practice. I
will move from Catholic doctrine, however, to an esoteric perspective of sacraments that extends
back to philosophies held in ancient mystery schools and embodies universal principles of
spiritual power. I will also explore a view of sacraments by modern day Christian theology.
A sacrament, according to the Catholic Encyclopedia, is “an outward sign of inward grace, a
sacred and mysterious sign or ceremony, ordained by Christ, by which grace is conveyed to our
souls.”
i
In its broadest sense, a sacrament may be defined as “an external sign of something
sacred.”
ii
The Council of Trent defines a sacrament as “a symbol of something sacred, a visible
form of invisible grace, having the power of sanctifying.”
iii
In Catholic doctrine, every sacrament contains an outward sign, an inward grace, and Divine
institution. According to St. Thomas Aquinas in Summa Theologica
the principal reason for a
sacramental system is to be led by things corporeal and sense-perceptible to things spiritual and
intelligible.
iv
“Since the sanctification of man is in the power of God who sanctifies,” writes St.
Thomas, “it is not in the competency of man to choose the things by which he is to be sanctified,
but this must be determined by Divine institution.”
v
Sacraments are linked to the church in the following way: “The Church, which is the body of
Christ in the world, is the channel through which God‟s sacramental power is given to all
members of the body, just as the body of the incarnate Lord was the means through which God‟s
power and grace were communicated to mankind.”
vi
According to Catholic dogma God is the principle cause of the sacraments. The saving power
of the sacraments passes through Christ, gaining its efficacy from his merits and sufferings.
vii
The sacraments bestow grace, defined as a supernatural gift of God to intellectual creatures
(men, angels) for their eternal salvation, whether the latter be furthered and attained through
salutary acts or a state of holiness.
viii
Traditionally, Extreme Unction was one of the seven sacraments in the Catholic Church. It
was administered to the dying for the remission of sins and to provide spiritual strength. A noted
religious writer of the first half of the twentieth century, the Rev. J. P Arendzen, wrote in depth
about this sacrament. In the introduction to his book Extreme Unction, Francis Talbot, SJ
describes the administering of this sacrament.
“Tear soaked eyes watch the fingers of the priest as he anoints the five senses. Tongues
are hushed and hearts feel gripped while the low voice of the priest prays God to forgive
this servant of God whatsoever sin has been done by the eyes and the ears, by the nose
and the lips and the palate, by the touch of the hand and the step of the feet. In the black
silences of the night, Extreme Unction seems to bring death nearer; in the brilliant, noisy
noonday, it makes life seem something distant and alien. At all times, there accompanies
it the deep solemnity of life‟s intensest moment.”
ix
Arendzen states, “By this Unction at the end of life sin itself and the remnants of sin can be
totally undone and man prepared for the immediate entrance into everlasting glory.”
x
He goes on
to say, “Extreme Unction may therefore be regarded as a final triumph of God‟s tenderness
towards men, saving them to the uttermost, and almost in spite of their own weakness and the
wiles of the evil one.”
xi
There is no record of precisely when and how our Lord instituted the Sacrament of Extreme
Unction, but Arendzen estimates it to be about the time of James‟ epistle in which he says, “Is
any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him,
anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.”
xii
In the twelfth century, from all ceremonies used in the Catholic Church, only seven were
singled out that were outward signs of inner grace. These were instituted by Jesus Christ
bestowing ex opere operato the grace they signify. Extreme Unction was listed among them.
xiii
Ex opere operato (from the work done) refers to the automatic bestowal of grace by the very
nature of the sacrament.
The phrase scriptum est (it is written) was included in religious writings to indicate that the
ideas submitted reflected the long-established teaching of the Church. One of these writings was
attributed to Egbert of York in 766 regarding Extreme Unction. It states that “every one of the
faithful must, if possible, obtain for himself this unction and whatever is ordered concerning it,
for it is written that if anyone submits to this discipline his soul after death will be as pure as that
of a child dying forthwith after baptism.”
xiv
According to the Council of Trent, the effect of the sacrament of Extreme Unction is
“the grace of the Holy Ghost, whose Unction blots out sins, if any remain to be
expiated, and the consequences of sin, and alleviates and strengthens the soul of the sick
person, by exciting in him a great confidence in the divine mercy, sustained by which
he bears more lightly the troubles and suffering of disease and more easily resists the
temptation of the demon lying in wait for his heel and sometimes, when it is expedient
for the soul‟s salvation, recovers health.”
xv
In 1972 the Second Vatican Council declared that Extreme Unction should more fittingly be
called the Anointing of the Sick and should not be administered exclusively to those at the point
of death.
xvi
The ritual, as used prior to the Second Vatican Council, had contained a prayer of
purification offered by the priest, an invocation of Divine Presence, and a prayer for the pardon,
absolution and remission of sins of the person to whom the sacrament is administered. The priest
then anointed the person‟s eyes, ears, nose, mouth, hands and sometimes feet with oil. Lastly,
prayers were offered for restoration of health in both body and soul.
xvii
Today, following the Second Vatican Council, Anointing begins with the priest making the
Sign of the Cross with blessed water. The readings from scripture are adapted to the condition of
the sick person. The priest prays and assures the sick person of the prayers of the parish and
invites the sick person to pray for the needs of his or her fellow parishioners. The priest then
places his hands on the head of the one to be anointed, prays over the oil and anoints the
forehead and hands of the sick person. The priest prays for the sick person and invites all present
to pray The Lord’s Prayer. Lastly, the priest then blesses the sick person and all present.
xviii
Though the sacrament is often given to a single ill person, it can be included during a Sunday
Eucharist with many people coming forward to be anointed. During the ritual the priest makes
the Sign of the Cross with the blessed oil on the sick person’s forehead while saying, “Through
this holy anointing may the Lord in his love and mercy help you with the grace of the Holy
Spirit.” Then the priest anoints the palms of the sick one’s hands with the Sign of the Cross
saying, “May the Lord who frees you from sin save you and raise you up.” The congregation
responds “Amen.”
xix
Therefore, since the Second Vatican Council, not only has the name of the sacrament
changed, but the way in which Catholics view the sacrament has changed. Thomas Richstatter,
O.F.M., Th.D., a current writer and lecturer, teaches courses on the sacraments at St. Meinrad
School of Theology in Indiana. He states some examples of this change of thinking regarding the
Anointing of the Sick. “1) This sacrament (like all sacraments) is a community celebration; 2)
sickness involves more than bodily illness; and 3) anointing heals us through faith.”
xx
Father Richstatter is often asked, with reference to the Anointing of the Sick, “Does it work?
Will I experience healing?” His answer is “yes.”
“In my experience with this sacrament as a priest, healing always takes place. That
healing, of course, is not restricted to mere physical healing. In the sacrament we pray
that the sick be healed in body, in soul and in spirit… its celebration gives us a window
into the mystery of a loving God.”
xxi
Father Charles Barnes is a Catholic chaplain at Sacred Heart Medical Center, a large
Providence hospital complex in Spokane, Washington. He works daily among the sick and
dying. When asked specifically about sacraments as they are currently administered to the dying,
Father Charles stated that the ritual for the dying now contains three sacraments in succession:
Absolution, the Anointing of the Sick, and the Viaticum, or Holy Eucharist for one who is dying.
“Viaticum, which literally means food for the journey, is that final spiritual food as the person
transitions from this life to eternal life.”
xxii
Fr. Charles added that the Viaticum gives the dying person the strength to make the final
journey. Additionally, he states,
“A lot of times it‟s a way of helping the family begin the grieving process. One of the
things that Catholics especially find an enormous amount of comfort in is ritual and
prayer. The sacrament is a physical symbol of the Church reaching out to the individual,
reaching out to the family. Our whole theology of death is centered on the idea of the
Church reaching out to the individual and the family in this time of grieving and of
sorrow. The sacraments offered before death are the beginning of that process.”
xxiii
Religious writers through the ages have expounded on the nature and efficacy of the
sacraments. Protestant theologian Paul Tillich, an influential religious writer of the twentieth
century, examines the sacraments in depth. Like Catholic theologians he notes that the
experience of sacramental reality belongs to the dimension of the spirit. He claims, however, that
the term “sacramental” needs to be freed from its narrow connotations. Referring to the
sacramental, Dr. Tillich states, “The largest sense of the term denotes everything in which the
Spiritual Presence has been experienced.”
xxiv
Esoteric writers and philosophers have also explored the nature of sacraments. One such
writer, founder of the Universal Gnostic Alliance in 1912, shares her insights to sacramental
usage. A member of the Swedish royal family, Princess Mary Karadja writes that man is a
potential God. She views the purpose of sacraments to be regeneration and states that
regeneration is the process by which latent possibilities are actualized.
xxv
Karadja outlines the
seven sacraments as initiatory experiences taking one from the Birth of the Christos in Baptism
to unity of the Divine Spirit in the human soul.
xxvi
Theosophists entertain similar views on the purpose and efficacy of sacraments. According to
the theosophist, mystery schools existed in ancient Greece, Egypt, India and other places
teaching a uniform doctrine. Regarding these teachings, Theosophist H. T. Edge states that
“this was the secret doctrine or wisdom-religion of which theosophy is the modern
expression. As man is essentially divine, being a lineal descendant through evolution
from divine beings, it is possible for him by a particular course of training to arouse the
latent spiritual powers within him. This is called the path of wisdom, and is in fact
salvation in the real sense of that word.”
xxvii
Salvation itself, which was defined in Catholic doctrine as the purpose of grace, is viewed by
the theosophist, not as redemption, but as a transformative or healing process. John Nash, a
student of noted writer and theosophist Alice Bailey, says that the root Greek word sozo, which
is usually translated as “to save,” is more commonly meant as “to heal.” He goes on to say that
“sacramental healing operates at the etheric level but increases the flow of vitality to the dense
physical vehicle.”
xxviii
According to Bailey, the purpose of the etheric body is to vitalize and
energize the physical body. She describes the etheric body as “a web of energy streams, of lines
of force and of light…Along these lines of energy the cosmic forces flow, as the blood flows
through the veins and arteries.”
xxix
Annie Besant, a noted theosophist and president of the Theosophical Society in 1907, writes
the following statement:
“A sacrament links the material world with the subtle and invisible regions to which
that world is related: it is a link between the visible and the invisible. And it is not only
a link between this world and other worlds, but it is also a method by which the energies
of the invisible world are transmuted into action in the physical; an actual method of
changing energies of one kind into energies of another, as literally as in the galvanic cell
chemical energies are changed into electrical.”
xxx
She goes on to say that “a sacrament serves as a kind of crucible in which spiritual alchemy takes
place.”
xxxi
Besant explains this process in this way:
“An energy of a subtle kind, belonging to one of the higher regions of the universe, may
be brought into direct relation with people living in the physical world, and may be
made to affect them in the physical world as well as in its own realm; the Sacrament
forms the last bridge from the invisible to the visible, and enables the energies to be
directly applied to those who fulfill the necessary conditions and who take part in the
Sacrament.”
xxxii
When viewed as a channel of transformative energy, what is the transforming agent present in
the sacrament? The traditional Catholic belief is that a sacrament gives grace, of and by itself, by
its own power. In his definitive work tracing the evolution of the Christian sacraments, Early
Christian Doctrines, scholar Canon Kelly writes about the doctrine that developed in the fourth
and fifth centuries. The nature of the sacraments was defined as twofold. St. Augustine taught
that the sacrament itself was one thing and the power of the sacrament another.
xxxiii
In Baptism,
for example, the water serves as the sacrament of the grace imparted, but the grace is invisible
and operated by the Holy Spirit.
xxxiv
Much thought was given to the words that the priests recite
when performing the sacraments. In Baptism, the invocation of the Trinity sanctifies the
Baptismal waters, infusing them with the Holy Spirit. Augustine regards the words used as not a
mere utterance, but a vehicle of faith, endowing the water with saving power.
xxxv
Regarding the
Eucharist, it was determined that when the priest declares the bread and wine to be Christ‟s body
and blood, this takes place by the descent of the Holy Spirit.
xxxvi
These doctrines gave rise to the
ex opera operato doctrine of sacraments, meaning they are signs that actually and automatically
realize the grace they signify.
xxxvii
Dr. Tillich also explores the mysterious workings of the sacraments. Relating sacraments to
an experience of Spiritual Presence, he feels that the twentieth century rediscovery of the
unconscious allows a re-evaluation of the sacramental mediation of Spirit. He states, “One could
even say that a Spiritual Presence apprehended through the consciousness alone is intellectual
and not truly Spiritual. This means that the Spiritual Presence cannot be received without a
sacramental element, however hidden the latter may be.”
xxxviii
The sacramental element can be
material such as water in baptism or sacred oil in the ritual for the dying. In sacramental use, the
matter used is not just a thing or a symbol. He claims that “it participates in the power of what it
symbolizes, and therefore, it can be a medium of the Spirit.”
xxxix
Regarding the sacramental use of words, Dr. Tillich states that words “can become the Word
of God if they become mediators of the Spirit and have the power to grasp the human spirit.”
xl
Therefore, in the broadest sense, even the spoken word of an ordinary conversation can be a
medium of the Spirit. He goes on to state the disclaimer, however, that “Nothing is the Word of
God if it contradicts the faith and love which are the work of the Spirit and which constitute the
New Being as it is manifest in Jesus as the Christ.”
xli
Esoteric writers also discuss the power inherent in sacraments. Regarding an object used in
sacraments, Besant says that the object is magnetized.
“A change is effected in the etherical portion, the wave-motions are altered and
systematized, and made to follow the wave-motions of the ether of the magnetizer; it
thus comes to share his nature and the denser particles of the object, played on by the
ether, slowly change their rate of vibration.”
xlii
In his manual on sacraments, Earl Blighton, founder of the Holy Order of Mans, states that
the Word is the essence of any sacrament. Blighton, known by his followers as Father Paul,
established his Order based on the esoteric teachings of Christ, many detailed in Rosicrucian
teachings and with elements from various mystery schools. According to Blighton, the primal
Word, which is expressed in the Gospel of John as, “In the beginning was the Word and the
Word was with God and the Word was God,”
xliii
is always being made manifest, timeless and
without the constraints of space. He describes the words spoken in a sacrament as living
symbology because of the life force of the Word of God moving through them.
xliv
Blighton states that realms of higher dimension exist in the same space as our familiar
material world and are just as real as the physical. “It is not just a nameless void on the other side
of transition, but a real world of higher vibration.” He goes on to say that the sacraments help to
condition those receiving them to accept this state of existence and learn to live in it.
xlv
When a music vigil is offered at the end of a life, sacramental elements are present which can
open these higher realms to the person who is dying and also to those present at the bedside. The
use of sound through both harp and voice, the harp itself, and the intention of the person offering
the vigil all become a part of the energy transformation that can be effected.
Music throughout history has often been used in conjunction with sacred ceremonies. To the
ancient Chinese, music itself was sacred. According to music historian David Tame, the ancient
Chinese believed that
“the notes of all music contained an essence of transcendent power. A piece of music
was an energy-formula. Each different piece of music qualified the sacred power of
sound in different ways. The particular mystical influences of a piece of music
depended upon such factors as its rhythm, its melodic patterns, and the combination of
instruments used.”
xlvi
In India, the ancient Hindi shared a similar view of music. In their view, Tame states, “music,
like all audible sound, contains some of the very power, energy and consciousness of the Word
of God.”
xlvii
To the Hindi “the use of voice and playing of musical instruments were a very
specific and intelligently controlled release of vibration. Hence they were capable of resulting in
definite and specific changes in consciousness and in the physical events of the world.”
xlviii
Ancient Sumerians used temple musicians, skilled in drum, flute and harp according to
author and Christian mystic, Corinne Heline. The temple contained an outer forecourt, the place
of worship for the masses where the drum was used. The flute was used in the inner court and the
harp was played within the sacred place. The sacred place was a lofty tower that served as a
meeting place between Heaven and Earth. Here the chosen priestess received revelations of the
gods to the strains of her harp.
xlix
The harp was also regarded as the most important instrument in ancient Egyptian music.
According to Heline, Egyptian mythology credits the God Hermes with the invention of a three
stringed lyre. “The three tones,” she states, “were used to assist in the evolution of the three soul-
powers of man, powers known in modern terminology as the Will, Wisdom, and Activity aspects
of the Godhead. The three tones played directly upon man‟s astral or desire body, purifying and
uplifting it.”
l
It has been demonstrated that many ancient cultures viewed music as a powerful agent of
transformation. Music was sacred because sound itself, which is the basis of music, was related
to non-physical planes. According to Tame, “audible sound was considered to be but an earthly
reflection of a vibratory activity taking place beyond the physical world. This vibration was more
fundamental, and nearer to the heart of the meaning of things, than any audible sound. Inaudible,
to human ear, this Cosmic Vibration was the origin and basis of all the matter and energy in the
universe.”
li
Violinist and writer Herbert Whone feels that sound refers to the Son aspect of the trinity or
the Logos. He states that the Logos
“is an intellectual ratio — an ordering force within which all possibilities in the universe
lie; and in this sense it is the Word of God. Starting from this highest level, sound
passes through a mediating level of functional modification (essentially a vibratory field
of energy) and finally embodies in the forms of the physical world.”
lii
World famous violinist Yehudi Menuhin writes of the ordering force of sound in music. He
states,
“Music creates order out of chaos; for rhythm imposes unanimity upon the divergent,
melody imposes compatibility upon the incongruous. Thus as confusion surrenders to
order and noise to music, and as we through music attain that greater universal order
which rests upon fundamental relationships of geometrical and mathematical
proportion, direction is supplied to mere repetitious time, power to the multiplication of
elements, and purpose to random association.”
liii
A universal order in music has been accepted by the ancients, clarified by the Greeks, and
found in relationships in modern physics. The Greek mathematician and philosopher Pythagoras,
who lived in the sixth century BC, is credited with the diatonic scale. He established music as an
exact science, based on naturally occurring intervals. Pythagoras applied his law of harmonic
intervals to all the phenomena of nature, even going so far as to demonstrate the harmonic
relationship of the planets, constellations and elements to each other. In fact, according to mystic
writer Manly Palmer Hall, Pythagoras conceived the universe to be “an immense monochord,
with its single string connected at its upper end to absolute spirit and at its lower end to absolute
matter–in other words, a cord stretched between heaven and earth.”
liv
Many writers have expanded the application of musical intervals to forms of nature. During
the last century, Rev. Andrew Glazewski found musical relationships in the structure of crystals
and plants. He discusses the work of German scientist Victor Goldschmidt who shows how
musical relationships play an essential part in the world of crystals and their growth. Glazewski
states that “different crystals follow different musical scales and tonations as E sharp major, E
flat minor etc.; they have separate collections of tones, and show along their co-ordinate axes
different motives for polyphony and contrapoints.”
lv
Father Glazewski goes on to say that “the essential reason for such musical representation of
crystals lies in the nature of molecules and atoms; in the basic construction of matter.”
lvi
He
refers to atoms as harmonic oscillators. “The oscillators themselves are the nuclei, and the
electrons and their orbits are, may we call them, the reverberation and echoes of the periodic
harmonic motions of the nucleus.”
lvii
Then he reinforces the Pythagorean concept of harmonics
when he says, “From the very foundations of the atoms, up to stars and galaxies the harmonic
law of proportions is the fundamental one.”
lviii
Father Glazewski carries this fundamental law of harmony even further by claiming that these
proportions and their musical relationship pertain not only to the material world, but to the
immaterial world as well because the perception of proportion is a mental process. Therefore,
this perception “links together soul and body, mind and matter, God and creation.”
lix
Twentieth-century scientist Hans Kayser has also studied harmonics extensively and has
demonstrated that there exists an underlying framework of whole-number ratios, such as we hear
in musical notes (octave, third, fifth, fourth), in chemistry, atomic physics, crystallography,
botany and other sciences. In his book Through Music to the Self, musician and composer Peter
Hamel, commenting on the work of Kayser and others, states “the construction of a „musical‟
cosmology and the harmonic correspondences between the laws of music and of atomic physics
are thus not just esoteric speculation.”
lx
If the structure of tone in music is the same as the structure of matter, there are tremendous
implications for the impact of music on matter. Eighteenth-century German physicist Ernst
Chladni visibly demonstrated the ordering power of music using a bow to create patterns in sand
on steel disks. Twentieth century scientist Han Jenny expanded his work, showing sound
initiated patterns in powders, liquids, metal filings and plastics. Currently, Japanese researcher
Masaru Emoto is demonstrating the power of music to reorganize water by photographing
beautiful water crystals formed through musical vibrations.
Moving beyond the effect of music on physical matter, what are the implications for the effect
of music on subtler energy systems? According to Besant, “the vibrations set up in the visible
world when a note is sounded set up vibrations in the worlds invisible.”
lxi
She says our subtle
bodies are in constant vibratory motion. Thoughts and desires cause irregular vibrations in these
bodies, but sounds can be used to reduce these irregular vibrations to a steady rhythm. In
sacramental rites “the subtle bodies must be tuned to the note of the Being sought, if his
influence is to find free way through the nature of the worshipper, and this was ever done of old
by the use of sounds.”
lxii
She gives this as the reason that music has been a part of worship
through the ages.
Scientists and philosophers suggest that music can have an effect on invisible energy fields.
Besant allows that music can bring about a unity with the Divine through a change of vibrational
patterns in the subtle body. Medical practitioners are beginning to look beyond the physical in
dealing with healing. In his book Vibrational Medicine, Richard Gerber states that “the unseen
connection between the physical body and the subtle forces of spirit holds the key to
understanding the inner relationship between matter and energy.”
lxiii
Such insights are opening
the way for music to be used medically to affect the vibrations of both subtle energy systems and
cellular structure.
Can music, when offered at the end of a life, then be considered sacramental? Therese
Schroeder-Sheker, the woman who pioneered music-thanatology in the 1990s, considers a music
vigil for the dying to be sacramental in the original sense of the Greek word mysterion. Dying is
always a mystery and is unique and sacred in each human biography.
lxiv
She states that “work
with death and dying is about the reception of spirit into matter, and the dissolution of matter into
spirit.”
lxv
Father Barnes also agrees that music can be a sacramental experience. He states that “God‟s
sacramentality is not limited to just the seven sacraments because there are other ways that God
manifests his grace to us and music, especially music-thanatology I would think, is one way as a
sign of God‟s invisible grace being made visible.”
lxvi
If a music vigil can be a sacramental experience, how might this influence the person offering
the vigil? Through the history of the sacraments in the Catholic Church, there has been some
controversy as to whether the consciousness of the celebrant affects the effectiveness of the
sacrament. The idea that the grace contained in the sacraments is God‟s gift and has nothing to
do with the celebrant as such and that its production is tied to a divinely prescribed formula went
a long way toward the ex opere operato doctrine of the sacraments.
lxvii
The esoteric writers, on
the other hand, felt that the consciousness of the celebrant was indeed a factor. Besant states that
“those who are able to sense the higher forms of magnetism know very well that consecrated
objects vary much in their power, and that the magnetic difference is due to the varying
knowledge, purity, and spirituality of the priest who consecrates them.”
lxviii
Blighton also says that the celebrant is an integral part of the reality of the sacraments. He
states that the celebrant must “submit himself completely to the Presence of the Father, the
power of the Son, and the force and activity of the Holy Spirit.”
lxix
He admonishes the celebrant
to clear the mind in order to be a channel for the power and the force to flow.
Schroeder-Sheker discusses the consciousness of a music-thanatologist in similar terms. She
states that the clinical practice of music-thanatology involves “interiority and presence-of-being
at the deepest levels.”
lxx
Work with the dying requires a profound depth and commitment,
according to Schroeder-Sheker, and this makes a contemplative dimension essential for the
clinician.
Whone also addresses the consciousness of the musician as essential to his art. “First of all,”
he states, the musician “has to become as dynamic as the universe in which he lives and this
involves knowing and mastering the contents of his own being.”
lxxi
He sees the human race as
crucified in the external world, having to uncover in order to recover an unfallen state. Music, he
proclaims, is “intimately bound up with the process of uncovering – with the way of return.”
lxxii
The art of music itself becomes religion as the musician is cleansed in his pursuit of perfection in
his work. “Whether he likes it of not,” Whone says, “in his own field he is rekindling in himself
the light that has long been extinguished and is willing to be lit again.”
lxxiii
In a music vigil at the end of a life, the harp itself is a symbol of man‟s upward journey. The
harp is like a bridge, its strings a symbol of suspension between a higher and lower realm. As the
musician pulls the harp to his or her shoulder at the beginning of the vigil, it can be seen as
symbolic of the role of mediator between Heaven and Earth, based on patterns set eons ago. The
Sumerian harpist in her tower translated messages from the gods through her harp. The lyre of
Orpheus allowed him to move from one realm to another in his journey to the underworld.
Corinne Heline states that the lyre and harp were sacred to the Mystery Temples of ancient
Egypt and Greece because “they objectified concepts of certain inner powers whereby man once
knew himself as a celestial instrument in tune with the Music of the Spheres… The music of
these instruments is such that it tends to resurrect from his subconscious mind memories of his
former exalted status.”
lxxiv
The Gregorian chants that are often used in a music-thantology vigil are also based on
patterns from times past, imprinted with the devotion of monastics through the ages. They can
carry one beyond intellect to a space of deep introspection or realms of spirit. In fact Heline
believes that the original Gregorian chants were composed to impinge directly on three receiving
centers in the human body; the base of the spine, the heart, and the upper forehead.
lxxv
This effect
is similar to the chanting of the AUM in Eastern religions, which resonates in ascending chakras.
Besant sees the use of Latin as a living force in the invisible worlds. She notes that some
arrangements of Latin words, wedded to music, can cause “the most marked effects in the supra-
physical worlds.”
lxxvi
Father Kenneth Olsen, who has worked at Sacred Heart Medical Center in Eugene, Oregon,
with music-thanatologist Sister Vivian Ripp in combining music-thanatology with the anointing
of those who are close to death, feels that the music is an essential part of the anointing ritual,
and the flexibility of the music vigil allows for the transformation of the experience of
dying.
lxxvii
In fact, Father Olsen feels so strongly about the role of music-thanatology that he
identifies it as a sacrament. He believes that the music-thanatology ritual allows those present to
increase their awareness of the divine.
lxxviii
As man travels his evolutionary path of return from immersion in materiality to reunification
with his divine Self, he begins to free himself from subjectivity. This subjectivity has been the
means of his spiritual growth, providing the tension that has pushed him onward. Whone states
that as man draws away from the subjective state toward an objective one, he will not be guided
by external authority but will be the priest and musician of his own temple.
lxxix
In the sacrament administered at the end of life, Blighton sees the celebrant as a mediator
between Heaven and Earth. The development of spiritual faculties is required since one is
functioning in both worlds.
lxxx
As the music-thanatologist perseveres in his or her Spiritual
practice and continues to develop the deep awareness required to work daily with the dying, it is
possible that he or she will be functioning in both worlds.
In conclusion, during a music vigil, the music-thanatologist with harp and voice can become a
mediator between Heaven and Earth for the dying patient. He or she is an agent of spiritual care,
comfort and transformation. As the music-thanatologist creates a sacred space with spiritual
presence and music, he or she enters an age old tradition of temple musicians in service to the
Divine. As the music-thanatologist leaves ego behind and stays intently in the moment during the
music vigil, it is possible to enter the objective space in which Spirit is freed both in oneself and
in those who are served. The harp becomes a sacramental element, the music carries the power of
the creative Word, and the musician becomes a channel of sacramental grace.
i
Catholic Encyclopedia, Kennedy, Daniel, “Sacraments,” (New York, Robert Appleton Co,
1912) http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13295a.htm (21 August 2011).
ii
Catholic Encyclopedia
iii
Catholic Encyclopedia
iv
St. Thomas Aquinas, The Summa Theologica III:61:1, Second and Revised Edition, 1920
Literally translated by Fathers of the English Dominican Province Online Edition Copyright ©
2008 by Kevin Knight http://www.sacred-texts.com/chr/aquinas/summa/index.htm (21 August
2011).
v
Summa Theologica III:60:2.
vi
Alan Richardson, Dictionary of Christian Theology, (Philadelphia, Westminster Press, 1969),
300.
vii
Summa Theologica III:64:3.
viii
Catholic Encyclopedia, Pohle, Joseph, “Actual Grace,” (New York, Robert Appleton Co,
1909) http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06689x.htm (21 August 2011).
ix
John P. Arendzen, PhD, DD, MA Extreme Unction (New York: Macmillan Co, 1931), v.
x
Arendzen, 2.
xi
Arendzen, 3.
xii
The Holy Bible, King James Version (Philadelphia: AJ Holman Co, 1942) James 2:14.
xiii
Arendzen, 28.
xiv
Arendzen, 29.
xv
Arendzen, 63.
xvi
Apostolic Constitution of Pope Paul VI. Sacram Unctione Infirmorum, Nov. 30, 1072
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/paul_vi/apost_constitutions/documents/hf_p-
vi_apc_19721130_sacram-unctionem_en.html (21 August 2011).
xvii
SanctaMissa (2010) http://www.sanctamissa.org/en/resources/books-1962/rituale-
romanum/33-the-sacrament-of-the-anointing-of-the-sick-rite.html (1964 rituale romanum) (21
August 2011).
xviii
Thomas Richstatter OFM, ThD. “Anointing the Sick: A Parish Sacrament,” Catholic Update
http://www.americancatholic.org/Newsletters/CU/ac0196.asp (21 August 2011).
xix
Richstatter.
xx
Richstatter.
xxi
Richstatter.
xxii
Interview with Fr. Charles Barnes, Spokane WA, August 14, 2011.
xxiii
Barnes.
xxiv
Paul Tillich, Systematic Theology, Volume III, (the University of Chicago Press, 1963), 121.
xxv
Princess Karadja, The Esoteric Meaning of the Seven Sacraments (London, Messrs.
Wooderson, 1910) Online
http://www.archive.org/stream/cu31924031321635#page/n13/mode/2up (21 August 2011).
xxvi
Karadja, 21.
xxvii
H. T. Edge, Theosophy and Christianity, (Theosophical University Press Online Edition)
http://www.theosociety.org/pasadena/gdpmanu/th-xity/th-xty2.htm#contents (21 August
2011).
xxviii
John F. Nash, “The Christian Sacraments: Significance, Relevance, and Power,” Esoteric
Quarterly, Summer 2010
http://www.esotericstudies.net/quarterly/Files060210/EQ060210-Nash.pdf (21 August 2011).
xxix
Alice A. Bailey, (from the compiled writings), Serving Humanity, (NY, Lucis Publishing
Company, 1972), 112.
xxx
Annie Besant, Esoteric Christianity or the Lesser Mysteries, (Adyar, Madras 20, India, The
Theosophical Publishing House, 1957), 225.
xxxi
Besant, 225.
xxxii
Besant, 225-226.
xxxiii
J. N. D. Kelly, Early Christian Doctrines, (London and New York, Continuum 1977), 422.
xxxiv
Kelly, 423.
xxxv
Kelly, 425.
xxxvi
Kelly, 426.
xxxvii
Kelly, 427.
xxxviii
Tillich, 122.
xxxix
Tillich, 123.
xl
Tillich, 124.
xli
Tillich, 125.
xlii
Besant, 235.
xliii
The Holy Bible, St. John 1:1.
xliv
Earl Blighton, Philosophy of Sacramental Initiation, online manuscript,
http://www.holyorderofmans.org/Philosophy-Sacaraments (21 August 2011).
xlv
Blighton.
xlvi
David Tame, The Secret Power of Music: the Transformation of Self and Society Through
Musical Energy (Rochester, Vermont, Destiny Books, 1984), 33.
xlvii
Tame, 172.
xlviii
Tame, 172.
xlix
Corinne Heline, Music: The Keynote of Human Evolution (Santa Monica CA, New Age
Press, Inc, 1965), 41-42.
l
Heline, 54-55.
li
Tame, 22.
lii
Herbert Whone, The Hidden Face of Music, (London, Victor Gollancz Ltd, 1974), 21.
liii
Yehudi Menuhin, Theme and Variations, (NY, Stein and Day, 1972), 9.
liv
Manley Palmer Hall, The Secret Teachings of All Ages, online edition http://www.sacred-
texts.com/eso/sta/sta19.htm (21 August 2011).
lv
Rev. Father A. Glazewski, “The Music of Crystals, Plants and Human Beings”, Radio-
Perception, September, 1951, 5 www.scribd.com/doc/46440247/Music-of-Crystals (21 August
2011).
lvi
Glazewski, 6.
lvii
Glazewski, 6.
lviii
Glazewski, 6.
lix
Glazewski, 6.
lx
Peter Michael Hamel, Through Music to the Self, (Dorset, Element Books, 1978), 106.
lxi
Besant, 230.
lxii
Besant, 231.
lxiii
Richard Gerber, M.D., Vibrational Medicine, (Rochester VT, Bear and Company, 2001,
Third Edition), 44.
lxiv
Therese Schroeder-Sheker, “Death and the Chalice of Repose Project”, Lapis: Inner Meaning
and Contemporary Life, Volume 2.
lxv
Schroeder-Sheker.
lxvi
Barnes.
lxvii
Kelly, 427.
lxviii
Besant, 237.
lxix
Blighton.
lxx
Schroeder-Sheker.
lxxi
Whone, 13.
lxxii
Whone, 13.
lxxiii
Whone, 78.
lxxiv
Heline, 18.
lxxv
Heline, 68.
lxxvi
Besant, 233.
lxxvii
Jennifer Hollis, Music at the End of Life: Easing the Pain and Preparing the Passage (Santa
Barbara CA, Denver CO, Oxford, England, Praeger, 2010), 118.
lxxviii
Hollis, 118.
lxxix
Whone, 110.
lxxx Blighton.
Bibliography
Professional Journal Articles:
Glazewski, Rev. Father A. “The Music of Crystals, Plants and Human Beings”
Radio-Perception, September, 1951,
www.scribd.com/doc/46440247/Music-of-Crystals.
Nash, John F. “The Christian Sacraments: Significance, Relevance, and Power”
Esoteric Quarterly. Summer 2010,
http://www.esotericstudies.net/quarterly/Files060210/EQ060210-Nash.pdf.
Schroeder-Sheker, Therese. “Death and the Chalice of Repose Project.” Lapis: Inner Meaning
and Contemporary Life, Volume 2.
Books:
Arendzen, John P. PhD, DD, MA. Extreme Unction. New York: Macmillan Co, 1931.
Bailey, Alice A. (from the compiled writings) Serving Humanity. NY: Lucis Publishing
Company, 1972.
Besant, Annie. Esoteric Christianity or the Lesser Mysteries. Adyar, Madras 20, India: The
Theosophical Publishing House, 1957.
Edge, H. T. Theosophy and Christianity.
Theosophical University Press Online Edition, revised electronic edition, 1998
http://www.theosociety.org/pasadena/gdpmanu/th-xity/th-xty2.htm#contents.
Gerber, Richard M.D. Vibrational Medicine. Rochester VT: Bear and Company, 2001, Third
Edition.
Hall, Manly Palmer. The Secret Teachings of All Ages,
online edition, 1928, http://www.sacred-texts.com/eso/sta/sta19.htm.
Hamel, Peter Michael. Through Music to the Self. Dorset: Element Books, 1978.
Heline, Corinne. Music: The Keynote of Human Evolution. Santa Monica CA,: New Age Press,
Inc, 1965.
Hollis, Jennifer. Music at the End of Life: Easing the Pain and Preparing the Passage. Santa
Barbara CA, Denver CO, Oxford, England, Praeger, 2010.
The Holy Bible. King James Version. Philadelphia: AJ Holman Co, 1942.
Karadja, Princess. The Esoteric Meaning of the Seven Sacraments. London: Messrs. Wooderson,
1910, Online http://www.archive.org/stream/cu31924031321635#page/n13/mode/2up.
Kelly, J. N. D. Early Christian Doctrines. London and New York: Continuum 1977.
Menuhin, Yehudi. Theme and Variations. NY: Stein and Day, 1972.
Tame, David. The Secret Power of Music: the Transformation of Self and Society Through
Musical Energy. Rochester, Vermont: Destiny Books, 1984.
Tillich, Paul. Systematic Theology, Volume III. The University of Chicago Press, 1963.
Whone, Herbert. The Hidden Face of Music. London: Victor Gollancz Ltd, 1974.
Encyclopedias:
Kennedy, Daniel. Catholic Encyclopedia: Sacraments, New York: Robert Appleton Co, 1912,
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13295a.htm.
Pohle, Joseph. Catholic Encyclopedia. Actual Grace, New York: Robert Appleton Co, 1909
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06689x.htm.
Other:
Aquinas, St. Thomas
The Summa Theologica, III:61:1, Second and Revised Edition, 1920
Literally translated by Fathers of the English Dominican Province
Online Edition Copyright © 2008 by Kevin Knight
http://www.sacred-texts.com/chr/aquinas/summa/index.htm.
Barnes, Fr. Charles. Interview by Julia Smith. Spokane WA, August 14, 2011.
Blighton, Earl. Philosophy of Sacramental Initiation.
online manuscript. http://www.holyorderofmans.org/Philosophy-Sacaraments.
Pope John Paul VI
Apostolic Constitution of Pope Paul VI. Sacram Unctione Infirmorum, Nov. 30, 1072
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/paul_vi/apost_constitutions/documents/hf_p-
vi_apc_19721130_sacram-unctionem_en.html.
Richardson, Alan. Dictionary of Christian Theology. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1969.
Richstatter, Thomas OFM, ThD. “Anointing the Sick: A Parish Sacrament.”
Catholic Update http://www.americancatholic.org/Newsletters/CU/ac0196.asp.
SanctaMissa (2010) http://www.sanctamissa.org/en/resources/books-1962/rituale-
romanum/33-the-sacrament-of-the-anointing-of-the-sick-rite.html (1964 rituale romanum).
