"The Music of the Spheres"

In ancient times, starting with the Greek mathematician and cult-leader Pythagoras, peoples have speculated that the planets and even the very cosmos gave off energy that ultimately culminated to make the Musica universalis, or "Music of the Spheres".

They had no technology to measure this postulation; there were no audio radars, satellites or radios to pick up these emanations. Instead, it derived from a belief that nature was interconnected, that the world was a place wherein mystic, beautiful and mysterious realities played upon one another to form the underpinning of all existence.

In modern times, much of the wonder that the ancients felt about the universe and the glorious patterns within it have been downplayed by the assertions of randomness, blindness, and materialistic positivism. Strangely, it is now with modern technology that the music of the spheres is being verified. For instance, scientists have recently recorded that the Earth itself makes a music of sorts. Previously, music has also been found emanating from the sun, Saturn, Jupiter, and several other planets.

C.S. Lewis remarked when reflecting on the Medieval worldview and the "science" behind it that people believed in the music of the planets the same way they believed in light, reason, mathematics and God. They had no proof of the music's existence, but their perception of the universe required it. They thought that while we couldn't hear the music, it would become obvious and terrible if it ever were to end.

As people have sought to shuffle off the "constraints" of Medievalist thought, the Music has been ignored and shoved off to the side. The voices of progress and materialism have attempted to drown out the quiet hum of the world behind us. The results have also indeed been terrible and obvious. From environmental degradation to nuclear warfare; from profound and widespread perversion to callousness about human and animal life; from the mechanisation of human interaction to technology that threatens our very right to be free. Strangely, it is in these modern times that the ancients' have been vindicated. Perhaps the music is not what they anticipated, but it is there, nonetheless, and it persists.

Would that we as a whole would listen once again, and believe in things greater than ourselves.

Comments

[Eric O]

Very nicely said. :)

I've tried for a number of years to convince people that much in ancient art and literature reflects the "esprit du system" you mention. The simple fact is that our contemporary sociological obsessions, ease with deductive reasoning (ignoring the whole for the particular), and categorical analyses simply do not allow even talented scholars to gain that musical ear. Work in Biblical textual studies is a perfect example. Hardly ever will you ever encounter a scholar with a multi-valent sense of the text.

[Johnny]

Fascinating post Austin. I've read some of the Discarded Image by C.S. Lewis and it was really something reading about the Medieval worldview, especially regarding the planets. Which reminds me, did you read Planet Narnia: The Seven Heavens in the Imagination of C.S. Lewis by Michael Ward? If you haven't then read it. Ward argues that each novel in the Narnia series corresponds to one of the seven planets of Medieval Cosmology. Going back to your post, it is nice to see that, like you said, the ancients are being vindicated by the scientific discovery of the music of the spheres. It goes to show that the materialist worldview is flawed and that there is something more.