Gaia Flutes -Connecting with the consciousness of the Earth.
Gaia flutes are being developed for the purpose of reconnecting us to the essence of the planet. Gaia is the ancestral mother of all life: the primal Mother Earth goddess. I chose Gaia because the Greeks are closer in my ancestry than Native Americans who would also refer to the Earth as Mother Earth. In my opinion, the planet is a living entity filled with all that is necessary, physically and spiritually, to give us life that surpasses all understanding. One purpose of the flute is connecting to the life of the planet.
Each Gaia flute is unique, often inspired through intuition and synchronicity. Sometimes the materials used, just come to me and other times they come because a person requested specific voice.
A unique aspect of the Gaia flute is with a simple change in the bird and it will be tuned with A=432 Hz or A=440 Hz depending upon the designated use of the player. Thus, you no longer have the need for two flutes, one for playing with others and backtracks and another for the spiritual purpose of connecting to the Earth's essence.
My experience is all flutes have the potential to connect us spiritually, however, a flute tuned with A=432 is my personal preference. When the bird or totem is facing the player the essence of that totem is being offered to the player and when it is facing away from the player its essence is being sent to the audience.
Spiritual Healing and the Gaia Flute
The body has natural ability for healing physically and emotionally providing the human brain can relax. Reducing stress is important. A body in stress cannot rebuild itself. This is why meditation and relaxation are important.
It is interesting that the heartbeat of the planet is 7.83 Hz. Interestingly, 7.83 hertz is also the human brain’s average alpha frequency in electroencephalography. Among the five main categories of brain waves, alpha waves, which stand in the middle of the scale, induce relaxation but not quite meditation — a state where we begin to tap into the wealth of creativity that lies just below our conscious awareness. Also, middle C in the middle of the 432 musical scale is 256.87 Hz which is 5 octaves above the planets frequency. Middle C in a 440 Hz scale is 261.62 Hz, thus out of harmony with the planet.
Playing a Native American flute, even listening to its music can reduce stress and quiet the mind. Having a flute with the ability to have two tunings enables a fine tuning for the player. A new player probably does not have enough experience to notice what flutes resonate with themselves. A player with some experience under their belt will know how they feel and which flute will support that feeling.
For example a person may be sad or emotionally down. A lower key flute may help them and with a little playing they decide to switch to a higher key flute and find it lifts their spirits.
Our culture is highly driven by the conditions, experiences, and responses to the world outside of our selves. The Native American flute can be one of the tools to seek the kingdom within ourselves. Certainly it can be used for fun and entertainment speaking to our humanity. However it may reveal its true power is speaking to our being.
In closing – 432 Hz. V.S. 440 Hz.
If you are new to the Native American flute, I wouldn't even concern yourself with which is for you. Focus on learning to play what feels good for you. If you want to explore the difference, I would suggest exploring youtube.com. Search for “432 v.s. 440 Hz.” and you will find many examples that you can listen to. You will find those who think it is significant and those who think there is no difference.
No one can make the decision for you. Personally I find that a flute tuned at A= 432 Hz feels good. That is why I offer the Gaia flute. The other reason is there are a number of flutes in flute circles which are tuned to 432 and if you are playing with others the flexibility of the Gaia flute maybe important.
In reality, our culture is tuned to concert tuning of A=440 Hz. If I were to guesstimate sales of flutes tuned to A=432 Hz is less than 1% of flutes sold. However there are makers which only craft 432 flutes and others which offer both 432 and 440. The advantage with the Gaia flute is you can have both in one flute.
