The Integratron Part 2 by Tina Erwin

Acoustic Perfection

       My husband is an extremely good sport. I have taken him all over the place, talked him into buying a crystal mine in Arkansas, purchased thousands of crystals and bought jewelry all over the world, so an hour’s retreat with a sound bath must have seemed pretty tame for him.

       The Integratron is acoustically perfect in every way. It is an all-wooden structure made without benefit of nails of metal. There is a downstairs entry which is the bottom of the dome. Here you remove your shoes, learn what the directions are and then climb the mostly vertical steps up to the second floor of this Integratron.

       Once up there, you find that your mat and pillow have already been laid out for you. Then you lay down. In one slice of the arc space on that floor, are 14 quartz crystal signing bowls perfectly arranged in what appears to be a random order, but nothing here is random, everything here is purposeful. The process begins by listening carefully to the brief directions. They warn you not to snore. I found that rather humorous since once you are that asleep and sawing wood, you are pretty oblivious to the noises your nose and mouth are making.    

However, we were given permission to tell the person next to us to top snoring or to at least touch them. They also asked us not to get up and move about, but to be still throughout the entire experience. Please, no cell phone, talking or moving about.

       They strongly suggest that you meditate, that you drift into that place of mindfulness and healing.

       I own three quartz crystal signing bowls myself. I know how they work. They come in a tremendous range of sizes to correspond to the notes on a harmonic scale and the chakra system in the human body. They are made of pure crushed quartz crystal that is combined with a resin or an epoxy and then specifically shaped into these harmonic sizes.

The bowls are ‘played’ by gently but firmly tapping the outside of the bowl and then caressing or rubbing the side of the bowl with this same rubber-tipped wooden wand. Once the bowls are played, they begin to have a unique and dramatic vibration that seems to penetrate your very soul. The sound is pure, sweet and harmonizing.

Many people are familiar with Tibetan singing bowls, those small metal bowls that sit on colorful silk pillows. Metal singing bowls specifically target the musculoskeletal system while crystal singing bowls directly affect the sensory nervous system. This is probably why you feel so rejuvenated after the experience.

They play the bowls for 25 amazing minutes. The sound is nothing like you can imagine and something I find that I am inadequate to fully describe. The tones penetrate your being, your soul, your mind, heart and the emotional/spiritual basis of your very life. Not bad for a 25 minute session. After the playing session, they have you simply lay there for another 25 minutes absorbing your experience. Then you quietly arise and leave.

Our experience was a little hard to describe. Troy pretty much fell asleep, woke up refreshed as if he had had an extra nourishing nap and had no further description or unique experience.

My experience was completely different. I tried to meditate, really I did, but I found that I was more than mindful of the sound penetrating every cell of my body. In fact, I felt myself pinned to the floor, experienced a tremendous cold wave come over me and could not move even a finger. It was not unlike receiving an acupuncture treatment where you dare not move until the energy has finally settled down in your body. Finally, after the 25 minutes I began to feel warmth return to my body and we made our way out of this magic chamber.

       Then we made our way back to 29 Palms and spent the afternoon in Joshua Tree national park and watched the sun set. You can see the San Andreas fault from here. Gorgeous landscape, almost surreal.  There are a number of charming bed and breakfast Inn here. We stayed at Roughly Manor. We highly recommend this beautiful place to stay with its private quaint cottages. This is a great get-a-away!    Photography by Tina Erwin.  All rights reserved.

The Integratron Part 1 by Tina Erwin

The Integratron

       Several people had told me about this unique place, this place where you could get a sound bath and find that your body was cleared of all kinds of pesky things that come upon you in your day to day life.

       So just what is this place, this Inegretron? This is the description they provide in their brochure:

       “A fusion of Art, Science and Magic, . . . this world famous, circa 1950’s historic dome is located at an intersection of strong geomagnetic forces in the Mojave Desert. The Integratron’s unique geometry focuses and amplifies sound and energy. Its architect claimed he received the instructions from extraterrestrials and intended its purpose to be rejuvenation and time travel! A one of a kind, all-wood Tabernacle. You can feel it!”

       What is a ‘sound bath?’

       “The antidote to everyday life,” is how it is described. “The sound bath is a 30-minute sonic healing session in the deeply resonant sound chamber. 14 pure quartz crystal singing bowls keyed harmonically to the body are played live while you recline and relax. Imagine being ‘bathed” in beautiful and powerful sound waves: it’s nutrition for the nervous system. The results are waves of peace, increased balance and awareness, and deep relaxation of the mind and body. It’s kindergarten naptime of the third kind!”

So my husband and I decided to visit this Integratron, this sound bath chamber located in absolutely the middle of nowhere in Landers, California. We wanted a unique get-away for a weekend, to see and experience things that were out of our normal day to day experiences. So off we went to find this amazing place. We made an appointment for our ‘sound bath’ at the Integratron and then set out for the 29 Palms area to spend a couple of nights and also experience the Josuhua Tree national park.

       You have to follow their directions to get there pretty specifically because one wrong turn and this weird place in the middle no nowhere can turn out to be a very empty, nothing-for-miles dirt road.

We found it. It looked rather like a forgotten 1970’s hippie retreat with a hammock section in an odd circle, steam punk art everywhere and lightening rods stuck in the ground at odd angles. There is a unique collection of rusting sculptures randomly placed among the desert plants. There are chairs to sit in if you are not hammock inclined and absolutely no shelter anywhere if there is rain other than the two bathrooms and the tiny staff room.

       You have to have a reservation because they are booked all the time. This isn’t a place to ‘just show up’ and hope you can get in. They can have 25 people in a sound bath at a time and that’s pretty much it. Although it looks large from the outside, it is not that large on the inside. 

     Part 2 will discuss what the sound bath feels like!
Photography by Tina Erwin.  All rights reserved.

A Mother's Capacity to Love by Tina Erwin

     There are people who seem to be everyone’s Mom.  We have heard of “everyman” but is there such as thing as “every mother?” There has to be. There has to be that person who has such a tremendous capacity to love that they warmly embrace everyone they meet. Their capacity to love is not based on a finite amount. Their capacity to love is based on the cosmic principle that there is an infinite capacity to love within people. If there is such an infinite capacity, then think how much they can love.

       This love is based on a feeling of warmth and generosity that lives within them. When you meet them, they are not afraid to hug you. Some of them will even hug you even if you are sick, or have a cold. Some will just love you if you haven’t shaved or done hair and makeup. When you get a hug from them, they really put their heart into it. They hold you close so that you can feel their warmth. Often, they are completely unaware that they love in this way.

       What is this love? Is it possible that they are looking beyond the surface and seeking the goodness in every person they meet? Is it possible that this person is looking for the fascinating aspects of every soul to see the hand of the Creator in all of His creations? 

       If God can love this soul, then there has to be something there for anyone of us to love. This loving person is the one who will give you the benefit of the doubt until you prove to her otherwise. Does this person always have to be female? Of course not, men and women are equally capable of this kind of love. Men can mother. We actually call it parenting, but there is such a gentle capacity to them that in a sense it is mothering. Maybe there are even some men who transcend the gender stereotypes. Maybe these are men who can just love because this type of love lives within them as well. 

       The definition of this kind of love includes an absence of ego, for to love so completely, you have to be able to see yourself as the same as that person. You don’t see yourself as different from that person. In the eyes of this person, the playing field is completely level. It is the very ordinariness of this loving person that makes them loveable, loving and compassionate. They would have to get a stepladder to stand on ceremony.

       The person has to have a global perspective, to love in this way. No matter what country they would find themselves, they would see the sameness, the ordinariness in each person. Isn’t that what Christ did? He was fascinated with all humanity. He loved all of us, no matter what we did and mortals of that time did truly dastardly things to Him and yet, He still loved us. Are ordinary people who love so completely seeking to be like the Christ? Not consciously. They just love. Love lives within them.

       Love is its own power. The capacity to love does not weaken a person it strengthens them. The capacity to love creates an infinite power within a person because love is power. People who think they have power but do not embrace love will find that this power is vicious and cruel. People who think they love, but do not understand the power of this love will find it insipid and weak. However, people who love tap into an infinite power. These people use the combination of love and power to change the world.

       Usually these people are very down to earth, common sense type of people. Mother Theresa was this kind of person. She considered herself ordinary, she was without ego and she wielded tremendous power. She used her power to change the world. She struggled to know God and to do the will of God, which for her perhaps meant to love, all who crossed her path. She did understand the dark side of humanity for she was ever and always practical. She changed and performed service where she could and she accepted what she could not change.

       Most of us will not reach the level of a living saint, but we can love.  Our love can change the immediate world around us in our homes, neighborhoods and work places. 

       There are people who are angry, mean people. These people are a challenge for anyone to love. Even supremely loving people use learning about a negative person as a lesson in love. It may take them a lifetime to learn how to love someone who abused them or who cheated, abandoned or crushed their heart. However, if we are all here to learn these lessons of love, then even the darkest person is a teacher in this earthbound schoolhouse.

       How do you begin to love like this? Start modestly. Learn how to hug, or to shake someone’s hand. Be strong in this action. Put your heart into it. Perhaps that is the key - put your heart into anything you do. Don’t hold back. Love lives in our hearts first and then our minds. Love with all of your heart and you will find that love will come to mind as a natural course and will eventually define your very soul.

Animal Vibration by Tina Erwin

Recently, I received this question and found it so important, that I thought I would share it.

Dear Tina,

I recently attended an Equine Affaire in Pomona. It’s a wonderful four day event that has all kinds of information about horses and their care. At the event, there are several presentations on Alternative Therapies for Horses. One in particular was on “Improving Your Relationship with Your Horse by Exploring and Understanding Vibration Levels.”

The presenter referenced the book Power vs. Force and stated that Horses naturally vibrate at the level of Serenity (500-Love). And the reason why it feels so good to be around them, is that they raise our vibration during the time we are with them. So, if this is true, then do other animals vibrate at the same level or higher? And, if this is true, does having pets (dogs, cats, rabbits, etc.) raise our vibration and for how long?

My thoughts would be that animals (and children) directly reflect their owners (and parents). The higher the vibration of the owner, the higher the vibration of the animal can be. Horses naturally have a high vibration, but not if they have been abused, that is an entirely different story. They will need someone of a higher vibration to help them recover and ‘return’ to their best frequency. Some animals are so hurt, that they never recover, not unlike people. I would question any generalization regarding vibration/frequency. Each situation is unique.

Animals have different vibrations for a reason. Pit bulls and dogs specifically bread for fighting cannot have the same vibration as a cocker spanial or an Irish setter. Service dogs are service dogs for a reason and that reason is frequency. Doberman’s, German Shepards, and Labs on the other hand very probably start out high because of their exceptional level of intelligence. How they are treated will have a direct affect on their specific vibration.

C.W. Leadbeater did an entire treatise on the vibration of various levels of the animal kingdom and not all animals are created equal. Some cats are higher than others. Some animals come in with karma to work out and they pick specific owners to work them out with  during their lifetime. The entire animal kingdom is evolving just like humans are.

Having pets can raise our vibration or they may not have any direct affect. You have certain pets for as long as you need to have them, just like experiences, the same laws apply because owning a pet is an experience in and of itself. If you allow a pet to bring out the best in you, to teach you and your family all the lessons of love, responsibility, compassion and the ultimate, unconditional love and finally sacrifice, then the pet will raise your vibration. But not everyone willingly embraces those experiences. Everything is relative.

An interesting side note is that people with AIDS do better when they have pets, they live longer and are happier in their situation because they have to take care of a pet and they receive unconditional love. In this situation the pet’s job is to raise the frequency of the aids patient and help them through the dying process. That animal earns exceptionally positive karma for that task. The AIDS patient can die having felt unconditional love. These are really wonderful things.

Perhaps I could go on and on, but those are my thoughts - excellent question, thanks for sharing!  Love, Tina

Photography by Tina Erwin