Extracts from Secrets in the Fields
by Freddy Silva, published in July 2002.
Images © Freddy Silva, Lucy Pringle, Colin Andrews.
Cymatics images from Cymatics: A Study of Wave Phenomena and Vibration by
Hans Jenny. © 2001 Macromedia, and courtesy of Jeff Volk. For more
info visit the web site.
During the twilight days of December 1998, small articles tucked away
in the nether regions of the British press quietly announced 'Unknown Force
Was Behind Corn Circles, Claims Hoaxer'. This dramatic U-turn by the surviving
member of the infamous Doug & Dave duo- who since 1991 have misled the
world with tales of their crop flattening prowess with planks of wood- illustrates
that the hand of man materialized in crop circle lore long after the real
phenomenon manifested.
Latterday hoaxers claim that they applied boot to wheat in 1978, yet
crop circles have appeared throughout the world since the early 1900s, with
dozens of eyewitnesses even reporting crop circles forming in a matter of
seconds as far back as 1890; several descriptive accounts were even documented
in 1678 by Robert Plot, then curator of the Ashmolean. If hoaxers are responsible,
then, they appear to have mastered the art of time travel, in which case
it is they who should be under scientific scrutiny.
To date some 10,000 crop circles have been catalogued worldwide, and
their anomalous features continue to be irreplecatable: plants bent an inch
above soil and gently laid down in geometrically-precise patterns with no
physical signs of damage, light burn marks at the base of stems, altered
cellular structure and soil chemistry, discrepancies in background radiation,
alteration of the local electromagnetic field, depletion of the local watershed,
and dowsable, long-lasting energy patterns, not to mention measured effects
on the human biological field. So much, then, for two guys and a piece of
wood. But thanks to a virtual embargo on research coverage throughout the
media, a popular myth has developed that all crop circles have been nothing
more than a prank with a plank.
By definition, hoaxes are forgeries, and forgeries require originals
from which to copy. So what is this 'unknown force' that creates genuine
crop circles? One answer may lie with sound.
Echoed in all the world's faiths and traditions, Universal matter was
created by sound: 'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with
God', St. John reminds us. Hopi and Navajo traditions even assert that in
ancient times shamans would utter words onto sand and create patterns, a
concept not dissimilar to the Hindu mandalas which are said to be expressions
of the vibration of God. Consequently, the Eastern faiths- Islam in particular-
chose sacred geometry to express the image of God, a technique later used
in those hymns to sacred geometry, Gothic cathedrals.
Modern science now shows that these geometric rhythms lie at the centre
of atomic structures. When Andrew Gladzewski carried out research into atomic
patterns, plants, crystals and harmonics in music he concluded that atoms
are harmonic resonators, proving that physical reality is actually governed
by geometric arrays based on sound frequencies. Even that primeval Hindu
sound, the OM, from which is derived our modern term 'hum', when sung into
a tonoscope produces the very geometric shapes attributed with 'sacredness'.
Perhaps the most important of these shapes is the hexagon, upon which the
Egyptian matrix named the Flower of Life is based. This series of outwardly-rotating
divisions of the circle accommodate the branches of the building blocks
of life, the amino acids. This Flower of Life has subsequently manifested
as a crop circle.
As the expression of number in space, geometry is inextricably linked
to music since the laws of the former govern the mathematical intervals
that make up the notes in the western music scale- the diatonic ratios-
hence why the ancient Egyptians referred to geometry as frozen music.
In the February 1992 edition of Science News, Prof. Gerald
Hawkins used the principles of Euclidean geometry to prove that four
theorems can be derived from the relationships of elements in crop circles.
More significantly, he discovered a fifth theorem from which he could derive
the other four. Despite an open challenge, over half a million subscribers
have been unable to create such a theorem, which Euclid himself only hinted
at twenty-three centuries earlier in his thirteen treatises on mathematics.
So it came as a slight surprise when its equilateral version materialized
as 160,000 sq. ft. of flattened barley at Litchfield, Hampshire, in 1995.
Since Hawkins' Euclidean theorems also produce diatonic ratios, a link
exists between crop circles and musical notes, themselves the by-product
of the harmonic laws of sound frequency. Soon, crop circles bearing unmistakable
associations with sound then began to appear. One contained a curious ratchet
feature from which is constructed a musical diagram also dating to the Egyptians,
the Lambdoma. Also known as the Pythagorean Table, it defines the exact
relationships between musical harmonics and mathematical ratios.
In 1996 another crop circle demonstrated the combination of two important
figures: the 3-4-5 triangle and the Golden Mean, producing the geometric
diagram necessary to produce musical ratios. But it was a convincing formation
at Goodwood Clatford- which had its plants bent six inches from the top-
that gave the proverbial nod to sound, for here was a representation of
a cymatic pattern etched in 5000 sq ft of barley.
Cymatics is the study of vibrational wave patterns. One of its earliest
pupils was Margaret Watts-Hughes who, in 1891, captured precise geometric
patterns on film as she sang sustained notes into a device containing lycopodium
powder. But it would be another seventy six years before Swiss scientist
Hans Jenny published the first of his painstaking studies on the transmission
of sound through physical mediums, this time in the shape of monitored electronic
frequencies.
He observed how sound vibration created geometric shapes- a low frequency
produced a simple circle encompassed by rings, whereas a higher frequency
increased the number of concentric rings around a central circle. As the
frequencies rose so, too, did the complexity of shapes, to the point where
tetrahedrons, mandalas and other sacred forms could be discerned. Like Margaret
before him, Jenny enabled humanity to observe 'frozen music'.
Jenny also provided a physical connection to the creation of crop circles
since many of the vibrational patterns found in his photos mimic their designs.
Some are blatant imitations, such as the circle surrounded by concentric
rings typical of early 80s patterns, the tetrahedron at Barbury Castle in
1991, the spider's web mandala at Avebury from 1994, even the highly structured
star fractals of 1997. Other photos demonstrate the construction geometry
encoded within the crop circles' skeleton.
Visually, then, there is little room to deny the connection. But what
evidence is there of sound in crop circles at a physical level?
Many accounts exist of a trilling sound heard by people prior to witnessing
crop circles forming. The reports describe a sudden stillness in the air,
the morning birdsong superseded by a trilling sound and the banging together
of wheat heads despite an absence of wind. A whole section of crop then
lays down in spiral fashion, the whole episode lasting less than fifteen
seconds. Circles researcher Colin Andrews came across the trilling noise
himself when, in mild frustration during his search to find a single answer
to the phenomenon, he beseeched the heavens, "God, if only you could
tell me how these things are created". The reply he received was eventually
captured on magnetic tape. Subsequent analysis at Sussex University and
NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab concluded the noise was mechanical in nature and
beating at a frequency of 5.0-5.2 kHz.
Whilst recording an interview inside a crop circle the same sound was
heard by a BBC cameraman shortly before it rendered a £30,000 TV camera
obsolete. Interestingly, when the sound made another appearance during group
research inside another formation it exhibited qualities of non-linear movement,
and behaved in tandem with specific requests, sometimes on a psychic level.
Since it also has the ability to transmit on radio frequencies and interfere
with electronic equipment, birds and insects can be ruled out; and although
skeptics are quick to accuse that the recorded sound is, in fact, the grasshopper
warbler, stroboscopic analysis of both voice prints revealed vast differences
between this bird and the bizarre noise. Besides, these birds frequent marshes,
not vast, open fields of cereal crop.
Interestingly, the Aborigines relate to this
trilling sound. During their ceremonies to contact- in their words- the
sky spirits, a 'bora' consisting of a specially-shaped piece of wood is
attached to the end of a long string and whirled, creating a noise practically
identical to the crop circle hum. One has to wonder where the inspiration
for this device came from, who these sky spirits were, and what on earth
made the timeless Aborigines associate this noise with them. That was until
it was discovered that not only have crop circles appeared in Australia,
many throughout the 1960s, but their manifestation figures in Aboriginal
lore, just as their geometries appear in rock paintings.
In 1998 sounds of a more melodic kind were heard and recorded inside
a formation by three witnesses (or is it earwitnesses?); the design was
founded on sevenfold geometry, a representation of the intervals in the
diatonic music scale. Several months later I came across a diagram called
the Web of Athena, in which all the points of the heptagon are connected.
Despite the jumble of lines the diagram consists of just three line lengths,
and by juxtaposing these onto a stringed instrument, the exact same notes
were recreated.
But perhaps the greatest connection linking sound to the manifestation
of crop circles lies in their greatest anomaly: the permanent bending of
the plants' stems. In Canada during the 1960s, laboratory experiments measured
the effects of music on plants by subjecting them to different tones. Exposure
to heavy metal music made the plants tilt in the opposite direction, whereas
classical music lulled the plants toward the speakers. But in the case of
Hindu devotional music- and the songs of Ravi Shankar, in particular- the
stems bent in excess of 60º to the horizontal, perhaps the closest
any human has ever come anywhere to achieving that right angle common to
genuine crop circles.
Further experiments at Annamalai University
applying Indian devotional song generated additional effects: the number
of stomata in the experimental plants was 66% higher, the epidermal walls
were thicker, and the palisade cells were longer and broader than control
specimens, sometimes by as much as 50%. Similar biophysical changes are
known to occur in plants collected from crop circles. Tests performed since
1989 by American physicist Dr. W. Levengood consistently show how the energy
creating crop circles is able to affect seed embryo and plant growth, elongate
the plant's nodes, even alter the pattern of the chromosomes themselves.
Yet the effect extends beyond plants. Agricultural researcher George
Smith found that exposing corn to sound frequencies produced a higher heat
content in soil, as well as a slight burnt appearance in the plants. The
effect is consistent with the slight 'baking' regularly observed in crop
circles, where the affected area appears noticeably drier than the rest
of the field despite overnight rain; the same applies to the 'slight burning'
at the base of crop circle stalks. Oddly enough, Smith speculated at the
time that sound energy also increased molecular activity in plants, three
decades before it was found in crop circle samples by Levengood.
Since a sudden and abnormal burst of growth is also known to occur in
crop circle plants it was postulated that microwave was the culprit behind
the creation of crop circles. However, microwave has the ability to render
biological systems sterile, and a certain dose will even kill organisms.
Yet the crop circles plants are alive and well. After four years of experiments
on regular wheat at the University of Ottawa, Mary Measures and Pearl Weinberger
found accelerated growth in laboratory samples, and postulated that the
sound frequency they applied had produced a resonant effect in the plants'
cells, thereby affecting their metabolism. The frequency Measures and Weinberger
applied was identical the crop circle trilling noise.
Sound as one energy source capable of creating crop circles now becomes
very feasible. But what type of sound coaxes plants to bend and lie down,
applying firm and gentle pressure and, given the intricacy and complexity
of latterday patterns, with a fine degree of control?
Interestingly, ultrasound is capable of interacting with physical elements
to such an incredible degree. It can be aimed, focused and reflected almost
like a light beam, and specific frequencies can be focused to cause certain
kinds of molecules to vibrate while others nearby are left unmoved. The
higher the frequency of ultrasound, the greater its ability to be directed.
This requires frequencies in the high MHz range, such as those detected
in crop circles by Paul Vigay. His empirical data shows how the level of
background readings drop abruptly when he crosses the threshold of a formation.
Close to the centre, readings hover in the vacinity of 260-320 MHz.
However, just as crop circles have made a quantum leap in mathematical
complexity over the past two years, so readings have recently jumped to
540 MHz. Incredibly, this coincides with Jenny's experiments which show
that a relationship exists between the rising complexity of cymatic geometries
in proportion to the rise of dispensed frequency. In other words, the level
of frequency, whether in a laboratory or a field, correlates with the increase
in design intricacy.
Such extremely high frequencies are known to affect the state of awareness
and consciousness in humans. Interestingly, people visiting crop formations
often notice this, where even simple left brain functions such as counting
are affected. When tuned in the MHz range ultrasound also prevents damage
to sensitive tissues, so its healing properties are used in treating muscular
ailments, and cases of people reporting healings when inside crop circles
are becoming commonplace. One long-time sufferer of Parkinson's Disease
reported being cured overnight.
Below 20 Hz sound becomes infrasonic, and such frequencies are directly
involved with biological processes. It is well known that long exposure
to infrasound can cause unpleasant conditions such as fatigue and nausea,
and such symptoms are reported by visitors to crop circles. When combined
with high-pressure, the acoustic power created by infrasound is in the order
of kilowatts. In the case of plants, this pressure boils the water held
inside the stems in a nanosecond. As water heats it expands, and a close
look at crop circle plants reveals tiny holes in their nodes where this
superheated water has escaped. With a hollow cavity near the base, and the
stems made subtle like molten glass by the heat, the now top-heavy plants
collapse into their new horizontal position.
Since this 'vapour cavitation' also creates local temperature increases
of hundreds of thousands of degrees for a fraction of a second it is not
now difficult to see why millions of gallons of groundwater disappear within
the area of a crop circle, or why the plants have a cooked, malty odour.
Combine this with Levengood's discovery of microscopic blow-holes in the
plants' cell wall pits (indicating the rapid boiling of water inside the
plant), and everything starts to fall into place.
This infrasonic/ultrasonic process also creates a hissing
sound, and if you are fortunate enough to visit a crop circle within a few
hours of its appearance you will find yourself surrounded by this. Since
infrasound is also capable of atomizing water molecules and creating a fine
mist, it should be mentioned that in 1996 a farmer out harvesting his field
at Etchilhampton saw what he describes as 'a series of columns of mist rising
like cannonshot from the field next door'. Mist looks very out-of-place
in a wheat field, in mid-afternoon on a dry, summer's day. Yet shortly after
the incident a series of thirteen circles connected by a three quarter-mile
long avenue and a Sanskrit-type glyph appeared in the very same field.
Finally, vapour cavitation is accompanied by a sudden spark of light
called sonoluminescence, caused by the production of electrical discharges
as the water/vapour is ionized. And the lower the operating frequency, the
greater the effect. In a laboratory, 18 Hz has been used as the lowest safety
threshold below which the pressure formed by infrasound is known to produce
disruption to chromosomes. Every summer, crop circle plants of every variety
are sent blind to Dr. Levengood, and some inevitably show unmistakable disruption
to their chromosomes. Yet give him samples deliberately produced by field
forgers and he'll find something really unusual-perfectly normal plants.
The musical scale, constructed on the harmonics of sacred geometry, and
now found within the framework of crop circles, represents the mathematical
structure of the soul of the world because it embodies the essence of the
Universe. So it's no coincidence that a large percentage of crop circles
can be identified with and by ancient cultures, who to this day
honour their histories through song and music, their healing rituals performed
with sound or rhythm. This relationship is further extended in Buddhist
mandalas, whose elaborate geometries are used to alter states of consciousness.
Perhaps it is not by coincidence that crop circle designs mirror these intricate
patterns, just as they bear an uncanny familiarity to Jenny's materializations
of sound.
If sound vibrations are both encoded into and generated by crop circles,
is it not possible that they, too, can arouse the individual at a spiritual
level? After all, it's through music that whole human experiences are celebrated
and carried from generation to generation. It is very probable that it is
for this reason that the very shape of the human ear- more specifically
the cochlea- is a spiral constructed according to the harmonic laws of tone,
just as the same spiral forms the primary basis from which thousands of
crop circles have sprung.
Music is a carrier for social change. The effects of Handel's music is
believed to have reversed the state of morality in Victorian England, just
as the anarchic overtones of Punk corralled disillusioned youth into fighting
an establishment that held no tolerance for those who stepped outside the
system. The effects in people's states of awareness through contact with
crop circles is similarly documented. In 1990 a pictogram at Alton Barnes
sported the trident of Shiva the Transformer. Ironically, it was through
exposure to this crop circle that millions around the world were transformed,
just as images of crop circles today continue to enlighten the awareness
of those who come into contact with them.
If sound is one of the formative principles behind crop circles, it is
not surprising that they are leaving psychological impressions on those
whose antenna is extended and receptive to their tune.
