Is it a sin to listen to New Age music?

[Guldenat]

Smugness? That’s rich coming from Mr ‘oh you poor pleb couldn’t possiby understand REAL art - it needs a university degree thank you very much’.

Bosch? You mean the artist I presume. I could make the same argument about him - people aren’t REQUIRED to read up on his works to appreciate them. Obviously he knew when painting them that most of his public wouldn’t be terribly well educated and so made his ideas apparent enough even for them.

That is what art is about, essentially, making both thoughts and feelings palpable. And unless an artist is an extremely unskillful one (and Bosch certainly isn’t), they reveal plenty and more than sufficient of their meaning without the need for convoluted explanations concocted by themselves or by academics who otherwise couldn’t justify their salaries or existences. Their art is a failure if they don’t!

A case in point - a story told about (if I remember correctly) Picasso. One of his works had a big red slash of paint in one section. An art critic wrote gushingly about its deep symbolism in regards to anger or sexuality, or whatever the heck it was he thought was the ‘mental construct’ behind it. Picasso’s reply? ‘My brush slipped, the red looked good, I let it stay.’ So much for the ‘oh you couldn’t possibly understand unless you have a PhD’ school of art studies.

Umm … noticed any Cannibal Corpse or Deicide being used in worldwide blockbuster movies or tv ad campaigns lately? Classical music is the most often used in these situations, if any commercial music is, unless it’s something specifically targeted at a teen audience, for example. And that’s precisely because it IS the most appealing (and to the broadest range of people around the globe) type of music

And you know this how? :ehh:

Because they mirror your own intellectual snobbery? No thanks.

Helgasdogs is correct inasmuch as classical music is more complicated (i do not believe he used those exact words). However, he, and his sources, embellish and,in a sense, romanticize classical completely, and in the same sweeping motion, degrade other musical forms.

All music, no matter what sort it is, is simply math. To make an analogy, Calculus is to Mozart as The Monkees are to Arithmatic. To appreciate the musical aspect of either, one would require no education whatsoever (and thankfully, no mathematical understanding either). However, since classical is so complicated, it can be enjoyed and appreciated on many different levels (not all is complicated… we can all think of a symphony from Beethoven that may lead us to believe he was obsessed with the number 4).

I am making a few points here. One, to have a full appreciation of certain classical pieces, one generally has to have some form of education. Music, like art, can be enjoyed greatly with no education, but the appreciation can be greatly enriched with the more you know. However, to say classical is not ‘of the flesh’ is ridiculous. It comes from the mind and the body - the same places that all other music comes from (musical and mathematical centers of the brain). No form of music is any ‘better’ than any other. Classical is not elevated above other forms. Music is not food for the soul… that is romantic nonsense. All music is a ‘mental construct’.

Lily, the reason they generally use classical music for movies and commercials is not necessarily because of it’s wide appeal, it is used because classical musical forms can be used innocuously in the background and yet still cause emotion. When you watch a movie, and you never catch yourself noticing the music consciously, and yet it effects you, then the composer did his job. Think of movies like Jaws… could that effect have been accomplished with a rock and roll band? Conversely, have you ever watched clips without the music? You’d be amazed how much is lost.

 

[porthos11]

Actually, much of this so-called “New Age” music has little or nothing to do with the actual New Age movement. It’s just pleasant instrumental music. Many so-called “New Age” composers want to distance themselves from the label, since they want nothing to do with the New Age movement.

I personally like Enya, Yanni, Suzanne Ciani, Vangelis, and Lanz. Some of Enya’s music has lyrics, but they’re either romantic or historico-cultural in nature, not “New-agey”.

 

[Daniel_Marsh]

Hi everyone. I bought a CD called Tai Chi - Music For Relaxation as a relaxation CD. It is quite clearly New Age music. Would it be a sin to listen to this CD?

Hi Holy, frankly I think the picture you displayed is sinful because you are forcing it on people like me who find those offensive.

Seriously, how good is your music system?  Are you able to examine each track for hidden messages?   If you are not aware of it, many New Age music sources do have hidden subconsciousness messages.  It is simply unwise to open up yourself to New Age influnces.   If you examined all the tracks and found it clean of New Age hidden messages, then enjoy, but don't cause others to stumble because of it Romans 14.

google.com/search?hl=en&sa=X&oi=spell&resnum=0&ct=result&cd=1&q=new+age+music+subconsciousness+messages&spell=1

 

[spangler1982]

I posted this joke I heard from Garrison Keilor before, but I’ll do it again:

Q: What do you get when you play New Age Music backwards?

A: . . .New Age Music!

 

[Music_Buff]

I doubt it. Robert Kennedy, SJ is a zen instructor, therapist and jesuit priest at St. John’s in NY. I don’t see any reason why the New Age music would be a sin anymore than him practicing zen as a zen monk.

 

[kentuckyliz]

Where is it in the catechism that listening to New Age music is listed as a sin?

Scrupulous much?

 

[kinja]

New Age music is on the same level as Rock, Rap, Country, Jazz, Bluegrass, Gospel, and every other form of anticlassical music. Anticlassical music, regardless of lyrical content or lack thereof, is essentially of the flesh, not the mind.

The only music that is truly of the mind, that is truly human, in other words, is Classical music, on the order of Vivaldi, J.S. Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms, as distinct from the anticlassical, so-called Romantic works of Wagner, Franz Liszt, and Hector Berlioz.

Compare any of the first paragraph’s indicated musical offerings, to Bach’s St. Matthew Passion or the Jesu Meine Freude. There is a species-difference between the two. The former is animalistic, the latter is humanistic.

In other words, New Age music, lyrical or not, is, like all anticlassical music, a vice, like tobacco smoking or drinking alcohol. The only healthy form of music, from a cognitive perspective, is Classical forms.

Jesu Meine Freude

Save the Negro Spiritual

Country Music is meant to make you stupid

h

The problem is that the effect of music on the mind is very much misunderstood even today. My friend and I are doing a roadshow entitled the Powerful Influence of Music and we take all forms of music apart in terms of the intended use, lyrical content and genesis of the music. We show biblical references to music etc. Meditative music may not have lyrics that are anti-christian, but they can have vibrations designed to put the listener into a particular mental state conducive to having a “spiritual experience”. I think all meditative music that is not Christian in origin should be avoided.

Pleace and Love.

 

[PatienceAndLove]

I actually enjoy new age music. I listened to it a lot when I was a witch, but not so much anymore.
I pulled my collection out a few days ago and greatly surprised by some of the spiritual influences listed by some of my favorite artists (Theresa of Avila, John of the Cross, Therese the Little Flower). I am more choosey about the songs I listen to, but I still enjoy it. Especially when great poems are put to music (that whole English Teacher thing )

 

[harleymonk]

First of all, I have to apologize to myself for my own naivety, i.e., I assumed this site was populated primarily by Catholics. It is not and that is not a bad thing but it does explain some of the, frankly, off the wall postings that I have encountered, of which this thread is a good example.

In my salubrious sanctuary, I am fortunate to be able to fulfill my role as a musician. How I render or hear music is a function of my creativity and interpretation – both of which are subjective. For example, I do not particularly care for progressive jazz or contemporary classical “stuff” because I cannot discern anything there that I can whistle – and if I cannot whistle the tune, I don’t like it! But, that’s just me: it’s not the music. “New Age” music is . . . well . . . music! What is does to me (I like it) or anyone else (who dislikes it) is not a function of the music but individual tastes.

Finally, statements that empower a particular genre of music with the ability to draw one into a dark realm, however those statements are constructed, are as valid as sentiments that declare women should wear burkas because women, per se, are able to draw men into that same realm. Beam me up, Scotty!

May God Bless,

Monk

 

[Catholic_JIMMY]

Hi everyone. I bought a CD called Tai Chi - Music For Relaxation as a relaxation CD. It is quite clearly New Age music. Would it be a sin to listen to this CD?

Ask yourself this question: do I want to get possessed?

 

[kinja]

First of all, I have to apologize to myself for my own naivety, i.e., I assumed this site was populated primarily by Catholics. It is not and that is not a bad thing but it does explain some of the, frankly, off the wall postings that I have encountered, of which this thread is a good example.

In my salubrious sanctuary, I am fortunate to be able to fulfill my role as a musician. How I render or hear music is a function of my creativity and interpretation – both of which are subjective. For example, I do not particularly care for progressive jazz or contemporary classical “stuff” because I cannot discern anything there that I can whistle – and if I cannot whistle the tune, I don’t like it! But, that’s just me: it’s not the music. “New Age” music is . . . well . . . music! What is does to me (I like it) or anyone else (who dislikes it) is not a function of the music but individual tastes.

Finally, statements that empower a particular genre of music with the ability to draw one into a dark realm, however those statements are constructed, are as valid as sentiments that declare women should wear burkas because women, per se, are able to draw men into that same realm. Beam me up, Scotty!

May God Bless,

Monk

I respect that you have a particular view of the genisis and/or intent of your own music but as other posters have posted, some people can use the music to send their own message. The human body has it’s own vibrations and certain rythms and frequencies of sound can resonate with that of the mind and body and therefore induce mental and even physical effects. Backmasking is a good example of this. Look up led zepplin and stairway to heaven. Even if not everyone is affected by the rythm of the shango drum or the eerie sounds and whisperings of a new age song, that doesn’t prove that it does not have a negative effect on alot of other people. This is not a matter of taste but of understanding how the human mind (left and right brain) process music and is influenced by it.

Music bypasses the right side of the brain (rational/logical) and goes straight to the right hemisphere (subconcious mind). The ideas and sounds and lyrics embedded in the music by whomever lay domand but slowly begin to influence the right brain. This can explain why social behaviour can be linked to the influence of music on the mind by scientists well respected in their field…

 

[LilyM]

I respect that you have a particular view of the genisis and/or intent of your own music but as other posters have posted, some people can use the music to send their own message. The human body has it’s own vibrations and certain rythms and frequencies of sound can resonate with that of the mind and body and therefore induce mental and even physical effects. Backmasking is a good example of this. Look up led zepplin and stairway to heaven. Even if not everyone is affected by the rythm of the shango drum or the eerie sounds and whisperings of a new age song, that doesn’t prove that it does not have a negative effect on alot of other people. This is not a matter of taste but of understanding how the human mind (left and right brain) process music and is influenced by it.

Music bypasses the right side of the brain (rational/logical) and goes straight to the right hemisphere (subconcious mind). The ideas and sounds and lyrics embedded in the music by whomever lay domand but slowly begin to influence the right brain. This can explain why social behaviour can be linked to the influence of music on the mind by scientists well respected in their field…

Firstly - this thread is a year and a half old now. That’s neither here nor there though, if you’re interested in the topic as I am still.

Secondly … in your (I presume) vast understanding of how the human mind is affected by music, what precise effects DOES your average new-age instrumental piece have on the human brain?

How are these effects measured in the course of scientific study, and by what method do studies

a) link specific types of music to specific emotions and behaviour (and how does science quantify and precisely describe emotions anyway?) and
b) exclude all other factors that could be producing those emotions and behaviour?
c) determine that a particular effect or emotion (and ALL music has effects, by the way) is ‘negative’?

Do specific songs ACTUALLY make people want to punch other people out, for example, as opposed to simply getting their adrenaline or heart rate going which could be beneficial if they listen to it just before exercise, for example?

I mean the overture to ‘William Tell’, an essentially classical piece, gets the heart rate going, but is that necessarily a ‘positive’ or ‘negative’ thing full stop, or does it simply depend on the circumstances in which it is listened to?

In other words how air-tight are the methodologies used?

 

[kinja]

Firstly - this thread is a year and a half old now. That’s neither here nor there though, if you’re interested in the topic as I am still.

Secondly … in your (I presume) vast understanding of how the human mind is affected by music, what precise effects DOES your average new-age instrumental piece have on the human brain?

How are these effects measured in the course of scientific study, and by what method do studies

a) link specific types of music to specific emotions and behaviour (and how does science quantify and precisely describe emotions anyway?) and
b) exclude all other factors that could be producing those emotions and behaviour?
c) determine that a particular effect or emotion (and ALL music has effects, by the way) is ‘negative’?

Do specific songs ACTUALLY make people want to punch other people out, for example, as opposed to simply getting their adrenaline or heart rate going which could be beneficial if they listen to it just before exercise, for example?

I mean the overture to ‘William Tell’, an essentially classical piece, gets the heart rate going, but is that necessarily a ‘positive’ or ‘negative’ thing full stop, or does it simply depend on the circumstances in which it is listened to?

In other words how air-tight are the methodologies used?

I am mnot an authority on the human mind and its machinations but to answer you I would say read the book Thought Particles by Roy H Williams is a good book to read.

Did you know that witches actually listen to and play music to induce trances and summon demons as well? It’s called pagan music mostly. Check the website: witchcraftmusic.com/

The only reason people try to defend a particluar type of music or it’s possible effects is that they have an emotional connection to it. If not then they would simply say that they do not know enough about the topic to comment.

 

[LilyM]

The only reason people try to defend a particluar type of music or it’s possible effects is that they have an emotional connection to it. If not then they would simply say that they do not know enough about the topic to comment.

Not so.

I have listened to instrumental music (NOT pagan, not explicitly described as New Age, but new-agey sounding) in the past. I haven’t done so for some time and it wouldn’t bother me to never listen to it again - so I have no emotional attachment to it. I found it pleasant to listen to, but no more so, and not perceptibly different, to my classical music or the Gregorian Chant that I also listen to.

I don’t doubt that witches accompany their rituals with music - as we do ourselves. I’m also sure that they are quite well able to get into their trances and summon demons without it, just as we are well able to cope with musicless Masses. So it seems odd to suggest that it’s the music itself producing these effects.

 

[kinja]

Not so.

I have listened to instrumental music (NOT pagan, not explicitly described as New Age, but new-agey sounding) in the past. I haven’t done so for some time and it wouldn’t bother me to never listen to it again - so I have no emotional attachment to it. I found it pleasant to listen to, but no more so, and not perceptibly different, to my classical music or the Gregorian Chant that I also listen to.

Because you could not consiously perceive the difference between two kinds of music hardly negates the subconscious effects that a certain type of music can possibly have on the listener.

I don’t doubt that witches accompany their rituals with music - as we do ourselves. I’m also sure that they are quite well able to get into their trances and summon demons without it, just as we are well able to cope with musicless Masses. So it seems odd to suggest that it’s the music itself producing these effects.

Have you ever asked yourself why witches and catholics and other religions use music during ritual? It is not because it is fun. Music has an effect on the listener which is why all religious cultures use music whether to praise God or to channel spirits in the case of some pagan cults. If witches use a particular type of music to summon, conjure or channel, a word to the wise is to stay away from it if you are not sure about the effect it may have on your mind or spirit. It’s not being superstitious its just wisdom to me. As an aside I’ve heard several people from various catholic parishes say heard that when a catholic hymn is sung (prayer is expressed in the form of music) that the singer is actually praying twice?

 

[texasmavs1985]

I, being a musician (pianist and former euphonium player) have listened to new age music (with NO lyrics) while i am at home on the computer to have some sort of background noise to block out anything that is happening around me outside. I have several forms of music on my computer ranging from pop, rock, dance/house/techno (Cascasda comes to mind) as well as several Christian Music Groups (one being the local now former David Crowder Band) so I tend to keep an open mind on what I listen to. Yes I do believe that a lot of music out there promotes stuff that is against Catholic/Christian beliefs so I do not involve myself into listening to that type of music. Now I don’t believe in the whole new age thing because I find it very confusing but I don’t think its a sin to listen to the instrumental new age music (no lyrics stuff).