Harmonic Sauna

This space is to our knowledge unique in concept and design, although people have gathered in caves for sacred ritual since the earliest times. Our intention is to provide a space for the exploration of healing sound, light and heat.

The harmonic sauna is the body of a large instrument, in the shape of a tortoise shell about 12x14 feet (3x4 m), to be played from the inside. Imagine being inside a cello or a bass. Or as how it sounds when singing in your shower.

The space is nominally a sculpted sound box when not heated. We will experiment with the healing power of sound and vibration, through the use of the human voice, acoustic instrument, drum, digeridoo, etc. There will also be provision to pipe in any color light from above, using a jug of water colored with food coloring.

Imagine doing a rainbow sweat with each round a different color. We will investigate healing light for example, orange/red which penetrates deep and may directly feed cellular energy cycles. The space is designed with specific curvature to reflect and concentrate sound energy, with alcoves of varying size and shape, also focused on a central axis. A focal line will exist along the area where a person could lie on a table, or a specially tuned harp might be wheeled in. We think it should be possible to play the harp with our voices, thus leading/training harmony. Imagine the sound of Gregorians in a large cathedral. Perhaps this space is like a small side chapel in a larger cathedral, the cathedral of the earth.

There is a stairwell at St. Mary's hospital with a similar curvature. A wide range of sound frequencies in the voice range are reflected there. A small energy input (one voice) resonates dramatically loud up 8 stories of stairs, and is quite a remarkable experience. Focal points and nodes exist as one climbs/descends.

The sauna has alcoves designed to resonate/focalize as well. With smaller persons playing the smaller spaces, and larger persons (deeper voices) playing larger alcoves. Again like the experience one has singing in a shower stall, but with a better frequency response. Built into the structure is an earthen wall with resonance of 1-2 Hz. Sixty heartbeats per minute is 1 cycle per second. (1 Hz) It is in this frequency range that our nervous system falls when the most healing states of sleep occur. We plan to experiment with interference of frequencies to create virtual beats (via digeridoos?) in the range of 1-2 Hz, although these beats can also be made with drums. Foot drums are a component of sacred spaces from ancient times, including the great Kivas to be found in northern New Mexico.

The construction method is ferrocement. Ferrocement is layers of steel mesh (chicken wire) plastered with sand and cement. It is incredibily strong and can flex. It has been used for over 50 years to build everything from water tanks and boat hulls to domes and cathedrals. It can take any shape. In the harmonic sauna, a ferrocement bell like the bell of a stethoscope faces the earth. The overall shape is like that of a tortoise shell, or maybe a uterus. Ferrocement is known to make phenomenally cool speaker cabinets, but no one builds such speakers, because they're way too heavy to lug around.

Interior will be a heater which can operate as a woodstove initially, but ultimately with a sliding carriage of rock to outside, for rock that heats red hot in a solar furnace.

There will be a double row of wood benches in two tiers like a sauna on either side of the oval shaped space.

The wood of these benches can be tuned like a marimba, and there will be provision for mounting wooden back rests in the alcoves, these being also marimbas. A small chamber/portal will exist in the earth directly below the solar light entry. This is similar to sipapus from hopi tradition that link the earth below to the sky above. Finish interior plaster will be white for true light reflection purposes, and for purposes of keeping the interior an unpainted "canvas" to allow for expressive/creative latitude. Finish plaster aggregate composition can be composed with specific minerals/crystals and energetics in mind.

The outside of the structure will have six decorated panels in paint and mosaic. Bells will hang from the shelf below each panel. Four drum seats with mosaic tiling are along the outer bell/shell, and tortoise legs with claw feet decorate the perimeter.

The shape suggests that of a tortoise. Tortoise/Turtle has emerged as a theme. A review from mythology and world traditions reveals that cultures ascribe mostly positive values to tortoise. Attributes associated with tortoise include wisdom, nurturing, perseverance, healthfulness, creation, yin, etc.

We intend to associate these qualities to create mythic narratives in the form of painting and mosaic which will decorate the exterior. We are, in the west, familiar with the story of hare and tortoise where the persevering tortoise wins the race. In the narratives we intend to create, tortoise leads the slow and steady way to a healthful and sustainable future for all her children. Are we creating tortoise clan?