A Wisdom Archive on Diapason Harmony

In harmony, diapason, also called the octave, is the ratio of 2:1 between a pair of frequencies or, equivalently, of 1:2 between a pair of wavelengths. It is the simplest ratio other than unison. It is the foundation of the system of base-2 logarithms used in music (the mind naturally perceives pitches in terms of the logarithm of their frequency, so the notations used in music denote the logarithms of the frequencies they represent). When constructing scales, a pair of notes related by diapason are considered to be equivalent. They are the same note, but on different octaves. This ...

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Diapason Harmony (Greek) e dia pason chordon symphonia The harmony throughout the whole range of the seven strings of the ancient Greek heptachord or seven-stringed lyre -- the octave.
 
The Pythagoreans, teaching that numbers and their ratios underlie manifestation, traced the analogy between the seven-stringed lyre and the heavenly heptachord of the seven manifested planets of the ancients. Numbers were assigned to express the relative distances of the planets from the central body (sun or earth); and numbers were assigned to denote the lengths of the strings or their pitch (SD 2:601).
 
It is impracticable to reach an exact judgment as to the details of this analogy; the stringing of the lyre differed in different times and places, and it is difficult to adapt the Greek scale to the diatonic scale. But details apart, the important point is that the universal harmony, based on numbers, prevails throughout cosmos and expressed in the phrase music of the spheres.

 
(See also: Diapason Harmony, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary )

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Music of the Spheres An extremely archaic teaching repeated by Pythagoras, and therefore in the West commonly associated with his doctrine, for he taught that the world had been called forth out of Chaos by sound or harmony, and that the universe is constructed on harmonic proportions.
 
He further taught that the planets were arranged in relation to each other and to the Sun in the progression of a musical scale; thus the distance of the Moon from the Earth was called a tone, from Moon to Mercury half a tone, Mercury to Venus half a tone, Venus to Sun one and a half tones, Sun to Mars a tone, Mars to Jupiter half a tone, Jupiter to Saturn half a tone, Saturn to the zodiac a tone -- thus completing the seven tones of the scale or the diapason-harmony, as it is reported that Pythagoras reckoned -- although the actual addition of the half-tones and tones includes only 6 1/2 tones. As Censorinus (De die natali 13) expressed it, "the intervals correspond to musical diastemes, rendering various sounds, so perfectly consonant, that they produce the sweetest melody, which is inaudible to us, only by reason of the greatness of the sound, which our ears are incapable of receiving" (SD 1:433).
 
Theosophy teaches that every body, indeed every monad or life-atom, is in constant motion, and as it moves emits a sound, its own keynote, and that this sound is in musical harmony with nature''s all-inclusive harmonic symphonies.
 
Furthermore, every particle of matter, every physical atom even, in its incessant movements produces a sound which is indeed a song, so that had we the power of spiritual hearing (genuine clairaudience), we would be able to hear this unimaginably grand symphony of sounds: we would hear the grass growing -- as the ancient Welsh mystic has it; and the opening of a flower would itself be a marvelous natural orchestral performance.

 
(See also: Music of the Spheres, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary )

For more dictionary entries, see » diapason harmony dictionary