The Power of Music and Faith:
A Healing Journey
An Evolve Q-and-A with Gila

Old ideas, once dismissed, are now being embraced by our modern culture. Ancient views of spirituality, medicine, and what it means to be human are being increasingly adopted and adapted to fit a world that sometimes feels like it’s reeling out of control. The most exciting part is what we are melding the wisdom of various traditions together to form something wholly unique and valuable for our times.

Prominent voices are coming forth, leading the way to new interpretations of unassailable truths. Among these is Gila. An accomplished artist, Gila vividly demonstrates the power of human voice as a healing instrument. Augmenting her strong, melodic voice with the sounds of crystal singing bowls, Gila moves energy to facilitate the soul’s journey. She combines ancient prayers and mantras to create profoundly potent sounds.

Gila’s first CD, Chant of the Hebrews, is achieving acclaim in the realm of healing sounds. It exemplifies how new interpretations of ancient knowledge can lead to compellingly effective results.

Gila’s personal journey reveals the power of music and faith. Evolve asked her about this journey.

QUESTION: Why did you decided to work with sounds as a healing modality?

GILA: I think that sound decided to work with me. Like so many people, I was just drifting by on the river of live, going day by day, trying to stay afloat. On the outside, I was leading a privileged life, tucked away in an affluent American suburb. In truth, however, I was a very ill individual-emotionally and physically. Fear ran every aspect of my life, and my body was ravaged by a blood disease that had already claimed the lives of two of my family members. It seemed that I was next.

At that time, energy healing and vibrational medicine were not part of my reality. I viewed them as the unlikeliest means of achieving health. But the universe does have its ways, and through a series of coincidences, seemingly out of nowhere, I met and began working with a very adept energy healer. After awhile I became attracted to sound as a way to move energy. I began to use sound in my meditative practice. Before I knew it, I was making sound for other people as well.

Reaching out to sound to return to a state of balance was, for me, an act of desperation and divine intervention.

QUESTION: How do you work with sound?

GILA: When I work with sound I usually incorporate three elements: the voice, sacred words, and crystal singing bowls. I find that combining these three elements is a very powerful and effective way of making use of sound as a vehicle for removing obstructions and blockages. It is transformative.

QUESTION: Are the sacred words you use only from the Hebrew tradition?

GILA: I work with energies as they present themselves. Sometimes I work with Hindu and Buddhist chants. Most of the time, what presents itself is from the Hebrew lineage.

I feel that the Hebrew letters- their shape, their sound and their sequencing are strong forces. We can make use of these energies by going into resonance with them.

 The sacred writings, the psalms and the prayers, are encoded. Through sounding these words with intention, we can move into altered states of consciousness and avail ourselves insights and healings at all levels: physical, emotional, and spiritual.

The Hebrew tradition, in its purest form, made extensive use of sound. In the ancient temple in Jerusalem the service was based on music and poetry. With the passage of time, this focus has become one of study rather than of direct experience. A student of Torah sits and studies the texts and ascribes meaning to what is written. This form of study certainly has its merits; yet, I feel it is more potent to make use of the words through meditation, by sounding them with intention. It is far more satisfying and nourishing to the soul.

QUESTION: Do you have a favorite chant?

GILA: That’s like asking me if I have a favorite child. I love them all. Each chant imparts a different flavor. Having said that, track 8 on Chant of the Hebrews, “Ve Ahavta” (meaning “and you love”), is one of my favorites. This prayer provides a doorway into the heart. It activates the heart center and resonates with the energy of love. When I was recording this track, the recording engineer renamed it the “trippy” prayer. It was the first time he had heard this prayer uttered and he didn’t even know what it meant; but he felt its power, its juice.

My other favorite chant is Psalm 150, authored by King David. I find the key to divine connection through this psalm: song, dance, and the playing of musical instruments. King David was the greatest of all musicians and poets. In the middle of the night, he would awaken and play his harp until he had achieved a meditative state. It was from this state that he composed his music and poetry.

QUESTION: Do you work with Kabbalah?

GILA: The word Kabbalah comes from the Hebrew root word meaning “ to receive.” Sound currents facilitate this receiving. The sonic wave patterns take us to t hat place where we can meet our inner teachers and get in touch with what we personally need.

I also work directly with the energies of the sefirot of the Tree of Life [the ten aspects of God, or archetypes through which both cosmos and the human mind are structured]. I don’t engage in studying or teaching these in traditional sense. I prefer to enter these forces through the doorway of sound rather than through the mind or the intellect. So much of the Kabbalah has been lost or hidden, so I think it best to access this terrain via direct connection rather than try to navigate it through study. Using sound, I go into resonance with the sefirot and their various frequency ranges- the rest is very individual and personal. When I work in this way with a group, everyone has an experience and everyone’s experience is different. Each individual receives his or her own “ Kabbalah.”

QUESTION: What is the message that you most want to transmit through your work?

GILA: We each have a sound that is an innate, God-given gift. Our voices are a powerful means of direct connection with the divine. When people hear my work, I hope that they experience this power, this pure joy, and that it opens them up to their own vocal expression. Through song, we liberate ourselves. We even liberate each other.