By Song, All Was Created by Janet Maika’i Rudolph

This blogpost is part of an on-going collaborative project between myself and my dear friend Ecuadorian elder and medicine woman, Susana Tapia Leon. The purpose of the project is to illuminate in word and images the underlying pagan meanings of biblical verses. There are many rich verses that got hidden within translations. This has had the effect of erasing their original meanings or at least making them very difficult to uncover. I have come to call these hidden gems because they were not erased completely. In this post, I am offering alternative translations of 3 verses that focus on song.  

Song, and its importance, is found in many books of the bible. Song, vibration, chant, are all elements that give rise to life and once that life is manifest, to the joys of life. Vibration travels through the veils. It is a direct communication with the divine. It is also important in how we communicate with each other. It is a form of communication that we not only hear with our ears but experience with our whole bodies.

When the earth was created it was created by the word, another form of vibration. In Genesis 1:3 we have “god said” which is the vibrational element of the divine. And even before that in Genesis 1:2 we have the divine essence “hovering” over the deep. The word for hovering has also been translated as “tremble, shake, flutter.” In other words, it describes setting up a vibrational wave or pattern that gives rise to life here on Earth.

I use several different translations of the word LORD depending on the context. LORD is the translation traditionally used for the four vowels (tetragrammaton), transliterated to English as YHVH. YHVH is a complicated and beautiful set of letters that have layers of meaning. I have discussed this concept elsewhere and continue to write on it.

In this first verse Psalm 119:41, I use Vibration.Being as the translation for LORD. This is in juxtaposition to human.being because both are reflections of the other. Vibration.Being is the divine essence and human.being is how that divine essence is manifested here on Earth.  KJV is the King James Version and MPV is Mystic Pagan, my own translations.

Psalm 119:41

Let thy mercies come also unto me, O LORD, even thy salvation, according to thy word.
KJV

O Vibration.Being of lush, vibrant song
may your vibrations of lovingkindness fill my being
MPV

Commentary: In the following passages I use Great Mystery for LORD because there is a sense of the unknowable. This is a fairly common translation used by others as well. I use it because these passages give the sense that we connecting and acting in concert with the Great Unknowable Forces of the Universe through our own vibration and singing.

Isaiah 44:23

Sing, O ye heavens; for the LORD hath done it: shout, ye lower parts of the earth: break forth into singing, ye mountains, O forest, and every tree therein
KJV

Sing praises as you exalt the Great Mystery, tremblor of the stars,
honor the depths of the earth with the pulse of your voice,
Let our singing resound to embrace mountains, forests and trees.
MPV

Psalm 105:2-3

Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him: talk ye of all his wondrous works.
Glory ye in his holy name: let the heart of them rejoice that seek the LORD.
KJV

Sing, vibrate, pluck strings, bang drums
Connect your passion with creative, sacred powers.
Great Mysteries’ vibrations rejoice along with the hearts of those who quest
MPV

Additional note on singing: The process of singing, of the pulsation of our bodies especially in blessing and rejoicing, form a vibrational umbilical cord between us and the heavens. The name of the Goddess Ashera informs this connection. The root of Her name is connected to the root word sing (shir).  It is also used as the term for an umbilical cord. I wrote about these concepts in this blogpost from 2021. The post also contains my earlier translation of Psalm 105:2-3.

BIO: Susana Tapia Léon Soy una mujer medicina, creo que tod@s lo somos cuando hemos reconocido el don y lo ejercemos.

Llevo más de 30 años investigando  las facultades de la voz y el sonido como instrumentos de sanación. Crecí en Riobamba – Punin. Recibí los cantos y la medicina de mi gente que vive en los Andes. He incursionado en distintas disciplinas y saberes holísticos, como la Filosofía de la Medicina Tradicional China, Parteria ancestral y contemporánea, Perinatologia y Terapia Cráneo Sacral Biodinámica. Fusiono estos saberes compartiendo su magia en círculos de sonido y sanación, tanto en el Norte como en el Sur de América. Como facilitadora holística en expresión de la voz abro un camino en la recuperación de la memoria sagrada de lo femenino en el planeta.

As a medicine woman I believe we are all medicine once we recognize that gift and seek it.

I grew up in the countryside of Punín-Riobamba, Ecuador. I received the songs and medicine from my community in the Andes, keeping this seed in the depths of my heart and soul.

For the past 30 years I have investigated the many properties of the voice as a healing instrument, as well as explored and followed different holistic disciplines and teachings like: Andean Cosmology, Ancestral and Contemporary Midwifery, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Perinatology, Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy, Freeing the Natural Voice, among others. I fused these schools of wisdom with the power of sound and share this medicine in circles and gatherings in different countries throughout the Americas.

Susana’s website can be seen here.