Peruvian Whistling Vessels

"What are they?" you ask?
Peruvian Whistling Vessels are a form of sound making device that archaeologists have, for decades, been calling "stirrup and spout jars."
They are made of potting clay, and look like an effigy vessel with a little animal or shamanic figure gracing the front. There is a spout at the rear that you blow into, and a high-pitched tone comes out of a small hole just behind the effigy's head. When blown together in a group of 3 to 7 vessels, the tones intermix, creating a "difference tone" that only exists subjectively. In other words, the difference tone is only audible in the head of the listener, and cannot be recorded in and of itself. It can, however, be re-created via recording provided each vessel has it's own discrete channel. This tone is used by shamans, and others, to place the listener into an altered state of consciousness. This can have profound effects on the quality of meditation and thought processes, and is, obviously, safer than using drugs to achieve the same goal. The first time I experienced this effect, it felt as though a portal into the cosmos had opened within our midst. I actually felt the way Dave Bowman must've felt as he passed into The Monolith in 2001:A Space Odessey. "My God! It's full of stars!" was my first reaction.
I have since come to call the sound, "The Song of The Spirits."
In fact, I even wrote a screenplay I hope to someday produce as an IMAX film of the same name. Yes, I'm still living in the Age of Aquarius. Old hippies never die, we just grow long beards.
If you want to know more about these remarkable devices, check out www.entheosound.com

A wonderful fella named Don Wright (at left; see his posting to my blog about Christmas trees) is the modern maker of, and general leading expert on, whistling vessels. He's also a really cool dude.

Check it out!