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Singing Wine Glasses

Visualization for clarity.

You are sitting on a small platform. Arranged within easy reach in front of you are seven wine glasses. The first wine glass on your left is tinted red, the next one orange, then yellow, green, blue, violet, and the seventh wine glass is tinted white. Each glass has a different amount of water in it so that the red glass, when struck, plays the lowest note while the last glass on the right plays the highest.

There is a dense fog all around the platform and in the fog there is a jumble of voices. Many of them sound just like your own voice, and they are constantly speaking of your worries, irritations, doubts, hurts, and resentments. You recognize some of the other voices as belonging to people in your family, elementary school teachers, friends, and so on. Each of these voices are speaking of fears, warnings, advice, and opinions. Some of the voices are whispering, some are shouting, but the overall effect is a discordant, disconcerting din.

Your attention turns to the wine glasses in front of you. You tap the green wine glass with your nail and a light tone rings out with lovely clarity. As the sound penetrates the fog, it quiets some of the voices speaking of irritations and grievances with the people you love. It also pushes the fog back a small ways from the platform, allowing you to see a bit more. Next you dip your finger into the water in the red glass and run it gently around the rim. As the pure tone of the red glass, lower than that of the green one, moves through the fog like a wave, it silences some of the voices screaming negativity about your safety and security and pushes the fog back even more. You tap the green glass once again, and more voices whispering criticism about those closest to you are silenced.

You move back and forth between the glasses, alternating between taping the side and circling the rim. You begin to experiment and start to combine the tones by playing two or more glasses at once. The harmonies are light beautiful, and you can feel your own body vibrating in response.

And as you continue to play, more voices are silenced and the fog lifts more and more until you are left with an unimpeded view of the space around you and the sound of the wine glasses.