Whale Whispering
We are one. That is the central message pulsing through this web that’s spinning forth from me and that I’m being woven into, this confluence of sound and image through and across waves of various types (marine, sound, brain…) that, for now, is called Whale Whispering.
Video clip of first trip out for Whale Whispering, October 2018
This Little Light of Mine
The shape of this project as it currently exists has sprouted from a collective visioning process between myself and the whales; their intentions and ideas are as integral to it as are mine…
Whale Whispering is a project in collaboration with Institute Projeto Baleia Jubarte, based in Praia do Forte, Bahia, Brasil.
Please visit their website to learn about their amazing work.
We are one. That is the central message pulsing through this web that’s spinning forth from me and that I’m being woven into, this confluence of sound and image through and across waves of various types (marine, sound, brain…) that, for now, is called Whale Whispering. I’m singing to and with humpback whales in Bahia, Brazil, birthing songs to contribute to the mending of the shattered collective spirit of humanity and support the protection, recovery, and homeostasis of the environment we share with the other beings of Earth--by tuning in to water. I am healing myself in the process, which is integral to the process, and learning more and more from water about how to heal water and heal with water. Training my attention on the messages contained within the humpbacks’ songs. Tapping into whale medicine, this music of the seas, as a way to address and transmute the trauma and systemic brutality that the legacies of colonization and enslavement have wrought globally on people of African descent and indigenous folks while fomenting institutionalized disregard for and harm to the planet itself. Trolling the Atlantic for aural remedies to the disastrous delusion of division.
I’ve said in the past that the initial flicker for this undertaking appeared decades ago when I first heard the singing of humpback whales, though what’s more true is that this is (part of) an ancestral assignment I was born to fulfill. The sonant imprint of my ancestors trills unmistakably in my blood, which is why I can identify its traces without hesitation in the songs of the whales (the source of the Blues…the Middle Passage moan)…And why I know too, without a doubt, that those ancestors who made that crossing came ashore with strains of whale hymns incorporated into the singing they would need to do in order to sustain a current of certainty in miracles flowing toward multi-directional freedoms and transformations.
The shape of this project as it currently exists has sprouted from a collective visioning process between myself and the whales; their intentions and ideas are as integral to it as are mine, and as difficult as it will be for some people to accept, the realization of this vision can only occur as a result of the telepathic communication that exists in this evolving relationship. This is totem work, and I am clear that not only is interspecies communication possible, it is necessary for what must be a collaborative effort to mitigate the effects of climate change on the ecosystems of the planet. While humans are responsible for causing the harm that has been inflicted, we must understand ourselves as part of the natural world in order to effectively participate in healing the damage to it (ourselves included). Listening to nature is key to developing that understanding. This is an elementary component of the vast majority of indigenous worldviews, but the modern, Western, corporate mindset and the media it fuels have worked wonders at erasing/blocking this awareness from far too many minds. The whales are speaking in the “language we all understand,” to quote Stevie Wonder—music. I am among those who are listening, and am compelled to combine my songs, which are seasoned by the songs of my ancestors, with theirs, which are seasoned by the songs of their ancestors as well as mine. We sing songs together, the whales and I, come together on the open sea to share them, and invite the world to listen and watch and sing along.
This is a holistic process leading to more holistic processes and products; it spans the reaches between the surface and the depths, just as the whales do. In order for me to effectively complete my part in this creative mission, in order to truly tune in to the language of the whales and bring through lyrics, melodies and arrangements that do justice to their expressions, in order to be impactful in supporting the detoxification of the waters, I must dive fully into my own process of detoxification, and share that through this work. Detoxify my lifestyle of practices that are harmful to both the external environment and to my own person. Make the point that this is what is required for us to truly transform the situation in which we find ourselves globally—we must transform ourselves in order to transform our environment. We must heal ourselves in order to heal the world. I want the sharing of my journey of transformation (truly committing to being much less dependent on oil and plastics, overcoming sugar addiction, and doing the ongoing spiritual, physical, emotional and mental work of freeing myself from the twisted knots of ancestral trauma, for example) to be part of the story that is told through Whale Whispering. This blog is one of the ways I intend to share the process as it unfolds. Eventually there will be recordings and a documentary film related to this project, but I’ve come to understand that this work is about so much more than those specific outcomes. (For those who are new to Whale Whispering and would like to read the original description of the project and trace its trajectory from its inception, follow this link. I invite readers and supporters to journey with me, to accompany me as I peel back successive layers of this creative work, the whales’ songs, and myself. I invite readers and supporters into this healing space with me; We are One.
There are so many images of obsidian sludge smothering the wildlife of the Gulf of Mexico imprinted on my mind, and I remember my neighbor May, a young lawyer who represented her Vietnamese community in New Orleans like a boss as the fisherfolk reeled from the impact of the disaster on their livelihood. I recall the sea running black and then, during another oil spill just two years ago, the water itself catching fire. Fire on the water, what a strangeness…And somehow, beauty in it all: that blazing ring of marigold only enhanced the art already emanating from the waves. In Bahia, I love all the colors that the waters of the bay relay; the indigo information in the more profound reaches of the Atlantic move me immensely, as do the teals and turquoises of the spans between the coast and the deep. Still, something about the liquid gem that the ocean becomes close to the shoreline stirs a primal force in me, one that feels integral to the very core of my identity.