Stranger Every Day

The Dreaded Tritone

While writing my last post, which related a bit to the force of the Feminine in the Tarot, I was reminded of the tritone. The tritone is a musical interval that is a full three tones above the tonic of a scale. It is also referred to as an augmented fourth. In other words, if one were playing a C Major scale, F# would be the tritone. Coincidentally, in the modern practice of equal temperament (Caution: the equal temperament article has lots of math), the tritone is exactly halfway between the tonic and its octave.

I don't want to get into a lot of music theory here, so let me get to the point. The tritone, by some reckoning, is associated with the Feminine principle - and even with "evil." I got this information from the late Kay Gardner, composer, teacher, and music therapist. She talked about it on a series she did for Sounds True.

According to Gardner, she received a failing grade on a composition in college (she went to a Catholic institution) when she used the tritone. Calling it "the Devil's interval," the instructor had her re-write the assignment. Gardner also claims that Plato called the tritone a feminine tone. Other scholarly works cast some doubt on the ancient association of the tritone with the Feminine and the Devil. Nevertheless, since it sounds dissonant to the ear, the tritone was avoided for centuries.

The thing with the tritone (and other dissonant intervals) is that it feels incomplete and needs resolution. Most often, the tritone is used for dramatic effect, to be heightened by its eventual resolution, usually up to the fifth (think G in a C Major scale), or down to the third (think E).

While the tritone is used in offbeat chords, like diminished chords and ninths, it is not used that frequently, even today. However, it can be used to build tension. For instance, one of the most well known uses of the tritone (at least for those of us of a certain age) is the first three notes of the song "Maria" from West Side Story. It starts with a tonic, goes to the tritone, and resolves to the fifth. This song evokes the mystery of the Feminine, its allure and its promise. Well, it did for Tony, anyway.

Now that I've given you a song to have stuck in your head for a few days, I think I'll sign off. Ma-ri-a.

Donovan Mountain

First, there is a mountain,

Then there is no mountain,

Then there is.

- Donovan, "There is a Mountain"

I'm taking a trip down memory lane this time, for a look at the music of Donovan Leitch. In Donovan's heyday, the 60's, he morphed from Scotland's folky, minor answer to Bob Dylan. He became a full-fledged flower child, dabbling in more mystical, even psychedelic, music. Still, it was always tempered with an underlying simplicity that made it both feel-good and feel-deep. A Gift From a Flower to a Garden is probably my favorite of his albums (in fact, on vinyl it was two albums and became a single CD later). This album is filled with wonderful songs and very much worth a listen. In other words, the guy is more than Sunshine Superman or Mellow Yellow; and more than the father of actors Donovan Leitch and Ione Skye. I mean, this guy influenced The Beatles, fer cryin' out loud.

[Pictures are of Donovan, then and now (age 63)]

On the surface, There Is a Mountain is a pleasant little ditty, with a Jamaican, ganja flair. The lyrics, however, contain the short verse above, which I consider to be one of the most succinct and elegant expositions of the enlightenment process that I've ever heard.

Consider: Initially, we are all in the state of duality, that place of Self and Other (First there is a mountain); with the beginning flush of enlightenment, the sense of duality falls away and we are struck with the realization that all is truly One (Then there is no mountain); finally, when the full realization of enlightenment infuses us, we realize that even though all is One, the illusion of separation remains (Then there is), and this illusion is true as long as we inhabit the material world.

Dude, this is heavy stuff.

The lyrics remind me of the Zen statement, "Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water." Simple, useful, accurate.

For those looking for a transcendent experience, there are plenty around to be had. However, true enlightenment requires actually being in the day-to-day. Of course, Donovan's lyrics have more advice for those of us who wish to attain enlightenment. While doing your ordinary routines, you must remember to Wear Your Love Like Heaven.