{"id":4656,"date":"2010-06-30T08:19:28","date_gmt":"2010-06-30T12:19:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/?p=4656"},"modified":"2026-08-08T14:56:33","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T21:56:33","slug":"the-music-and-the-mystical-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/the-music-and-the-mystical-3\/","title":{"rendered":"The Music and the Mystical"},"content":{"rendered":"

Posted to follow up yesterday’s article on teens\u00a0using digital sounds to engage in esoteric experiences.<\/strong><\/p>\n

by Larry DeBruyn<\/strong><\/p>\n

On\u00a0music’s ability\u00a0to\u00a0engender mystical experiences.<\/h3>\n

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.” Colossians 3:16<\/p>\n

Music engenders mystical experiences. This can be discerned from Andrew Lloyd Webber\u2019s The Phantom of the Opera<\/em> containing the song The Music of the Night<\/em>. The lyrics read:<\/p>\n

Night time sharpens heightens each sensation \/ Darkness wakes and stirs imagination \/ Silently the senses abandon their defenses \/ Helpless to resist the notes I write \/ For I compose the music of the night \/ Softly, deftly music shall caress you \/ Hear it, feel it secretly possess you \/ Open up your mind let your fantasies unwind in this darkness which you know you cannot fight \/ the darkness of the music of the night.[1]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Subject to the individual impulses, tastes and delights of consumers and composers, there is much about music that is creative, experiential and ethereal. But as every genre from military marches to love songs indicate, music possesses a mysterious, if not occult, power to sway the soul. The only question for\u00a0Christian believers becomes, do their musical preferences, acquisitions and experiences hinder or facilitate the Holy Spirit\u2019s work in their souls? (See Ephesians 5:18-19; Colossians 3:16.)<\/p>\n

In an internet article, former rock musician Tom Beaudoin makes statements\u00a0and employs quotations that connect rock music with “spirituality.” Consider his description of rock\u00a0music: the “digital environment of the CD\u00a0is the plastic, virtual ‘enclosure’ today in which younger generations taste and hear . . . the grandeur and intimacy of God”; he refers to “rock\u2019s inherent religiousness”; he says, “both rock itself and religious experience may yet be open to further transformation”; “the ‘fruit of the Spirit’ (Gal. 5:22), are often experienced through rock music”; and rock music is a “form of religious experience” [and] “capable of mediating religious experience and knowledge.”[2] But what is the religion inherent to the medium? Click here <\/a>to continue reading.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Posted to follow up yesterday’s…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":16139,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,29],"tags":[31,2942],"class_list":["post-4656","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-children-at-risk","category-contemplative-spirituality","tag-mysticism","tag-music","wpcat-17-id","wpcat-29-id"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Music and the Mystical - From the Lighthouse<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/the-music-and-the-mystical-3\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Music and the Mystical\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Posted to follow up yesterday’s...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/the-music-and-the-mystical-3\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"From the Lighthouse\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/LighthouseTrailsResearch\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-06-30T12:19:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-08T21:56:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/grunge-music-small-e1786226185835.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"300\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"188\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Larry DeBruyn\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@LTrails\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@LTrails\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Larry DeBruyn\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/the-music-and-the-mystical-3\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/the-music-and-the-mystical-3\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Larry DeBruyn\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5bd788c03736c2f3851c7cb88cd5bd9b\"},\"headline\":\"The Music and the Mystical\",\"datePublished\":\"2010-06-30T12:19:28+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-08-08T21:56:33+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/the-music-and-the-mystical-3\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":355,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/the-music-and-the-mystical-3\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/09\\\/grunge-music-small-e1790185612813.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"mysticism\",\"Music\"],\"articleSection\":[\"CHILDREN AT RISK!\",\"CONTEMPLATIVE\\\/SPIRITUAL FORMATION\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/the-music-and-the-mystical-3\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/the-music-and-the-mystical-3\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/the-music-and-the-mystical-3\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Music and the Mystical - 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