Journey Through Healing Waters
Using audio & video field recordings from my home – the Dingle peninsula, I aimed to explore the healing properties of water. It’s well known in the local folklore of West Kerry that swimming in the sea can have healing benefits. There’s a link between swimming in the Atlantic Ocean and cold-water plunges, whereby staying submerged in cold water for over 10 minutes can help to reset dopamine levels. Not only is swimming in the sea known locally to have healing properties, there’s also an ample amount of healing wells in this area and around Ireland to have healing properties either by visiting the well or drinking its “Holy Water”. In the early half of this century, people were often sent to these wells to cure ailments such as madness, emetic, and catharsis. In this project’s pursuit, I aimed to sonically cartograph these waters in both video and sound to capture a reflection of its healing essence in produced audio-visual media.
Production Notes
My intention was to explore whether listening and watching, rather than swimming in or drinking the water, might allow an audience to access a sense of its restorative properties, even if only subtly. There’s a freedom of creative expression exercised in the music composition, as an practice of experimental composing. I asked myself some questions such as, can I further enhance the transmission of the healing energy captured in the natural soundscape with melodic and sound design elements? Water has a very close relationship with humans and is vital for Life. Without water, we couldn’t survive and it seems certain waters can improve the quality of life. At the very least, I hoped to create an experience with emergent meditative and healing potential. The result is approximately a 37-minute journey through healing waters of healing wells, seas, rivers and lakes. All the recordings were made locally with extensive use of hydrophones (under water microphones).