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Healing Sounds of the
Abrahamic Faiths

Master of Divinity Program

Apply to the Healing Sounds program!

Course Descriptions: Healing Sounds of the Abrahamic Faiths

Musical History and Theory

6 credits

Explore the musical modes used by healers within the Abrahamic faiths and their impact on emotions, feelings, and perceptions of light and darkness. Delve into the history and structure of the Makamat system of the Near East and the Gregorian Chant modes of the Christian Church. This course emphasizes the purposeful use of music by mystics and healers throughout history.

Mystical Sufism

3 credits

Discover the introspective and ecstatic practices of Sufi Islam, including breathing techniques, chanting meditations, and sacred movement prayers (Zikir, Sama). These spiritual mindfulness practices offer a path to healing the heart, mind, and body while unlocking the hidden wisdom of the Sufi traditions.

Mystical Judaism

3 credits

Immerse yourself in the mystical-psychological teachings of Kabbalah, the Hebrew wisdom tradition. Study the Tree of Life and sound meditations, alongside chanting practices that foster healing, wisdom, and inspiration. Learn breathing, sound, and movement meditations that integrate the elements of creation and harmonize opposing energies.

Mystical Christianity

3 credits

Experience the introspective and chanting practices of early Christian traditions, including Coptic, Maronite, and Armenian influences. Engage in sacred music, labyrinth meditations, and mindfulness movement practices to process grief, expand the heart, and access the hidden wisdom of Eastern Christian mysticism.

Frequencies of Transcendence

3 credits

Examine the ecstatic music and movement traditions of Hasidic Judaism and Islamic Sufism. Explore the shared and distinct methods these traditions use to transcend ordinary reality and reach states of unity, focusing on musical modes, rhythms, and sacred movements as vehicles for spiritual elevation.

Interfaith Commonalities

2 credits

Investigate the historical and theoretical intersections of Sufi and Hebrew mystical traditions. Study their mutual influences on healing sounds and meditative movement practices, uncovering shared pathways of spiritual and emotional transformation.

Neuroscience and Frequency as Medicine

4 credits

Investigate the historical and theoretical intersections of Sufi and Hebrew mystical traditions. Study their mutual influences on healing sounds and meditative movement practices, uncovering shared pathways of spiritual and emotional transformation.

Sacred Ministry in Sufi Sound Healing

3 credits

This course focuses on the student’s growth into their divinely-inspired ministry of sacred Sufi sound healing. Students will be invited to deepen their understanding and experience of the sacred holy music in themselves and in all creation. They will be guided to embody and minister from a holy place of love, harmony, deep respite, and healing; and then to begin to identify their particular task or inspiration in Sufi sound healing. Examples of love, wisdom, holiness, humor, and more will be gleaned from the lives of the prophets, the companions, and the holy women and men of Islam.

The Divine Sound: Origins and Mystical Unfolding

2 credits

“Kun”—students will be introduced to the human being as created by and creator of holy sound. The course includes exploration of the first holy sound and its foundation for all creation will be offered. Students will be invited to experience their own holy reality and how it unfolds into their life; and by extension, understand and minister to the creation. A focus will be on students’ creative life of music, healing, teaching, and more.

Practical Skills for Sacred Ministry

1 credit

Skill development offered includes but will not be limited to: ministering to different realms of the heart, the “five-minute ministry,” clearing negative patterns with prayer beads, and water ministry.

Nurturing the Minister: Self-Care and Renewal

2 credits

Methods of self-care will be taught, including practices such as the Jewel Supplication, Holy Water Healing, Hizb-ul Bahr, self-compassion remembrance, and more. Students will be guided to identify signs of the need for self-care, such as feelings of overwhelm, burn-out, and flagging enthusiasm (himma).

The Path of the Holy Healer

2 credits

Students will be invited to taste and to deepen in their ability to become the pure vessel of healing from the Divine. The holy healer will be illustrated in teachings from Sidi Muhammad al-Jamal, and from the examples of Abraham, Jesus, Muhammad, and other saints and prophets.

Sacred Healing Practices in the Sufi Tradition

3 credits

This course will include the ethics of spiritual healing, listening and interviewing skills, alignment with the Light of God, connecting with the heart of the client, and transmission of the Light of God. Holy healing methods from Sidi Muhammad al Jamal, from the Qu’ran, and from the Sufi way will be introduced and practiced, including the Tawba Healing with Special Qualities, Letter of the Prophet Healing, the 99 Supplications, the Authentic Authorized Healing, and more. A variety of physical, mental, emotional and spiritual issues will be addressed.

Spiritual Protection: Prayers, Litanies, and Sacred Tools

1 credit

Specific prayers/healings, Sufi litanies, and Qu’ranic recitations for protection of person and place will be presented and practiced. These will include, but are not limited to Hizbul Bahr, the Enemy of the Devil smudge healing, the Sacred Water Protection, and the Adhan Protection.

Seven Dimensions of the Soul: Healing and Transformation

1 credit

Students will be guided to examine, experience and learn how to heal seven different aspects of the human soul. The relationship of these aspects to the creation—including minerals, plants and animals—to the spiritual development of the human being, and to certain qualities of Allah will be explored.

The Journey of the Heart: Sufi Wisdom and Spiritual Stations

3 credits

Students will be guided to examine and deepen their experience and embodiment of the world of the soul (Jabarut) and the individual way-stations of the soul as described by Sidi Muhammad al-Jamal in Music of the Soul and in He Who Knows Himself Knows His Lord. Students will also be guided to dip into the stations of the secret and the essence of Laila (the deep secret love of God); and into tasting and walking in the deep light of the Prophet Muhammad (saws) as it pertains to their personal growth and their ministry. Deepening into the experience of—and healing ability with—the Divine Qualities of God will also be offered.

The Divine Flute

1 credit

Students will be introduced to the Prophet Dawood (saws) and his Divine Flute as a basis for celebrating Allah through holy music. Topics will include his level of surrender and his gift of hearing the speech of animals; and sources will include Sidi Muhammad al Jamal, the Qu’ran and hadith, contemporary Sufi musicians, and more. Experiential exercises invite the students into their own experience of and capacity with the Divine Flute.

Holy Play and Creative Expression

1 credit

This course will offer simple and creative tools that invite newcomers into collective creative play, group chanting and worship. Methods will include movement, individual and group music, and healing improvisation.

Integrative Capstone: Service, Research, and Deepening

3 credits

In this course students have the opportunity to integrate theory, their walking and practical experience, demonstrating the knowledge and skill they have gained by a research project based on their interest, or by a service project related to a community or societal issue. Challenges, issues, and their relationship to real world problems will be explored as opportunities to bring the light of Allah into the world. A service project or paper on the student’s inspiration and learning is to be completed before graduation.

Advanced Topics in Sacred Sound Healing

1 credit

This will include the value of sacred languages and the rights and benefits of each letter, varied supplications in healing, contemporary Sufi musical artists, and other topics as they arise.
Apply to the Healing Sounds program!

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