[rating:4/5]

I had the pleasure of purchasing this fascinating book directly from the author at a special presentation he gave at a week-long class on sacred sound healing (yes, it was a WONDERFUL experience). Animated Earth focuses entirely upon Daniel Statenkov’s fascinating discovery and subsequent life-long obsession with Peruvian Whistling Vessels. Yes, that sounds bizarre – although it’s certainly something that fascinates me.

Prior to meeting Mr. Statnekov, I was really excited about getting the opportunity to play them myself – upon hearing him speak, I was even more eager to try them. Oddly enough, my first experience was a letdown – in fact, they left an obnoxious ringing in my ears and I wondered what, exactly, Statnekov to become so obsessed with them. While he is a very gentle man, he is certainly the world’s leading authority on these whistles and I couldn’t help but wonder why anyone would be attracted to them.

Like his presentation to us, his book is quite fascinating but it leads to many strange “new agey” places. Furthermore, some of his “science” is clearly tempered by his own personal quixotic obsession with these whistles. Again, this book was written with by an left-brain challenged (or perhaps right-brained genius) man who stumbled upon fascinating artifacts from pre-Columbian South America.

After my first experience with the whistles, I was disappointed but still wanted to learn a bit more before I gave up on them. As a result, I read the book (remembering to let my left-brain sleep as I did) and found Statnekov’s story to be both exciting, odd, at times upsetting, and just plain weird! With that experience behind me, I had a second opportunity to try the whistles, again a year later with the same teachers (Statnekov was not present this time), even the same whistles, but in an entirely different location. What a difference! This time, I was completely enthralled with them and they took me on a strange “journey” that simply can’t be described. In fact, I had the opportunity to watch another group play the whistles, after I was done, and I ended up wanting my own set (can’t afford one now).

Due to that second experience, I now want to learn more about the mechanism by which they work on the brain (actually, I’m convinced it has to do with the concepts of binaural beats and entrainment of brain-wave patterns). I’m looking forward to trying them again, in yet another location (again, same teachers and instruments but in yet another [third] location) – I suspect that the acoustics of the room in which they are played contribute (or detract) greatly from the experience.