Share

cover art for Sound Journey | Music of the Waters

Lifeworlds

Sound Journey | Music of the Waters

Season 2, Ep. 0
•

This musical journey has been produced for Lifeworlds by the vocal artist Moncaya. It is a sonic ode to the waters of the Earth and the rivers that flow, and a deep and loving conversation between two dear friends.


Moncaya is a singer-songwriter and composer whose namesake derives from the mountain that rises in a vast dry plain in Northern Spain, her homeland; a mecca for the Iberian Celts and generations of healers, witches, and spiritual practioners. In this musical journey, she has woven our words with the sounds of the Rio Magdalena, a powerful estuary that flows through the state of Mexico bringing water to the entire city, and stitched it all together with her hauntingly beautiful voice and utterances. Listen to the end, where you can catch the track in its full splendor.


This song is part of a wider movement – an open call for musicians around the world to create music, using water samples mainly gathered by Splice, a global library of musical resources for artists and creators. The movement is founded with the intent to give voice to water through different sonic universes made available to any musical artist, anywhere. 


I ask Moncaya at one point in this conversation how she as an artist can translate with integrity the experience of a whole other lifeworld – that of water itself. She chuckles, and with her characteristic clarity and warmth, responds, “You don't give voice to the waters…. You just explore with a pure heart, and whatever comes is good enough”.


Moncaya was trained as an engineer and worked developing technology for conflict resolution and peace-building in countries at war, including Iraq, Lebanon, Somalia, Syria and Tunisia. Currently based in Mexico City, her expression flows through her creations which blend the timeless essence of folk and world music with the freshness of electronic elements, creating a powerful bridge between tradition and innovation.


So my friends, my invitation is to listen to this episode quietly, with a spacious heart, and let it wash over you.

 

Links

More episodes

View all episodes

  • 32. 32. Depth Psychology and Soul Initiation – with Bill Plotkin from Animas Valley Institute

    01:14:45||Season 3, Ep. 32
    In this episode, I sit down with Bill Plotkin, founder of Animas Valley Institute. Over the past 40 years, Bill has developed intricate, nature-based models of human development and education that challenge dominant psychological frameworks and invite us into a maturation process rooted in wholeness, wildness, and the more-than-human world.We explore their three major maps of a person’s “soul-centric journey” and cover topics including:Why most modern humans remain developmentally stuck in early adolescenceThe 8-stage Soulcentric Developmental Wheel and how it mirrors nature’s rhythmsThe four cardinal facets of the psyche, and the inner protectors that distort themWhether other species undergo their own versions of soul initiationWhy the path to a mature culture will not come from the strategic mind, but from descent, mystery, and imaginationThis is a deep-dive into a body of work that’s revolutionizing the lives of thousands of people, and how to think about adulthood, education, and healthy human cultures.Episode Website LinkLinks:Animas Valley InstituteAnimas Valley OfferingsSoulcraft: Crossing into the Mysteries of Nature and PsycheNature and the Human Soul: Cultivating Wholeness and Community in a Fragmented WorldWild Mind: A Field Guide to the Human PsycheThe Journey of Soul Initiation: A Field Guide for Visionaries, Evolutionaries, and RevolutionariesParable of the TribesLook out for meditations, poems, readings, and other snippets of inspiration in between episodes.Music: Electric Ethnicity by Igor Dvorkin, Duncan Pittock & Ellie KiddPhoto Credit: Midjourney

  • 31. 31. Holistic Landscape Restoration and Inspirational Returns – with Willem Ferwerda from Commonland

    01:08:40||Season 3, Ep. 31
    Almost 40% of Earth’s land is degraded, meaning that the natural cycles that sustain biodiversity, water, food, and livelihoods are breaking down. This degradation is an ecological crisis, and, it also lies at the root of massive social breakdown, displacement, and conflict. And it’s accelerating.In this episode, I speak with Dutch ecologist and entrepreneur Willem Ferwerda, founder of Commonland, one of the leading global initiatives tackling land degradation via large-scale holistic landscape restoration. Their work spans over 20 countries, with projects restoring millions of hectares from South Africa to Spain, Australia to the Netherlands. We get into their unique 4 Returns Framework - a powerful, intuitive model that integrates ecological, social, financial, and inspirational/spiritual returns.We talk about:Communities building long-term visions together across sectorsThe importance of meeting different audiences where they areThe role of storytelling, spirituality, and local leadershipHow restoring land helps restore meaning and purposeAnd how, ultimately, all this work is about regenerating lifeEpisode Website LinkShow links:The 4 Returns Framework in Practice4 Returns Framework Publication4 Returns Framework for Landscape Restoration4 Returns Diagnostic ToolThe Meaning of Laudato Si for a Landscape EthicTowards financing large-scale holistic landscape restoration in EuropeThe Trillion-Dollar Promise Of A Landscape Restoration Industry, ForbesWe must tackle global risks in an integrated way – here’s howHow the Ecosystem Approach supports “Cooperation in a Fragmented World"Albania landscape projectLook out for meditations, poems and readings in between episodes.Music: Electric Ethnicity by Igor Dvorkin, Duncan Pittock & Ellie KiddPhoto Credit: Commonland

  • From Orbit to Intimacy | Beyond the Overview Effect

    16:24||Season 0, Ep. 0
    What if the next shift in planetary consciousness didn’t come from looking back at Earth from space, but from listening deeply to the voices already here? In this thought piece I propose the “inworlding effect” as the overview effect of our time: one where developments in science, technology, law, and many other disciplines are revealing our entangled presence within a multispecies world.Medium Article LinkEpisode Website Link

  • 30. 30. Grief, Song and Ceremonies of Mourning - with Alexandra “ahlay” Blakey

    01:05:29||Season 3, Ep. 30
    Today we’re joined by artist, musician and communal grief ritual facilitator Alexandra “ahlay” Blakey to speak about the cultural forgetting of communal mourning, the sacred role of professional mourners, and the re-emergence of grief ceremonies as necessary spaces of remembrance, healing and repair.Ahlay brings her experience weaving song, body, and ritual into collective spaces where grief is given breath and movement, and we explore the history of grief practices across cultures, the political power of public mourning, and how grief can soften the heart and stitch community back together. We explore what to expect in a communal grief ceremony, and ahlay shares the story behind her 200-voice album WAILS: Songs for Grief, inspired by whales, ancestral sorrow, and Francis Weller’s work. Within the episode are woven tracks of her haunting songs, so tune up your headphones, and sink in.Episode Website LinkShow Links:Healing at the Roots: ahlay’s websiteSong: Carry this AllThe Sacred Role of Eastern European Professional MournersSobonfu SomeWAILS: Songs For GriefOne Body Song Circle LiveFrancis WellerBook: Dangerous VoicesBook: Caliban and the WitchMartin PrechtelMyth of Lindworm: Martin ShawBandcampYoutube ChannelSpotifySoundcloudInstagramLook out for meditations, poems, readings, and other snippets of inspiration in between episodes.Music: Electric Ethnicity by Igor Dvorkin, Duncan Pittock & Ellie KiddPhoto Credit: Cover image (Earth Altering)

  • 29. 29. Carbon and the Grammar of Life - with Paul Hawken

    01:03:25||Season 3, Ep. 29
    In this episode we’re joined by the renowned environmentalist, activist and author Paul Hawken to explore the lifeworld of carbon and its role as a vital agent in the story of life.Paul speaks about the dysfunctions in Western language on how we speak about climate and nature, and why metaphors of war, control, and fixing actually perpetuate the very mindset that created the crises in the first place. We explore common traps we fall into, and how to recarbonize, to bring life back and restore relationality in how we think, feel, and act.This is a wide-ranging and intimate conversation on language, grief, science, reverence, and what it means to come home to Earth and to the deeper meanings of life.Episode Website LinkShow Links:Carbon, the Book of life (Paul’s book)Drawdown (Website & Paul’s book)Regeneration (website resources with projects)Regeneration (Paul’s book)Francis Weller Course on griefClosing Poem: Love in a Time of Climate Change By Craig Santos PerezLook out for meditations, poems, readings, and other snippets of inspiration in between episodes.Music: Electric Ethnicity by Igor Dvorkin, Duncan Pittock & Ellie Kidd

  • 28. 28. Whale Dreaming & Ocean Songlines - with WHAIA

    01:19:08||Season 3, Ep. 28
    In this episode, we journey into the vibrational worlds of sound, ancestry, and deep listening with Whaia, a Ngāti Kahungunu woman of Māori descent and First Nations sonic weaver and multi-instrumentalist.Raised between the salt of the Pacific and the red dust of the Australian desert, Whaia’s voice carries ancient songlines, blending traditional Māori instruments, crystalline singing bowls, and her original mother tongue, the language of Te Rā, the Sun. We explore her work singing with whales, reclaiming cultural instruments once left silent in museums, and remembering the sacred oceanic highways navigated by her Polynesian ancestors, guided by the stars and whale ancestors.This is a conversation about song as medicine, the voice as ceremony, and reclaiming lineage through sound. We ask: what might the whales be singing to us now? What frequencies are we called to remember in order to heal ourselves and our waters?Stay on after the episode wraps to hear a special feature from Whaia’s debut album WHAIA & WATER — the first of a twelve-part series known as her Sacred Sonic Sessions.Episode Website LinkShow Links:Whaia websiteInstagramWhaia Water Album DownloadWisdom Keepers DelegationOceanic GlobalAustralian SonglinesThe PleiadesMasaru Emoto: Messages in WaterLook out for meditations, poems, readings, and other snippets of inspiration in between episodes.Music: Electric Ethnicity by Igor Dvorkin, Duncan Pittock & Ellie KiddPhoto of Whaia: Chanel Baran Photo

  • Poetry | The World Thinks in Poetry

    07:05||Season 3, Ep. 0
    In a remote cabin in Vancouver Island in 2019, far away, I sat by the shore. I listened. I re-read poetry. I swam with jellyfish. I ate bright salmon berries and raw samphire. I gazed around and listened to the songs of the land. This piece of writing is a result of my days there. Full poem on Lifeworlds Website

  • 27. 27. The Ecology Of Health - with Dr. Mackenzie Hall

    01:12:33||Season 3, Ep. 27
    Where does your body end and the Earth begin? In this episode, we explore the real and poetic parallels between human health and planetary health, and how nature’s language moves in our bodies. Joining me is Dr. Mackenzie Hall, a doctor of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Functional Medicine, who helps us trace the Earth’s vital systems through the lens of humans as ecological systems.We ask:How could one imagine the Earth’s vital organs as reflected in human anatomy?How does the Earth balance and health and detoxify, and how might this mirror how we work with our own bodies?  How does the body's energetic system hold, manage and deal with pathology? How do we listen for the Earth’s pulse?How could this affect how we work as earth protectors and regenerators? This brings up a profound point: if we are to ensure the Earth’s aliveness, we have to feel it as our own body. And, if we can sense the Earth’s rhythms as our own, can we also become its white blood cells, human agents of healing embracing and embodying its circulatory wildness?Episode Website Link:  https://www.lifeworld.earth/episodes-blog/theecologyofhealthShow Links:Aaro WellnessThe Web that has no Weaver"Understanding Chronic Illness"Alexa’s Article: Our Planet’s BloodEarth’s Frequencies: Schumann ResonancesYellow Emperor's Classic (Classical text upon which all Chinese Medicine is based)Biocubes.net: Infographic on living and human biomass on earthMeditation: The Cosmos in Your FoodMusic: Electric Ethnicity by Igor Dvorkin, Duncan Pittock, Ellie Kidd & The Rising by Tryad CCPL.

  • Soulfire Sessions II: with David McConville

    01:02:37||Season 3, Ep. 0
    David McConville is a transdisciplinary artist and researcher who explores how technology shapes our perspectives of Earth—from local places to our cosmic context. Our conversation examines how worldviews influence infrastructure, using Los Angeles as a case study. We explore the paradigm of "living infrastructure," discussing how David's studio Spherical collaborates with communities and organizations to develop mapping and co-design tools. Even if you’re not in LA, this episode offers valuable insights into how communities can work together to create resilient infrastructure systems that honor their unique cultural needs and local environments.Links:SphericalSpherical LabsLiving Infrastructure Field KitDawn Danby + David McConville : When Utopia is OblivionBio:David McConville is co-founder and lead cosmographer of Spherical, a strategic design and integrative research studio based in xučyun / Oakland, CA. His PhD in Art and Media from Plymouth University examined how cosmological perspectives shape cultural imaginaries and ecological practices.Look out for meditations, poems, readings, and other snippets of inspiration in between episodes.Music: Electric Ethnicity by Igor Dvorkin, Duncan Pittock & Ellie Kidd
Copyright Alexa Firmenich
Hosted with ❤️ by Acast