from the field · sound as remembrance

sound has always been part of the land here, in Mexico. not as music to be consumed, but as vibration — something felt before it is understood.

spending time with eduardo mezcoatl and his tribe, sound is not introduced as a technique or a healing method. it’s approached as a relationship. one that has existed in Mexican ancestral cultures long before it had a name.

eduardo works with traditional instruments — drums, rattles, conch shells, and voice — tools that were never meant to entertain, but to realign. in mexica tradition, sound was used to mark transitions, open ceremony, honor the elements, and restore balance between body, earth, and spirit.

eduardo mezcoatl, sound healer and facilitator

“sound is how we remember ourselves,” eduardo shares. “before language, before thought, there was vibration. the body understands this immediately.”

as he explains, sound was, and still is, a way of communicating with the unseen. the drum echoes the heartbeat. the rattle mirrors movement and breath. the conch carries the sound of wind and water. these instruments weren’t separate from daily life; they were woven into rituals, ceremonies, and moments of transition.

“we don’t use sound to fix anything,” he says quietly. “we use it to bring things back into harmony.”

during ceremony, the effects are subtle but unmistakable. the nervous system settles. the mind softens. attention drops from thought into sensation. sound moves through the body, not as something to analyze, but as something to receive.

for eduardo, this work isn’t about healing in the modern sense. it’s about continuity, keeping alive a way of listening that connects people to the land, to their bodies, and to a deeper rhythm of life.

in the pause, sound becomes a guide, not leading anywhere new, but gently pointing back to what has always been there.