“The first time I came across resonance and vibrations was after I bought my first SPA truck. I have talked about that truck in the first part of my memoir. Do you remember?”
“Yes, of course, Uncle Salvatore. But what does your truck have to do with resonance? Are you going off the subject again?”
“No. Let me tell what happened. Can you see those two small windows? Well, whenever I warmed up my truck’s engine in the square in front of my house, leaving it on and in neutral, my mother leaned out of the terrace and shouted, ‘Salvatore! Turn off the engine! The windowpanes are rattling because of your truck!’
“I looked up at my mother with surprise, doubting her words. Maybe my mother doesn’t want me to drive this truck. Surely she is making an excuse, I thought. Actually, she didn’t like new technology. Furthermore, she was always worried about me when I drove my truck.
“One day I left the truck idle with the engine in neutral, the brakes on, and four big wedges against the wheels, and then I went to the kitchen where my mother was cooking. All the windowpanes were rattling! My eyes grew round. My blood froze. How is it possible? There is something eerie behind the rattling, I thought. ‘Go and sell that goddamn truck right away! It doesn’t bring us good energy. I don’t feel good with this rattling,’ said my mother with an angry face.”
“Uncle Salvatore, insofar as I know, windowpanes are thick and well-set in the window frames. It is impossible that they can rattle.”
“Seventy years ago, windowpanes were thinner than nowadays. Furthermore, they lay a little bit loose in the grooves of the windows.”
“I get chills of fear, Uncle Salvatore. What did you do to solve the mystery?”
“At that time, I had a friend who helped me with debt collection. He was a lawyer and also a member of an esoteric society. He had studied the occult for a long time. I had an
appointment with him. I wanted to entrust him with two past due bills so that he could recover my money. His house was Baroque style, opposite the Palace of Prefecture. After I entered at the iron gate, a path, flanked by flowering plants and deciduous trees, led me to the main door. The house served as his office as well, which was in a large room on the left after the entrance. His desk was very simple, compared with the magnificence of the house. The windows of the room were adorned with reddish colored drapes. Opposite the desk were a couch and an upright black piano. The lawyer, Bruno, was quite tall, had an olive complexion and black, bright eyes. When he was in court, he pleaded his cases with great enthusiasm and heart. He was a handsome man married to a blue-blooded woman.
“We talked about the bills for a while, and then I brought up my issue. ‘Bruno, something strange happens to my house when my truck is in neutral with the engine on. The windowpanes in the kitchen rattle. The windows are a little far from my truck. How is it possible? You have been studying the occult for a long time. Tell me the reason. Do evil spirits haunt my house?’
“While I was talking, Bruno smiled and glanced at me mischievously as if I were one of his peasant clients with their heads full of superstitions. ‘Don’t be afraid! There are no
ghosts in your house. Now, I’ll show you something unusual.’
“He got up from his chair behind the desk, headed for the piano, sat on the piano stool, and tapped on one key. Then he turned his head back to me. His black eyes were bright like those of a little boy. ‘Now, pay attention to what I am doing. Look at the thin crystal hanging from the chandelier. I will tap the F-sharp key, and then the thin crystal will vibrate.’
“I kept my eyes fixed on the chandelier, but I was quite skeptical. I doubted that the crystal would vibrate without touching it. Bruno hit a key, and then the thin crystal vibrated like a leaflet in the wind. ‘Can you see?’ ‘Yes, of course!’ I answered with open mouth. ‘Now I’ll play a piece of music. Keep your eyes fixed on the crystal while I am playing the piano. Tell me whether it vibrates or not.’
“This time the thin crystal remained still. Apparently, only when Bruno hit the F-sharp key would it vibrate. ‘There is nothing diabolic,’ said Bruno. ‘It is a physical phenomenon. Including human voice, every sound creates vibrations which are propagated through sound waves that can even cross walls. A part of the vibrations comes back to you through reflection. Next time, instead of leaving the engine of your truck in neutral, rev it up a little. The windowpanes of the kitchen won’t rattle. After that, come here again. I will tell you something more about the interaction between sound and matter, music and religion, sound and the creation of the universe. I predict that your mother won’t shout anymore.’”
“It’s very interesting, Uncle Salvatore. Did you try what the lawyer told you?”
“Of course I did. I asked my mother to check the windowpanes. Then I parked the truck in front of my house as usual. I revved the engine a little bit. My mother leaned out of the terrace, and her face was quite relaxed and smiling. The windowpanes didn’t rattle!
“On Saturday evening, I met Bruno at his home again. As usual, he was very kind to me. We sat on the couch. A beautiful blond maid with a lacy white apron and white gloves brought us two cups of coffee on a silver tray. She waited until we finished our last sip. Then she put our empty cups on the tray and went out of the room with a slight bow. ‘Bruno, I did as you said. This time the windowpanes didn’t vibrate. Could you explain to me the reason?’ ‘Yes, of course. Wait a minute.’
“Bruno went to another room and came back with an old musical instrument that looked like a violin. ‘This instrument is called viola d’amore. Amore means love, but it has nothing to do with love. This kind of violin has fourteen strings. Seven strings are located in the upper part and seven below. The player of the viola d’amore plays only the strings on the upper plane, while those below vibrate in sympathy with the upper strings…

This is an excerpt from The Vibrations of Words – second edition- by Ettore Grillo
Ettore Grillo author of these books:
– A Hidden Sicilian History
– The Vibrations of Words
-Travels of the Mind
http://www.amazon.com/author/ettoregrillo