Word, Sound, Power
by Empress Ashaki
Many of us as children heard the phrase “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me.” Trying to teach children not to allow words to hurt them is a good lesson to impart. Unfortunately, it never sticks. Whereas bones, usually, eventually heal, we cannot put our psyche in a cast or sling. We therefore spend the better part of our lives picking at the scabs of harmful words. Just as a drum can mimic the beat of our hearts, our lives can come to mimic the words drummed into our ears.
In Don Miguel Ruiz’s book “The Four Agreements,” (a book of Toltec wisdom that is a sort of code of conduct for a happy and peaceful life) he lists the first and most important agreement as “Be Impeccable with Your Word.” I admit at first I thought this meant to do as you say you will do, which is also important, but the real meaning is so much more powerful. Ruiz explains that your word has power. “It is the power you have to express and communicate, to think and thereby create events in your life.” He describes the word as being like a seed and the human mind “a fertile ground.” Imagine the seeds of opinions, ideas and concepts that you have planted in others’ minds or that have been planted in your own mind. But he cautions that your word is like a “sword with two edges.” With your words, you can “create the most beautiful dream” or “destroy everything around you.”
Rastafarians know that a word can kill or cure, and that every word carries a vibration. Every word has a history, and words should never be used unthinkingly. Knowing this, Rastas have created a language that brings out the deeper meaning of words or their positive vibrations. For example the word ‘dedicate’ has the sound ‘dead’ in it. Rastas do not believe in death, only life, and therefore change the word to ‘livicate.’ There is also the word ‘understand,’ which Rastas reason that one does not have to go ‘under’ to get full knowledge of something, thus the word ‘OVERstand’ replaces it. The words I and I are used to emphasize the unity of all mankind. It also shows the unity between I and the MOST I (HIGH) JAH.
Speech is one of the greatest gifts given to mankind. We can use it to express ideas, emotions, and thoughts and to gain ‘overstanding.’ But speech can also be a weapon. Euripides said, “The tongue is mightier than the blade.” Words as weapons need not be negative in their destruction. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. used words to destroy the power of racism over African Americans. But Hitler used words to lead a nation to war and genocide.
We’ve all had hurtful things said to us as we have all said hurtful things to others.