Of water and blessing

I read a book by Masaru Emoto once called the Hidden Messages in Water.

The idea behind the book is that as the temperature of frozen water rises and ice starts to melt, crystals emerge for just twenty or thirty seconds. Emoto began photographing these crystals.

He tested different types of tap water, water from ponds, streams...distilled water. But the breakthrough came when he began to test the affects of music on water. The experiment was simple. The water was put in a bottle then set between two speakers. Classical music resulted in well-formed crystals with distinct characteristics. In contrast, the water exposed to violent heavy-metal music resulted in fragmented and malformed crystals.

The music's effect could be explained by vibration, but Emoto tested something further. He wanted to know if simple words could change water. In Emoto's research, they did. According to the book, water exposed to ‘Thank you’ formed beautiful hexagonal crystals, but water exposed to the word ‘Fool’ produced crystals similar to the water exposed to heavy-metal music, malformed and fragmented.

I don't know if Emoto's research bears up under scientific scrutiny, but in some ways it doesn't have to.  For one thing, it changed Emoto's life and the way he sees the universe. He has become a passionate believer in the beauty and responsiveness of water.

For me, I've begun to wonder if there isn't a physical aspect to blessing food—beyond what thankfulness does for our own hearts. What if the blessing of food actually makes our bodies more receptive? Is there a tangible change to the food itself?

I wouldn't set up a soap box on that idea, but it is something beautiful to think about. And it has definitely made me more mindful of the practice of blessing.