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"A" is for Apple, Aardvark, and Answer? by Chris
I was reading about the Wands of Horus - cylinders depicted in the hands of the Pharaos on ancient tablets and stelas - on a website not too long ago, and came across the definition of the Golden Mean. The website defined it as "the proportion of a smaller segment of a whole to the larger segment, when it is equal to the ratio between the larger segment and the whole". The website went on to cite several examples of the Golden Mean in the human body: the ratioss between the lengths of the armbones; the ratios of the lengths of the fingerbones; the ratios between the lengths of the legs, torso, and head. The Golden Mean can be found almost everywhere you look: snail shells, leaves, branches of trees, snowflakes, your own feet. This was all fascinating, but then I read something even more compelling: the frequency 0.441 is a function of the Golden Mean. 0.441 is the note "A" on the musical scale. Having studied music in college, I knew that the note "A" is used to tune an orchestra, because it is considered the brightest, most easily heard pitch. I also knew that people with perfect pitch could hear "A" in there heads without it being played, and were able to move around that note to define other pitches. The website told of another fascinating thing about this frequency: all newborns' first cries are in tune with the musical note "A". I don't know how many times this has been proven - "Isn't she beautiful? It's truly a miracle - oh wait, honey, grab the tuning fork, will ya?" - but the theory is interesting enough. I've started to listen for the note "A". There's a certain kind of bird in this area that sings a very distinct song. I've whistled it, sung it, marveled at its clarity and beauty. But I never realized until recently that it incorporates the note "A". This particular birdsong is comprised of two notes, the first one is "A"; the second note is "G". It is always this way. I can hear it in my head. I could whistle it right now. Now that I know what it is, I hear it more often. I hear the birdsong when I go out to get the mail; I hear it while running in the evening; I hear it while walking from my car to the building where I work. These birds seem to be following me, singing their song with the note "A", and it is blowing my mind. I know it has meaning; it's a code that hasn't been deciphered yet. Whenever I hear it, I whistle it back to the birds. When I do, I feel like an ancient language has been spoken.
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