Masaru Emoto’s Water Crystals

December 21, 2014 — Leave a comment

masaru-emoto-ice-crystal

I recently finished reading Presence: An Exploration of Profound Change in People, Organizations, and Society in which one of my favourite business authors/thinkers Peter Senge is in conversation with three of his colleagues about how the natural concept of presence can apply to organizational learning. I’ve had it on my bookshelf for several years and am glad I finally got to reading it; good book.

In the epilogue they introduce the reader to the work of Japanese researcher and photographer Masaru Emoto. Fascinating. Emoto has taken photos of frozen water taken from numerous sources around the world and observed that they form different crystal patterns, with water from natural sources being more beautiful than from processed or polluted sources. What’s more is that water from the identical distilled (pure) source typically forms bland crystal structures but the same distilled water forms beautiful crystals after having been complimented, prayed for, or played music to.

Masaru Emoto change

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It’s part art and part science, with some of the science in dispute, but it is nevertheless a provocative idea – especially when we consider the context of our existence as 70% water organisms living on a blue planet. And that we consistently take water for granted.

Here is that excerpt from Presence:

“The book [Messages from Water and the Universe] was composed mostly of pictures–beautiful pictures–of water. Emoto has developed a way to apply magnetic resonance imaging to photograph the crystals formed when water freezes. His results are controversial and clearly exploratory. For many reasons they are also difficult to replicate, so I think it is best to view them as part art, and part science. Still, as best I can tell, some scientists are taking the work seriously.

“Emoto says he has long been fascinated by water because we are mostly water. At the time of a human conception, ‘water accounts for about ninety-five percent of the fertilized egg.’ As adults, it , accounts for about seventy percent of our body weight, roughly the same percentage of the surface of the earth that is covered by water. Although we live on ‘the water planet,’ What we learned from these experiments,’ he says, ‘is that we do not know anything about water.”‘

“What’s so mysterious about water?” asked Otto.

“I’ll show you,” answered Peter.

“For starters, there is the simple fact of how beautiful water actually is. The first half of the book is made up of photographs of water crystals from different sources around the world. That these crystals–formed from the most common substance on earth–are so beautiful is, for me, a powerful experience of reconnection, like Joseph’s experience in Baja. Each photograph is a representative from a sample of one hundred crystals photographed from each source.

“But not all the water is so beautiful. There are also photographs of water from polluted urban sources, which often form only partial structures. Conversely, crystals from places where the people regard the water as especially pure or healthy–remote springs, deep wells, and water noted for its healing qualities, as at Lourdes–are stunningly complex and beautiful. In short, healthy water forms beautiful crystal structures, and polluted water does not.

“That’s just the beginning. In the second half of the book, Emoto presents photos from different experiments, all using distilled water. Distilled water is almost biologically inert and therefore forms very simple crystals, or crystals that are so underdeveloped that they have almost no distinct structure.

“For example, he shows pictures of distilled water crystals alter the water has been exposed to music. The distilled water is put into a vial and placed in front of speakers through which music is played. Then one hundred samples of the water are frozen and the crystals photographed.”

“You mean that these beautiful crystals come from the exact same distilled water that forms virtually no crystals on its own?” asked Joseph.

“Yes. The only difference is the music and how it affects the water. What struck me was how the crystals seem to visually reflect the essence of the music–the geometric precision of Bach, the balance of order and flow of Mozart, the beautiful simplicity of folk music. It’s as if the water were not only influenced by the music but absorbs and reflects its character.

“Emoto has conducted many other experiments with water, such as taping printed words or names on the vials of distilled water. For example, the word ‘beautiful’ in Japanese (or other languages) produces exquisite lacy crystals, while the word ‘dirty’ produces undeveloped crystals that you could only call ugly.”

“This is astonishing,” said Joseph. “But at the same time, it doesn’t surprise me at all. Water is alive, and the universe is more interdependent than we can imagine. This is consistent with everything we’ve been saying.”

“What these pictures say to me is that thought creates reality,” said Otto. “That’s why even the smallest acts arising from real clarity at the bottom of the U [the main concept in their book] may have consequences beyond what we can imagine. The interdependency of the universe extends from the micro to the macro, from the visible to the invisible.”

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