Book Review by Heidi Simmons
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The Hidden Messages in Water
By Masaru Emoto
Nonfiction
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Can positive thinking change the outcome of events? Is there a way to prove the theory of “mind over matter” is actually possible? In The Hidden Messages in Water (Beyond Words Publishing, 160 pages) author Masaru Emoto attempts to show a correlation between thoughts or messages and the formation of water crystals.
Emoto is a graduate of Yokohama Municipal University’s department of Humanities and Sciences with a focus on International Relations. He has a certification as a Doctor of Alternative Medicine from the Open International University. For years Emoto studied wave fluctuations in water. He became more interested in water after photographing frozen ice crystals. Learning more about crystals, he “discovered water expressed itself in a vast variety of ways.”
Using high-speed photography, Emoto was able to capture the structure of water at the moment of freezing. He began his experiment by using fifty different water samples in Petri dishes and froze them at minus four degrees. The surface tension forms drops of ice and the crystals appear when light is shown on them. The result was no similar crystals formed and sometimes there were no crystal formations at all. He realized different water formed different crystals. Tokyo’s treated tap water did not produce full crystals. But water from natural streams, underground rivers and glaciers formed complete crystals.
Next Emoto exposed the water samples to music. He knew the vibrations might have an effect on the water. This was done not while the crystals were forming, but only on the water before it was frozen. He played Beethoven, Mozart and Chopin to bottles of water. The results were “well-formed crystals with distinct characteristics.” In contrast “water exposed to violent heavy metal music resulted in fragmented and malformed crystals.”
So what would happen if the water samples were exposed to words or phrases like “Thank you” and “Fool?” Emoto and his team wrote positive and negative words and phrases on paper then wrapped it around the bottles of water. Knowing water can’t read or understand meaning he still thought it worth the try. According to Emoto the positive messages formed beautiful crystals while the negatively impacted crystals were malformed. “Let’s do it!” created well-formed crystals and “Do it!” barely formed any crystal at all.
The book is filled with labeled crystal images. You can see for yourself the effect the music and the power words have on water crystals. Apparently pictures can affect water as well. There are amazing crystal images of water samples from all over the world.
Emoto includes wonderful descriptions of the nature and mystery of water. He elaborates on the structure of water and its ability to change, such as ice and steam. He also talks about its role in photosynthesis and its ability to dissolve other substances. Water carries minerals and has a life cycle. All of this makes the book provocative and quite fun to read.
The Hidden Messages in Water may be much more about philosophy than science. Emoto opens his book by asking the reader about his or her present state of happiness. He points out that our bodies are seventy percent water. Though not actually stated in the book, Emoto’s hypothesis is: If we change the nature of the water we drink, and the water that makes up our body, perhaps we can be happier and healthier humans.
We live on a water planet. Can our thoughts and positive thinking change the material world around us and thus the way we live and treat each other? Next time you pick up your water bottle, be kind to it. Say, think, or write something positive and it may have more benefits than just hydration.
