By Toby Moore
For Capital Region Independent Media
Japanese author Dr. Masaru Emoto, who passed away in 2014, wrote a book that became a New York Times best-seller, “The Hidden Messages in Water.”
Dr. Emoto spent many years researching water, and in his book, he shares his findings on studying frozen water.
Dr. Emoto wanted to study water crystals. Water crystal formations occur during the process of water turning into ice. The water crystals appear just like a snowflake when examined under a microscope.
His fascination with water crystals led him to develop a series of experiments to determine whether humans can influence water crystal development.
Critics of Dr. Emoto say he is a pseudoscientist and uses a poor methodology. While that could be true, his book is a New York Times bestseller, the pictures of the water crystals in the book are somewhat famous, and the topic itself is worthy of exploration in a column such as this.
Dr. Emoto and his team first collected water samples from many different sources to use in their study. When it came time to study a new sample, the researchers placed several drops of water on dozens of Petri dishes and then put them in the freezer for about three hours.
Once the water was frozen, they examined the samples under a microscope. A small percentage of the samples studied had observable water crystals.
What he discovered was very interesting. Some of the frozen water samples contained beautiful hexagonal crystal structures; other water samples had no crystals at all, or the crystals appeared to be malformed.
After documenting different types of water crystals formed in frozen samples, Dr. Emoto set out to study the possible effect humans may have on water crystal development.
First, he wanted to see what would happen to the crystal development when he exposed the water to music. To understand if music affected water crystals, Dr. Emoto tested the water before and after exposing water to music.
The study not only showed the crystal structures changed when Dr. Emoto exposed the water to music, but that the type of music mattered. Water crystals exposed to Mozart were much more beautiful and geometrically complex than crystals exposed to heavy metal music, which seemed to be distorted or nonexistent.
Inspired by the results of the studies, Dr. Emoto began another experiment to discover how the water crystals changed when people spoke to the water.
The first water samples were exposed to a person gratefully telling the water, “Thank you.” The results were beautiful crystals.
Other samples were exposed to somebody angrily telling the water, “You fool!” or “You make me sick!” The results were distorted crystal formations that participants described as ugly and unhealthy. The experiment concluded that words have power over how water crystals form.
Dr. Emoto theorizes that music, sound and our words have a vibrational frequency that can subtly influence the formation of water crystals.
The documentary states, “Beautiful words manifest as beautiful crystals; gentle words cause the formation of gentle crystals. Water is letting us know the power of our words.”
In Dr. Emoto’s water studies, Tokyo’s public water had never produced any observable crystals.
In his final study, Dr. Emoto wanted to understand what would happen if they exposed Tokyo public water, which had never produced crystals, to the positive thoughts of a group of children and adults.
The study participants arrived, were instructed to hold hands, and collectively directed positive thoughts to the water. Once finished, they transferred the water to Petri dishes, froze the samples, and put them under a microscope to see if they could find crystals.
Astonishingly, the water from Tokyo displayed beautiful crystals inside most of the samples. If the study is correct, it would appear that even our thoughts can affect water crystal formation.
You’ll have to read the book or watch the documentary “The Hidden Messages in Water” to decide whether you think the study has validity or is just pseudoscience.
Considering that our bodies are composed of about 60% water, it may be worth a look.
Toby Moore is a columnist, the star of Emmy-nominated “A Separate Peace,” and the CEO of Cubestream Inc.
