Nestled on the outskirts of enchanting Landers, California is a large white dome-shaped structure that looks like it popped straight out of a science fiction movie.
The dome is called the Integratron and it is part resonant tabernacle, part energy machine, and part geometric vortex. It was created by George Van Tassel for three reasons: human cell rejuvenation, anti-gravity, and time travel.
Story goes, while meditating under a sacred rock in the Mojave desert, Van Tassel was met (both telepathically and in person) by aliens from Venus who gave him instructions on how to build the machine. He began constructing it in 1954 and structurally had it together by 1957. He continued working on perfecting the more supernatural qualities of the device until his untimely death in 1978 – right before it was completed.
Van Tassel’s research in creating the Integratron was very scientific, implementing ideas from famed scientists such as Nikola Tesla and Georges Lakhovsky. In fact, prior to building the Integratron, Van Tassel was an aeronautical engineer and a test pilot for Howard Hughes (who provided partial funding for the Integratron).
The Integratron is built on top of a geomagnetic field anomaly of sorts, and structurally is void of all metal, having been crafted using wood, glue, and dowels. The domed shape and materials of the building make it an acoustically perfect sound chamber.
Since 2000, the Integratron has been owned by two sisters who use the building as a sound bath chamber.
Note: To take a sound bath, you must book at least a few weeks in advance on their website, and spots fill up fast.
Prior to taking the sound bath, I checked in for my reservation in a little hut off to the side of the Integratron, where I was greeted by one of the owners – one of the most calm, ethereal ladies I have personally ever met – and then was guided to a little oasis of sorts to relax in before my appointment. I got right into the groove while enjoying their hammocks, plush furniture, canopies, and fresh water well system.
After about 15 minutes, we were called over to the Integratron for our bath.
In silence, I entered the building, removed my shoes, turned off my cell-phone, and walked up the stairs to the top floor of the Integratron, where about 20 people were already waiting and resting on comfortable cotton-stuffed mats. I followed suit, and a few minutes later I was joined by the bearded, beaded, hippie-esque group leader (I only call him that because he gave us a history lesson on the Integratron and made the bath noise for us, but there was no real leader in the room).
He explained that the purpose of a sound bath is to enjoy a deep, powerful meditation, and that during the bath he would play seven different sized quartz crystal singing bowls – one a at a time – and that each that would produce a distinct tone and vibration that would align with our seven chakras. The acoustics in the room coupled with the size of the bowls made the sound LOUD.
And with each of us resting silently on our mats, he began to play.
With each rotation of the crystal singing bowl mallet, a sound was emitted that pulsed right through respective areas of the body, relaxing and restoring. I could actually feel the sound entering one ear and leaving the other, all the while swirling around the domed room.
Each crystal bowl was played for roughly five minutes, clocking us in at around 35 minutes total; after which recorded zen music was played.
It was an incredibly ethereal experience.
