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Dr. Tomatis experimented with sound. He implanted microphones in wombs, while the resident was still there. (Did he really do this or am I mis-remembering?) He wanted to hear and to record the sound of the mother's voice as it was felt/heard by the unborn infant.
And guess what? It sounded (and I've heard a recording, though I have to take his word for it that it was indeed what he said it was)—it sounded just like a little rattle. The mother's voice, filtered through her skin, her muscles, the wall of the uterus, and the amniotic fluid, sounded like chik-a-chik-a-chik. Pause. Pause. Chik-a-chik. Pause. Chik-a-chik-a-chik.
And this explains why rattles are important. People still sometimes give rattles to newborns, though the little pink or blue shakers are being crowded out by battery-powered music toys, wind-up noisemakers, and the ever-present tinkling of cheap but cheerful "music" designed to please the parents of babies. No one ever asks what pleases the baby. Maybe she wants to hear chik-a-chik-a-chik and that's all.
On the other hand, maybe she's already lived through nine months of chik-a-chik-a-chik and she's ready for something different. Maybe the chik-a-chik-a is to soothe the still-unfulfilled child within the adults. Maybe each of us should carry around a little rattle. When we feel overwhelmed by the noise of the world (the air conditioner in the neighbors' back yard, the renovations two doors down, the music from someone's leaking iPod), then we could unobtrusively retrieve the rattle from our pocket and give it a couple of quick shakes. Instant mother-memory.
This chik-a-chik-a phenomenon might explain why, years ago, I burst into tears when a gifted healer shook a turtle rattle over me as I lay on the table. Turtle: symbol of the mother. Rattle: sound of the mother.
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