While I was scrolling through TikTok the other day, perusing the ASMR hashtag for fun, I came across a video of a woman speaking in what she dubbed “Light Language” in the caption. When I heard it initially, I was genuinely confused. It sounded like a language, sure. The phonics and tones seemed to go together – cohesively forming words I simply couldn’t understand. I thought that I had maybe stumbled upon an ASMR video in a different language. I’m monolingual, so it was entirely possible that I just didn’t recognize the language being spoken. But the curious side of me wanted to dig a bit deeper!
When I first Googled “Light Languages”, most of what I found were blog posts detailing what the practice was. Seemingly, there is little cohesion between different definitions of what Light Language is. The gist, from my own interpretation, is that Light Language is first and foremost a form of communication. It can take different forms — speaking, writings, signing — but at its core, Light Language is trying to communicate something. Now, there isn’t agreement on what Light Language is trying to communicate. But in one particular blog post, I was immediately taken by the language used to describe Light Language.
We refer to this unique form of communication as light language, which is often expressed in angelic or celestial forms.
Light Language: What It Is & How to Use It for Healing (beingawakened.com)
“Angelic” was the word that stood out to me the most. What I have gathered from my own preliminary research on Light Language is that it is a New Age practice that doesn’t have a discernable origin. My inquiry into my libraries databases came up empty. But this connection, from light language to angelic, made me think of another communication practice that people make the same claims about: glossolalia.
In First Corinthians, Paul is writing to the congregation in Corinth regarding several questions and concerns the group has over various schismatic topics that threaten the unity of the group. Specifically, in chapter 12, Paul writes,
Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working miracles, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.
I Corinthians 12:4-11 (New Revised Standard Version).
According to Paul, there is a particular charisma that has been bestowed upon a select few by way of the Spirit. For our purposes, the one that is most interesting is tongues. In this particular context, Paul is referring to tongues as “unintelligible utterances” and gives a particular clarification later in the text by noting that this particular practice is spiritually personal. While glossolalia is useful, Paul distinguishes between speaking in tongues as a personal practice and prophesying, which he argues is more useful for building up the entirety of the church.
Glossolalia, or the practice of speaking in tongues, is not sequestered to Christianity alone. The religious scholar David Chidester writes, “As a worldwide phenomenon in the history of religions, glossolalia occurs in many different ritual contexts as an extraordinary type of speech.”1 Unbound by grammatic rules, glossolalia instead becomes a linguistic performance.
Notice in this YouTube video, the woman is not only speaking in tongues, but her entire body is also a focal point on the stage. She steps in wide strides, paces back and forth, points and gestures to the audience. It is not only her words that are to be focused on, but her body too. What I find most interesting is that throughout her performance, some of her words are discernable. Sprinkled throughout the glossolalia are English words, recognizable to the particular audience she speaks to. In a way, the English words work to reimmerse the audience back into the performance – over and over again.
Think back to the Light Language video for a moment. Unlike this particular video, the Light Language video has no translator. Instead, the meaning of the Light Language performance is dubbed whatever meaning the listener manages to make in the moment of transmission. The glossolalia of Light Language provides the space for the individual listener to become the translator – thus the meaning is malleable and catered to that individual’s needs or wants. Though this manufactured meaning is not completely devoid of context. The description of the video recounts the speakers journey to the ancient civilization of Lumeria – a popularized fictious continent spread by several leading theosophists in the 19th century. The video editing curates a particular experience with bright lights, oceanic filters, and alluring music that helps to immerse the listener into this curated world by the video’s creator.
Juxtaposed, then, is the performance of glossolalia visualized above. The woman speaks in “unintelligible utterances” and then her words are actively translated by the man accompanying her. They are both saying the sermon – through one Spirit, as Paul would argue. Thus, her unintelligible utterances become intelligible to the audience through the act of her partner’s translation. It is within this act of translation that her words become a trusted canon – verifying the entire performance as legit glossolalia and a legit sermon.
What is different about these two glossolalia performances is arguably their audience. For the pair performing glossolalia in the church, their audience is expecting a translation to legitimize the performance. If we remember the words of Paul to Corinth, that act of translation is expected because these two individuals are supposedly inspired by the same Spirit.
Meanwhile, the woman who speaks in Light Language is also catering to a particular audience. Within the video’s description, the audience is told that, “Listening to this song will help you align to Lemuria’s high vibrational crystalline and ethereal frequencies, bringing healing to your mind, body and soul.” Those who come to the video are expecting a particular outcome: healing. Not only are they primed by the video’s creator to think of this amazing ancient city full of “harmony, beauty, love, connection to life and higher consciousness”, but they are told, “To understand it, you just have to listen to the melody and allow those sound vibrations to move through you.” The results may not be immediate – unlike the church glossolalia – but results will come eventually.
What we see in these two examples of glossolalia are awesome case studies for linguistic performance. Both performances are directed toward a particular audience and each audience is primed to make an abundance of meaning. Additionally, we see that both performances are very embodied – through facial expressions and body movement. In their embodiment, these performances are also orchestrated! Whether it be through the cooperation of the two preachers or the video edits of the Light Language speaker, both performances are carefully constructed to immerse their audiences in a uniquely constructed world.
- David Chidester, Christianity: A Global History, African Prophets, 425.
