Lisa England

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Devotional archivist & musical practitioner
of ancestral sound traditions

I stand at the crossroads of Jewish memory, Central Asian shamanism, and Sufi therapeutic sound.

My work traces migratory lineages of music as medicine across medieval Central Asia and the emerging Ottoman world.

For centuries, nomadic healers, road-weary bards, and Islamic court physicians practiced separate strands of medicinal music — in yurts, along caravan routes, and in the Ottoman darüşşifa. Though separated by class and setting, their contributions wove a shared tradition of therapeutic sound, shaped by makams, pentatonic scales, and elemental forces such as water, wind, and birdsong.Through original writing, translation of Sufi music therapy teachings, study of regional instruments, and somatic practice, I create work that honors and remembers this lineage — especially the often-overlooked roles of women healers and Jewish musicians within a story largely coded as male and Islamic.The story of therapeutic sound in medieval Central Asia, the Silk Road, and the Ottoman world mirrors the story of my own life: complicated, migratory, and ultimately not confined to or defined by a single religious tradition. Perhaps that is why it feels like home.I am also drawn to the resonance between the Jewish spiritual imperative of Shema — a Hebrew command meaning “Hear” — and the Sufi practice of Sema (from the Arabic root for listening), a core spiritual technology embedded within much of Central Asian medicinal music.Previously, I founded and directed the Temple and School of Divine Radiance, an experimental healing space weaving scholarly research, live ceremony, and shamanic practice grounded in marginalized feminine wisdom from Hebrew, Jewish, and Syriac Christian lineages.Through that project, I discovered makams as a medicinal tool and encountered the Turkish Music Therapy work of Dr. Rahmi Oruç Güvenç, which led me deeper into the history of Jewish Central Asia and its contributions to the development of Sufi therapeutic sound. I later closed the temple and school to focus on this distinctive archival and creative path.As a Jewish convert whose spiritual life has also been shaped by Sufism, I consider Oruç Baba my personal sheikh and portal into this world of moving, medicinal soundscapes. My work is independent. I am not initiated into Oruç Baba’s Mevlevi Sufi lineage and am not endorsed by his family or legacy institutions.My books on therapeutic sound to date include Call Back the Four Winds: Jewish Sacred Chant as a Healing Modality and Your Soul Has a Sound: Finding Your Way with the Power of Your Voice. Since the closure of the temple and school, these — along with related works on the Divine Feminine in Judaism and Christianity — are available digitally by request.I hold an M.A. in English Language & Linguistics from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. Originally from the United States, I currently reside in North Africa.→ Overview my latest articles here