REIKO:  We have read your book The Message from Water, and we introduced it on our website in our August issue (see ''Conscious Water Crystals: The Power of Prayer Made Visible.'') It has been our most popular article, with its readership increasing every week, and has raised many questions.

You mentioned in your book how you would type out words on a piece of paper and paste these written words onto a bottle, and see how the water reacted to the words -- what kind of crystals were formed from the words. From your research, are you able to discern whether the reaction of the water came from the vibration of the actual words that were pasted onto the bottles, or whether the intention of the person who was pasting the words onto the bottle influenced the experiment in any way?

DR. EMOTO:  This is one of the more difficult areas to clarify. However, from continuing these experiments we have come to the conclusion that the water is reacting to the actual words. For example, for our trip to Europe we tried using the words ''thank you'' and ''you fool'' in German. The people on our team who took the actual photographs of the water crystals did not understand the German for ''you fool,'' and yet we were able to obtain exactly the same kind of results in the different crystal formations based on the words used.

REIKO:  Have you found that distance made any difference when people were praying over water? For example, if people in Japan were to pray over water in Russia, would this be different from people praying over water that is right in front of them?

DR. EMOTO:  We have only experimented once with that in the book. But from that experiment, distance did not seem to matter. The intention and prayers of the person still influenced the water. We have not yet tried further experiments from a long distance. However, my feeling is that distance would not make much of a difference. What would make a difference is the purity of intent of the person doing the praying. The higher the purity of intent, the less of a difference the distance itself would make.

REIKO:  Have you seen any difference between one person praying over water versus a whole group of people praying over water?

DR. EMOTO:  Since the water reflects the composite energy of what is being sent to it, the crystalline structure reflects the composite vibrations of the group. So one person praying reflects the energy or intention of that one person. In terms of how powerful the effect can be, if you have one person praying with a deep sense of clarity and purity, the crystalline structure will be clear and pure. And even though you may have a large group of people, if their intention as a group is not cohesive, you end up with an incohesive structure in the water. However, if everyone is united together, you will find a clear, beautiful crystal, like one created by the prayer of a single person of deep purity.

In one of our experiments, we had some water on a table, and 17 participants all stood in a circle around a table holding hands. Then each of the participants spoke a beautiful word of their choice to the water. Words like unity, love, and friendship. We took before-and-after shots and were able to obtain some beautiful crystalline structures as a result of this. I have some slides that I will be showing of these crystals in my upcoming European tour.

REIKO:  Is the water influenced immediately, or is there a time lag?

DR. EMOTO:  In these cases we would freeze the water right away, so we could say that the water is changed instantaneously.

REIKO:  Have you ever tested other human body fluids, such as saliva, blood, urine etc?

DR. EMOTO:  Yes, we certainly have. However, fluids with other elements in them, like seawater, blood and urine, do not form crystals. However, we can dilute them with distilled water to something like 10 to the power of -12 or -20 or so. This dilutes the component of other elements in the fluid to the point where we can freeze the sample and obtain crystals.

REIKO:  Could you then see the effect that energetic healing or prayer has on a person by looking at the crystals formed by their blood or urine?

DR. EMOTO:  As far as experiments related to the human body are concerned, there are a lot of subtle influences that also need to be taken into consideration. So although we are looking at this, we have not publicized any information yet. However, you can look forward to hearing about our findings on this in the future

REIKO:  If we could imbue water with the energy of various words, for example, with the word, ''health,'' could we then use the water that has that vibration in it and use it to do things like grow food, water plants, etc?

DR. EMOTO:  We have not tried this, but some people who have read the book are experimenting with bottling tap water and taping words like ''love'' and ''appreciation'' on the bottle and using that water to water their plants, or to put cut flowers in. They are finding that their cut flowers are lasting much longer, and that the plants in the garden are much more radiant.

REIKO:  Once a certain vibration is introduced to the water, how long does the water ''remember'' that crystalline structure?

DR. EMOTO:  This will be different depending on the original structure of the water itself. Tap water will lose its memory quickly. We refer to the crystalline structure of water as ''clusters.'' The smaller the clusters, the longer the water will retain its memory. If there is too much space between the clusters, other information could easily infiltrate this space, making it hard for the clusters to hold the integrity of the information. Other microorganisms could also enter this space. A tight bonding structure is best for maintaining the integrity of information.

REIKO:  What kind of words would create smaller clusters and what kind of words would create larger clusters?

DR. EMOTO:  Slang words like ''you fool'' destroy clusters. You would not see any crystals in these cases. Negative phrases and words create large clusters or will not form clusters, and positive, beautiful words and phrases create small, tight clusters.

REIKO:  You say that some negatives do not form clusters, but we see from your photos that they do still form characteristic patterns. How would you classify these patterns?

DR. EMOTO:  Think of it in terms of vibration. It's easy to understand that language -- the spoken word -- has a vibration. Well, written words also have a vibration. Anything in existence has a vibration. If I were to draw a circle, the vibration of a circle would be created. Drawing a cross would create the vibration of a cross. So if I write the letters L O V E, then these letters put out the vibration of love. Water can be imprinted with these vibrations. Beautiful words have beautiful, clear vibrations. But negative words put out ugly, incoherent vibrations which do not form clusters. Language is not something artificial, but rather is something that exists naturally. I believe that language is created by nature.

REIKO:  Does that mean that every word has its own signature vibration or cluster that is unique to itself?

DR. EMOTO:  Yes. During our evolution, we learned what sounds were dangerous, what sounds were soothing and safe, and what sounds were pleasurable, and so on. We slowly learned about various vibrations of the laws of nature. We learned this through instinct and through experience. We accumulated this information over time. We started out with some simple sounds like ''a'' or ''u'' or ''e,'' which evolved into more complex sounds like ''love.'' And these positive words create ''natural'' crystalline structures -- which are all based on the hexagon.

In fact, the structure of all evolution in nature, from an informational perspective, is based on the hexagon. The reason hexagons are formed has to do with the chemical reaction of the benzene ring. I believe that anything that lacks this basic hexagonal structure is out of accord with the laws of nature and holds a destructive vibration. So when we look at things that do not exist naturally -- things that have been created artificially -- many of them lack this hexagonal structure and so they have, I believe, a destructive vibration.

This principle is what I think makes swearing and slang words destructive. These words are not in accordance with the laws of nature. So, for example, I think you would probably find higher rates of violent crime in areas where a lot of negative language is being used. Just as the Bible says, first there was the Word, and God created all of Creation from the Word.

So words actually convert the vibrations of nature into sound. And each language is different. Japanese has its own set of vibrations that differs from American. Nature in America is different from nature in Japan. An American cedar is different from a Japanese cedar, so the vibrations coming from these words are different. In this way, nothing else holds the same vibrations as the word arigato. In Japanese, arigato means ''thank you.'' But even when there is this mutual underlying meaning, arigato and thank you create different crystalline structures. Every word in every language is unique and exists only in that language.

REIKO:  Have you come across a particular word or phrase in your research that you have found to be most helpful in cleaning up the natural waters of the world?

DR. EMOTO:  Yes. There is a special combination that seems to be perfect for this, which is love plus the combination of thanks and appreciation reflected in the English word gratitude. Just one of these is not enough. Love needs to be based in gratitude, and gratitude needs to be based in love. These two words together create the most important vibration. And it is even more important that we understand the value of these words. For example, we know that water is described as H2O. If we were to look at love and gratitude as a pair, gratitude is the H and love is the O. Water is the basis that not only supports but also allows the existence of life. In my understanding of the concept of yin and yang, in the same way that there is one O and two Hs, we also need one part yang/love to two parts yin/gratitude, in order to come to a place of balance in the equation.

Love is an active word and gratitude is passive. When you think of gratitude -- a combination of appreciation and thankfulness -- there is an apologetic quality. The Japanese word for gratitude is kan-sha, consisting of two Chinese characters: kan, which means feeling, and sha, apology. It's coming from a reverential space, taking a step or two back. I believe that love coming from this space is optimal love, and may even lead to an end to the wars and conflicts in the world. Kan-sha is inherent in the substance H2O -- an essential element for life.

REIKO:  So if we were to develop a car that could run on water instead of gasoline, and return the water to the atmosphere and subsequently back into space in this way, would that be one way of fulfilling our task?

DR. EMOTO:  I think that would be a wonderful thing, and for the sake of preserving Mother Nature it is the direction that we need to go. However, since water is the mirror reflecting our level of consciousness, a large percentage of the people on the planet, at least 10 percent of the people, need to have the love and the kan-sha awareness. When they do, then the time will come when water can be used to replace gasoline. And the reason I say 10 percent is that this ratio is mirrored in nature. When we look at the world of bacteria, for example, there are 10 percent good bacteria, 10 percent bad, and a majority of 80 percent opportunistic bacteria that could go either way. In looking at the various environmental issues we are faced with, and the tasks that we need to fulfill for the planet, if we could get more than 10 percent of the people consciously aware, than I believe we could pull the 80 percent in that direction, too.

And so I believe that the people who are following a spiritual path are promoting peace for the planet and for other people. If we could only unite on this level of consciousness, then we will be there.

I feel that my book The Message From Water has given birth to a convincing message through a common language for the whole world. Not because I wrote it, but because I know it was birthed through kan-sha toward mankind. I think this is why so many people from other countries want to interview me about the book. I am being invited to give talks at six different European locations. Things have been coming in non-stop from abroad.

REIKO:  Do you believe that water itself is conscious and is reacting to the words?

DR. EMOTO:  I understand that many of your readers are people interested in spiritual matters, and I would like to answer this question from that perspective. I believe that prior to Adam and Eve water itself held the consciousness of God -- that God's intention was put into the medium of water, and that this was used in the creation of Earth and Nature. In other words, all of the information needed for God's Creation was reflected in the water.

And then we -- Adam and Eve -- were placed on Earth to be the caretakers for this Creation of God. I believe that water held the consciousness of God until then, but that after the caretakers were placed on Earth, water became an empty vessel to mirror and reflect what was in the heart. It became a container to carry energy and information. Therefore, since this time, I think water has taken on the quality of simply reflecting the energies and thoughts that it is exposed to; that it no longer has its own consciousness. Water reflects the consciousness of the human race.

REIKO:  Would you tell us your philosophical thoughts about what you believe these water crystals really are?

DR. EMOTO:  After the book was published, I was wondering about this, and I came to the realization that these crystals are spirits. There are many parallels. When ice melts, the crystalline structure becomes an illusion. It's there -- and yet it's not there, because you can no longer see it.

Similarly, when a person dies their body loses several grams of weight -- what some people think of this as the weight of the soul. But then we can often visually see them. I think that the soul has mass, and that it returns to water molecules. And because it has mass, it is affected by the gravitational pull of the earth. And so sometimes the soul cannot transition over to the other side.

In Buddhism, we talk about attaining sattori, or reaching enlightenment. People who attain sattori do not become ghosts. They are able to achieve a certain stage of development at the soul level and return to God for a while before they move on to their next assignment

We traveled here to Earth on the water crystals of spheres of ice [Editor's Note: You will hear more about this amazing phenomenon in an upcoming issue of the Spirit of Ma'at on the subject of water.] Earth is not our native home. There was nothing here. So these souls can return to their native homes for awhile. That is sattori, or enlightenment. However, most people on the planet are not able to attain enlightenment. To reach enlightenment means to be able to completely let go of the ego and our worldly attachments.

In the past 100 years the world's population has increased from 1 billion to 6 billion. During these 100 years, war and capitalism has dominated the planet. Rather than being able to detach from our desires, the opposite has been true. Our desires have grown and grown. Very few people have been able to attain enlightenment in this environment. Few souls have been able to go ''home'' and I believe they have remained on Earth in the form of water. This connects into the concept of reincarnation, where these spirits keep falling back to Earth and need to redo their lives here.

REIKO:  So when a person dies, if they are unable to attain sattori at that time, their soul remains on this planet as water?

DR. EMOTO:  That is what I believe, yes. The Japanese character for spirit is a combination of the words ''rain'' and ''soul.'' People who have seen ghosts report seeing them in water or in places where there is a lot of humidity. It's as if the imprint of the soul, which is in the form of water, suddenly takes form when surrounded by water or moisture -- much like a mirage.

And so, looking at the pictures of the water crystals and the impact they are having, I came to the realization that these themselves are ghosts. Up until now, I had thought of ghosts as something to be frightened of, something that we could do nothing about. But watching these crystals, I realized that by simply projecting beautiful music and words onto them, the crystals or ghosts become beautiful. If that's the case, there's nothing to be frightened of. We need to let everybody know about this, and all use beautiful words and offer beautiful music, and create beauty in the environment.

By receiving beautiful thoughts and feelings and words and music, our ancestral spirits get lighter and are now able to make the transition ''home.'' When we consider this, we can see the importance of traditions like Obon [a Japanese summer tradition where ancestral spirits are invited back to spend time with the family, and the ancestors are taken care of and respected].

When we are alive, the human body is at approximately 36 degrees Celsius. This is the temperature of the fluids in the body. When we die, this goes to zero degrees Celsius. When we die and go to the other side, crossing the river, we are no longer able to move our bodies. But the crystalline structure of our soul emerges. It's like water. When water turns to ice, the crystalline structure becomes visible, but it also becomes immobile. So ''crystal'' equals ''spirit.''

REIKO:  Thank you very much.