"Toward Creative Reconciliation: Telling stories of an Australian Ecology of Culture"
From: "alex/rosey" <roseyfaire@ozemail.com.au>
Subject: reconciliation adaptation of CAB
Date: Thursday, 21 September 2000 1:11
Hi John,
Recently our Sydney Earth Support Group and others (ie, me, Alex, Ben, Kylie and Margaret) held a three hour workshop called "Toward Creative Reconciliation: Telling stories of an Australian Ecology of Culture" at the NECTA (Network for Exploring Creativity in Therapy through the Arts) conference in Sydney.
We based the workshop on the model of the Council of All Beings and on Joanna's Work that Reconnects. It was an experiment to see if the CAB form could be adapted to the theme of reconciliation. From our feedback, I'd say it was a successful experiment, and we'd like to share it with others who may want to evolve it further.
Below is the workshop outline and details of processes. Is there a relevant website it could be posted onto?
There is also another file written by Ben-Zion Weiss which I will ask him to email to you direct. (Ben's email address is:
<weissbka@matra.com.au>)
Hope all's well,
Love from Rosey Faire
Toward Creative Reconciliation
- a 3-hour workshop presented for the
NECTA
(Network for Exploring Creativity in Therapy through the Arts)
18th Annual Conference:
HAND IN HAND
1st and 2nd July, 2000 -
Presenters: Rosemary Faire, Ben-Zion Weiss, Alex Nicolson, Kylie Hitchman and Margaret Allan
Toward Creative Reconciliation:
Telling stories of an Australian ecology of culture.
Our diverse relationships to reconciliation are explored
through the arts, mask making and imaginative dialogue.
(adapted from Macy and Seedís ìCouncil of All Beingsî
and Macyís ìWork that Reconnectsî)
Workshop Outline
(see also Detail of Processes section that follows for transcripts of sections highlighted in bold; also see notes on workshop by Ben-Zion Weiss)
Introduction Stage (Tot 10 mins)
Ben... Honouring the land and indigenous peoples:
(see: Guided Meditation on Acknowledging
Indigenous People and Place)
Alex...Confidentiality
Self care
Introduce facilitators and give brief outline and origins of this
workshop and Why Use Ritual? suggestions...ìa ritual to nourish and strengthen ourselvesî Our Goal? eg: strength and empathy among participants)
Gratitude Stage (Tot 30 min)
Alex...Earth support ritual opening (5 min)
Kylie...Pass the ìsacred objectî sharing something we love about this country + our name (15mins)
Rosey...intro to Invocation, invoking the power of imagination and ritual. Asking for support*. Shared purpose, connecting. (2.5 mins)
Margaret...Personal intention time (silence) (5 min)
Feelings work stage (Tot 55 min)
Getting in touch with what has lead up to now:
Kylie...Welcoming the Ancestors
- an adaptation of the Milling to reconciliatation emphasising human ancestry and history (20 min)
Ben...equivalent to the Bestiary process:
facts on genocide and Australian history (drawn from David Marrís article focussing on facts and figures called ìA Walk Across Black Australiaî in The Sydney Morning Herald (Sat, May 27, 2000) and from Henry Reynoldsí (1999) book ìWhy werenít we told? A personal search for the truth about our historyî, Viking Publishers, Melbourne, pp111-112: two stories of genocide) (5 min)
Alex...Partners: Our Personal Stories (13 min)
How people got to be in Australia - ancestral history
(Intro: see P34 of Reconciliation Book, The Box)
Open sentences: re how I came to be in this country
ìMy ancestors were once indigenous peoples in...î
ìOnce upon a time, my ancestors...î
ìHow I feel about this history is...î
Alex...Cairn of Reconciliation ìWhat needs to be reconciled for you?î
- acknowledging and sharing our feelings about our history and the
history of this country, lost connections...exposing what is not
reconciled in ourselves...
ie, people choose to go into the centre with a symbolic object, place it into the ìcairnî and share in a few words what has been lost/ what they are feeling. (15 min)
The Shift Stage (Tot 60 min)
ìUnless we change the direction we are heading in, we might end up where we are goingî Old Chinese Proverb
Margaret...îThe impression I leaveî movement process (15 min)
(Alex plays flute and Ben plays guitar for improvised movement and for the dance of the earth led by Margaret - free movement and dance focussing of the impression we leave on the earth as we move through the world)
A Council dedicated to Reconciliation
Rosey...- explicit description Council of Reconciliation
(5 min)
include: council is about sharing from the mask, not specifically aimed at problem solving/looking for answers
- time for the ally to connect (eg, mythical figures, archetypes, wise person totems, genetic ancestors, cultural ancestors, human beings from past or future...) (2 min)
- mask making ìreconciliation maskî (15 min)
Ben... - ritual entry
(Alex & Margaret form arch; Rosey in first, leads participants into a circle, Ben enters last and closes the circle)
All... - council sharing from the mask (20 min)
Ben... - ritual exit
(Alex & Margaret form arch; Rosey out first into a large circle; once Ben is out and arch dissolves, Rosey instructs participants to turn and place masks behind them to ìcontain the energy of the space, hold the perimeter and the potential for transformation...î)
Going Forth Stage (Tot 20 min)
...Group experiential going forth movement ritual*: (15
min) Alex... Begins process: Harvesting and speaking the gifts of thepersonal ancestors...
Margaret...continues, harvesting the gifts of our cultural ancestors...
Ben... and the multicultural Australian ecology of cultures,
Margaret... pooling the energy of all these gifts in the centre,
ìenergising the cairn of reconciliation with the gifts that you have harvestedî
Rosey...taking the symbolic object we placed in the cairn of
reconciliation back as a symbol of the potential for transformation and healing,
Kylie... giving group blessings:
ìI give to you...î
ìI take with me...î
Ben, Rosey...Final Celebration: An Ecology of Culture Improvisation in music and dance (bring instruments into the centre, invite the celebration to begin...)
(5+min)
(Total Workshop 175 min)
NECTA Creative Reconciliation Workshop
Detail of Processes
Guided Meditation on Acknowledging Indigenous People & Place - Ben-Zion Weiss
ìTake a deep breath and close your eyes.
Think about this building and how its foundations sit on the earth below. Now imagine a time before this building was here. Imagine what this landscape was like - the bare earth covered with leaves and grasses; with great gum trees and bushes - Banksia and Wattle; with creeks and gullies; and everywhere there are animals scurrying around - wallabies and wombats, possums and lizards; and the many birds -
rozellas and lorikeets screeching in the tree tops as they drink the nectar from the gum blossoms.
Now imagine the people, to whom this landscape was sacred. People, who hunted, gathered - who sang and danced - ate and slept - were born and died here - and some of whose bones may be buried beneath the very foundations of this building.
Take a moment to think of their life and what it was like. Feel the sun warming your body on a summerís day - hear the leaves rustle in an autumn breeze - and smell the smoke of the campfire at night - with the children playing and the old people telling stories of the Dreaming Times - a time of past, present and future - a timeless time!
These people, whom we know as the Cadigal Clan of the Eora Nation, were and continue to be the spiritual guardians of this place.
Standing now and holding hands together let us silently acknowledge their lives and the sacred work they practised to keep this land alive.
May our work here today be dedicated to the memory of what they did and continue in that same spirit.
May it be yet another step in our process of reconciliation with the original owners and their land, on which we now stand.î
Confidentiality, Self Care,
Outline and Origins of this workshop
and Why Use Ritual?
Alex Nicolson
Confidentiality
So that people can feel free to express themselves fully in an
atmosphere of trust can we all agree that nothing personal shall be repeated outside of this space afterwards ? Yo !
Self Care We would like to create a safe community space where emotions are accepted as expressions of deep care and feeling, however we would also like each of us to be responsible for our own wellbeing. If any one feels the need for some support in the way of touching or holding/hugging, please ask and Iím sure there are plenty of warm supportive and also expert huggers in the room. YO!
Bathrooms location,
Need to keep to time frame.
Brief outline and origins of this workshop.
Maybe all the facilitators could signal in some way to identify
themselves and say their name
Some of us belong to ìThe Earth Support Groupî
which has been meeting monthly for over five years and has facilitated several CABs at various conferences including Necta 1998. Rosey and Ben happened to ring each other earlier this year with a similar idea to do something around reconciliation and from that conversation this process has evolved.
We have put together a hybrid of the Council of all beings and have drawn from other sources as well to create what we hope will be an exploratory ritual/ceremony around what reconciliation is for each of us in our contemporary society.
There is a sequence of five parts. This introduction will be followed by a being here and connecting with self and the group; then we explore our personal stories and feelings.
The central process is a mask making ritual where we can reflect on and perhaps renegotiate our meanings around reconciliation; and finally a going forth process where we can integrate and celebrate our experiential learning towards what Ben has called an ecology of cultures.
Any Questions?...
Why use Ritual?
(Adapted from ìThe Boxî, an ecopsychology resource, Terma Co., USA:
Reconciliation pp68-70)
The root of the word ceremony means to express awe, to revere or celebrate reverently, to hold sacred. It also carries an echo of the root to cure or to heal.
Ceremonies and ritual are reminders of our relationship with the sacred where we can be momentarily lifted from the petty confusions of existence, where we can pay complete attention to the passage of our lives, and to the human transformations that link and bind us to all other humans and to nature as well, to pay complete attention to the wonder of it all.
Rituals contain multi levels of communication, within ourselves, with each other, with others not here today and with non human forms. It is a way to think logically, metaphorically and ecologically and to experience ourselves as being ìwithinî nature.
As we repeatedly experience ourselves throughout our life as part of the continuous cycle of birth, death and rebirth, the natural unfolding of the myriad forms of life, a trust in the process begins to grow, a trust that allows us to surrender into letting go, knowing something new will emerge. This trust is the wellspring of freedom that lives at the heart of ceremony.
The truly magical quality of rituals is in their capacity to actually create change. This reciprocal or interactive aspect of ceremony has been recognized for millennia as a powerful connection with realities that exist beyond time and space and which are linked to the flow of creativity. Rituals have the power to nurture us emotionally, to strengthen our sense of order and to give our existence anchors and definition.
We hope that this afternoons gathering will nourish and strengthen us and develop a sense of empathy in us all.
Earth Support Ritual opening
led by Alex Nicolson
This ritual emerged as an opening ritual for the Sydney Earth Support Group in April ë95: Seated in a circle, no words are spoken, simply in oneís own time, performing four gestures which symbolize the following meanings:
Hands make contact with the earth - ìI connect with the Earthî
Hands on heart and hara - ìI connect with myselfî
Arms up and out - ìI connect with Spiritî
Join hands - ìI connect with youî
(the same ritual was reversed to close our support group meetings)
Invocation
Rosey Faire
ìIn the beginning, it serves us to clarify our intentions as a group and then as individuals. We, the facilitators, would now like to invoke with the following words, the power of imagination and ritual to connect all of us in empathy, and to give us courage to go beneath the surface, exploring the true meaning of reconciliation in our lives.î
- invocations drawn from The Box are then spoken by each facilitator in turn:
Marg ìMay we be forgiven for what we have forgotten and blessed with the remembrance of who we really areî
Alex ìMay we find in the dissolution of our apathy and denial, the cup f the broken heartî
Ben ìMay our eyes remain open even in the face of tragedyî
Rosey ìMay our guilt not rise up to form yet another defensive wallî
Kylie ìMay we endure; may sorrow bond us and not separate usî
Alex ìMay we offer the power of our sorrow to the service of something greater than ourselvesî
Marg ìMay we not be afraid to see or speak our truthî
Rosey ìMay our wrath be cleansing, cutting through the confusion of denial and greedî
Kylie ìMay we not become disheartenedî
Ben ìMay clarity be our ally and wisdom our supportî
Welcoming the Ancestors
- an adaptation of the Milling to Reconciliatation
Kylie Hitchman
ìSitting still, Eyes closed.
Become aware of your breath. In and out
Listen to the sounds outside the room
- - - inside the room
Feel your self here. You have arrived.
Here on Garagal Land
Think of the people of this land who lived here for 1000 of years.
This is their place
And this is your place
A special place.
Think of your special place. A place perhaps from child hood
Or perhaps a place you live near now
It may be a mountain, A park, A tree, A house, A beach.
Go to your place. Your land
You bring with you to this gathering your land.
Think of your people
Your tribe of friends and family.
See the faces of youíre your loved ones.
They come with you to the gathering
See the faces of your parents
Their culture and their land are part of you.
See your grandparents faces and think of their land
If you are fortunate enough to know think of where your great grand parents came from
And all your ancestors.
All these lands you bring with you to our gathering
Think of all the land of your ancestors and sing them into the room.
Now open your eyes.
We are going to shake hands in a doe se do
And introduce our ancestors
Eg mine are from Holland, Germany, England and Wales
SO I will sing or say Holland to the first person and Germany to the second etc around the room till I am back to my first partner...î
Our Personal Stories
Alex Nicolson
We are going to explore our personal stories around reconciliation.
Then we are going to do a ceremony that has the potential to begin to transform these shared experiences.
Please find a partner for this process. We would like you to tell your partner your story of how you came to be in Australia and what your family history was that ended up with you being here. Some questions that you may like to ask are.....
My ancestors were once indigenous people in.....
Once upon a time, my ancestors were part of.....
(invasion, victims of war, economic migrants, heroic explorers)
How I feel about this history is....
You have about 5 minutes each for this process.
Cairn of Reconciliation
Alex Nicolson
What needs to be reconciled for you ?
Acknowledging and sharing our feelings about our history and the history of this country. What connections have we lost and what is not reconciled in ourselves.
Each person can now chose to go into the centre and taking one of the symbolic objects and placing it onto the ìcairn of reconciliationî You may take this opportunity to say a word, a phrase or a few words to express what your personal experience of reconciliation is.
Later in the workshop we will be deconstructing this cairn trusting that there will have been an energetic transformation created by the rituals.
Council of Reconciliation
- adaptation of the Council of All Beings to Reconciliation
Rosey Faire
Introduction
We have come to the time for the Council of Reconciliation. Let me share with you the nature of this ritual. It is an experiment, a way of posing questions without predetermined answers.
To begin, we suspend our habitual patterns of knowing and doing We suspend disbelief and enter the realm of ìas ifî - pretend - play... We ask for guidance and support and wisdom concerning ìreconciliationî
An ìallyî chooses us and reveals itself to us
This one we call the ìallyî comes from what some might call the spirit world, some might call the imagination, others might say the archetypal realm, or the collective unconscious.
The ally could be an ancestral being, the spirit of a place, an animal or plant totem, a river or ocean or mountain spirit - the ally will come to us as does the creative act, suspending mental effort or prior ideas about what should arise.
The ally may reveal itself to us during a brief silent time or it may slowly emerge in the process of mask making that follows. We trust the mask to make itself through our imagination.
Then comes the Council itself: Donning the mask we surrender to this process, taking on the allyís
movements and being-state as we enter the ritual circle and be seated
Soon we find ourselves speaking
The words come from out of the blue
We suspend judging or censoring or analysing ourselves or each other
We give one another the space and respect to be heard
The words fill the circle
We witness and absorb the ebb and flow of words from the Mystery
When the allotted time for the council (20 minutes) has passed, we thank the space, and one another, and rise and make our way out of the ritual space, releasing the mask and thanking our ally Then we gather again to continue our journey...
We will be repeating these guidelines as we go through the stages of this ritual.
Are there any questions or clarifications needed before we begin? (3 mins)
Time for the ally -
In a moment there will be a 2 minute period of contemplation so that the ally can begin to connect with you - remember it may be any one of many possibilities:
a mythical figure
an archetype
a wise person totem
a genetic ancestor
a cultural ancestor
a human being from past or future
your higher self
a non-human life form
a feature of the landscape or elemental being...
(silence)
... and now, whether or not your ally is crystal clear to you, begin to take your imagination into the process of decorating a mask that will take you into the Council of Reconciliation.
There are 15 minutes for mask making so we invite you to just dive in and enjoy the play of it. The raw materials are already here waiting for your final touches...î (3 min)
(Mask making) (15 min)
Followed by Ben leading... ritual entry...