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Archive Number 1043 | ||
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Date: Fri, 8 Feb 2002 09:45:04 -0600
----- Original Message ----- From: "BZ Smith" > My view: As a storyteller/healer I think sometimes we need to adapt > stories to touch closer to the immediacy of the moment. (As the alchemist > carefully blends potions to create gold, so the teller carefully blends > words.) If our intention at difficult times is to comfort & give insight, > then we tellers must use our intuitions & craft, choosing words that will > reach those in need. So. what do you all think? Are we able to change our > stories to fit the moment? If so, do you use guidelines for these changes? This is an article that I wrote for the Healingstory website forum www.healingstory about this very subject. I have other insights about this process of adaptation but this will be a good beginning. Story, Change, and Healing In his preface Ramanujan writes: "Every tale here is only one telling, held down in writing for the once till you or someone else reads it, brings it to life, and changes it by retelling it. These stories were handed down to me, and in selecting, arranging, and adapting, I've inevitably reworked them somewhat. So, consider me the latest teller and yourself the latest listener, who in turn will retell the tale. Like a proverb, a story gains meaning in context; in the context of this book, the meanings are made between us now." Ramanunjan's idea that a story changes in relationship to the teller and the context is important when using story within a healing context. My version of The Snake and the Holy Man is a tale that continues to transform and change as I tell it. The changes in the story are a result of the different contexts of where, when, and to whom I tell it. The story is not imposed on the listener in some set form but is transformed by the presence of the listener. The responsiveness of the teller to the listener, as the teller tells the story, is at the core of using story within a healing context. Stories are not prescriptions. They are not to be given in a certain way, at a certain time, and in a certain amount. Storytelling is a healing art and therefore, the teller must conform to the needs of the listener and not the teller's need to control the story nor to what the story was in the past. In the oral tradition stories are always personal in the sense that the stories are not separate from the person or the people telling or listening to the story. The idea of preserving a story separately from the people telling it is a rather new notion and in effect takes the story out of context. A story heals because it fills the spaces between the teller's experience and the experience of the listener. It is told within the context of people. The context includes the circumstances, the teller, the listener, the content, the shape, and how the story is told. I would suggest that the very reason a story heals is because we are able to adapt a story as Ramanujan says to fit the teller and the context. The ability to change a story is what makes storytelling an organic, personal, and living healing art. When we feel free to adapt a story we mine the depth of the story and enhance the healing connection between the teller and the listener. In this sense a storyteller is a shaman. A shaman works with symbols and perception. The shaman adjusts the symbols based on the need of the person, in order to create the conditions for healing. The shaman evokes healing by supporting an individual in moving out of their isolation and connecting with his or her self and with his or her community. The storyteller by telling a story establishes the context for healing by filling in the spaces between themselves and the listener with story. In the hands of a skilled teller this connection acts as a bridge to the larger community and most importantly enables the listener to reconnect with his or her life. This bridging with self and others is at the heart of the healing power of story. The book "The Spell of the Sensuous" by David Abram is an excellent explanation of this process of the adaptation of symbol and the role of the shaman in healing. We do need to acknowledge that most cultures ritualize and try to preserve certain stories. However, most stories do not fall into this category and in time even the ritual tales change. Stories change and are adapted because it is the nature of story to change as the environment and the culture change. (For better or worse) The Hmong, Vietnamese, and even the newer Tibetan community in my city of Minneapolis are examples of cultures that are now adapting their ritual stories within a new context of being in the Unites States. Some may see this change as a lost but it is a natural evolution. Fortunately, we are able to record and preserve the different versions of these stories and there is a place for this preservation. What is important in our consideration of storytelling as a healing art is that we are now conscious of how stories change to fit into different contexts. This consciousness allows us to creatively adapt stories in response to the need for healing. It is the consciousness of this process and the skills to adapt story that makes one an artist in the healing aspects of storytelling. In my experience the story of The Snake and the Holy Man is a healing story. As I tell this story, I continuously discover new meaning within the story and ways of using the story. In the spirit of Ramanujan I invite you to take my version, make it your own, and adapt it to the needs of your listener. This is the living tradition of storytelling as a healing art. ------ http://USFamily.Net/info - Unlimited Internet - From $8.99/mo! ------ | ||