Page 37 - Storytelling - Storylistening

IX. Recollecting with Earth, Wind, Fire and Water
Remember your first Boy Scout for Girl Scout camp out? Just after the cloudburst soaked your sleeping bag and chilled you to the bone, you huddled with your friends around the campfire. The wet logs smoldered in the gusty wind, and no matter to which side of the fire you moved to escape the thick billowing smoke, it followed, choking and blinding you. But only after returning home did the real agony begin with those tiny, itchy blisters covering you from head to toe...POISON IVY!
Since the beginning of time, the forces of nature not only have sustained us, but also ingrained our psyches with a deep fear of their destructive potential.
Richard Stone uses our ancient and intimate connection to earth, wind, fire and water to recapture memories. The following exercise, “Fire Fantasy”, is adapted from his book referenced above, which also describes similar exercises with air, earth and water.
Activity #7: The Fire Fantasy
Like the Aroma Fantasy, this exercise is appropriate in learning circles, one-on-one or alone.
1. Light a candle in the middle of the circle.
2. Watch the flame flicker, noticing how it dances in the air.
3. When you are ready, use the candle’s flame as a guide back into memory, to an earlier time when something happened in your life with fire. Go with whatever you think of first. (Pause here for a moment with your eyes closed. See the images that come to mind and feel the sensations aroused.)
4. This memory will most probably reveal itself through pictures. Who are the people who are present? What are they wearing? Look around you. What do you see? What do you feel? (Pause here for a moment, and again ponder the images and sensations.)
5. Can you smell the fire’s smoke, or hear it as it crackles? Imagine everything that happened, seeing events progress from one scene to another. Take as much time as you need. (Pause here for a moment.)
6. When you have completed your journey with fire, store the scenes in your memory and share the experience with others in the circle.
p.33 ©Action Pact, Inc.2005-2006 Porch Swing SeriesTM Culture Change Workbooks