by Sunwolf, Ph.D. At nightfall the cuckolded and damaged king ordered another maiden and her slave brought to his chambers and took his pleasure. As the night wore on the slave spoke，”Mistress if you are not sleepy tell us one of your lovely little tales to while away the night before I must bid you […]
Grief Tales: The Therapeutic Power of Folktales to Heal Bereavement and Loss
by Diane Rooks. “Remember the children,” Matt Heavilin wrote, as he autographed the book for me that he and his mother coauthored. Their book, Grief is a Family Affair, offers many examples of how children are often the forgotten grievers following the death of a family member. Not only do most people think children can
Children: the Forgotten Grievers
A Tlingit Tale Retold by Cristy West. In the Queen Charlotte Islands there was a young chief whose wife fell sick and died shortly after their marriage. The young chief was deeply saddened. No one could console him. Then a wood carver from that village came to the chief and offered to carve an image
by Fran Yardley. Over the past ten years, I have been following the path of working with healing story often. At first, I wasn’t sure how this would manifest. The 22 years of experience I have had working as a storyteller has taught me that usually, we do not choose our stories; they choose us.
Mourning into Daylight: The Place of Story in a Bereavement Group
by Wendy Welch and Jack Beck. StUn (Storytelling Unplugged) is a Scottish non-profit organization, set up in 2000, whose members are tellers, singers, musicians and artists using their skills as practical problem-solving tools with people of all ages and abilities and in all kinds of settings. Prior to the establishment of StUn virtually all of
by Tuly Flint. “Go away!” he screamed. “You are being a bad boy! You won’t get any present from me with this crying!” As I entered his room, I was barraged with shrieks from “S,” a four-and-a-half-year-old boy staying in our children’s oncology department. I work as both a social worker and performing storyteller in
Fight or Flight Into Health: “S” and Cancer
By Chris King. When presenting my “How to Tell Personal Stories”workshop at a 1993 Ohio storytelling conference, I shared the story of my son’s bout with cancer in 1989 for the first time in front of a live audience. Finally, I could tell it with the truth and drama it possessed. Why for the first
The Everlasting Healing Power of a Story
by Laura Simms. In a tale from the Caucusus, a girl’s demand brings balance into the world. She requests that the Rose of Paradise be brought to her by her father. Her dangerous confrontation is with a Div and his Div sister, monster- like creatures that guard and covet the Rose, stolen and kept in
by Seth Kahan. When I visit corporate offices, I so often experience a sense of separation from nature, as if people have forgotten about the sun, the moon, the seasons. Day after day, in climate-controlled hallways and putty-colored cubes, people work ceaselessly to further their organization’s objectives. Have they lost touch with something essential, with
Bringing Us Back to Life: Building Community in Business Through Ritual and Story
by Lorna MacDonald Czarnota. The blood on Becky’s cracked lip had begun to dry by the time she stepped from the bedroom into the living room. The door creaked loudly on its hinges. Becky froze, hoping Jeff wouldn’t wake. The only other sound was a low hiss from the television station that had gone off
