There is always a bit of faith involved in
signing up for a course; faith in the teachers, the intention, the other people
who will make up the temporary community that you become for that week or
several weeks. On arrival Stella Kassimati took us on a walking tour of the
village of Amari, beginning with the spring of drinking water – ‘If you drink
from this spring, word has it that you will come back to Amari.’ We passed the
place where the women used to gather to wash the clothes; we looked up to the
old bell tower and stood under the great spreading tree outside the village’s
only coffee shop.
The course information – which was useful,
considered and accurate – http://www.friends-of-amari.org/ had told us to come to Amari prepared. There are no shops, no ATMs, no
pharmacies. We needed to be organised. There was an enormous freedom in the
lack of distraction. I got to the end of the week and realised the only time I
had actually reached into my wallet was to buy a beer at the beach.
These
courses are generously taught, hosted accommodated and fed.
‘Speaking to the Stars’ formed part of a
quest for understanding our relationship to concepts of destiny and choice and
relatedness to the natural world. Roi Gai Or of the International School of Storytelling led us into the landscape and over
the week we explored a mountaintop near Pan’s Cave, hopped along the rocks by
the side of the river at Hermes’ Gorge and visited Poseidon’s realm, diving into
the sea.
Stella began by telling us stories from the
Pantheon of the Greek Gods. Her voice was sure and I found the stories made
sense to me in new ways. As the week unfolded we had a rhythm of meeting in the
mornings and taking a siesta after lunch then gathering in the late afternoon
to early evenings. At night time we ate
together, home cooked meals at a long table under the stars.
Then we came toward that nervous pointy end
of the week where each of the 15 course participants would tell their own autobiographical
story. How would this happen? Our teachers kept a steady focus and firmness.
The stories that needed to be told would reveal themselves through the
activities and exercises. People protested, they had no story, they could not
do it, and so on.
In the event we did a final telling that
began on the last afternoon at 5pm under a large Prinos tree behind which the
huge valley of Amari unfolded in shades of green and mauve. We gathered in a
semi circle offering our attention to each teller by turn. Fifteen storytellers
and two intervals later we finished at 9pm. You would think it might be
exhausting listening to so many stories. It was not. It was exhilarating,
extraordinary, ordinary, human and filled with wonder.
I think the mark of a great teacher is a
humility that takes things in its stride. Roi Gal-Or has this in spades.
Another mark is the reciprocity that takes up learnings from the group. Stella
did this with clarity and openness. We remain indebted to them both for gifts
shared and exchanged. We drank from the spring, we climbed mountains and river
rocks and spoke to the stars. We were
not disappointed.
Julie
Perrin August 2013
Julie is telling stories at the Melbourne Writer's Festival at Fed Square next Thursday 29th for the Schools Program.
More information and booking details HERE
Julie is telling stories at the Melbourne Writer's Festival at Fed Square next Thursday 29th for the Schools Program.
More information and booking details HERE
