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The following
is an example of a story-in-motion for a child who needed courage
and concentration. It was presented over a few months work,
always beginning at the beginning and carrying through to the new
verse or movement sequence to be learned. An illustration of
a scene was also made by the child and one by the
practitioner.
It is given as
a service for understanding the story-in-motion, which was first
conceived and demonstrated in 1992 in Wandin Springs,
Victoria. Since that time, many ‘stories’ have been
developed; each one is individually suited to the therapeutic
situation.
Sequences and
poetry for adults is linked together by dramatic gestures, song and
movement.
-
Katherine Rudolph
On the evening of
the day before the dare, we were journeying to the northwest, the
Canadian Rockies, mountains of rugged granite cliffs and the caves
of the great brown bears.
Grandfather’s
cabin was far from the village of Mineola, where the train was
chugging in at last. There was Grandfather’s old jeep, and as
the train whistled a last farewell, we two crossed the platform and
hopped up to the front seat for the bumpy drive to Raven’s
End; the old homestead was built out of timber in the fashion
of days long gone by – a real log cabin.
Grandfather, in
his red-checker neckerchief and faded overalls, nevertheless
hobbled ahead of us and beckoned us in to a supper of soup and
scones. The holiday was on!
That night,
sitting around the hearth, the dare of adventure was voiced.
It was an old tradition at each of our yearly meetings, that
Grandfather would voice his dare. One year it had been ‘to
climb to the eagle’s nest on the jagged cliff at
High-Crossing’. Another time, we had ‘caught a
Night-Peacock-Eye moth at Hawthorn Glen’. This time our
holiday adventure was ‘to get photos of the great brown bears
awakening from hibernation’. A brand new camera was already
packed, before we said, “I dare!”.
The next morning
we awoke to the sound of the old clocking chiming 8:00:
Tick-tock,
tick-tock
Time is passing in
motion
Morning, noon and
midnight chimes
Wind the clock and tell
the time
Hours and hours are left
behind
On
the Tick-tock
Tick-tock,
tick-tock
Time is passing in
motion”
No school
today. “Let’s speak the verse of affirmation and be on
with it”:
Grandfather was
ready with porridge. Provisions were packed, and we were
ready for the dare. My red leather boots were snake-proof and
polished to a sheen.
“Red for courage,”
said Grandfather. “Here is your magic staff, passed down
from generation to generation. One of its properties is
making whoever touches it immediately invisible. Take this
with you to the cave of the bears and DO NOT FEAR. My
experience has always been that the staff works and holds true,
even amidst a den of mountain lions. If you meet the
woodcutter, greet him for me. You are to climb the
‘Blackberry Crag’ above the cave to the right of the brook.
There is a crack in the rock through which the sun shines today, at
equinox time. From there you can see into the cavern of the
bears which I discovered in my youth. If the photos turn out
well we shall send them to the ‘Natural Science
Journal’.”
So, off to the
trial down the magic trail we left without ado. Everything is
strange in Grandfather’s woods:
When we reached
the babbling brook, we found that the stream welling up was much
like a fountain!
‘Slinging, slanting and
jingling
The wonder fountain sprinkles
spray
The wonder fountain
sprinkles
A slinging, jingling, slanting
spray.’
Then, indeed,
turning to the right, they spied the cliff of the bear cave,
covered with blackberry brambles and practically
impenetrable. Perhaps an axe would cut through to the
top. It would take hours to return and get one…
But look at what
happened: The woodcutter arrived. “Grandfather
says hello.” With that, his axe began cutting blackberry
brambles to clear away a track to the top of the crag, where
finally, the cleft in the rock was revealed:
At length, it was
possible to climb the jagged crag and peer down into the bear
cave. But where did that woodcutter go? He seemed to
have disappeared as fast as he had appeared. “Well,
thanks anyway!” I shouted into the distance.
There was enough
room to hold the camera right in the cave and plenty of light from
the spring sun. What to our wonder, the bears began to stir
and the bears awakening dance began, after which they danced the
spring greeting. This is what they did:
‘Head to your right
Head to your left,
Roll to your right
Roll to your left,
Stretch your right arm
Stretch your left arm.
Bend right elbow and left
knee.
Bend left elbow and right
knee.
Crawl right elbow and left
knee.
Crawl left elbow and right
knee.
Repeat crawl
right-left.
Repeat crawl
right-left.
Repeat crawl
right-left.
Repeat crawl
right-left.
ARISE
Jig apart right, left,
right.
Jig together right, left,
right.
Shake hands right,
Shake hands left.
Shake hands right,
Shake hands left.’
“Wow, we did
it! Grandfather’s photos for the ‘Natural Science
Magazine’.” Rejoicing, we laughed and played at the spring
without realising that the bears were really awake, and outside the
cave, staring hungrily at us. Suddenly, a growl made it
apparent – “Quick, grab the magic staff! Ho, look, the
bears don’t see us anymore. We are really invisible.
They are looking about anxiously. Don’t laugh or they may
hear us. Let’s go!…”:
The rills always
led to Grandfather’s cabin. The sun was beginning to
set. We threw open the door and pranced in. The hearth
fire was still burning and there was
Grandfather. “Hooray, we took the photos on equinox
day. This should be a headline. Well, here they are,
right here! Uh, oh – we forgot the camera!”
“You what?”
Grandfather was astounded. “Part of the dare was to be
awake and aware.”
It was too late
now. We would have to wait until early tomorrow
morning. But what if something happened to our precious
camera? So, after a sleepless night, we woke and said the ‘No
Fear Prayer’:
‘When I see the sun,
I think: God’s
spirit.
When I touch my hand,
God’s soul lives in
me.
When I take a step,
God’s will works in
me.
And when I see a human
being,
God’s will lives in
him.
It also lives
In animal, plant and
stone:
No fear can ever reach
me
When I think: God’s
spirit.
When God’s soul lives in
me
When God’s will is working in
me.’
Again, the ‘Path
Before Me’ opened up for us as we trudged on to the ‘Bear
Crag’:
And back at the
brook that bubbles and rhymes in the woods at equinox time, we
found the camera, just where we had left it. Safe in the
knapsack were the precious shots of the bear’s awakening
dance. No bears were around, so we played at sword fighting
for a while:
‘Forge me with
fire
A sword for my
smiting
Fright to my foes
And flames for my
fighting
Shape me a shield
Both forceful and
fierce
Stalwart and steadfast
To fend against
fears’
Turning just in
time, we saw a bear coming at us. Dropping everything in a
thrice, we scrambled up the nearest tree. High in the upmost
branches, we were safe. With pounding hearts we hear the
bear’s growling and grumbling.
All morning we
were waiting, before he at least clambered off downstream to catch
fish. Too bad we didn’t have the camera then!
We got back down
and had a wary lunch of scones, cheese, apples and fresh spring
water. We were wide awake a few minutes later, when the bear
indeed came back and grabbed our magic staff! He blinked out
of sight, but we could hear his heavy breathing as he approached
us: “Quick, the old tree limb; take it and turn
‘round and ‘round; and we might have a chance of knocking him
down. The knights of old used to fight like this if they had
no weapons.” A heavy crashing sound was followed by the bear
tumbling over in plain view.
Dashing for the
staff, we grasped it just in time. What a relief. The
bear had just gotten to his feet. We were invisible once
again. No sound did we make for a long time. The
bewildered bear appeared to have lost interest. From some
distance away came another growl, and he must have gone off to find
his brother.
“Now the knapsack,
the camera intact; we’ll have to celebrate now, and give
thanks.”
So we headed down
to the seashore which was not far to go with the magic
staff:
The rollers were
coming in billowing and splashing on the shore. “Let’s
go back to Grandfather’s over the rollicking dunes.” The path
from there we already knew. It’s only to be tread at all by
laughing with every step, twelve times three, for the starry
heavens:
1.
Ha, ha ha
2.
Ho, ho, ho
3.
Hi, hi, hi
4.
Ha, ha ha
5.
Ho, ho, ho
6.
Hi, hi, hi
7.
Ha, ha ha
8.
Ho, ho, ho
9.
Hi, hi, hi
10. Ha, ha
ha
11. Ho,
ho, ho
12. Hi,
hi, hi
Back with the
camera went we! And when we returned to the cabin and told
Grandfather about everything, he roared with laughter
himself. Finally, he calmed down and said: “It
took some fast thinking and quick action to get out of that
dangerous predicament with the camera and all. We’ll know in
a few weeks if the photos have been accepted by ‘The Natural
Science Magazine’ with an account of your brave deed. But for
now, we can relax and have the rest of this grand
holiday.
Hip, hip, hooray;
Hip, hip, hooray; Hip hip hooray!!!!
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