CONTENTS

• Barbara Morgan: Editorial

• Bert Hellinger: Farewell

• Stuart Taylor: Conversation with Barbara Morgan

• Paul Stoney: ISCA Past, Present & Future

HISTORY OF NATIONS, CULTURES & RELIGIONS

• Nadia Rehman Sadiq: Islam & Constellations: Aligning to The Natural Order

NATURE CONSTELLATIONS

• Colette Green: Entering the Field – Constellations with Horses

NEW APPROACHES

• Kay Shoda: Kintsugi Constellations

PERSONAL REFLECTIONS

• Zita Tulyahikayo FRSA: Diversity and the Systemic Perspective in a Changing Terrain

• Martin Paine: Modern Money

• Alemka Dauskardt: Quo Vadis Constellations? Constellations according to Hellinger & Some reflections on the overall development of the Constellations field

• Viktoria Pierce: The reflections of one of Bert Hellinger’s students

• Julia Paulette Hollenbery: Living Deliciously

BOOK EXTRACTS

• Julia Paulette Hollenbery: An Excerpt from: ‘The Healing Power of Pleasure: Seven Medicines for re-discovering the Innate Joy of Being’

• Francesca Mason Boring: The Nature Constellation Handbook

POETS’ CORNER

• Colette Green: Resonance – In the eye of the Storm

• Angus Landman: The Old Mediterranean Church

• Poppy Altmann: Starlings

IN MEMORIAM

• Richard Lamm

• Michael Paul McElwee

THE KNOWING FIELD JOURNAL MASTHEAD

Editorial

Firstly, my apologies for the late arrival of this, my final issue of The Knowing Field journal. Reaching this point has been a difficult journey. Letting go of 18 years of dedicated service is not easy! 

However, I have finally arrived and am pleased to publish this last edition. 

This piece entitled ‘Farewell’ from Bert Hellinger felt a fitting piece to end this process. Interestingly, there was a different article with the same title some issues previously. Maybe that one was more to do with his Farewell. 

As he raises the issue of the transition towards death, this article is filled with questions, because after all, no-one really has answers to what happens when we cross that threshold. The words that stand out in this piece are: stillness, wholeness, oneness and returning. 

Following his piece is my interview with Stuart Taylor. It feels somewhat strange to be publishing my own interview in this journal and at the same, it seems fitting to be bringing myself out from the undergrowth more into the public eye on this final occasion. It is a long interview but I hope of enough interest and inspiration to carry you through to the end, as this is who I am and covers my whole reason for editing this Journal and my philosophy around the Constellation Work and life in general! 

Moving on from this, Paul Stoney, current Chair of ISCA travels back in history from the formation of ISCA and brings us up to date with recent events there which have been full of turbulence and difficulty – no stranger to this Association. At the same time, Paul looks forward with optimism to a better way ahead. 

Next, Nadia Rehman Sadiq takes us on a beautiful journey through Islam and shines a light on the various aspects of this well-known faith and how they overlap with the Constellation Work. It is a faith full of ritual and prayer and the relationship with parents is a major priority. She also writes of the trauma in her own family and the splits that have occurred as a result of the larger split in her history with the issue of partition, which so ravaged that part of the world. 

This article is followed by another soulful piece submitted by Colette Green on the theme of horses and their wisdom and how that wisdom can be brought into Constellation Work. This aspect of Constellation Work seems to be becoming increasingly popular as a way of doing constellations. Horses are so unattached to any outcome, it is beautiful to behold. She describes so movingly how she manages to work with the horses and convey their movements to a group in India via video, showing how the Field moves beyond space and time. 

Kay Shoda returns to describe the development of her work with Kintsugi Constellations which had come out of her initial thoughts and experiments with this approach which she first published in issue 35 of the journal. In this article, she describes in detail the five elements that are needed for such a constellation and then offers two case studies to illustrate the process. 

The next article from Zita Tulyahikayo challenges us to widen our perspective on the current way of thinking about race, to look at our binary perceptions, our ‘them’ and ‘us’ beliefs, our assumptions about how it is for black people to be seen as victims, the crowd mentality and the harm it can cause. This is, for me a quite revolutionary way of looking at this thorny issue and has certainly halted me in my tracks to have another look at my own views. 

Martin Paine then takes us on a well-researched journey through the story of money in all its many facets. He delves into some of the history of money with quotes from many different authors. He challenges the systemic blindspots and brings in some of the modern capitalist downfalls in our current society and suggests nothing short of complete monetary reform is going to save us. 

Alemka Dauskardt makes the case in her article, for the preservation of Bert Hellinger’s approach to Constellation Work, which she sees rapidly disappearing under the cloak of drives for regulation, accreditation and other agendas. She sees the demise of the essence of Bert’s work as a downward spiral and a move away from his soulful approach. 

Her article is supported by another one from one of Hellinger’s students, Viktoria Pierce who attended Bert’s seminars and experienced enrichment in her daily life as a result and a deep trust in her own intuition. 

With Julia Paulette Hollenbery’s two contributions, we turn to finding our own inner joy by ‘Living Deliciously’. Through Julia’s seven principles of transformation, we are guided to fall in love with our bodies, to embrace our power, potency and pleasure and enter more fully into each of our relationships as a way home to being more fully who we are. Her introduction to her work is then followed by an extract from her book on this same theme, entitled: ‘The Healing Power of Pleasure: Seven Medicines for re-discovering the Innate Joy of Being’. 

A second book extract comes with Francesca Mason Boring’s latest collection of ‘Nature Constellation stories’ all brought together in a beautiful handbook, for easy reference for all readers. She has managed to draw from the Constellations field such a rich array of contributions, it is immediately apparent how widespread nature constellations have become. This is a must for all budding and experienced constellators. 

I am really pleased that this final issue draws almost to a close with three soulful poems from Colette Green, Angus Landman and Poppy Altmann. 

And finally, we include two tributes to Anngwyn’s husband Richard Lamm and Katherine Curran’s husband Michael Paul McElwee who both died last August. As a stop press we are sorry also, to hear of the death of Alison Levy, sister of Dan Booth Cohen who contributed so much to the field of Constellations. Our condolences to Anngwyn, Katherine and Dan and their families. 

So here I am at the end of the end of this, my final journal. I have no idea as yet how it will be without my regular gathering process, and my twice-yearly birthing of these journals. I have experienced some sadness on the way to the end and no doubt there will be more to come. At the same time, there may also be some relief at the letting go and watching what happens to the Field from now on. 

So to all my helpers, ‘hidden faces’ and famous faces alike, to those who have shown me such kindness and support over the years, I can only end with a huge thank you. 

Go well everyone and thank you for reading to the end. 

With love and blessings 

Barbara Morgan 
Editor

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Farewell

Bert Hellinger

After all the farewells, we know there comes a final farewell with which we bless the temporal. We leave it behind and enter another space. This space appears to us like the underworld, the realm of death of the night. What counts among the living is over in this other realm. 

When we are over there, are we over and done with, the way we were? Or are we transformed? Is death the door to another light, to another truth, to another love? Are we taken along by a god that is different from the one who took us into his service here on Earth? Does another spirit, another power of creation show us her secrets through her creative movements? Does she welcome us there? 

Do we have the same thinking habits over there as we did here? Do we still make distinctions like we do here, as if one thing could be more important than another? Are we happy there, as we are here, when something turns out well? Are we still attached to thoughts and insights that we had here? Are we attached to some presence or to a future or to something in the past? 

Another wind blows there and other stars shine. Individual separateness, the sense of distance from another, ends there. There, everything becomes whole with all else. 

Where and when does this farewell begin? Do our farewells here turn into steps towards this last farewell and into steps towards this transformation into this other way of being? 

Do these departures lead us to this other god even now? Does she take us along into her secrets even here? Do we experience this other love already here; the same love for all and everything, because all is one with her? Or do we create another world for ourselves here with our thoughts in which we behave like creators? And in this world are we only one among many creators who each manage to do something different so that all the many creations oppose each other and thus annul everybody’s contribution? 

This question leads to the next one. How can our departures here already show us the way into this other world? How do we stand before this other god with all our departures, even here? How are we welcomed by her, even now and taken along into her realm? 

We are taken along into this world of stillness, in ultimate stillness, where our thoughts matter less and less and with them, also our feelings. In the Occident we know this stillness as the night of the spirit. Spirit also goes dark in this stillness and withdraws. 

In this stillness we die in our spirit. The stillness is our last departure even now before we leave this world behind for good. 

From this stillness we return. How do we return? 

We return in purity. We return whole. We return with another knowing and with another love. 

To whom do we return? We return to this world and to human beings. We return like knowing messengers. We bring into this world that other world and its other mode of order. 

We return with goodwill, different and yet the same as all others. We return with understanding. As in the beyond, we are dissolved even here and we are here as if in transit, for we are also free from this life here. 

We are also free from those who crossed over with us and who were sent back here as we were. Here, too, only the other god counts, different for each one of us and yet the same. 

Where do these messengers lead us, each in a special way? They lead into the farewell with the same stillness. In this stillness this other god is at work, healing and bestowing order, turned to this world and to us, together with it. 

Are there opposing worlds? Are they related to each other and is this other one a necessary prerequisite? Are we prepared for this other one, here in this life? Are the seeds sown here in order to sprout in the other one that encompasses more? Do the oppositions only appear on the surface even here, cancelling each other out in the end? Do the messengers come back to sow the seeds of the other side in which they personally sprouted and ripened as their fruit? 

We can glean an awareness of it, without grasping it, but enough to allow us to act and live differently, to be able to live more in silence, for we have already arrived elsewhere and we are home. 

(Taken from Fulfilled, published in 2011 by Hellinger Publications)

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In the Spotlight 

Exit interview between Editor Barbara Morgan and Stuart Taylor 

INTRODUCTION

This reflective interview took place by Zoom, on Tuesday 10.01.23, between Barbara Morgan, Editor and Publisher of The Knowing Field and Founder of Coming Home Constellations Trainings, and Stuart Taylor, Founder of Dances With Wisdom, Partner at Constellation Workshops and writer of Ancient African Futures: A Decolonial Poetics of Systemic Constellations Practice and Restorative Social Justice (Forthcoming, Palgrave Macmillan Pivot 2024). The purpose of the interview was to provide Barbara with a space to reflect on her singular journey as the Editor/Publisher of The Knowing Field, on the occasion of the final edition of this unique international Journal of Constellations practice.

INTERVIEW

ST: Barbara thank you for this opportunity to have a conversation, an informal interview if you will, about your experience of taking on the editorship and publishing of The Knowing Field, the International Constellations Journal. So perhaps the first question I should ask you is how did you get into this role of being the Editor and Publisher of an international professional journal?

BM: Firstly let me thank you for offering to do the interview. I had partially considered doing an interview – a couple of people mentioned it in a casual way – but something about the way you asked me had some force behind it or something. I responded positively to it, so yes I’m grateful to you. It feels a bit strange to be publishing my own interview in the journal that I’m editing, but at the same time, I am grateful to be able to complete in this wholehearted way with you.

Back in the early 2000s – what would it be? 2003 maybe? Barbara Stones and I were good friends, having met at early workshops with Bert and Hunter. I didn’t know Jutta ten Herkel quite so well, but the two of them were editing the Systemic Solutions Bulletin at the time. They were doing it once a year; being friendly with her, I was familiar with what was going on with the process. I can’t remember how I ended up helping her with the editing, but I did. I say ‘her’ as opposed to ‘they’, because there was a point where Jutta and Barbara separated, and Barbara was just doing it by herself. I don’t remember which issue that happened with, because there were four issues of the Systemic Solutions Bulletin in total. I was definitely Assistant Editor by the fourth edition. I really loved helping Barbara. I had never done any editing before. I had done translation work, so I guess I’ve done a little bit of that sort of stuff but nothing in this field. I was very interested in Constellation Work at that time. 

By the time I got fully involved, Barbara had got to the point where she was ready to give up. We had a meeting. I was ambivalent about whether or not I wanted to pick up this journal; I could see it was hard work and I remember saying: “I’ve got this image of a boat on potentially quite turbulent waters. Do I want to pick this up now? Do I want to get myself into this boat – be the captain?” So it was an interesting transitional place that the two of us were in really and thanks to her, she sort of said: “Let’s just be business-like you know, leave all the emotional stuff around it; we’ll just decide.” That helped a lot. I don’t remember whether I had to go away and decide or whether I decided then and there. I did decide to just do it; so it was like that. 

It was still a difficult process initially to tease apart from each other. One of the big learnings for me was that she and Jutta needed some acknowledgement, that they were the Founders. In a way I had adopted the project like an adopted child. As you do when you’re an adoptive parent you often change the name of the child. I saw the analogy there and realised that I needed to really acknowledge them both and honour them as coming first. So from then on I put at the front of each issue ‘Founded as The Systemic Bulletin by Barbara Stones and Jutta ten Herkel’. That did something important for each of us I think.

In time, new energy came in and I became really excited about it. I had never liked the name Systemic Solutions Bulletin, because for me Constellation Work has never been about solutions. I know a lot of people use the term Systemic, but for me it feels ‘hard’ or ‘hard-edged’ somehow, or something like that. So I was talking to Francesca (Mason Boring), and she was saying about, you know, her origins are half Shoshone, talking about the indigenous communities knowing all about the knowing field, way before Constellation Work came along and her worry about disrespect for that knowledge tradition. So I had assumed the words ‘the knowing field’ came from her, from her cultural tradition and ancestral origins. So, I asked her if I could use the term for the journal. She said: “Hold on, that’s not come from me but from Albrecht, Albrecht Mahr – he coined the term: ‘The Knowing Field’. So that was an interesting moment, even though there was an indigenous Native American tradition working within this space. Albrecht was the originator of the term and he kindly gave his permission for it to become the new title of the journal.

ST: Barbara, could I just ask you to say something about Albrecht in terms of contextualising him in the Journal’s journey, basically in your journey?

BM: He is one of the veterans of the work as far as I’m concerned; I hope he won’t mind me saying that. Historically in England, Bert (Hellinger) first came here in 1996 and it was Hunter Beaumont and the Gestalt Centre in London that invited him; Hunter Beaumont was accompanying him all the time at that stage. I’d just finished my Gestalt training at the Gestalt Centre and found a piece of paper there. I’d never done anything like this before – just pick up a piece of paper and decide to go to the workshop. Mostly I am much more considered and check out with one or two people first if they have heard of the person. But something about this flyer just grabbed me and I went to the first seminar in Kings Langley with Bert. I was lucky to be chosen as a representative in the second constellation and from the moment I stepped into that representation, I was grabbed by the work and haven’t looked back since. I knew this was to be my life’s work. There were no trainings then of course. So I wrote to Bert and asked what I needed to do in order to do this work. I remember his words so well: “All you need is to be at peace with your parents.”

Very soon I discovered Hunter was beginning to run five-day workshops in London almost immediately after Bert’s first visit and he was my first wholehearted entry into the work. I did my first constellation with him and it was life changing. After the first of these five-day workshops, he added on three days’ supervision, which I immediately joined. So that was eight days, twice a year. That was my training! I also travelled around quite a bit to see Bert in various countries. After a few years, Hunter pulled back in London and as he did so, Albrecht stepped in and began running workshops in London. I don’t know if that was a result of liaison between them or whether it just evolved organically. I didn’t have a lot of involvement with Albrecht in those days; perhaps I went to one or two of his workshops. Then I invited him as a guest to my first training in the UK. For me he has always been around. When I began doing the annual international intensives in Germany around the same sort of time 2000-2001, he was there. So I got to know him there as well. Albrecht was really part of the original crowd, along with: Hunter Beaumont, Gunthard Weber, Ursula Franke, Sneh Victoria Schnabel, Eva Madelung and I believe Jakob Schneider. Stephan Hausner, was around at that time too. He knew Bert in a different context. I’ve probably forgotten a few names here, but that’s a brief outline of the history for me of how Albrecht came on to that scene. 

So yes, I took over the Journal in 2004 and soon doubled the size at the same time as beginning to publish it twice a year. I got this burst of energy, and it was great. I was excited by it, because it was at the same time as my excitement about Constellation Work more generally; it all fitted together, including the intensives in Germany. What I didn’t have then and in a way I still don’t have, is a kind of profit-making business head. When I look back at that, I feel for Ty Francis, I mean I brought him on to the Advisory Board, because I knew he was a corporate man – he’s very organised and he knows how to create business. He did his best to guide me into a business-orientated mode; however, I was just never able to embrace that. When I look back, I think it would have been far more beneficial for me and for the Journal to have created a non-profit vehicle to run it. What happened is that I made a big loss for quite a long time. Eventually it broke even; it never really made a profit. It’s just floated along and I’ve subsidised it. I did receive a handful of regular donations from various people, which of course I’m grateful for. Now it does break even, but it’s never been a money-spinner for me. I might have benefited from some help in the early days around getting clear as to why I was doing this enormous project. Retrospectively, it never was a money-making enterprise, it never was. 

ST: It sounds like it was very much a passion project from the get-go?

BM: Yes, it was about honouring the work, honouring the inclusivity of the work, honouring the essence of the work. It’s what I understand Constellation Work to be about. I think that’s why it’s so hard for me to pass on the baton, because I hold these principles so dear. The whole thing is so close to my heart. I’m not saying there’s nobody out there that could subscribe to these ideals – I recognise this. I did ask a few – for me – key people who I knew would subscribe to this perspective (as well as having a good command of the English language which is also important to me) and they all said: “No.” 

ST: Once you’d recognised that process of taking over needed to occur, once that process had happened, did you subsequently invite either Barbara or Jutta to contribute to the Journal, or was that teasing apart a more definitive separation?

BM: I think it was a more definitive separation. I don’t think they submitted any articles once I took on the Editorship and re-named the Journal. I’d have to look back to verify that, but I don’t recall any.

ST: In that first five years or so what did you hope to achieve, and what do you think you did achieve, in terms of the range of content and if you like the orientation of the Journal as you exercised your role as Editor and Publisher?

BM: It would be interesting to look back and see what I wrote as my mission statement, because I never consciously thought about it in that way – as it were with a long-term vision. As I think about it now, I guess it was to mirror what I see as the essence of Constellation Work, to let it freely evolve. As you said, it’s not a stagnant process. It’s a movement and it’s still moving; I remember Bert saying that he wanted Constellation Work to be free flowing, not fixed. After all, he had come out of Catholicism and what he perceived as its dogma. He talked a lot about how the essence of all these beliefs or practices is pure, but dogma arises when we fix things and put a boundary around them and say here ‘is inside’ and there ‘is outside’; ‘them’ and ‘us’ which can lead to war as the ultimate expression of that perspective. So that was the essence of what I wanted for the Journal, to be all-embracing, just to gather. 

Once or twice I did exclude articles, but I had and have maintained a basic attitude of inclusivity. Each viewpoint matters and I tried to do the same with the range of articles, from personal, to organisational, to nature-based Constellation Work. In the early days there were more personal stories, more about personal Constellations. I wanted to develop a range, to work in a mostly responsive way. Alongside that though, Francesca has been like a mole; she’s had her nose to the ground the whole time. She travels a lot, going all over the world. She always had this kind of approach: “Oh! If you feel passionate about some aspect of the work, why don’t you write an article for the journal?” She’s really been a stalwart of the work, helping me behind the scenes a lot. I’m really grateful to her.

ST: Have there been other colleagues that have supported you in a comparable way either formally or informally in those early years, or throughout the course of your Editorship?

BM: Oh yes, loads! I get nervous here because I think I might miss out somebody important in this context. Hunter has been very important; I carried on working with him after he stopped doing formal Constellations. He started to run a Group in Edinburgh, and I joined him in that for eleven years. We met two or three times a year. Bert consistently supported me, with the Journal. Even through the split between him and his followers. There were a couple of Journals that didn’t have an article from him. I continued to approach him for articles. It got to a certain point where he said to me: “You are welcome to use anything from any of my books.” That was so generous of him. He always wrote too to say thank you very much for publishing the Journal, after each issue. This was a consistent contact with Bert and always cordial and respectful. Beyond that Colette Green, who’s in Ireland, has been a consistent support. She’s been a quietly spoken but firm presence all the time. She’s a sort of moral support for me; she did Bert’s training as well, so had that particular input, which was so helpful, especially in times of difficulty. As I think of these people she has been a constant – not in a forceful, frontline way, but available in the background and I always knew I could write to her for support and perspective, get a balanced response from her. I’m starting to feel emotional now, talking about these people. 

The Advisory Board itself, changed and evolved over time, with a few consistent people and others coming in and out. I didn’t turn to them as a whole Board very often. It was usually when there was a delicate issue to be resolved and I really appreciated some of the carefully considered responses I got. Tomas Kohn from Chile comes to mind as I say that. 

ST: That seems like a good thing to me that there is that depth and presence of emotion in recalling these people.

BM: Another person was Jen Altmann, who died a couple of years ago. She was someone who was a professional Editor before. I would bring her in towards the end of the process each time, because she had that editing expertise. It was very different to Colette’s role if you like. She was more in the frontline, in the details. It was very difficult when she died. I wasn’t ready for that; it seemed premature. She was older than me, but it was a shock. I valued her as an editing companion at the end of the process. Francesca has been there at the beginning, gathering the articles and also at the end. She has helped a lot with the editing. As I said about Ty, if I got into a mess business-wise he would come and haul me in. He would help me focus if I became overwhelmed. The flipside of inclusivity is that the process can get bigger and bigger and bigger. He certainly helped me with managing that dynamic. 

Interestingly, when I took over, my ex-husband was a graphic designer. He did the graphic design for the earlier issues. It was an interesting process doing that. Probably, it was another entanglement looking back. It was healthier when I separated business-wise from him as well. I found another graphic designer who was very good, and did two or three issues, but he was too expensive; I learnt a lot from that. At that point a really important support person was Jane Peterson. I knew her a little in the beginning. She was coming to Edinburgh, and we met there. She was so helpful and supportive and I’m very grateful to her. She was on the Advisory Board for some time. After a while she got involved in a house-building project in the States, so we moved apart. However, our connection is still good. She was another figural person in those early days. 

As I mentioned above, there have been a few people who have been ‘friends’ of the Journal. I asked if anyone wanted to make a regular donation to support the Journal. We had a flurry of donations in the early days, including one or two anonymous ones but those who remained constant over the years were: Cecilio Regojo, John Whittington, Sneh Victoria Schnabel, Berthold Schmidt. Alun Reynolds has consistently placed an advert in the Journal, in every single one. That feels like a support. It has no doubt helped him as well, but he’s been a background supporting person for me. After the brilliant, but expensive graphic designer, I had to find a more affordable solution. I asked Jane Peterson for advice. Lubosh Cech was her designer at that time and she recommended him. He’s been with me ever since. And he of course, is another person I am eternally grateful to – not only for his overall design of each issue, but for the consistently reliable, efficient, patient and kind way he has worked alongside me. I think it was around issue 18 in 2011 he took over. 

The next major transition was from hard copy to online. This happened with Issue 23 in 2014. It became essential to move to the online process if the journal was to survive. The paper-based production had become unsustainable. This was a really big letting-go for me. I had loved the hard copy version, but it had become completely unrealistic, due to the distribution costs internationally. Sadly, I did lose some subscribers as a result, but I like to think I gained more online. I’m not sure why they’re coming into view at this juncture, but two other important people for me have been Max Dauskardt and his wife Alemka. In the first place they submitted some really amazing articles, over all the years. They’ve been consistent supporters both with their writing and with their moral support, particularly when things became difficult in the wider field.

One thing I discovered about Editing, is that it is a time-consuming process sending out requests for help with editing and then chasing for delivery – very time-consuming. So I ended up doing much of this work myself, probably not best for my health, but I was impatient and somehow it seemed easier in the end. So the number of people I turned to for help became much more focused. Then my daughter – Abi Eva, who at the time had young children, was looking for some work, and she became my administrator. As part of that she took on some of the editing and turned out to be really good! So I want to include her too in my thanks. She is moving on to new pastures now, which feels like good timing for both of us. 

ST: So in the initial five or so years of running the Journal what for you were the most pressing or interesting aspects or elements that were taking place in the wider Constellations field?

BM: Before going into that, I want to go back for a moment, to the first issue I published. The very first Journal I edited was still called the Systemic Solutions Bulletin, and in it there was a very interesting article because it conveyed something really important. It was a discussion between Eva Madelung (who was somebody that was around in those early days), Jakob Schneider, who I knew well from Germany, Hunter (Beaumont) and Wilfred De Philipp. It was around bowing and the tension between that becoming an expression coming from the Super ego: ‘I must bow to my parents’ and the links with submission and subservience for example – and the sacred aspect of bowing. That was a really interesting discussion that came in the first issue, and I still refer back to it at times, because that theme has stayed with me. I do think too that in many ways, as a wider issue, it is still a major part of Constellation Work, with self-judgement and judgement of others still hovering in some way or other and this makes it so hard to be effective as a facilitator of Constellation Work. And yet, it is so simple, because it links directly with our relationship to our parents – love and accept your parents, love and accept yourself. Bert’s words ring out again for me here. 

There were one or two about illness in those early days too, before I even knew about Stephan Hausner’s existence. There was one that Bert wrote about where there was a woman in Hong Kong, who had eleven illnesses. The representatives all surrounded the client’s representative (eleven people). It turned out that the Grandmother had given away eleven children. It’s interesting that this has stayed with me. So, in those early days I would have at least one article from Bert and often one at the beginning and one at the end. 

So coming back to your question about those first five years and what impacted me most from the wider field in that time. When I went to ZIST (www.zist.de) which was the centre in the South of Germany where the international intensives initiated by Hunter Beaumont and Lutz Bessel were first launched, I became much more aware of the wider field and more involved with it. These intensives moved after a couple of years to Kloster Bernried (also in South Germany). They were a special time for me and I made some lasting friendships from that. Bert was involved in those early years. The split between Bert and his followers happened over the next few years – probably within that initial five-year period you mention, of the intensives being launched. 

Out of my original vision, I was very keen to keep all parts of the Constellations community represented in the Journal. So, I was still hoping to get articles from Bert and from Hunter and other people that had been part of the split. Initially I would say I was just getting random articles from various people I didn’t know but who I later got to know, as a result of those articles coming in. In issue 12 of the journal (2008), there is an interview I did with Bert Hellinger, which marked the beginning of the series ‘In the Spotlight’ which appeared in nearly every subsequent issue over several years. In that interview, I asked him directly how he felt about the split (so it must have already happened by then). He said: “I don’t think about it. I allow everybody to go their own way because whatever they do they are also guided.” 

This interview was a pivotal moment in the life of Constellation Work where Bert described how his own journey with it had developed. I recognised that there were personal issues for me in how I had responded to the split. I remember so well the poignant moment when Bert stood up in Köln and said: “Now I’m taking my place. I will be running a training known as Hellinger Sciencia.” I found it so sad that the Founder of this amazing work felt the need to stand up and say he was taking his place. 

When the whole split happened and ISCA (International Systemic Constellations Association) was formed, there were a lot of controversial exchanges that went on. There were many fiercely held different points of view. 

ST: Do you think that perhaps the Journal fulfilled an unforeseen function at that time and in subsequent times, when the field of practice there have been disagreements, conflicts and falling outs – such is the lot of people, of humans. Do you think though that’s been an unanticipated function of the Journal – and by default you – being a holding space, where all of those diverse perspectives have actually been able to be aired? The fact that people have had to write about a situation, write about their feelings, in regard to an event or a confrontation etc. has somehow both for the individual and the wider field – been a demonstration of how we process emotion, how we manage or negotiate difference?

BM: Absolutely. This takes me back to when we were experiencing difficulties in London with conflicts, splits and unresolved hurt feelings. I wrote to Bert and asked if next time he came to London, he would be prepared to do a constellation for us all. His reply imprinted itself in my brain and I recall it often, even though I didn’t follow his advice at all, in editing a journal, which contained so much controversy!

“Strife and division are necessary and inevitable. My advice to you is not to comment upon the activities of others and not to let others’ comments affect your own activities. That way you will have peace in all that you do. As I work in this way too, I do not propose to comment on your request.”

That’s beautiful you know; I refer to this as one of Bert’s gems. It just made so much sense. It made me view these divisions differently.

He certainly ‘walked his talk’ in terms of this in a masterful way, much to the dismay of many.

You know it would be really good to look back and read through some of those conflictual exchanges. I do remember getting an article from one person and then saying to somebody, who was ‘on the other side’ if you like: “This article is going into the Journal – do you want to respond to it?” Sometimes the response and the original article were in the same issue; sometimes it would be in the subsequent issue. There was a very interesting exchange in issue 18 between Dan Booth Cohen and Bert Hellinger around Bert’s contention that he had met the grandson of Don Juan. Through a conversation with Francesca, I saw that sometimes huge assumptions are made and two sides may come from such a completely different paradigm that meeting in the middle becomes almost impossible. This was another big learning for me personally, so much so that I now include in my trainings an exercise on assumptions. For the most part, those exchanges remained respectful and polite, but there were one or two times when they became more personal and I got caught in the crossfire as the Editor. 

One of the most contentious splits was with Franz Ruppert and although it started with Franz explaining his work and his gradual move away from constellations, the split became more serious and there were hurt feelings on both sides. The story of this split runs over several issues of the journal with interviews, articles and letters to the Editor. It seems to come to a head in 2012-2013 with Franz eventually separating completely from the constellations field, although some people still seem to be able to span both approaches without difficulty. Again, there was a period there where I was publishing both ‘sides’ of the debate until it stopped. There was a point where Franz stopped using the words Constellation and Soul and took up a separate position. That seemed to mark the end of his association with the Constellation Field. Vivian Broughton had been an important person for me in those early days but with the split with Franz Ruppert, we lost contact.

Anngwyn St. Just was a key person involved in that period. She’s another person who has been a kind of support from the point of view of submitting articles. She’s a good writer and I was always grateful for her articles, so beautifully written and very moving, on so many occasions. She has a wealth of knowledge, as an historian and this came through in her writing. It was a significant step when she said she would not be submitting any more articles. She is in her 80s now and her husband died a short time ago (See In Memoriam). She’s been another pivotal person. 

Mentioning her takes me to another development in the work for the journal. Anngwyn was the person we invited to facilitate the Colonialism and its Aftermath conference in Bristol in 2018. My interest in the multicultural aspects of Constellation Work was sparked around that time. Prior to that I remember sitting around a lunch table with Lynn (Stoney) and some others and we just hatched this idea to have this workshop. It was shortly after that, that I met you. This all suggested another way of being more inclusive of people of colour, of Black and Brown-bodied people. I got to know Tanya (Meyburgh); I hadn’t known her well prior to that. I’d met her in Germany a couple of times, but our contact deepened at that point. She has been really supportive. I invited her and Lindiwe (Mthembu-Salter) on to the Advisory Board for the Journal at that time. This all came about at a time when I was thinking am I going to stop, so I wasn’t at the height of my energy for the work. However, there are a fair number of articles in the Journal that are really informative, from multicultural backgrounds and perspectives. So, if I were carrying on I think that would certainly develop more. In this final issue there are two articles coming, one of them from a woman from Pakistani heritage who is writing about Islam, a beautiful, beautiful piece. There is also Zita (Tulyahikayo), who has submitted an interesting article – a very different take on racism or race. The Field is developing in this context. Who knows, if I let this go now maybe it will be picked up in a different way? 

ST: I appreciate its very, very hard to predict how a sector, how a modality will develop, but one question I would like to ask you is, given you have had this quite unique position within the field of Constellation Work, what would you say has been the most beneficial part of this journey in regard to the exposure you have had to the international community in terms of your own practice as a Constellator and as a Trainer of Constellators? 

BM: That’s a great question! Well, it’s interesting to notice my emotional journey through this. As we’ve been talking I can see that the relationships I’ve formed with people have been the most important part of this process. It’s really interesting when you get an article from somebody; you get a sense of them, even though you’ve never met them. There are some people I did go on to meet in Germany and elsewhere, but that has been fascinating! I don’t make any assumptions about people – that has been the biggest learning, building on what I said earlier about assumptions. 

I have a connection on a different level now, not just an understanding level but on a heart level, because I’ve seen so much conflict, controversy and opposing viewpoints, all gathered together and not necessarily resolvable and often not being resolved. This has really helped me in my practice, as a Constellator, Facilitator and as a Trainer. It’s very painful and very difficult at times for sure. I know I’m on a steep learning curve where multiculturalism is concerned, definitely so. I have learned quite a bit around that through the Journal by reading article submissions, seeing people’s different perspectives. I used to love the personal stories that people wrote, their own personal journeys through Constellation Work. I’m not sure at which point the poems came in, but they have offered a beautiful, soulful contrast to some of the tough stuff I was dealing with at times. 

I once had probably the most challenging article – it was from a paedophile. It shook me, you know, it shook me on a personal level and it brought up all my judgements. I had an initial wish to reject: this man wanted to remain anonymous; I somehow managed to move through that reaction, and to see him as another human being. He wrote the article, and it was Judith (Hemming) that had worked with him. It was very moving to see his journey in terms of where he started from and where he got to and how Constellation Work had helped him. I take my hat off to Judith for the work she did with him. 

ST: That sounds like a useful reference point in terms of the kinds of issues that were brought to your attention, that people had been working with, with individuals or in a particular sector of therapeutic practice. I wonder first of all, in that particular instance, what kind of reaction or response there was to that article? But moreover, what kind of shift(s) have you become aware of? Were there any pivotal moments or periods of time? You made reference to becoming more aware of diversity, and different cultural perspectives on the work. Of course we think of the work as having its origin in a European context, so I just wondered if you feel, if you have a sense that there’s been a more expansive expression of the work from other cultural perspectives, from other geographic locations, or whether you feel in terms of the range of contributors it’s remained a very much European conversation – or not?

BM: Well I asked Abi to do a quick run through of the spread of articles and the two dominant continents are indeed Europe and the USA. At the same time, the spread is vast with 30 countries contributing outside this range. It’s not been exclusively European by any means. Colette Green, who I mentioned earlier, got very involved with India for instance and we had some beautiful articles come through from there. My contact with Tanya (Meyburgh) meant that we got quite a bit of material from South Africa. We also have contacts in Mexico, Argentina, Chile and Brazil and the Far East – China, Taiwan and Japan have all contributed.

Interestingly, you were saying about the responses to the paedophile article, I didn’t get any response at all! That was something that never really got off the ground. This brings to mind Don Opatrny, who was another support person who I’m very grateful to. He helped change the website through financial and technical support. He helped build a Forum for people to respond to articles, but it never really took off. I found that difficult at the time – sending out the journal each time and so little response from the Field. On reflection, it probably needed more regular input and stimulus from me to drive it forward. I talked with some younger people at the ISCA International Conference in 2021 after one of their online conferences. They had many translators, who told me they felt the days of one-hundred-page Journals were over; that what was needed was more web-based formats – something with shorter, more frequent postings. I realised in this moment, this was just not me. There are still people that want one-hundred-page Journals, but in terms of movements in the Field, there’s an online preference – the younger faster-moving audience, seem to prefer more immediate content. This is the way of the world now.

Have I covered everything in your last question – it was quite long? 

ST: I think so. At the centre of what I was asking, I think, is whether you had seen any kind of shift from European contributors and themes towards a more diverse range of geographic contributions and culturally-oriented contributions. I think I understood from what you said, that there has been an increase in the diversity over time and where these articles have been submitted from and what they were exploring, but that there was a predominance of European and American perspectives represented in the Journal. 

BM: I would say that’s true; one thing I was thinking of as you were talking is that Constellation Work is not linear. It is not a linear process. Issue 26 stands out for me, as it had several African contributors and was wider in geographical scope than European perspectives alone. I thought this might have been the start of a trend, but it wasn’t. I see this as a learning: the evolution of the Field isn’t linear, it’s organic. Emergence comes from all different directions. I couldn’t predict where or how it would next go. There’s a new grouping now called Constellations International. This has raised another controversy within the wider Constellations community. If I weren’t closing the Journal, this would be an ongoing thread and I would provide space for the arguments or debate to play out, because there are definitely some strong feelings about it in the Field.

ST: You’ve mentioned on a couple of occasions the phenomenon of splits, controversies, disagreements and divisions within the Field. I wondered if from your perspective, these are necessary, inevitable developments in a field of practice as it matures, as more people from diverse backgrounds, professionally, culturally, ethnically, geographically come into contact with the work. They’re necessarily going to interpret it through the lens they have available to them, which is of course informed by their own cultural identities?

BM: Yes, when you say that, I’m conscious that there is a loss to the Field of my stopping the Journal. Maybe somebody else will pick it up again? This reminds me of Anngwyn’s work with fractals. And we have witnessed that everywhere in the field. The initial split with Bert and his followers has been repeated across the world, with splits in all sorts of ways and in all sorts of countries. So I don’t imagine the path ahead is any smoother than the one thus far and in my view, when you have something so beautiful and life-transforming as constellations, the shadow side has to exist somewhere and needs embracing. And if we take on board Bert’s words, then these splits, divisions are inevitable anyway!

Now what’s happening with CI is that there is a separate force being formed and there is some legal difficulty between them and ISCA. I don’t know the detail of this, and I’m not really interested. What I am interested in though is the fractal. I’ve seen this before. First of all in England but also with ISCA, and its formation and Hellinger’s Sciencia – a very similar dynamic to what’s happening now between ISCA and CI, so here’s the repeat.

ST: I guess this is really indicative of it not being about a particular professional sector; it’s indicative of how people are, and this is what happens in communities. Although we have the lens of being part of a helping profession, a therapeutic profession, this doesn’t give us a ‘special pass’ in terms of our fundamental nature, our fundamental drives and our fundamental needs; they will be expressed notwithstanding our professional title or orientations. 

BM: It’s so interesting isn’t it? There’s a book about ancient cultures, which is based on the people of Ladakh. The local indigenous were a people with a very smooth-running and co-operative community. Everyone had their place and it was a peaceful culture. In came the West and in a way they ruined it. Their input interfered with what had been working really well. People there became unemployed, competitive. Wherever that’s happened you know – Australia, Africa, the Middle East – it’s wreaked havoc. You could argue that’s also part of our wider evolution, but it’s interesting to go back to some of these smaller communities and smaller tribes and see that actually they worked very well before people from the West came in. 

ST: That might be a potentially more far-reaching conversation with more multifaceted elements for another day. I take your point though about how systems can run seemingly very well and very cohesively for significant periods of time and can be interrupted and be made asymmetrical by the intervention of others from a different cultural perspective. People with a different set of values, let’s say that for now, for today.

BM: There have been things written by people that supposedly came from Bert that didn’t come from him. The origin of the word Constellation for example, there was so much discussion around that. So I thought I’d go straight to the horse’s mouth and ask Bert himself. How did that word come to pass; how did we get to this term, this English word ‘Constellation’? After all, the German term ‘Systemaufstellung’ is very prosaic! He said: “I have no idea. It just came out of the Field, from somewhere.” Isn’t that incredible? Straight out of the Field. When we started in England the work developed various names: Touching Love, The Order of Love, The Orders of Love (which I adopted for my early workshops). Somehow we then got to the word Constellations and everyone was using it. It’s fascinating isn’t it? 

ST: It seems that in doing this work, we’re leaning into pre-existing organic processes, pre-existing systems, energetic systems. In a way, how we come as practitioners, as a community to articulate these processes and our experience of encountering them also evolves. Perhaps, as we gain more experience, exposure, insight and appreciation, we find more appropriate language? Language by its nature isn’t fixed, it’s also dynamic, it’s responsive in some way or another.

BM: This leads me to the complication of something that is international being translated and how much can get lost in translation. I remember asking Bert about that: “How do you feel about your work being translated?” From a German perspective, he said: “Oh I’ve got this great translator” but I could see from the evolution of his written work, that the essence of what he was about, was lost in the later books. The subtlety of the English language is missing. The translations, although probably completely accurate, need retranslating if you like. I believe Hunter’s wife Colleen, was involved in the translation of the first book in English: Love’s Hidden Symmetry (1998). I don’t know if it was just her, but that book was well translated. Some of his earlier books were well-translated. This is my personal stance on this of course; in my following him and feeling the essence of what he talked about, he was perfectly well able to speak English you know. He didn’t really need to have translators. Maybe it was just easier for him. For me, some of the later translations lost the soul aspect of his work if you like. German and English are very different languages. I went to Germany to Sciencia – just the once. The translation was frustrating for me. It was jarring. It’s not that those people weren’t gifted, they’re probably brilliant translators. That’s not what it’s about though. In my view, they weren’t able to fully step into the essence of the work and of Bert’s inner world.

ST: I guess that’s one of the challenges, at a professional level translation is a technical discipline. It’s more appropriate perhaps, to think of Constellation Work as being at a different place on the continuum, more of a poetic place. Just as it would be perhaps strange to an engineer of whatever description, to read a technical manual written by a poet, similarly a so-to-speak conventional translator is doing a technical job, they’re not engaged at the soul level; they’re not engaged at an aesthetic level; it’s a different sensibility. 

BM: I think that’s really true you know. Interestingly that makes me think forward. What’s going to happen? Will there be Journals in other languages? This process had just begun on the website as I made contact with a couple of Spanish-speaking people and a few articles are there in that language and in Romanian. The question is: if you do a translation can you find the right translator that can make good sense of the original author’s feelings, where they’re coming from, in what they’re trying to convey? I’ve worked in Romania for over twelve years. I’ve been very lucky in that I’ve had really good translators who know the work, who know me and where I’m coming from and so they have been able to translate in a way that picks up the essence.

ST: It seems what you’re referring to is something you touched on much earlier, particularly in regard to the support that was available to you and has remained available to you in being a Publisher and an Editor, which is relationships. Relational dynamics and those relationships are clearly the glue that helps the work to be empathetically appreciated, better appreciated with some sense of interiority – you know the subjectivity of being engaged with the work. This is a very different perspective from that of someone looking at it from a technical ‘objective’ perspective. I’m sure there’s a like-for-like translation for emotion as a word across all languages for example, but finding the right nuance, to contextualise that, requires a different kind of appreciation or subtlety and that’s a challenge in translation generally, not specifically in the Field of Constellation Work. 

BM: There’s been another aspect in the Journal, in terms of people writing from different cultures and English not being their first language. Having to try and grasp the essence of what they’re trying to say has been a really big learning challenge for me. I remember in the early days when Bert went to Greece – possibly his first visit and this man, Dimitris Stavropoulos who has been a contributor to the Journal in the past, hired two young girls to do the translation. These poor lasses were exposed to Constellation Work probably for the first time. They became emotional; it was really difficult for them. He got really impatient with them. Then there was another occasion, in Poland where someone who was translating for Bert, managed to flip around completely the meaning of what Bert had been trying to convey. It shows what can go awry in terms of translation, so I was very conscious of that in some of the articles that came through the Journal. Where I needed to translate something I was always trying to understand the contributor’s perspective and not necessarily apply formal English in all cases. There would often be background exchanges between a contributor and me, to get best clarity of meaning in their writing. 

ST: I see that as one of the challenges and one of the learning curves of being an Editor of an English language journal with international contributors. I guess that’s something at the outset one doesn’t really have a sense of; it’s only when you’re well into the process and well into the role, that you appreciate those subtleties, nuances and facets of what it is to be an Editor?

BM: Yes. I became very sensitive to non-English words, or technical words or complex words. I would say to myself: “Somebody in Mexico or Russia is not going to get that.” Sometimes I used explanatory Editor’s Notes, to help with more complex or uncommon language forms. I held that quite dear. Also, with the American articles I got – Francesca got used to it – I’d get on my high horse in that I wouldn’t have American spellings in the Journal. I felt very certain about that, except when it was a book extract, then the American spellings would stay. In those contexts too, I would place an explanatory Editor’s Note to clarify the use of American English. Anngwyn was very good about this. Her work was naturally full of American English. She didn’t object to my changing American English contributions from her to British English language. 

ST: What do you feel has been the single most beneficial insight you’ve gained, from your experience of publishing and editing The Knowing Field over the years, and how do you feel that particular insight will continue to serve your personal work going forward?

BM: I think it’s to take time to really get into the sense of a contributor’s perspective, to get past one’s initial reactivity to an article. Who is this person? What is it they are really trying to convey? What are they trying to get across in the written word? Don’t leap to assumptions or conclusions too soon. The advantage with the written word is that you can leave it for a few days or send it to somebody else for their sense of the meaning or intention. In doing this, I can check out my own reactivity and responses to see if someone else is aligned with me. I think that’s the biggest insight. People are so different. Even if you’re just sat in England they’re all different. And of course, this applies with personal contact too and it’s harder because you don’t have the time for consideration and reactivity can be so harmful. I’m learning this on the course on racism I’m going through at the moment.

When you go across the world, there are so many assumptions made, in all sorts of different ways. It can create havoc, the assumptions that we make – it can even form the seeds of war. Can we really hear what others are trying to say? Whether it’s the written word or the spoken word, we might have to sit with them for a while before we get to what it is they’re really trying to say. One has to work down through the layers. Then, if you have the complication of a translated article on top of that, you know I think that’s like another layer. I would say that’s the thing with Bert, he didn’t seem to worry about what people thought about him, or the assumptions people made about him and are still making about him. I remember Albrecht saying to him: “Why do you not defend yourself when these newspapers are publishing lies about you?” He simply replied: “What for? They’re just out to get me.” He stayed back from all of that. In a way I’ve done the opposite, I’ve gone in there to try and understand it more. It’s interesting I valued so much of his philosophy, yet I did the opposite of what he suggested. “Don’t comment upon on other people’s activities,” I’ve done a lot of publishing people’s comments upon other people’s activities. It’s just the other end of the continuum. That’s my biggest insight really.

ST: In looking at the movement in the wider field of Constellations practice, what would be your greatest wish in terms of how the Field continues to develop?

BM: I know this is probably not possible, but my greatest wish would be that the soul, the sacred aspect of the work doesn’t get lost. My greatest fear is that it will. I’m concerned about the rumoured move towards accreditation. That will bring a deadening of the soul of the work I think. Hopefully, I will still be able to stick with my own soul-based approach. If not, it may then be time to hang up my hat.

ST: Just to pick up on that, it seems like a very, very important dimension of the work. I’m genuinely curious to ask you given all of the experience you have as a trainer in many contexts, the extent to which that aspect of the work is teachable?

BM: I get what you’re saying. For me it’s similar to being a parent. It’s like how you model it. It’s in your presence. I can teach people about the various aspects of what helps you to be present. In the end, people pick up this dimension on a visceral level. That was the same with Bert. People said that he doesn’t really teach, which was true at some level, because he just modelled. You could feel it. Some people just never got there with him. They never got to that level. They would just see a superficial level. You have to be able to drop down yourself to touch that level of presence. I do try and convey that, but I’m only really conveying it by my own limited presence. You can try and teach your children how to be ‘good’ people but in the end, they will consciously or unconsciously model themselves on you as parents.

ST: I’m just wondering, with the way you’re responding, whether there’s something about a particular kind of maturity that’s perhaps, actually required to do the work and part of my reason for framing this question this way is when I observe how I came to the work myself. I was in my forties and when I look at the majority of practitioners I meet, they’re people in the majority who are at least in the middle stage of their lives. I’ve yet to meet any much younger adults doing this work. I just wonder if there’s a certain kind of life experience that is required to have sufficient resourcing to do this work and to meet the challenges and issues and situations that presenting clients bring to bear?

BM: Interesting. I mean I remember Jan Jacob Stam saying we needed to take care of the next generation of Constellators, the successors with this work. I have one Lithuanian woman in my current training. She’s in her twenties. We ordered people in terms of age in one exercise, and she was at the beginning of the circle. Yes, there is something in terms of weight, call it spiritual weight, emotional weight that you get over time, whether that be as a parent or grandparent or as a Facilitator, Trainer or Consultant. The one thing that I really hold dear, and it’s interesting how this overlaps with the Editorship of the Journal, is humility. There are some people who say: “Can I come and do the training but just this module and this module, as I’ve already done X elsewhere?” I always say: “No. You haven’t, you’ve not worked with me over a period of time, so you start, whoever you are, even if you’re the Queen of England, you know you start at the grassroots level along with everybody else; this feels really important to me.”

Similarly with the Journal, I don’t care if you’re a top-flight academic or if you sweep the streets, if you’ve got something to say you’re welcome. I feel quite emotional as I say that. That’s really important for me. This is part of my own background, you know very working class, fighting my way through if you like. There’s something about that which is really dear to me – you can do this. You can do what you like in life, you just need to get the right support, know where to ask for it – have vision and drive to achieve. Then, anything becomes possible. 

ST: It’s very interesting to me that in this context you reference your personal background. You frame that in class terms, because one of my observations in being a practitioner and facilitating and, participating in workshops and seminars, contributing to The Knowing Field, and meeting the kinds of issues that clients bring to be constellated, is that in my experience, the wider systemic drivers that inform our experience as individuals and within our family systems, somehow seem quite absent in a lot of the framing of the work, and I wonder if that’s something that’s been an observation for you, and when I say these wider framings I mean about class gender, identity, race and economics. Of course, these dimensions have a bearing and whatever we understand about Orders of Love or First principles, within family systems, these other dynamics must surely inform these principles?

BM: Yes. This is the dilemma with working phenomenologically you know. It’s impossible really to do it fully, because of these aspects. There’s an Irish woman I know who was married to a Kenyan man, actually he contributed to issue 26 of the Journal I mentioned previously, who said that the concept of family is very different there, it’s a matriarchal system. She had to leave her own ‘tribe’ and origins in order to join his tribe/system. We in the wider Constellations community don’t take enough account of these differences, dimensions and dynamics. I personally have had to learn the hard way with this one. 

The emergence of transgender and non-binary identities in the public arena is an example too. Recently, there was a very vigorous series of exchanges on the discussion forum ConstellationTalk, where a woman who was running a Constellation workshop had somehow not taken due account of how she could best communicate these issues within a Constellations context. It was very rich exchange and in places extremely painful. I did the same thing in this context through the Journal, bringing together the Transgender person and the woman, encouraging them to submit articles for the Journal. This is another evolution in the Field that needs including you know. How far can we stretch? Maybe there’ll be a few pioneers for this like you. People who are bringing in these wider issues and making them more overt if you like. The only way, otherwise, is when you come across an individual who challenges your assumptions, which is on such a small level, you can’t embrace it in terms of the wider field in the same way. I think there’s something really important that you’re on to with that. How do we stretch out our practice? 

This is also to do with the individualistic attitude of the Western world; we operate as individuals. Getting across the paradigm shift that’s needed to say: ‘”Yes I’m Barbara Morgan, but my goodness me, I’m part of so much more systemic stuff than this little individual here. I’m not important; it’s the much bigger picture that’s important” is so difficult. It’s a paradigm shift needed in a society that’s very individualistic. You know people who come to workshops and quibble about the pricing in terms of being an Issue holder, a Representative or a Witness/member of the Holding Circle. They haven’t got the basic principle of Constellations, which is that they become part of the Field, seeing what emerges from the Field. You often get far more as a Representative or being in the Holding Group than you do as an Issue holder anyway, because you’re less invested. I’ve not been able to get this across to so many people and it remains a frustration for me, but I hold true to the principle of it. There’s no differentiation for me in terms of participants and what they pay to participate in the work, unless they’re in financial hardship or require a bursary, which is a different issue. In terms of accessibility to doing your own Constellation, let’s just see what emerges. 

A lot of Facilitators don’t work that way so it can be difficult. Some of them offer a graded or hierarchical approach to participation. That, for me, is not Constellation Work and working with the wider Field at all. It’s an interesting principle and I think what you’re picking up on, is the assumptions that are made from where we come from and what we’re not consciously and I’m saying ‘we’, I mean we in the West are not consciously aware of. The duality, right/wrong, good/bad, judgement, perpetrators are bad/victims are good, forgiveness – all that stuff. They’re huge things but at the bottom is a paradigm shift that’s needed, if you’re really going to embrace Constellation Work and many people can’t make that paradigm shift or won’t. I’m not sure which it is because it’s too hard for some people to stand in a place that’s at odds with the society that they’re in. The same is true for de-roling. Even Bert used this once or twice. For me, de-roling implies we’re acting and surely everyone agrees representation is far from acting. We don’t take on a role. We are that representation and in that moment, there is no separation. This is the Field where we are ultimately all one and every single representation becomes a gift for us, on our own soul journey. 

ST: Very interesting. Well maybe that’s a good place for us to stop. It feels like we’ve covered a lot of ground from both the origin of your engagement with taking on the Journal, some of the personal challenges and successes that you’ve experienced in that journey and some of the dynamics you’ve been witness to and have supported, having a platform to be articulated in regard to developments in the wider Field. Do you agree or is there some burning element you feel it very necessary to say more about or something that you haven’t already touched upon? 

BM: No, I think this is a good place to stop. It’s interesting how it’s panned out isn’t it? It’s kind of included much more of my own philosophy on life if you like.

ST: Maybe that was a welcome inevitability?

BM: Yes, and it’s not separate of course. Barbara the ‘Editor’ is me, Barbara the ‘Trainer’ is me, Barbara is Barbara. It’s just who I am. I guess that’s another aspect, being aligned with what you’re doing really helps and I feel aligned with Constellation Work; as an Editor, trainer or facilitator, or as someone just talking to another person about it. I’m coming from a very heartfelt place. 

ST: Barbara, I really appreciate your time today, thank you. It’s been very illuminating, inspiring and enriching. I look forward to seeing our conversation in print – so to speak. Let’s see what emerges.

BM: Many thanks Stuart. It’s been a very enriching experience for me too. I want to say a final thank you to all those who offered gratitude and acknowledgement recently on ConstellationTalk for the work I had done over the years. Those offerings touched me deeply. 

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ISCA past, present and future

How ISCA came to be 

(from the ISCA website www.isca-network.org)

Paul Stoney 

(Chair of ISCA 2019 – 2023)

Discussions about an international association for systemic constellations were initiated many years ago by members of the IAG (roughly translated as The International Working Group for Systemic Resolution in the Tradition of Bert Hellinger). Under the leadership of Heinrich Breuer, the mainly German IAG was eager to investigate the possibility of creating an international association.

At the 2005 International Congress in Cologne, Heinrich Breuer, Gunthard Weber, Albrecht Mahr, Jakob Schneider and Hunter Beaumont convened a meeting which was representing all the countries attending the conference. The goal was to assess the interest in creating an international organisation, which the participants unanimously agreed to pursue. Concerns about criteria and the need for an inclusive vision were expressed and agreed upon.

Heinrich Breuer convened a second meeting in Cologne in June 2006. Based on clear evidence of interest in the global community, a steering committee of volunteers was formed to develop the proposal for a new association, composed of: Hunter Beaumont (Germany), Heinrich Breuer (Germany), Gerard Fossat (France), Milena Karlinska (Poland), Annouche Katzeff (Belgium), Constanze Potschka-Lang (France), Katharina Stresius (Germany), Marta Thorsheim (Norway) and Richard Wallstein (England) with Richard as Chairman.

The proposal developed included a name for the organisation:

“International Systemic Constellation Association (ISCA)”

and contained issues of membership criteria, curriculum, and website development and indicated the international community’s commitment to:

An inclusive association;

Supporting excellence without controlling its members;

Multi-cultural and interdisciplinary;

Networking, dialogue and diversity;

An infrastructure supportive of the whole and the individual;

Supporting the field;

Not-for-profit.

In May 2007, the proposal was presented to the “Founding Assembly of ISCA” to 80 practitioners from around the world, following the close of the International Congress in Cologne. There were discussions and suggestions coming from Assembly members, including a move, carried by the Assembly, to honour Bert Hellinger as the founder of systemic constellation work. The Assembly voted unanimously to proceed with creating an Association in accordance with the amended committee’s proposal, hereafter known as the Original Charter of ISCA.

Hunter Beaumont, Richard Wallstein and Constanze Potschka-Lang were elected as the first Board of ISCA in the positions of President, Vice President and Treasurer respectively. The IAG donated €3,500 as a start-up fund. The original charter was changed and shortened  during the following year and was registered on 1st July 2008.

In the period from 2007 to 2011 during the Chairmanship of Hunter Beaumont, it was decided for the International Training Intensive, which had been running since 2001 at ZIST and was also organised by Beaumont, to come under ISCA’s umbrella. The annual Intensive became officially the main activity of ISCA and it provided a fantastic learning opportunity for people from all over the world for many years, specially before other intensives were established worldwide.

However, despite the success of the Intensive, this arrangement did not seem to work that well for ISCA as an international professional association of constellators, which endeavoured to also promote SCW in the mainstream, to be a source of information and support for members and the public as well as to be the all-inclusive platform from which to foster the diversity in the development of Systemic Constellation Work. The focus solely on the Intensive, did not seem to do much towards realising the goals as defined in ISCA’s mission.

After the retirement of Hunter Beaumont, the organisation of the Intensive (now being popularly called ‘Bernried’ after the changed location) was entrusted to Lutz Bessel, who also became General Manager for ISCA. Even though the Intensive was running successfully every year, the then ISCA Board, together with its managing director concluded that there was not enough energy for ISCA to be maintained as an international association. In an email sent to all members in Autumn 2014, ISCA was being declared unsustainable - despite a healthy bank account – as well as lacking interest coming from its members. They suggested for ISCA to be closed.

For the association to be closed, the decision had to be endorsed by 75% of the voting membership. This result was not reached and elections for a new Board were held. The newly elected Board took over in 2015. The Chair Max Dauskardt put most effort in keeping the association afloat and breathing fresh life into it by setting some new directions.

As part of the handover process in May 2015 the decision was made to separate  the Bernried Intensive from ISCA. Lutz Bessel continued to organise the intensive as his initiative.

The first term after this major change for ISCA was marked by some difficulty, as this, basically new association, was trying to strengthen its legs. The new Board inherited the Association’s legacy of an ambivalent relationship to the founder of SCW and a passive membership with some doubts about the ability of the association to represent their interests and to support them in their practice / implementation of the work. How to be inclusive of all the different approaches to the SCW, in itself not easily definable, with constant change being a hallmark of the constellation approach – remains a challenge.

In its second term, Chair Max Dauskardt, together with his fellow elected Board members Paul Stoney, Aud Marit Esbensen and coopted member Alemka Dauskardt, organised the second ISCA Gathering in Opatija in September 2018. This Gathering strengthened the Association according to its vision and mission goals, guided by the motto “strengthening what we have in common, while celebrating our diversity”, thus taking another step towards ISCA’s future. Regular monthly online members meetings and a lively Facebook group with many members, among other activities, became an encouraging sign of ISCA’s continuity.

The Expansion of ISCA

In July 2019 a new ISCA Board of five was elected to reflect the expanding nature of ISCA’s vision. The new Board was Chair: Paul Stoney (UK), Vice-Chair: Stephanie Hartung (Germany), Treasurer: Louis Hillebrand (Belgium), Head of Regional Chapters: Alexandra Finkelstein (Mexico), Head of Communications: Cristina Muntean (Czech Republic). Over the following two years the number of Regional Chapters grew and offered monthly members meetings in Spanish, French, Turkish, Greek and Portuguese. In 2020 ISCA launched a new members website https://members.isca-network.org which has given further opportunities for communications amongst members and storing resource material (such as recordings of online members discussions). 

The ISCA2021 Gathering (theme “Belonging – Thriving Together”) was planned to take place in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico but when the coronavirus pandemic curbed international travel over the next two years the decision was taken to hold it online. Despite initial disappointment at not meeting in person the ISCA2021 Gathering turned out to be a great success with nearly 50 international speakers and over 300 participants from all over the world. Because of its inclusiveness it is now our intention to hold the next ISCA2023 Gathering online as well.

In July 2021 four of the five existing Board stood again to be re-elected and were joined by Nikos Vayiakakos (Greece) who took on the responsibilities of communication and public relations. As well as the growing monthly members meetings there was an increase in other special online events such as “ISCA café” and “Systemic Gems” and mini-intensives run by Regional Chapters.

The Future of ISCA

Since the pandemic there have been many online initiatives in the Constellation world. Since 2020 the Australasian International Intensive has been running a large scale online annual constellation conference and have recently started online training programmes. The South African based REAL Academy have also been providing online talks and other resources for Constellators. These initiatives have been welcomed by ISCA as they are designed to support and strengthen constellators in their practice. This has also been the contribution of ‘The Knowing Field” journal with which ISCA has collaborated over the years. 

In contrast many ISCA members have been troubled and confused by the recent launch and marketing methods of Constellators International (CI) which is a private business offering an alternative for networking opportunities and an international structural recognition for constellators. Regrettably the methods used in the founding of this company necessitated the ISCA Board seeking legal advice from specialist lawyers who subsequently issued CI with a legal reprimand for its use of ISCA member data, its marketing methods and its attempts to damage the reputation of ISCA. How can an international recognition programme for constellators be meaningful if offered by an organisation whose founders received a legal reprimand for their methods and ethics towards other ISCA members? More details of the legal advice have been sent to ISCA members and can be requested from admin@isca-network.org.

The emergence of a private business initiative such as this has nevertheless given ISCA an opportunity to reassess its original purpose and clarify its distinctiveness as a not-for-profit association.

In 2020 I had a conversation with Hunter Beaumont the first president of ISCA. I wanted to honour his role in the formation of ISCA and tell him about how ISCA had been developing. He sent his blessing with the words “It would be spectacular if ISCA fulfils its potential.”

I will soon be considering standing for a third term as Chair of ISCA. I take seriously the original aims of ISCA as a not-for-profit association and still feel inspired by the following vision that emerged for the ISCA Board when I became Chair in 2019:

“We have a dream of thriving together

By living our diversity while being one

We branch out and we learn by sharing

In a vibrant laboratory of humanity.”

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History Of Nations, Cultures & Religions

Islam & Constellations: Aligning to The Natural Order

Nadia Rehman Sadiq

The word Islam إسلام comes from the verb ‘aslama’ أسلم meaning ‘to surrender’ or ‘hand over to’. In essence meaning surrender to God, Allah. It is also formed of the letters from the root word ‘salaam’ سلام, which means peace. The whole faith, followed by nearly two billion people around the world,[1] is centred around these components: surrender to Allah and being in a state of peace. In a similar fashion to Constellation Work, we let go of control and knowing, by trusting in something much bigger and much more powerful than ourselves. There is, within Islam, also a recognition of the interconnectedness of people and reference to a collective consciousness. A famous hadith (saying of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him) says:

“The parable of the believers in their affection, mercy, and compassion for each other is that of a body. When any limb aches, the whole body reacts with sleeplessness and fever.”[2]

This hadith is the first thing that came to my mind when I heard about the ‘The Knowing Field’ in Constellation Work. My understanding of this energetic body, is that it’s a field of information that is all-aware, and contains energy of past, present and even future. The parts within the field are impacted by events in different parts of the field. I believe Allah has full knowledge of all that happens in this field. He facilitates movement when we take a step, or a breath or utter a word, or a healing sentence. He already has awareness of all things that we come to be aware of when we tune in to the field. Allah says in the Qur’an:

“Whether you keep your words secret or state them openly, He knows the contents of every heart”[3] and that “He does not change the condition of a people unless they change what is within themselves.”[4]

The whole movement within a constellation is a process of becoming conscious of what is within, consequently facilitating change, or in Bert Hellinger’s words a “Movement of the Soul.” Allah says: “O Mankind! Be conscious of your Lord who created you all from one soul, to know one another…be mindful of Allah…and honour family ties.”[5] It’s unsurprising then, how we see the movements of the soul in the field. Yet, at the same time witnessing and experiencing it is perplexing and incredible. What happens in the field becomes a cause for effect that is seen and felt in the physical world outside of the constellation space.

Although the essence of Islam is about peace, much of the Muslim world is in suffering. We are still in trauma from the colonisation of our lands, and our communities are still experiencing trauma daily, including the genocide of Uyghurs in Xinjiang, the ongoing war and destruction of Palestine and Syria and the overt oppression of Muslim women in Iran. The Muslim body is in great pain. Constellation Work is a potential for us to heal from the traumas that are causing our body to ache. One movement at a time we can heal as a collective. One thing I admire about Constellation Work is its gentle nature, its trust in timing, the way it surrenders to something greater. For me it is more like trusting Allah, who is Ar-Raqeeb: The Watchful and Al-Jabbar: The Restorer. I imagine it like a field before Allah, in which we embody the felt-sense, allowing pain to be transformed through our witnessing of it and through our honouring of what is. I believe as we heal, we also have opportunity to come closer to Allah through the openings where light can enter. It’s like a gentle stroke of love that breaks down barriers between, and within, us. In the words of the sufi, mystic and poet, Rumi:

“Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it” – Rumi

This quote is one of my favourites. As a psychologist, energy healer, and now trainee constellation facilitator, I have come some way in dismantling barriers that have been erected by myself to protect my heart against the pains of this world. I have held on to Michael Singer’s words in his book The Untethered Soul (2007), where he gives an illustration of self-protection as blocking out God’s light but never actually diminishing it. Because even if we box ourselves behind brick walls in the middle of a sunny field, we have merely stopped ourselves seeing the light; it does not mean the light has gone away. He writes: “Your relationship with God is the same as your relationship with the sun. If you hid from the sun for years and then chose to come out of your darkness, the sun would still be shining as if you had never left… you can’t make the sun stop shining on you, you can only choose not to look at it. The moment you look, you’ll see it’s there.” (Singer, 2007, p180). In the same way Allah’s light and love is continuously around us, but it is our heart that we have barricaded.

My parents are from Pakistan and carry with them the traumas of partition, as do I. Like many Muslims I’ve been taught about the importance of parents since a young age. It drives a lot of our actions. Also like many Muslims, I have struggled with having compassion for them because our traumas have been huge barriers to connection. It can be difficult to see beyond the pain. I’ve noticed how many younger generations of Muslim and South Asian populations are in conflict with their parents; separated from their parents; bigger than their parents. Or they are forcefully being in relationship with their parents out of obligation rather than love, causing a split between one’s inner world and outer actions. Through the work of constellation therapy, we may get back to our natural order with love. God says in the Qur’an:

“Your Lord has decreed that you worship none but Him and be kind to parents…”[6]

In the verse above, Allah shows us an order; the position of parents in one’s life. The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: 

“One who desires a long life and an increase in livelihood should exhibit goodness towards his parents and establish bonds of kinship (with his relatives).”[7] 

Parents have been mentioned many times throughout the Qur’an and in many Prophetic and scholarly teachings. The mother and father too have been mentioned separately. In one example, a man came to the Prophet (peace be upon him) to ask whether he could join an expedition for Islam. The Prophet (peace be upon him) asked whether he had a mother, and then instructed the man: 

“Stay with your mother, heaven lies under her feet.”[8] 

A mother is not just someone who has given birth, but any woman who is caring for children and the community. In the 7th century works called the ‘Treatise of Rights’ by Imam Zayn Al-Abidin, he writes: 

“Your father’s right is that you should know that he is your root, and you are his branch. And without him, you would not be. Whenever you see anything in yourself which pleases you, you should know that your father is the root of its blessing upon you. So, praise Allah and thank Him in recognition of that. And there is no power but in Allah.”

In recent years I’ve been in a parallel process of beginning to comprehend the wisdom behind these teachings, whilst also feeling more fully into what love my parents can give me, and I to them. It’s been a more hearty and open exchange. I have Barbara Morgan to thank for that. In 2018 I had my very first experience of Constellation Work in a workshop with Barbara. Since then, I have noticed greater compassion and empathy for my parents, and a greater peace within myself. I was able to witness, to some extent, what trauma my parents were carrying – how the mass migration during partition had caused splits in the family and given rise to mental and physical health issues. Instead of being disappointed and angry that they couldn’t be more present in my life, I felt compassion and gratitude that despite all the trauma, they did what they could and I am here, well and safe.  

In December 2021 I picked up the famous book by Mark Wolynn ‘It Didn’t Start With You’. Unbeknownst to me at the time it was related to Constellation Work. There was something he said that really stood out to me:

“If we truly want to embrace life and experience joy, if we truly want deep and satisfying relationships, and health that’s vibrant and resilient, if we truly want to live up to our full potential, without the sense of being broken inside, we must first repair our broken relationships with our parents.” (Wolynn, 2017, p66) 

Impaired relationships with parents are believed to obscure the flow of life, love and livelihood (Payne, 2005). Both these teachings and those I shared above from Islam, seem to be from the same hymn sheet. It was on the same day that I began reading Mark Wolynn’s book, that I had an e-mail about the start of Barbara’s training. Now, writing this in November 2022, having begun training in this work, I am seeing how powerful the relationship with our parents really is. I’m valuing the Islamic teaching of ‘goodness to parents’ through a renewed perspective. I’m seeing how the importance of the natural order within Islam: to believe in Allah, follow His Messenger Muhammad (peace be upon him) and be kind to our parents, has immense wisdom.

Following the natural orders, as laid out by Allah, is a lifelong pursuit of a Muslim. It’s in surrendering and worshipping Allah above all else, it’s in respecting our parents and maintaining ties of kinship and it’s in our daily practice of prayer (to name a few  examples). The practice of prayer also has an order. Each prayer is given an allotted time that covers each portion of the day; dawn, mid-day, afternoon, dusk and night. The prayer or ‘salah’ is a sacred ritual in itself. Its origins are from one of the biggest miracles of the Prophet (peace be upon him) where he ascended to the heavens and received the order of prayer directly from Allah. It is known as ‘The Night Journey and Ascension, Al Isra’ Wa-Al Mi’raj’. Before carrying out the prayer we perform a ritual wash or ‘wudhu’. Rituals are embedded throughout Islam. They are the points of contact between the physical and spiritual realms. Poppy Altmann, who’s assisting on the training with Barbara, shared with us how rituals are a transformation or a transmutation. When performed with intent, readiness and presence, our state is transformed through the ritual. It reminded me of Shaykh Hamza Yusuf’s explanation about the tradition of walking to the mosque for prayer,[9] something my 72-year-old father-in-law continues to do every single morning. Both the acts of the ritual wash and walking to the mosque, prepare one to stand before Allah in a state of purity and God-consciousness.

The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: “If there was a river at your door and he (a person) took a bath in it five times a day, would you notice any dirt on him?” They (the companions) said: “Not a trace of dirt would be left.” The Prophet said, “that is the parable of the five prayers by which Allah removes sin.”[10]

Like many other parts of the Islamic faith, prayer is a ritual that directly links to the heart centre and affects the soul. It is the heart that we are encouraged to keep pure and settled, because we believe it is the heart that will illuminate our way in both worlds. More than anything else about us, our heart is what Allah values. The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: 

“Verily, Allah does not look at your appearance or wealth,
but rather He looks at your heart and your actions.”[11]

In this sense, the practices within Islam, such as goodness to one’s parents and prayer, are: to keep our hearts open and clean; to maintain a flow of pure energy. In Arabic the word for heart is ‘qalb’, which also means ‘to turn’ like a leaf or a feather in the wind, signifying the nature of the heart as something that is constantly in motion. Therefore, it requires gentleness and purity to receive guiding light and to give that light to others. He (peace be upon him) also said: 

“There is a piece of flesh in the body if it becomes good (reformed) the whole body becomes good but if it gets spoilt the whole body gets spoilt and that is the heart.”[12]

If we think of the initial parable of the body being a metaphor for the collective, if our heart is dirty or broken or hardened, this will affect our relationships too. And so, we create a domino effect of the implications of having an ‘ill heart’. Things like lying, backbiting, hypocrisy, sin, overindulgence and being away from The Divine, create darkness in the heart, whereas things like prayer, remembrance of The Divine, love, mercy, service, gratitude and kindness, bring light to the heart. There is scientific research by The Heartmath Institute13 that illustrates how the heart has a large electromagnetic field that can be felt several feet outside of the body, that can also sync up with other people’s fields, even in different parts of the world. They have also conducted research that shows how the heart’s electromagnetic field can influence the electromagnetic fields of other organs in the body. The work of Dr. Joe Dispenza is also a great place to read more about the valuable research on our energy fields and the impact it has on our wellbeing and relationships individually and collectively. Muslims believe that the light of the heart connects us to Allah and allows us to receive inspiration. Allah says in the Qur’an: 

“God is the light of the Heavens and the Earth.”[14]

The whole ritual of prayer provides a beautiful rhythm to the day whilst reminding us about the omnipresence of Allah and inviting light into our life. A companion of The Prophet narrated the following exchange with the Prophet: I asked, “O Messenger of Allah, which deed is best?” The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “Prayer in its proper time,” I asked, “What is next?” The Prophet said, “Good treatment of parents.” I asked, “What is next?” The Prophet said, “Striving in the way of Allah.”[15]

The care towards parents here is intertwined with the most significant rituals and beliefs in Islam. Having order and peace in our life comes from maintaining the order of these elements. 

The natural orders that Muslims strive to adhere to, are ancient wisdom that we believe has come directly from Allah. These teachings have been around for 1400 years and some even longer. They are part of the same teachings that were brought by other Messengers of Allah such as Abraham, Moses and Jesus (peace be upon them all). With all the trauma in our communities, it is my hope that Constellation Work will help those of the Muslim faith to acknowledge the pain in their families, so they can embody the love and light that is central to their faith, and they can come closer to what they already know.

I want to end with a beautiful prayer of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him):

“O Allah, place within my heart light, and upon my tongue light, and within my ears light, and within my eyes light, and place behind me light, and in front of me light, and above me light, and beneath me light. O Allah, bestow upon me light.” [16]

Ameen.

REFERENCES

Singer, A. M. (2007) The Un-tethered Soul: The Journey Beyond The Self. New Harbinger Publications; California, USA.

Imam Zayn al-‘Abidin. Treatise on Rights (Risalat al-Huquq). Al-Islam.org

Wolynn, M. (2017) It Didn’t Start With You: How inherited family trauma shapes who we are and how to end the cycle. Penguin Books, New York, USA.

Payne, L. J. (2005) The Healing of Individuals, Families and Nations. Findhorn Press, Scotland.

Dispenza, J. Becoming Supernatural: How common people are doing the uncommon. Hay House Inc. California, USA.

Notes:

1. Pew Research Centre 2017

2. Sahih al-Bukhari 5665, Sahih Muslim 2586

3. Holy Quran, Surah Al- Mulk (67: 13)

4. Holy Qur’an, Surah Al-Ra’d (13: 11)

5. Holy Qur’an, Surah An-Nisa (4: 1)

6. Holy Qur’an, Surah Al-Isra (17: 23)

7. Kanzul ‘Ummal Volume 16 page 475

8. Sunan al-Nasa’i 3104

9. Zaytuna College (2022) The Prophetic Practice of Mindful Walking. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpK36YseSqI

10. Sahih al- Bukhari 528, Sahih Muslim 667

11. Sahih Muslim 2564

12. Sahih al- Bukhari volume 1, Book 2: 49

13. https://www.heartmath.org/

14. Surah An-Nur (24: 35)

15. Sahih al-Bukhari 2630, Sahih Muslim 85

16. Sahuh al-Bukhari 6316, Sahih Muslim 763

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Nature Constellations

Entering the Field: Constellations with Horses

Colette Green

This is a woven story of personal experience, Constellation Work, systemic principles, and horse wisdom. These come together to form a body of healing work, which is deeply connected to nature and cross-species communication. When I reflect, I see how this all developed and how it extends out from my love of Constellation Work with people and brings us into another realm.

The story really starts when the beautiful chestnut mare Ms Twiggy came into my life, or even long before. She was an extraordinary gift. She was born to a thoroughbred mother and her passport stated father unknown. She felt way out of my league, far too good for me and yet she had come to me! It had been a long time since I had owned a horse of my own and like a child I received a life gift again this time from my ‘Mare’ Twiggy. She was a teacher and through her I could remember the extraordinary interspecies connection that it is possible to have between horses and humans.

Twiggy brought with her the capacity to crack open my heart, to challenge me beyond imaginable possibilities, to guide me into mindfulness and living in the present moment. It is like stepping into the Knowing Field of a constellation when you consciously step into the energy field of the horse. As you come home to yourself, all the senses can open – that special smell of equine Chanel, the feel, the touch of skin on skin; the lightning strike of her fear, the softness of her nuzzle. There is a magic that happens when you bury your head in a horse’s mane and breathe in their depth – and then you listen! 

Through Twiggy I could recall how important contact with horses had been to me growing up. I hadn’t been conscious of it at all: the co-regulation and nourishment, these earlier experiences had never taken shape in words.

These powerful ancient creatures, sensitive beyond human perception are prey and carry all the accompanying awareness and vigilance that follows thousands of years of survival. 

I came across an important book ‘The Tao of Equus’ (2001) by Linda Kohanov. [1] For me, Linda led the way in equine facilitated psychotherapy. In publishing her first book, Linda took the risk of encountering judgement from the ‘horse people’. She is often guided by her dreams, visions, animal communication and the insightful power of learning horse wisdom from the herd. Her first book and all her subsequent books were so well received; thousands came out of the woodwork. It became clear that there were many people around the world having extraordinary experiences with their horses and they were now speaking about them and working with them.

However, not everybody ‘gets it’: many people who have been around horses all their lives don’t get it. But when you move from the horse being a tool, a commodity, an instrument to fulfil a competitive lifelong goal, a money-making machine, well, then this field can open. It is such an emotional discovery that these magnificent creatures are ceaselessly, patiently teaching us. Linda talks about the courage, humility, focus and flexibility it takes for a human being to listen to the messages they carry and send. 

Might this also run parallel in the field of Constellation Work – the courage to be authentic in the field; the humility to be the right size and take our right place; the focus to be exactly where we are; the flexibility to flow with the movements of the Soul as it opens to receive new messages and perceptions?

When you enter the energy field of the horse respectfully and they look up from what they were doing and they ‘see you’ and make that special nickering sound of recognition, the words that come, are from the sacred sentences: ‘I see you and I see you seeing me’. Being seen and seeing in this way can bring a spaciousness, which fills the heart or the empty space. Everything about horses has a human parallel. Every growth and setback we gain through the horse can be clearly mirrored in our own lives. If you pay attention, horses can show you what wants to be seen. It is an unfolding constellation.

The horses are non-judgemental representatives; they offer quiet pools of reflection and show hidden powerful dynamics with authenticity. It is as though they tune in, express, release and then they go back to grazing. As Peter Levine [2] remarked: they have this capacity to release energy, which we humans have often lost. They may gallop it out and when their release is done, they can go back to grazing!

So Twiggy came, she taught me, then she left and for all the unfinished business in my life I saw her through to the end, witnessing it all the way. She had been very ill before with ulcerative colitis and I thought we had lost her, but our vet said: “No, we are not there yet.” He said, what happened now was up to the mare. After days and nights of care she came back, she stayed. She had more to teach, I had more to learn. A year later on my father’s anniversary and as my daughter-in-law and son were losing their 3rd child through miscarriage, that is when the time did come. Twiggy became very ill again, we were there; it was time. 

I led her from her stable, on our slow final walk to the barn. With Brian the vet and Pat the yard owner, a gentle arm around my shoulder, I held her in my heart as she slowly sank to the ground.

I just followed my heart with the horses, particularly with Candy and later Twiggy – these two are my Soul horses. Candy my little black welsh mare was such a kind pony. She and I used to fly across Sandymount strand galloping as one or just walking quietly through the rockpools. One day she bolted across a road, was knocked down by a car and had to be put to sleep. Her loss, to a 14 year-old girl was indescribable. 

It was perhaps 40 years later when I stood in a constellation, with a number of horses including a black mare, that the fullness of that young girl’s grief flowed and flowed – I could finally say goodbye to Candy. Grief that was held for so long had opened in moments. I understood the draw to work in this way. Horses and constellations – such a powerful combination. Sally Hayes [3] found in her research that unresolved grief was something that came to light when people worked with horses.

Bert Hellinger’s phenomenal teaching on ‘The High Art of Helping’[4] was something I was very drawn to. It held such meaning for me and facilitated a clean and unentangled way of working with people. I wanted to incorporate it with the systemic principles of relationship and at the same time use the constellation methodology, partnering of course with horses. 

It came together in a very creative way and the workshop was called: 

The High Art of Helping 

An experiential workshop assisted by Horse Presence and Wisdom:

Constellation Work with Horses

Dierdre Kennedy [5] and I ran these workshops based on the Eagala [6] team method of an Equine specialist and a Mental Health professional together with a team of horses. Throughout a day of meditations, constellations and exercises we partnered with about 11 horses. As we moved through the work, they moved with us, around us, an integral part of the whole process. We ended the workshops in a group constellation of belonging and connection. This was experienced by each of the participants as the horses moved, connecting with each member of the group and bringing the whole group close together in a final movement.

An innovative constellation experience with the horses occurred during Covid: a creative exercise for the final online module of the facilitator training with Spanda, India. I worked in person, so to speak and the following day joined the students online with Annie Cariapa [7] of Spanda. The constellation energy field expanded from a country field in North Cork in Ireland to various parts of India and beyond. 

Holding each member of the group in my heart I firstly cleared myself, feeling my maternal and paternal line supporting me. There was no plan apart from entering the field where I made a spontaneous video filming going through a door into a large field where the horses were and inviting the group to come with me. The invitation was to feel their individual intention and be open to their experience as horses became representatives in each one’s personal constellation. The video was called ‘Entering the field’. 

Very slowly I approached the horses; they looked up, I had entered their energy field. I stood back as a movement began, it was slow and very beautiful. They walked, they lay down one and then all together, they rolled, groomed each other. They moved apart and turned their backs, they pawed the ground, as they reared the movements continued. Then slowly, one by one they left the energy field in which the constellation had taken place. Each, in their own time walked away, over to the trees at edge of the field by the stream. They stood, looked back and then all three went back to grazing. 

We showed the video to the group the next day; they engaged individually in a profound way with what they witnessed. There was a sacredness about it all. This was a different sort of blind constellation.

Some people later did individual work in which we used a similar sort of process. It was different to the group work, as it was done in real time. They would send their intention by mail. I would stand in the field with the horses, clear myself, bring in my ancestral support and read the client’s question, respecting and including all their ancestry, the horse ancestry and how life had come down to all of us. Then coming into resonance, I would film the horses as the constellation movements unfolded. The video of this blind constellation was then sent to the client and left with them. 

A client came who had been holding a lot of rage, which she couldn’t access. We stood at the gap in the hedge and the three horses suddenly took off, thundering around, again and again, racing across the paddock, bucking and rearing for what felt like quite a long time. We watched as they represented the thundering rage she had been unable to express and when they finally settled and went back to grazing, she felt a huge sense of relief and gratitude and ease in her body.

There has been some interesting work with families. Where parents were concerned for a young person I offered individual constellations for the parents and then later worked with the young person in the presence of the horses. We would go to the horses, take time to observe them and the young person would bring their question or challenge and would set up a constellation of what they wanted to explore. 

One young person worked on her relationships with sibling and parents, weaving her way through the difficult times, finding resilience and strength with the little Shetland mare Polly. She liked the feeling of two horses who came up behind her like parents. 

Later standing in the middle of a constellation of three horses she said; this is lovely, this is what I want, it is as though I am standing in the middle of my very happy family: my mother, my father and my baby sister.

I feel a lot of gratitude to be able to work like this, in such a creative process. I realise also that this has come as a gift from Covid. When I could not work indoors, then the stable, the paddock and the field became my practice rooms.

In these settings all of nature becomes part of the constellation, symbolic and real: the boundary fence, the wall, the door, the trees; all the sounds, the textures, the smells. The stream, the sky, the birds, the cats, the dog along with the horses and one cannot but connect to the Earth, the very ground that holds us all. Working like this, nothing is excluded and everything that is has a place and a oneness.

Twiggy and Candy always have a special place in my heart!

Notes:

1. Linda Kohanov: Author Equine psychotherapy trainer, speaker, educator. Eponaquest.com

2. Peter Levine: Psychotherapist, founder and pioneer of somatic experiencing, author and trainer.
www.somaticexperiencing.com

3. Sally Hayes: Psychotherapist. MA thesis: An exploration of client experience of equine assisted psychotherapy. Eagala mental health professional.

4. Bert Hellinger: The High Art of Helping: Bert Hellinger Training lecture & handout. Pichl, Austria 2007 

5. Deirdre Kennedy: Integrative trauma specialist/facilitator. Equine Specialist. www.dkcranioscacral.com

6. Eagala: Equine Assisted Growth and Learning Association USA www.eagala.org

7. Annie Cariapa: Founder of Spanda Asia. Master practitioner NLP & TA. Constellation trainer and facilitator.
www.spanda.asia

Acknowledgements:

Bert Hellinger: Founder of Constellation Work. Teacher.

Bringing together that which has been separated so that love can flow. 

Thanks to all my teachers, all my students and all the people I have worked together with over the years. You have all taught me and brought me to now. I have so valued the friendships, conversations and explorations together.

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New Approaches

Kintsugi Constellations

Kay Shoda

Kintsugi is the ancient Japanese art of mending broken pottery. Urushi (lacquer) is used to fuse the broken pieces together and fill in the cracks. As the lacquer dries, fine gold powder is dusted on to the areas that were repaired. Kintsugi is also a philosophy that brings light to what was damaged, the healing process, and honours the past.

In 2019, the collective field of war came up in my personal work. During this time, I wrote two poems that expressed feeling displaced and broken. This became an article in issue 35 of The Knowing Field. After I wrote this article, wondering how Kintsugi philosophy could be included in a constellation, something began to emerge. Three years later while receiving acupuncture, Kintsugi came to mind and revealed the Kintsugi Constellation, a template with three elements: Broken Pieces, Lacquer, and Gold. It felt solid. Within 48 hours, everything came together to try this template with a group of friends and colleagues on Zoom.

For a Kintsugi Constellation, you need a minimum of five people:

1. Client

2. Client’s representative

3. Representative for the Elements:

4. Representative for Broken Pieces – What feels broken/fractured?

5. Representative for Lacquer – What would help the broken pieces to mend?

6. Representative for Gold – What needs to be acknowledged?

I facilitated two constellations using this template on Zoom. The client chose four representatives and did not share anything about the Broken Pieces. There were moments when the representatives became personified, and the representative for the client weakened. Whenever the energy of the field dipped, I asked everyone to take deep breaths. The focus was on how Broken Pieces, Lacquer, and Gold could support the client by tracking how each representative felt in their body. Healing statements were simple. On Zoom, each representative described physical sensations and spatial proximity in relation to others in the Field. For an in-person constellation, I feel that Kintsugi Constellation could be done in silence like the Movement of the Soul. The clients appreciated not having to share their issues. My colleagues shared that the Kintsugi Field safely held the client while revealing many layers that could be explored as a follow-up session. Here is some feedback from the first Circle:

“Kintsugi template begins with resources available to the client. The template itself is based on the idea of healing, beauty, and wholeness… The Field felt very rich… like life sending a message that there is a ‘golden’ lining to everything… I think this template is a lifeline for people who are dealing with deep shame or trauma.” 

“The template feels simple and at the same time it goes really deep. I feel that this template goes to the core issue immediately but in a gentle way. I really like that this template gives the client and representatives support. Feels like the main focus with this template is to resource the client and at the same time find the part that needs healing.”

“I found myself second-guessing some of what I was experiencing. Part of the reason for that is I was surprised by how much of the constellation resonated with me. Maybe not hearing the story/specific issue before the beginning made it easier for me to personalise it.”

Before testing this template with my colleagues and friends, I was concerned that Kintsugi would get lost in translation so I sat and asked each element to speak.

This is what the elements said:

I am the broken pieces
I am sharp and jagged
I look ugly and useless
But I am the same inside
And will never forget
Where I come from.

I am lacquer
I come as liquid
And solidify with time
I fuse and mend
Broken pieces
Stitch and bridge gaps
I need stillness
To become whole.

I am gold
I kiss lacquer
And light up the past
You can see
The cracks
The shattered
And the missing pieces
Every piece belongs
I honour the past
And show you what is possible.

From the moment Kintsugi Constellations came through me, I felt supported by this generous Field in ways I never imagined. While writing this article, I went to the local botanical garden to have lunch and rest in my favourite spot. As the afternoon sun cast a shadow over the area, four wild rabbits started grazing, equidistant from each other. One rabbit looked golden in the sun. The rest were in the shade and stayed for a while. I smiled and thanked them for representing my template. Broken Pieces, Lacquer, and Gold are all from nature – clay, tree sap and metal. Perhaps this is why Kintsugi Constellations feels gentle and expansive. On September 24, 2022, Irei: National Monument for the WWII Japanese American Incarceration opened and now exhibits Ireichoˉ at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles. This book holds more than 125,000 names of people who were incarcerated in various camps during WWII: 

“Ireicho: The Book of Names is not just a monument of remembrance, it is also a monument of repair. By addressing past omissions and errors in the government records, we have an opportunity to amend and rectify the historical record – and in so doing, collectively make our past whole.” [1]

My grandfather, Seiichi Shoda, my grandmother, Kinu Oda Shoda, my father, Yoshito Shoda and five of his siblings were incarcerated in the camps. I was able to locate three of my family members by visiting the virtual book in the website listed at the end. My father never talked about this part of our family history until I asked him as a college student. He told me not to be upset and did not discuss it any further. In recent years, as my father’s dementia progressed, I asked him questions by sharing how important it was for me and his grandchildren to know what happened. I still have many missing pieces in my family history, but through the Japanese American National Museum, the Japanese American communities, and the internet, I am gathering more information. Kintsugi is not about perfectly repairing what is broken – it is appreciating what comes together. This philosophy goes so well with systemic constellations. Peace comes when we acknowledge what happened and allow the Field to settle into our souls.

Thank you, Francesca Mason Boring and Anngwyn St. Just for your continued support and encouragement. I am also grateful for the friends and colleagues who helped me try out this template and gave me feedback. All of you are my Lacquer and Gold. 

Notes:

1. About | Ireizo | National Names Monument Honoring Persons of Japanese Ancestry Incarcerated in the U.S. During WWII (ireizo.com)

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Personal Reflections

Diversity and the Systemic Perspective in a Changing Terrain

Zita Tulyahikayo FRSA

Consciousness is only possible when things change. 

Change is only possible when the soul moves.[1]

Race and The Emperor’s Clothes

Today we are all impacted by racial trauma, whether it is the presumed guilt of our ancestors as perpetrators of oppression or the presumed innocence of our ancestors as victims of slavery. Or, more crucially, the exclusion of multiple other groups, side-lined in the battle for the heart and soul of the descendants of former slaves. I know how insidious racial trauma is. It permeates all aspects of life. As victims, we are inclined and encouraged to see it everywhere, even in places where it is not.

The comfort and torment of a trauma that lives only in the imagination, the invisible voices, and the messages impressed by all parts of society that the most dangerous and threatening force cannot be defined; it is as nebulous and buoyant as a unicorn. When pressed, no one can say precisely what racism is, what it looks like or what it sounds like. It is one of the few traumas that society perpetuates through unsubstantiated stories of what it is. Sightings are frequent, without witnesses who can convincingly corroborate the facts of the mystery. A slice of hate delivered in a glance. A feeling informed by evidence less tangible than murder by a ghost can forever tar an individual’s reputation. It is the cruellest of social punishments for those who are not racists. And for those who are racist, it is a badge of honour. 

I marvel at the ingenuity of humans. The urge to create mechanisms of psychological and emotional suffering is poetic and sad.

In this way, we are all victims and perpetrators of a ceaseless, endless, faceless trauma. The noxious vapours of racism are more toxic and deadly than any other sickness known to man, permeating every aspect of life. Anyone who dares to suggest that actual racism barely exists is branded a racist. If you are black and say you have not experienced racism, it will be noted that you are afflicted by another kind of madness, that your mind has been colonised by “whiteness.” And if you are “white” according to the current doctrine, you were born racist. The only path to redemption for being born in sin is eternal penance. 

As a Hypnotherapist, part of my training was learning how to undo collective spells. They are powerful. Hitler was the master of these skills. After the war, these tricks were deployed to sell products, ideas, beliefs, and political allegiance. The engineering of consent is hypnosis through mass manipulation. Thanks to the Austrian American Edward Bernays, and non-coercive control we love bacon, tobacco, signalling our virtue and sacrificing ourselves to save the lives of others. Much of what we believe is elegantly co-opted through the channels of our genetic memory. Without Bernays’s work racism would have faded from conscience many years ago.

What I admire most about Bert Hellinger is his skill as a Hypnotherapist. Bert understood the power of spells. Without this, Systemic Constellations, and the progression to Movements of the Soul, few would be prepared to tackle the invisible force of racism that has held many of us in check for most of our lives. To break a big Systemic spell, you must conjure an even bigger spell. Often the most powerful of spells are silent, and Bert understood this.

Conscience and the New

Invisible forces challenge our conception of reality. Some minds prefer to feel that they are the sole authors of their lived experience. To acknowledge the possibility of invisible forces, presents a challenge to a uniquely Western idea of liberty, freedom, and autonomy. They challenge our ability to confidently take a side as we are invited to consider the possibility that there is no right side or wrong side when the unknown and the unknowable have a hand in the game. At the same time there is potential to revel in awe and wonder at the magnificence of not knowing what directs or informs our choices; to trust the possibility that not only is all well, it is exactly as it is despite or because of our interventions, our activism and our side-taking. It is the greatest humility of all to truly surrender without the artifice of pretence that we have the slightest clue what is really going on.

In this way we see the gift of diversity of thought and being as individuals who are part of a global network of living, feeling, moving, and sensing beings. The force of life is invisible and undeniable in equal measure. The neuroscience of invisible threads of connection, ever present. Sometimes these threads become visible in a Constellation. Frequently they surface, witnessed in a sea change of attitudes and beliefs as systems respond to moments of real or imagined crisis. I am fascinated by those who confidently state predictions of the future of the planet, or anything else for that matter. Science can forecast possible outcomes of what might potentially happen, seemingly without consulting the forces that keep the planet spinning in the Milky Way, all whilst blind to the invisible forces here on Earth shaping and influencing our beliefs, often without our consent. If every voice of the system has meaning and value, who can honestly say they have measured the thoughts of all mankind, and every other living force on Earth and in space?

The last few years have revealed several crises colliding with each other – some within our conscious awareness and others resting in the blind spot of our fears and insecurities. The effects of a pandemic, a lockdown, and the aftermath of George Floyd’s death have surfaced the invisible connections that had until these events arose, lingered beneath the surface. Many of these thoughts and beliefs had not gone away, they were merely in retreat: suppressed by our judgement of them in the past. Our attention lingers on past slavery, yet bats no eyelid at modern day slavery. We rarely pause to consider why. It’s possible that these long gazes into the far distant past permit the past to live on in the present. It’s possible that the voices directing us to fixate on the past are directing us away from the present. Past, present, and future are stacked, one on top of the other. They are not passive bedfellows sleeping side by side. In this way we have a glimpse into how the past remains in the present. 

It is in our nature as humans to seek out diversity to ensure our survival. Systemic forces such as slavery and colonisation are movements towards enhancing diversity, survival of the fittest, and life. Yet these same topics, when viewed without an understanding of the principles of biology, generate heated debate, protest, and riot. They engender such powerful primal feelings of: anger, revenge, guilt, shame, innocence, grief, pity, and loss, we lose perspective. Not surprisingly, the balancing force of diversity is segregation. A shift in which group’s needs take precedence, as some needs are elevated over those perceived to have more than their share. It is envy, rather than greed that divides us. I am mindful that to no one has it all, not kings or queens, not even the dead. Only one who has been invited to believe that their life is more important than others could believe otherwise. Poverty and bondage love us, as much as wealth and freedom.

The seeming rise of polarity, one side pitted against the other, reveals the dark side of belonging, a battle for supremacy wherein one group says our beliefs are better than yours. Our lives are more precious than yours. The marginalised are more important than the majority. Meanwhile, the majority is silenced, it does not speak, it does not vote, it chooses not to take a side in the battle for supremacy of ideas and beliefs. And so it is, if all victims had a voice, and reached their full potential there would be more chaos, more war, more consumption, more hunger, and oppression than there is now. It requires a degree of agency to demand to be heard, to ask for attention, and to demand the world change to accommodate those wants and needs. Many do not ask. Many have no voice in their heads that says: “What about me?” 

Conflict defines Diversity

A gardener can tell you about daily battles between life forms in the yard. The list is endless: insects that eat the blooms on a bush, the snails that munch through pumpkin and lettuce plants, the rain that interrupts the sunshine and the viruses that colonise livestock. Whose hand is anointed to determine which life is more valuable than another? Who guides us in our views, what spells transform fleeting ideas fading at the seams into glorious technicolour movies nudging us this way or that? 

Until recently the accepted law of nature was that the fittest survive. In this model, the healthiest of the clan determine who or what will contribute most to the ongoing survival of the whole. Each clan has inherited methods of divining how that decision is made, each informed by a different system of belief. One subtle shift in perspective of a member of the clan can enhance or destroy the outcome. 

A polarising discourse of ‘us’ and ‘them’ presents a profoundly troubling dichotomy, even more so when we are asked to be ‘allies’. How do we know in the swirling mist of invisible connections who or what we are forming an alliance with? 

Humans have been having sex with each other for over fifty thousand years. We are all mixed. We are all diverse, and we all carry a diversity of genetic memory that simmers beneath the surface of our outward appearance. Many are forced or coerced into allegiance based on appearance rather than their true core beliefs, often to their own detriment. Imagine the struggle for a person who is mixed black and white. The accepted norm is that they identify as black, and many do so, simply because “whiteness” has come to be associated with wrongdoings in the past. To deny part of oneself to ensure protection under a different covenant, is its own wound. 

The Aftermath of ‘Us’ and ‘Them’

The aftermath of George Floyd’s death raised some particularly troubling issues. Understandably the field of Constellations work was not untouched by the fallout. The invisible became visible. Unattended tensions, trauma and conflict presented themselves to those who dared to look. Waiting in the wings a pre-prepared package of theories that encouraged us to segregate ourselves into binary groups Whites over here, Non-Whites over there. The irony was not lost on many placed neatly and squarely at the centre of it all was “whiteness.” Who or what determined that white was the defining note behind which others must stand? 

Skin colour continues to bind us to binary perceptions of race. Our genetic memory is not binary. When we, as practitioners work with race as a binary construct, we are blind to what lives beneath the skin. Suppose we assume that every black person has experienced racism from white people and is therefore oppressed by association. And then we assume that every white person is guilty of racism and is privileged. What harm do we cause in the name of social justice? We rob black people of their freedom to be, we deny them a sense of privilege, and we make their white ancestors perpetrators, and wonder why self-loathing abounds. This is racism disguised as a remedy. 

In this way, we fall foul of the guiding principles of thinking and seeing systemically as we turn a blind eye to the black people who have only experienced racism from other black people. We turn our backs on people who look white and have been victims of racial abuse because they belong to a different white group. We create victims out of black people who are not victims of white racism by assuming they must be. Far from the initial salvation it appears to be, it is supremacy with a new face and name. 

Often people don’t realise that they are oppressed until someone tells them. No one tells the children mining cobalt and lithium for our smartphones that they are oppressed and so the children keep on mining.

To oppress others, or to not actively seek to alleviate oppression is a trauma response. The mountain is too big to climb so why look at it. Fear, the absence of something essential, the following of orders that demand compliance for the wellbeing and safety of others, no matter the cost, is selective, exclusive, and discriminatory. 

Many horrific deeds start with benevolence. A noble cause can make virtuous authoritarians of us all. Our belonging to a group that states we are the good ones, the innocent ones, the victims, is also the group most likely to harm others in the name of the cause. It is an alluring elixir, a sweet, amber nectar that offers us a preordained sense of purpose. Even purpose when viewed in a murky pool of water can reveal something less appealing beneath the surface. 

The Madness of Cows

Within every herd lives a certain kind of madness because herds are difficult to govern. Subsequently herds are unwilling to admit that anything can come between its intentions and the realisation of its intention. A herd is more susceptible to temptation than an individual simply because of the power in numbers. When we join a herd, be it under the auspices of social justice, medical interventions, or a belief in equality, we are less inclined to question the orthodoxy of the herd. Discussion and contradictions are rarely tolerated, they are more readily dismissed as misinformation or conspiracy.

Dissent is no longer tolerated without punishment. Our compliance is forced, and shaming plays a significant role, yet compliance does not necessarily guarantee consent. Beyond a prescribed litany of ideas, we have little or no idea whether all the members of the herd perceive the intention of the herd in the same way. In short, a new religion is born. There is a designated ‘elect’ who teaches the doctrine – a ‘list’ of voices, authors, and practitioners whose word is law. Questioning or challenging the orthodoxy only serves to prove you are a sinner and a racist. 

Meanwhile, the outcome of this new religion and its endeavours carries the potential to cause more harm than good. Those who join herds are united in one thing – a desire for power. The power to be seen as virtuous, to remove the stain of racism potentially residing in an unknown history is the gateway to Utopia. 

Virtue is a vague concept, and Utopia as a destination does not exist. These elements combined, offer an imaginary solution to a flimsy problem. It requires strength and courage to resist the temptation of belonging to the herd. Herds call on one of our greatest desires: to die peacefully without sin. 

In the 1960s and ’70s, the dominant group defining black British culture was Jamaican. Not all black British people are Jamaican. However, survival often meant integrating Jamaican ideas, values and culture for protection and safety. Something similar happened in America: there were rules of the black herd that had to be adhered to, to assure belonging and protection. In both groups the rules of belonging were stifling, primarily restricting members of the group to a parameter of beliefs. The herd was silenced by the unseen violent and abusive force that dictated the terms of belonging through an undercurrent of fear. The rules of this herd were informed by the same playbook used by Hitler to segregate a race of people. Both Mahatma Gandhi and Idi Amin sought counsel with Hitler to achieve similar outcomes. In all cases the leaders and many of the followers of these forces are either killed or die by suicide, and they never live to see the effects of what they have contrived. 

When Joe Biden said in his election campaign: “If you don’t vote for me, you ain’t black,” and Jeremy Corbyn: “Only the Labour Party can unlock the potential of black people,” both set in motion an invisible cascade among black people in the USA and England and other parts of the world. It changed something that many thought could not be achieved. A spell was broken by their words; the effect was to liberate black people to choose a path of freedom and independence more openly. These two men unwittingly set millions of black people free, by confirming their desire to continue a history of the plantation owners hold. Both Biden’s and Corbyn’s words echoed the slave masters’ words; they harked back to a time when loyalty to the plantation owner stood above all else. For those who already secretly had a foot out the door it was the ‘get out of jail free’ card they had been waiting for. Better to be human and free, than to be black and owned. 

And it was a kindness too in that is offered a promise of continued help for those who wanted to stay on the plantation. The promise of an elevated social boost in return for their continued loyalty. Freedom came in a way that each was free to choose what suited them best. 

Freedom is expensive. Who will support those stepping into a foreign land where racism is rare? Four hundred years of bondage and one hundred years of hiding in the grass does little to prepare people for the challenges of freedom’s bounty, gifts. It can be a challenge to accept a reality that sometimes people just don’t like you, and it is nothing to do with skin colour. 

When residues of trauma remain, a map is required to navigate the new terrain. To whom can they turn for support and guidance? Naturally, there is a concern that allies of those who choose to remain on the plantation may reel them back to the herd. The guilt of transcending belonging to a herd is little understood in a world where few dare to do it. Can those conditioned to believe that all slaves are forever slaves tilt the lens to honour and celebrate the gifts of potential they bring with their presence? A challenge for any practitioner when a black client walks through the door, is will the practitioner offer their ‘help’, and sympathy or will they offer their support and empathy? 

Cleaning the Lens of our Heart

I had a wonderful great-grand Aunt called Ms. Alleyne; she would often joke how people assumed she was a lesbian because she preferred the moniker Ms. even after she married. 

When she was a young woman, she struck up a friendship with a man that lasted several years. They both lived in a small village close to the West coast of Barbados. From the start of their friendship the man frequently referred to her as “that n***** woman.”[2] One day she stopped the man mid-sentence and asked him: “Why do you call me that?” The man paused, tipped his head to the sun, and said: “I call you that because I love you, you are a wonderful human being and one day I will ask you to marry me. I’m just frightened you will say, ‘No’.” At this point in the story my aunt would start to chuckle, until she heaved with mirth. “Oh Lord!” she would say between smiles and giggles. “I told him, I’ll marry you, because you are a kind, blind fool.” And that’s how she became Ms Alleyne the wife of a blind, white man in Barbados. Because he was blind, he could not see the colour of her skin; he only knew the words that he heard others used to describe her.

When we are secure in our belonging, the meaning of words carry a different weight and meaning. As my aunt would say: “If you don’t ask questions, you don’t find out.” The problem for humans is not that we aren’t educated. It’s that we aren’t educated to question our doubts. We are not educated to question what we have been taught. As a result, we don’t know how much we do know.

I am reminded of one of the teaching tales I learnt growing up about a man from Alur, the title of the story is simple: Do Not Ask for Suffering.

Notes:

1. Musings from one of Zita’s contemplative moments.

Footnote from Author:

2. The word ‘n*****’ is so taboo, it is the only word in the English language that non-black people are not permitted to write or publish. Yet when we read the word in redacted form we say it in our head. We comply with the taboo, even if we don’t consent. The paradox of the double bind is we perpetuate racism’s place in our world.

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Personal Reflections

Modern Money

Martin Paine

In a parallel universe, far, far out to lunch…

I sit down to write this article in mid-October 2022, a few weeks after the September 23rd ‘mini-budget’ of the UK’s new Chancellor of the Exchequer, i.e. finance minister, Kwasi ‘Kamikaze’ Kwarteng, which crashed the pound sterling, sent interest rates rising to record levels, and threatened, through ‘contagion’, a global financial meltdown similar to that of 2007/2008, despite the Bank of England’s interventions to ‘quell market jitters’ and ‘ease market turmoil’. If and when things settle down, all the indications are that we are heading at best for global ‘stagflation’, recession combined with inflation, which in the 1970s was the undoing of the post-war economic consensus. (Keynesian theory said it should not happen, both at the same time.)

And, in preparation, I read the article by Chetna Kobayashi in the Knowing Field issue of January 2007, Money Supports Life: my learnings from working with systemic constellations. Here the author starts by recounting how money appeared just when needed at a time of ‘crisis in my life’ thanks to unexpected gifts and loans from friends. After describing some money constellations and arriving at ‘the conclusion that the ability to receive money or to make money is connected to male energy’ – no argument there – the conclusion appears to equate money with life energy: 

“Money supports life and once that life energy is passed from old to young through the paternal line … there is no obstacle to having it. It sounds very simple but this is how I see it…. Of course, as with most things, this cannot necessarily be applied as a general rule for everybody. Sometimes clients refuse to receive life energy, because they do not want to have a happier life than their mother…. In constellations, when you start to fully receive the life energy from your parents, ‘Money’ turns and opens its arms to you. ‘Money’ is always neutral; it knows it will be received once life is received. It exists only to support life in the basic sense. We project our guilt on to money instead of looking at the real areas of guilt in our lives.”

I shall leave aside the suspicion that Kobayashi’s view could support blaming the poor for their poverty, an individualistic, reactionary trope from the Victorian notion of the ‘undeserving poor’ to the more modern and current depiction of a sub-culture of indigence, both of which completely ignore wider societal structures or systems, and which remain the rationale for the UK’s punitive and vindictive social security ‘benefits’ provision. ‘There is no such thing as society’, as Margaret Thatcher famously said. We shall return to contest the assertion that money, in its present form, is neutral.

I expect many if not most of us have experienced money coming and going in our lives as our energies ebb and flow in the eddies of life’s circumstances. Some of us may have experienced the ability to ‘magic’ money through positive affirmation – the ‘New Age’ way. But I want to challenge the notion that money is ‘just energy’, in particular our form of money. Describing the broader systemic issues, I am suggesting a complete cultural blind-spot around ‘Money’, in constellations terms a systemic conscience of a high order. 

“The whole strength of finance … lies in the unconsciousness of the average individual as to its nature.” (C.H. Douglas)

But first …

Some ‘facts’

First of all, ‘Money’ is a zero-sum game. The more of it I have, the less of it you or someone else has, and vice versa. To the extent that this is not the case, it is only because of an ever-increasing money supply, which is the problem from which our planet currently suffers.

Second, nearly all money (less about 3% in advanced economies and perhaps 8% in developing economies) is created as debt, bearing interest. Therefore, there is always more money owing than extant. This need for more and more money to pay ‘interest’, i.e., usury, is the essential driver of late capitalism, the need for converting more and more utility value into money value. An ever-increasing money supply is necessary to modern money.

Third, therefore, to the extent we ascribe to the view that we can magic money into our lives, we are subscribing to the view that continued economic growth is sustainable.

Fourth, another consequence of this is that all of us, as users of money, are in effect paying tribute to the owners of money. We think that in the modern historical period we have moved beyond feudal obligations, but here they are in different guise. This is what the Magna Carta of 1215 was about: not so much a charter of liberty and political rights obtained from King John of England by his rebellious barons, portrayed in our history books as the seminal document of English constitutional practice and precursor of parliamentary democracy; rather, it was a political victory deciding to whom the spoils belong: not the King, who after all, as feudal overlord, nonetheless represented the people; rather, the men of property. It was the invention of private property – the word from the same root as ‘deprive’ – and set the scene for the enclosures that continue to this day.

Economic Growth

Economic growth is slowing in the UK. Every government for the last forty years has presided over declining economic growth, despite their stated goals, manifesto pledges and rhetoric. In fact – back to facts – if we take into account inflation, there has been little or no real-terms economic growth for the past 50 years in any developed economy. The ‘growth’ areas are in East Asia and ‘developing’ economies. Latin America and Africa have, correspondingly, seen the greatest loss of biodiversity, mainly through land use change. 

By the mid-1970s, capitalism had picked the low-hanging fruit, hence the stalling of the post-war economic boom – and its model. The ‘Washington consensus’ and the advent of neo-liberalism, through ‘globalisation’, both relaxed regulation of capital flows and opened up global markets. It made the cake bigger, to mix metaphors, through what Amitav Ghosh accurately terms, from his point of view, colonial capitalism. Yet economic growth rates continued, and continue, to fall, even as the cake is divided up ever more unequally and natural resources are squeezed ever harder. What next, then, for extractive capitalism? By the way, the people in parliament who claim to be wealth creators, or speak on behalf of wealth creators, are specious; they are wealth extractors. We live in a rentier economy and a rentier society: a plutocracy of rentiers.

New markets are created through the commodification of our private lives: social life is mediated more and more through social media; we no longer make our own entertainment, we pay for it. Enclosure of the commons continues apace through, for example, the patenting of the human genome and other, plant genes, and through privatising the delivery of essential services that meet basic human needs for housing, for water, for transport, health etc. etc. And, in the 24/7 marketplace, the pace of life increases in order to turn money over ever faster. A noticeable growth area has been consumer credit. Between 1963 and 1997, average household debt in the UK rose from less than 30% to over 100% of total annual household income!

The slowing of the ‘real’ economy has seen a corresponding increase in the financial sector of the economy – casino capitalism. If there is less money to be made from making things, then there is still money to be made from money and financialised assets. The UK economy is a case in point. Thus, if investment moves into increasingly attractive financial assets, the price of those assets increases. The UK housing market exemplifies both asset price inflation and the growth of consumer credit. The supply and demand equation includes not only the number of houses available and the number of people needing a house (in the absence of social housing), but also the supply of credit. In the same period from 1963 to 1997, the percentage of the UK housing stock under mortgage, i.e., owned by financial institutions, rose from 19% to 37% (up from ‘perhaps less than 5%’ in 1900). I have yet to update these figures, which come from Michael Rowbotham’s 1998 book Grip of Death, his literal translation of ‘mortgage’.

And, when returns on capital grow faster than the real economy and wages, then inequality between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have-nots’ is accelerated.

All of this is really only by way of a preamble, except insofar as it underlines the impact on our personal space, which is considerable, and a considerable cause of anxiety. In the early 60s, usually, it took one wage earner to keep a family household going; now it takes two.

So what? What of wider systems?

It does not take an Einstein to realise that indefinite exponential growth, for that is what it is, is not sustainable. We have known this for a long time. Banks can create money out of thin air, by the click of a computer mouse, which is precisely what they do. The fractional reserve of fractional reserve banking is negligible, has all but disappeared. But that money still has to be loaned out, put to use, have something to get its teeth into to turn a profit.

In his speech of October 3rd to the Conservative Party conference, Kwarteng – who, it was revealed, after delivering his mini-budget, attended a private champagne reception with financiers taking a break from ‘shorting’ or otherwise betting against the pound – said: “We must face up to the facts that for too long our economy has not grown enough. The path ahead of us was one of slow, managed decline.” True.

However, he went on to justify his intervention: “We needed a new approach, focused on raising economic growth. That is the only real way to deliver higher wages, more jobs, and crucially, revenue to fund our precious public services and it is the only way to achieve long-term fiscal sustainability … I am confident our plan is the right one.”

Subsequent comments by personages from the Bank of England and International Monetary Fund (IMF) – all on telephone number salaries no doubt – have not denied the desirability, indeed necessity, of continued economic growth, but have said only that the UK government has made the job of central banks to control inflation more difficult, i.e. fiscal policy is undermining monetary policy; in the words of one IMF spokesperson, the government and the Bank of England were ‘fighting over the steering wheel’. The aim of soothing incantations from these high priests of finance was and is to steady the ship, not to stall economic growth but to maintain the myth. They come to praise Caesar, not to bury him… Bond markets rule OK. So much for Brexit bringing back sovereignty.

The UK Labour party, in opposition, promise, you guessed it, … growth, if and when they return to power, except in its case it will be well-managed growth of course. But it is painfully clear that they operate within the conventional constraints, that in reality the money system governs the government. As Francis Bacon (1561-1626) said: 

“If money be not thy servant, it will be thy master. The covetous man cannot so properly be said to possess wealth, as that may be said to possess him.”

Governments can and did print money to bail out the banks through ‘quantitative easing’ (QE: basically, printing money and giving it to the banks), but cannot and do not apparently do so for social goods or to save lives. According to John Lanchester (2010), the cost of the bailout in the USA, to put it into: 

“historical perspective, … is bigger than the cost of the Marshall Plan, the Louisiana Purchase, the 1980s Savings and Loan crisis, the Korean war, the New Deal, the invasion of Iraq, the Vietnam war and the total cost of NASA including the moon landings, all added together – repeat added together (and yes, the old figures are adjusted upwards for inflation).” 

In the UK the current account deficit and the national debt continued to rise in the 2010s as a result of QE, despite the stated intentions of George Osborne when Chancellor, and despite his programme of austerity…. 

In the words of Aditya Chakrabortty writing in the Guardian newspaper (19th October 2022):

“Osborne is ‘easily the most ruinous Conservative minster this century (whose) vast spending cuts … wrecked our hospitals, our schools and our town halls, and stoked the frustrations that ensured Brexit (when), in the 2020s, interest rates hit rock bottom and markets were practically screaming for governments to spend and invest. The UK could have rethought and rebuilt its post-crash economic mode.’” 

Instead, we had the ‘hate the state’ brigade and what Chakrabortty calls the ‘doom loop of Tory Britain: an austerity that kills, a democracy routed’. Angry? Yes: 

“‘Over 330,000 excess deaths in Great Britain linked to austerity’, finds study.”[1]

The financial crash of 2007/2008 was an opportunity to reform capitalism not taken. Instead, since then, in the UK, the poor have paid the price. ‘Austerity’ was the sort of structural adjustment programme as a rule imposed by the IMF and the World Bank on developing countries, except that ours was sort of self-inflicted – and except that ours was a first-world economy (note emphasis), with all the resources that implies.

Yes, ‘finance’ is complicated, and way beyond me. It is also very simple. It is nonsense; it makes no sense. Even on its own terms, capital, i.e., our present form of money, is eating up the planet on which capitalism itself, let alone the rest of us, depends, as well as trampling on and spitting out ‘the people’. It is an insatiable Ouroboros, consuming its own tail to turn into money value; yes, a symbol of infinity, but in this case a symbol of infinite economic growth, jeopardising future generations. Yet, we go along with it….

I am reminded of the Loony Tunes cartoons (does this date me?) in which Road Runner or Coyote run off the end of a cliff and remain suspended in mid-air for several seconds, feet and legs spinning frantically, before plunging to a (curiously non-fatal) impact with the ground below…. The growing financial sector of our economy in particular is a febrile, tottering edifice un-moored from reality, a hot-air balloon untethered from the ground, but which can wreak terrible destruction when it crashes, which many predict is inevitable, again, another reckoning, with storm clouds brewing….

To sum up this section, to tell the truth: the emperor really does not have any clothes! However …

“It is easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism.” (Fisher, 2009)

I was asked recently, as a prospective facilitator of Climate Cafes, for my reactions to the climate emergency. I included cognitive dissonance in my list. I look out of my window and, to all appearances, life continues as normal. But I know, and we know, that something is deeply amiss. I have the same reaction to ‘money’, which of course is part of the same system, entangled with the environmental crisis.

This, I think, is the point for constellations practitioners. I experience the field of larger systems, systems at higher holonic levels, as flickering between two realities: the culturally accepted norm; and, becoming clearer, what Extinction Rebellion calls ‘the truth’, as in its first demand: ‘Tell the Truth’. But for now, for most people, this truth flickers on and off like the hologram message of Princess Leia in the first Star Wars movie: “Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi.”

We currently and culturally inhabit a field of massive collective delusion and ignorance, which holds us in a grip of death. This ignorance, in the literal sense of ‘ignoring’, includes the failure of the progressive left adequately, recently, to theorise money, however radical in other areas.

Money is not neutral. The neutrality of money as an economic theory holds that ‘the amount of money printed by … central banks can impact prices and wages but not the output or structure of the economy, that changes in the money supply might affect output or unemployment levels in the short run only, but neutrality is still assumed in the long run after money circulates throughout the economy. “The phrase ‘neutrality of money’ was introduced by Austrian economist Friedrich A. Hayek in 1931,” I read on Investopedia, on Google.[2] Hayek laid the theoretical foundations for monetarism, later taken up by Milton Freidman and the Chicago School, whose libertarian, neoliberal ideology supplanted the Keynesianism of the post-war consensus and was implemented by Reagan, Thatcher, Pinochet et al. 

But even within its own terms of reference, monetarism and by extension neo-liberalism fails to allow for the fact that money is a commodity in its own right, and traded as such – in the casino capitalism of the financial sector of the economy. The ‘neutrality of money’ is a dangerous fallacy pulling the wool over our eyes.

Moreover, money – our money – is never neutral in the long run after money circulates throughout the economy. It remains debt money. Money – any money – is held to have three functions: as a means of exchange; as a unit of account, and as a store of value or wealth. The problem lies where these uses act against each other. Money used as a store of value can undermine its use as a medium of exchange. Scarcity is caused in part by money’s characteristic as a store of value, withheld in times of recession or depression. 

Money – our money – does not simply lubricate the economy and oil the wheels of commerce, as simplistic economic theory has it. It seeks its own ends; the owners of money seek their own ends. Meeting needs for trade and exchange is not its prime function. Matching needs – even wants – with human gifts and with natural resources is not its remit. I trust that this point does not need labouring here in the context of a short article, that enough examples spring to mind of unmet human needs, and those of other beings with whom we share this planet, set against the excesses, the waste and the pollution of conspicuous, emulative competitive consumerism to make further elaboration unnecessary.

Alternative Currencies

“No financial or economic reform can possibly work that does not include a new kind of money.” (Eisenstein, 2021, p.154)

There are money systems or forms of money that are designed to facilitate fair exchange, including what Silvio Gesell, 1862-1930, a German-Argentinian economist, termed ‘free money’, free in the sense that any exchange is free of the transaction fee of attached debt interest. His Freiwirtschaft, free economy, and Natürliche Wirtschaftsordnung, natural economic order, ideas live on in the Swiss-based WIR Bank.

Between the two world wars there was lively discourse in progressive circles on monetary reform and alternative currencies following the trauma of the First World war, seen as a war between competing colonial-capitalist economies, and then during the Great Depression of 1929-1939: Social Credit in England and in Canada, where the Social Credit party won a majority in the Alberta State government in 1935; in Germany and Austria where several ‘scrip’ currencies were introduced, which successfully revived local economies. The Universal Basic Income, or National Dividend, is a Social Credit idea, now back on the political agenda. “In a broad sense, the term scrip refers to any type of substitutional currency that replaces legal tender.”[3] Inspired by Gesell, ‘stamp scrip’ currency was subject to negative interest or demurrage or storage costs, by virtue of its value declining unless maintained by buying stamps to affix to the notes; it would be easy effectively to do the same electronically today. Therefore, there was an incentive, an impetus, for this money to circulate. All the evidence is that it worked to lift localities, where it was introduced, out of recession and depression: unemployment rates plummeted, and the local economy thrived.

A negative interest rate was built into a system in wide use in medieval Europe, in which coins were periodically recalled and then reminted at a discount rate. According to Charles Eisenstein: 

“Saxon kings in England recoined silver pennies every six years, issuing three for every four taken in, … a depreciation rate of about 4 percent per year. This effectively imposed a penalty on the hoarding of money, encouraging instead its circulation and investment in productive capital…. The money supply didn’t necessarily shrink as a result of this system, since the lord would presumably inject the difference back into the economy to cover his own expenses. This negative interest on money was thus a kind of tax.” (Eisenstein, 2021, p.186)

There’s a thought for governments, national or local, issuing or creating money….

Applying negative interest rates instead of charging interest on credit means that the value of an outstanding loan depreciates. Note, this is not the same as depreciation of the currency as a whole. Using the term ‘demurrage’ avoids this confusion. Negative interest rates have been introduced recently by central banks in Sweden, Switzerland, Denmark, the European Union and Japan, as a temporary measure in the present situation of low economic growth exacerbated, or underlined, by the global Covid pandemic – and, in the UK, by Brexit. Indeed, is this a tacit acknowledgement perhaps of the long-term trend? However, these negative rates have been minimal, from the -0.1% of the European Central Bank and Japan, through -0.25% (Sweden) to the -0.75% of Switzerland and Denmark. Nonetheless, there is a cost to commercial banks for holding deposits at the central bank. Essentially, a fee is charged on these deposits in contrast to interest paid out on them. Negative interest rates provide a disincentive to holding on to the cash and are applied with the intention of encouraging commercial or clearing banks to lend these funds out to the wider economy, for them to flow into and circulate within the ‘real’ economy. 

Crucially, demurrage decouples money as a medium of exchange and unit of account from money as a store of value. The value of a unit of currency reduces unless maintained by regular, additional payments. Otherwise, it deteriorates with time and is subject to decay in time, and is thereby subject to the second law of thermodynamics along with every other thing in nature. ‘Money’ is no longer supernatural or above the natural order of things. Negative interest or demurrage rates become significant at several percentage points, turning the short-termism of the profit motive on its head. For example, do you clear-fell a forest, take the money and run for the next investment opportunity? Yes, by convention, if reinvesting gives a greater return; no, if the value of your pot of money depreciates compared with that of a living, regenerative ecosystem. Charles Eisenstein has ‘done the math’ and offers other examples….

According to Charles Eisenstein, again, and Molly Scott Cato, similar systems of local scrip issue money creation grew up in various states of the USA during the Great Depression. Estimates of the amount of money created in this way have risen as high as one billion dollars with some one million people involved in the schemes…. Local authorities in Cleveland, Minneapolis, and Oklahoma City, among others, issued and circulated scrip notes backed by their political credibility. Moreover, a bill was introduced in 1933 in both the House of Representatives and the Senate that would have issued $1 billion of stamp scrip nationally…. But Senate Bill 5125 never came to a vote; a month later President Franklin D. Roosevelt banned all such “emergency currencies” by executive decree when launching the New Deal ... not because the local and state currencies were not and would not be effective in ending the depression, but because it would mean a loss of central government power. His government was the first to apply what became the standard Keynesian remedy of fiscal stimulus.

All the other schemes mentioned were outlawed by central governments or, where court action failed, banned by central banks. LETS (Local Exchange and Trading Systems) and other time-banking arrangements just do not make the cut; they are simply not a sufficient threat, except perhaps for one that flourished in Stroud, Gloucestershire, UK, which folded having attracted the attention of Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, the tax people….

Conclusion

However, more worrying than the repression of these alternative currencies is the suppression of any lasting recollection, lore or lineage of these schemes. Instead, we have TINA, “There Is No Alternative – to capitalism as we know it.” This is another famous dictum of Margaret Thatcher and a mantra of neo-liberalism; some say its main thrust. Discussion of alternatives does not even appear on the political agenda. Two years ago, the Department for Education of the UK government banned schools from using anti-capitalist teaching resources, labelling them examples of an ‘extreme political stance’ and equating them with opposition to free speech, advocacy of racism including antisemitism, and endorsements of illegal activity. Do I detect a contradiction in there somewhere, regarding free speech?

To collective delusion and collective ignorance, we must therefore add collective amnesia, and a near-total and terminal failure of the imagination. We ignore critiquing male-dominated orthodox economic thought, the banking system and the destructiveness of capitalist money at our peril. Monetary reform is a necessary if not sufficient condition of economic democracy, and for moving to a more sane and survivable social ecology: the ‘Great Turning’, in the words of David Korten and Joanna Macy respectively, from empire to Earth community, from the Industrial Growth Society to a life-sustaining civilisation. I commend this topic to those of us engaged in constellating extensive systems, including ‘Nature’ constellations, and also, perhaps, to those of us including representation of ‘money’ in personal and family constellations. What say the ancestors?

Daniel Quinn perfectly describes a systemic conscience when he has Ishmael, in the eponymous book, say of the whispered voice of Mother Culture:

“I’m telling you this because the people of your culture are in much the same situation. Like the people of Nazi Germany, they are the captives of a story….

You told me you have the impression of being a captive. You have this impression because there is enormous pressure on you to take a place in the story your culture is enacting in the world – any place at all. This pressure is exerted in all sorts of ways, on all sorts of levels, but it’s exerted most basically this way. Those who refuse to take place do not get fed….”

“Once you learn to discern the voice of mother culture humming in the background, telling her story over and over again to the people of your culture, you’ll never stop being conscious of it. Wherever you go for the rest of your life you’ll be tempted to say to the people around you: ‘How can you listen to this stuff and not recognize it for what it is?’ And if you do this people will look at you oddly and wonder what the devil you’re talking about. In other words, if you take this educational journey with me, you’re going to find yourself alienated from the people around you – friends, family.…” (Quinn, 1992, pp. 35, 36, 37)

Money, even capitalist debt-money, is a social construct, part of a social contract. Normally this can be said to depend on trust. In this case it relies more on acquiescence and/or false consciousness, to coin a contestable Marxist phrase. In Buddhist terms it is manomaya, mind-made. So, it can be re-made by the human mind!

“All money is a matter of belief.” (Adam Smith)

Afterword

I have not approached the writing of this article as an academic exercise. To do so, fully referenced, would have been a lot more work, possibly a book. I am currently writing a programme of teaching materials aimed at 11–14 year-old school students and their teachers, and perhaps a wider audience, on Ecoliteracy: that is, both ecological literacy and economic literacy. Economics governs our everyday lives, yet we are not taught it in schools…. I am fond of the old joke: One fish says to another, ‘How’s the water’; the other fish replies, ‘What’s water?’

Since the 2007/2008 financial crash I have attempted to educate myself, as a ‘lay’ person, about what the **** is going on. I would welcome feedback in order to develop my thinking and edit my writings. They are based on the following recent reading, inter alia. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Boyle, D., & Simms, A. (2009) The New Economics: a bigger picture. Earthscan, London & Sterling, VA, USA.

Crary, J. (2013) Late Capitalism and the Ends of Sleep. Verso, London, UK.

Eisenstein, C. (2021) Sacred Economics: money, gift and society in the age of transition: Revised. North Atlantic Books, Berkeley, CA, USA.

Fisher, M. (2009) Capitalist Realism: is there no alternative? O-books/John Hunt, Ropley, Hants, UK. 

Ghosh, A. (2016) The Great Derangement: climate change and the unthinkable.: University of Chicago Press, Chicago, USA & London, UK.

Ghosh, A. (2021) The Nutmeg’s Curse: parables for a planet in crisis. John Murray, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, USA & London, UK.

Graeber, D. (2014) Debt: the first 5,000 years, updated and expanded. Melville House, Brooklyn, NY, USA & London, UK. 

Hutchinson, F. (1998) What Everybody Really Wants to Know About Money. Jon Carpenter, Charlbury, Oxon., UK. 

Hutchinson, F., Mellor, M. & Olsen, W. (2002) The Politics of Money: towards sustainability and economic democracy. Pluto Press, London, UK.

Hutchinson, F. (2010) Understanding the Financial System: social credit re-discovered. Jon Carpenter, Charlbury, Oxon, UK.

Jackson, T. (2009) Prosperity Without Growth: economics for a finite planet. Earthscan, London, UK & Sterling, VA, USA. 

Klein, N. (2007) The Shock Doctrine: the rise of disaster capitalism. Penguin, London, UK.

Lanchester, J. (2010) Whoops! Why everyone owes everyone and no one can pay. Allen Lane, London, UK.

Quinn, D. (1992; paperback edition 1995) Ishmael: an adventure of the mind and spirit. Bantam, London, UK.

Ransom, D. & Baird, V. (eds.) (2010, revised & updated edition) People First Economics. World Changing/New Internationalist, Oxford, UK.

Raworth, K. (2017) Doughnut Economics: seven ways to think like a 21st-century economist. Random House/Penguin, London, UK.

Robertson, J. (1998) Transforming Economic Life: a millennial challenge. Schumacher Briefing no.1. Green Books, Schumacher College & New Economics Foundation, Dartington, Totnes & London, UK.

Rowbotham, M. (1998) The Grip of Death: a study of modern money, debt slavery and destructive economics. Jon Carpenter, Charlbury, Oxon, UK.

Scott Cato, M. (2009) Green Economics: an introduction to theory, policy and practice. Earthscan, London, UK & Sterling, VA, USA. 

Appendix: 

“Any government with a sovereign currency can create unlimited amounts of money without the need for taxation simply by printing it or forcing the central bank to buy zero-interest bonds…. That governments instead use the mechanism of interest-bearing bonds to create money is a key indicator of the nature of our money system. Here, at the very heart of a government’s sovereign powers, a tribute to the owners of money is rendered.” (Eisenstein, 2021, p.120.) 

Abraham Lincoln’s Monetary Policy (1865):

“Money is the creature of law, and the creation of the original issue of money should be maintained as the exclusive monopoly of national government. Money possesses (sic) no value to the state other than that given to it by circulation.

“Capital has its proper place and is entitled to every protection. The wages of men should be recognised in the structure of and in the social order as more important than the wages of money.

“No duty is more imperative for the government than the duty it owes the people to furnish them with a sound and uniform currency, and of regulating the circulation of the medium of exchange so that labour will be protected from a vicious currency, and commerce will be facilitated by cheap and safe exchanges.

“The available supply of gold and silver being wholly inadequate to permit the issuance of coins of intrinsic value or paper currency convertible into coin in the volume required to serve the needs of the People, some other basis for the issue of currency must be developed, and some means other than that of convertibility into coin must be developed to prevent undue fluctuation in the value of paper currency or any other substitute for money of intrinsic value that may come into use.

“The monetary needs of increasing numbers of people advancing towards higher standards of living can and should be met by the government. Such needs can be met by the issue of national currency and credit through the operation of a national banking system. The circulation of a medium of exchange issued and backed by the government can be properly regulated and redundancy of issue avoided by withdrawing from circulation such amounts as may be necessary by taxation, re-deposit and otherwise. Government has the power to regulate the currency and credit of the nation.

“Government should stand behind its currency and credit and the bank deposits of the nation. No individual should suffer a loss of money through depreciation or inflated currency or Bank bankruptcy.

“Government, possessing the power to create and issue currency and credit as money and enjoying the right to withdraw both currency and credit from circulation by taxation and otherwise, need not and should not borrow capital at interest as a means of financing governmental work and public enterprise. The government should create, issue and circulate all the currency and credit needed to satisfy the spending power of the government and the buying power of consumers. The privilege of creating and issuing money is not only the supreme prerogative of government, but it is the government’s greatest creative opportunity.

“By the adoption of these principles, the long-felt want for a uniform medium will be satisfied. The taxpayers will be saved immense sums of interest, discounts and exchanges. The financing of all public enterprises, the maintenance of stable government and ordered progress, and the conduct of the Treasury will become matters of practical administration. The people can and will be furnished with a currency as safe as their own government. Money will cease to be the master and become the servant of humanity. Democracy will rise superior to the money power.”

Abraham Lincoln. (Senate document 23, 1865, p.91)

“It is noteworthy that Lincoln issued this statement of his monetary policy in 1865, just before the end of the civil war. A matter of weeks later, he was assassinated. As the publication date and whole tenor of the document show, Lincoln’s intention was to advance his monetary policy, based upon the government creation of money, and apply it more fully after the war... It has been speculated many times that Lincoln’s death was connected with the fact that such a monetary policy as he was proposing, if pursued effectively, would have signalled the end of banking and money power in the United States, and very rapidly everywhere throughout the developing world. Once that one government was seen to be capable of supplying its nation’s monetary needs, others would certainly have followed. The power and profit which national debts and widespread private industrial debts provided to the world’s most shadowy and powerful elite – bankers and financiers – would have soon vanished.” (Michael Rowbotham, 1998, p.220)

“Behind the man with the ledger is always a man with a gun. Debt relations have always been power relations, and money has always been, and remains today, entwined with debt and therefore with violence.” (Eisenstein, 2021, p.29, quoting Graeber)

Notes:

1. (https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/oct/05/over-330000-excess-deaths-in-great-britain-linked-to-austerity-finds-study).

2. (https://www.investopedia.com/terms/n/neutrality_of_money.asp).

3. (https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/scrip.asp). 

Editor’s Note:

Wikipedia: Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban PC, QC; (22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626), also known as Lord Verulam, was an English philosopher and statesman who served as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England. Bacon led the advancement of both natural philosophy and the scientific method and his works remained influential even in the late stages of the Scientific Revolution.

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Personal Reflections

QUō VāDIS [1] CONSTELLATIONS?

Constellations according to Hellinger & Some reflections on the overall development of the Constellations field

Alemka Dauskardt

Introduction

As we commemorate three years since Bert Hellinger’s passing, it seems timely to reflect on some developments in the field of constellations. This feels particularly appropriate for the last issue of this journal under the editing hand of Barbara Morgan, who has done an amazing job in holding the space for the overall development of the field, and in particular for the promotion and preservation of the Constellations according to Hellinger. This only feeds this sense that much is coming to an end these days and that a new era, in so many ways, is upon us.

In this text I try to explain why I use this name: ‘Constellations according to Hellinger’ and why I believe Hellinger’s approach, in its many changing forms, is worth preserving. I attempt to describe briefly the nature of this approach and argue that most of the constellating field has developed away from its essence. I express some concern that the original approach is being watered down, forgotten, and not passed on to the new generations who come to this work because many are adding their ‘own spin’ by adjusting the original. I explain why I trust in the value of preservation of the original Hellinger approach, and in the possibility of continuing to practise it and teach it, each one of us in our own way, and how continuing to learn directly from Bert and leaning on his teachings supports me in my practice. This article by no means claims to be an exhaustive or objective overview, offering only some reflections from my personal perspective.

Why the name ‘Constellations according to Hellinger’?

For me, all constellations are constellations according to Hellinger, because it is clear that without Hellinger there would be no constellation approach. There is no agreement though on what seems to me to be, the basic fact. It is often emphasised that Hellinger ‘stands on the shoulders of many’ who have developed different modes of psychotherapy he was familiar with and learned from. This emphasis is then used to view Hellinger as just one of many therapists, and constellations as just another form of therapy. This doesn’t do justice to the uniqueness and specialness of this approach which did not simply arise from previous developments, but offered something essentially new to the field of professional help, and by the scope of its impact over time, has outgrown the boundaries of the entire psychotherapy field.

At times, the enormity of Bert’s contribution is relativised by asserting that others have also contributed to the development of the constellation approach, especially other colleagues and contemporaries of Hellinger’s. However significant these contributions may be, none can match the significance, the importance and the impact of Bert’s insights, teachings and methodology. Still, the contemporary constellating field is dominated by those who claim they have adjusted, further developed and improved on Hellinger’s original approach.

Relativising Bert’s contribution happens in other ways, too. Sometimes it is argued that Bert received his insights directly through his contact with the Zulu people, essentially implying that they come from their indigenous belief system. It is a widespread belief that Zulu tradition is one of the origins of constellation approach, even though Hellinger explicitly said many times that the Zulu people did not have much to do with his development of Family Constellations.

“QUESTION: One hears the basic ideas for systemic family constellations developed in you during your time as a missionary with the Zulus, who in turn found solutions about problems concerning their ancestors. Could you describe this for us?

HELLINGER: This is often assumed and I have to make a statement about that again and again. The time in South Africa was a very enriching personal experience for me, but it has nothing to do with this method.”[2] (Hellinger, 2012)

There is a lot of similarity between Hellinger’s insights compiled into the comprehensive body of knowledge on human relationships – ‘Hellinger Sciencia’ – and the knowledge contained in traditional knowledge of many different indigenous tribes, cultures and practices all over the world. But that is not because they took it from each other, but because they all relate to the same forces and principles guiding our existence; they all tapped into the same source. That same source, which gives rise to many things, and to everything we know, has been referred to differently in different traditions as the Great Spirit or Dharma, the Dao, or as Hellinger called it, the Spirit-Mind.  

So, the name ‘Constellations according to Hellinger’ is to acknowledge the originality of this approach, which brought something essentially new to the field of therapy and professional help, and in the process outgrew the boundaries of this field. It is also in recognition that even though it shares much with the ancient knowledge of the indigenous cultures, it is a contemporary approach for a contemporary man, that puts us in touch with that which is essential, universal, healing and reconciling, in a way that is understandable and easier to relate to for those who were brought up within the Western civilisation paradigm.

But most of all, this name is to distinguish Hellinger’s original approach from all other Constellation Work that is offered these days under different names; adjusted, combined with other methods and having abandoned some or most of the essential aspects of this approach like: knowledge of systemic orders, spirituality, phenomenological inquiry, insights on the role of conscience, acknowledging what is, and reverence for life as it came to us through our parents. As the time goes by, we are moving further and further away from the original, with many reasons given to justify this trend. 

The Beginnings, Developments & Current Situation

I remember the time when we started encountering Constellations for the first time, when they were new and exciting; when they “blew our minds;” when Hellinger’s words were a fountain we all drank from; when we treated the work with reverence and awe; sensing the sacred knowledge it contains and conveys. For me this happened in the nineties in Australia, when some therapists, especially in Germany, who were already familiar with Constellations, started learning and were applying them in their work settings.

I remember the time of the first international intensive at ZIST in 2001, with Bert as the head of the teaching faculty: a hundred souls gathering from all over the world being fascinated and eager to learn more. It was a time of great enthusiasm, which I see repeatedly awakened in those who encounter the work for the first time.

I remember the founding assembly of the first International Systemic Constellations Association in 2007, still with a lot of enthusiasm, but the crack in the field was already there, which in the years to follow would only become bigger. There and then, the field was split into two camps. Over the years one camp, with many off-shoots, gained momentum and continued to dominate.

The distancing from Hellinger started with the outcry from the German public who ill-understood his teachings on conscience as a mere excuse for the bad deeds of the past, and continued with the attacks from the ranks of psychotherapists in particular, accusing him of failing to comply with the ethical practices of this profession. The departure from Hellinger was continued by his closest colleagues and the Boards of newly formed constellation associations publicly distancing themselves from him through open letters. This trend only grew stronger with time, as the gap between the original teachings and the practice of all those who learned from him kept growing. Bert Hellinger’s physical departure did not change much in this overall trend. If anything, it offered a possibility of ‘different camps’ coming together on some different plain.

In the meantime, constellations are spreading more and more – the days of them being an obscure approach hardly anyone knew about, are long gone. There are many offering this work around the globe and vast opportunities for those who wish to address some burning personal question of theirs through Constellations to do so. There are many trainings being offered, many constellation schools which have sprung up. Constellations have even made it to Academia, and to the educational and legal systems of some countries. A huge number of books have been written in many different languages and a very popular TV series has been made with Constellations as its focus: Another Self (screening on Netflix in 2022), popularising Constellations big time!

The Covid measures saw the somewhat forced switch to online work, which made it even more accessible. The energetic, informational aspect of this work, which to a large degree happens outside of the space-time dimension, fitting like a duck to water with the new ways of being and connecting is being assisted by new technologies.

These are all incredible developments which we could only have dreamt of a few decades ago. But, with increasing numbers of new people being drawn to Constellations, there is also an increasing number of students and practitioners of Family Constellations who have never seen Bert’s work in person and who don’t really know what his original teachings are. As we move further away from the source, it is as if the work gets modified by every student-come-teacher and in some ways diluted, losing the power of the original method. There is much creativity in the incredible variety of applications and a lot of useful work is obviously being done, all adding to the whole. Whilst it may be true that there is richness in everyone applying the method differently, in many cases we can hardly talk about Hellinger’s Constellations any more. 

At the international constellation conferences being organised these days, which attract many presenters eager to share their ways, there is hardly any mention of Hellinger’s name. It is not only about the name, of course, it is about the essence of this approach which is simply not there in much of what is offered today as ‘Constellations’.

The constellation associations we form all have these wonderfully-worded missions in their brief, and often a genuine desire to create something for the benefit of all, but are equally limited by our personal Ego goals and some of them are in constant turmoil. In the state of conflict, they are pressed to reconcile the personal and very earthly ambitions of individuals with the sacred knowledge and technologies we encounter in Constellations. What these associations seem to have in common is also their need to distance themselves from Hellinger, or rather it seems that they could only be formed as a part of this distancing.

‘Hellinger Sciencia’, the organisation founded by Bert and Sophie Hellinger, now seems to be exclusively based on the work and teachings of Sophie Hellinger. Presenting this to be ‘the original Hellinger approach’, there is little effort made to emphasise Bert’s teachings and insights, as now they have all been integrated, so it is claimed, into the work of his widow. There is not much of Bert’s original writings and insights being referred to on what used to be his website. 

The publishing house ‘Hellinger’s Publications’ has been closed down and even though there are still a number of books by Hellinger being sold through the website, many titles are no longer available. There does not seem to be much effort made to republish or promote Hellinger’s books, most of them being a real treasure trove of far-reaching insights. Further to that, the publishing of Bert Hellinger’s titles in different languages has been limited. The publishing rights for translated titles don’t seem to be given any more. This presents a real obstacle to the spreading of Bert’s words and insights.

Not only for that reason but overall, it seems that the original Hellinger texts are not studied much, and also that there are not many trainings that include his basic insights and teachings which the Family Constellation method rests upon! Even though there may be legal inheritors of Hellinger’s assets and publishing rights, no one can claim exclusive rights to his teachings. They belong to everyone, and need to be shared freely, for the benefit of future generations.

If people have no access to Bert’s words, they make them up! There is a worrying practice on social media of falsifying Hellinger, some sentimental words or other on love or life, which trivialise his teaching and which never would have come from Bert, are being broadcast in his name. Hellinger’s name still sells any words well, so it seems, but his real words are not really popular with that many.

Training, quality control, accreditation and further professionalisation of Constellations

Most of the newcomers to the work do not even know what constellations according to Hellinger really are. And among experienced practitioners, his name and his constellations are not often mentioned, as most are promoting their own name and their own way of doing constellations. In many constellation trainings offered, Hellinger’s insights about the orders of love and his phenomenological method of acquiring these insights are not being included as part of the curriculum. 

The very way in which we approach learning and teaching constellations does not honour the nature of knowledge we touch upon through constellations, treating it as some matter that can be learned in a certain number of days, that can be taught during a short period of time, not connected to the individual rhythm of students and their own stage on the path of personal and spiritual development. In claiming that constellations can be taught and learned this way, we imply that it is just another method that we can be trained in and acquire easily, and not a challenging path of deep spiritual learnings which cannot be mastered through our usual methods of learning, and can also not be certified, regulated, judged or controlled by some outside authority.

But still, there is a pressure to go in this direction. The issue of quality control, supervision, ethical consideration, regulation of who can practice, international certification, accreditation and the like continue to be brought up on to the constellators’ agenda. The calls for this come from different directions and with different motivation, but all sharing the same renunciation of the nature of Hellinger’s approach and the spirit in which it can be learned and practised, as none of these ideas were ever a part of this approach, nor can they be applied to it. All our attempts to somehow control Constellation Work are doomed to fail as, of course, they are only futile attempts to control – from our Ego space – something much bigger than us.

Psychological Theory, Psychotherapy or Spiritual Discipline

It is clear that there is no consensus among constellators on what a constellation approach fundamentally is and so those using the constellation method do so in a variety of frameworks, ranging from a scientific, materialistic approach of constellations as therapy to constellations as business and a career path, to constellations as a spiritual discipline and a path of spiritual growth. It is true that we don’t know what really happens during a constellation process and how exactly it is helpful, neither can we fully explain the phenomenon of representative perception. Much of this process remains a mystery, as does a large part of our existence, the nature of consciousness and the nature of reality in general. Many who came to know Constellations through Hellinger continued to use the method (setting up representatives) without adhering to his teaching, claiming that it was not necessary and that the phenomenon of representative perception could be explained and used in ways different from those of Hellinger’s.

There is a tendency in a big part of the constellators’ scene to reduce all the systemic insights of Hellinger’s to inner parts only, alleging that in constellations we deal only with our own individual inner images of the world around us, reducing the systemics of his teachings to intra-psychic systemic dynamics alone. The new schools of constellations have been formed around such an approach, placing constellations within a framework of yet another psychological theory, explaining the phenomenon of representative perception as resonating with the unconscious psychological processes of others, and in doing so, disposing altogether of the notion of the ‘knowing field’, and the information that comes through it as guiding the work. Such an approach leaves out a great deal of the possible application of this work to transgenerational healing, ancestral support and reconciliation between groups.

Even though Bert has related many times that constellations have left the field of psychotherapy within which they originally developed and that this framework no longer provides a useful reference point for the practice of constellations, many constellators who come from this professional background, continue to practice Constellations by trying to squeeze them into this framework. In doing so, much of what forms the basis of Hellinger’s approach has to be left out, modified, adjusted, so that it fits into the accepted parameters of the psychotherapy profession.

“The foundation of family constellations is that the family constellators know they are in the service of a reality that breaks through to the light. So, they are not doers who initiate something on their own accord and they do not want to achieve a particular outcome. They know, only in respectful and alert restraint can they facilitate the coming to light of something hidden. What comes to light is what has the effect. When the therapist or the constellator – therapist is no longer a suitable term, because family constellations are a general human movement, a philosophical movement that has moved far beyond psychotherapy – So, nothing bad will happen where the constellator has the courage, firstly to expose him/herself to what shows itself, and secondly to say it, and thirdly, to expect the client to have the strength to look at it, for reality cannot do harm. The fear of facing reality can do harm, for at that moment something is suppressed into the subconscious. It is there where it has harmful effects. Therefore, constellators cannot really harm anyone, provided they stick to the protocol. This means calmly waiting in restraint until something comes to light. As something comes to light, it can also remain, exactly as it is, without being diminished, without restrictions, in its full impact. In this moment a constellator behaves as someone who is in the service of a greater matter. And s/he expects of the participant that s/he is an adult, this means looking one’s own reality in the eye.”[2] (Hellinger, 2011)

Comments related to apparently harming interventions of Hellinger’s, surface regularly on the internet forums and his supposedly “harsh and authoritarian attitude” has been a focus of ongoing criticism. Often those who express these concerns pose as better, more caring, more professional, competent constellators and use these criticisms to promote their way of facilitating constellations which is: “not harming people the way Hellinger’s constellations did.” As mentioned before, much of these sentiments come from the psychotherapy field, with a completely different paradigm of professional help and with a completely different conscience.

“I have the radical view that nobody can harm a client, as long as they remain in the attitude and in the position: I help to bring something to light that the client set up herself, and I let it have its effect on the client. In that moment the client faces her reality. The therapist or the constellator does not need to face it as if it was something of their own, it has been handed to the client. This forces the client to behave like an adult. So, all these ideas of working through something and follow-up have nothing to do with family constellations. These are foreign elements from other therapies that are brought into family constellations. To resist this demands great courage, great restraint, and utmost humility.” (Hellinger, 2011)

If we want to practise Constellations within a psychotherapy framework, then the phenomenology of Hellinger’s approach, the very basis for his constellation method through which he arrived at most of his insights, also has to go. Stepping blindly into the information Field, after much personal purification of reason, will, emotion, expectation, planning and intention, opening oneself up to whatever may come, without fear, yet humbly allowing ourselves to be guided and to just observe and listen to the language of the soul – this is not everyone’s cup of tea, and not easily learned, practised or certified.

“In constellations work, in my constellations work, I approach the client’s issue in this attitude of exposing myself without intentions, without ideas, without fear, without love in the sense of ‘Oh I must do something for you.’ This has had the result that I have to do less and less, in order to reach the result the client needs.” (Hellinger, 2011)

To practice Constellations according to Hellinger requires of us to abandon the accepted conscience of our reference groups, be that a group of professional psychotherapists, a group of professional helpers, a group of humanitarians or any other group based on values, beliefs and ideologies, or based on belonging to our respective national, ethnic, racial and other groups. 

“Much of the criticism of family constellations demands of us that we fall back into the fetters of our conscience. It is directed against a movement that allows us to go beyond the boundaries of conscience, to look at a greater whole. Our conscience wants to prevent us from acknowledging the contradictions, or what opposes each other, as equals on a higher level, such as perpetrators and victims, or this group and that group, or this religion and that religion. This can only be done by those who have grown beyond the boundaries of their own conscience. This is a special personal achievement. Only those who have achieved it, can really bring about reconciliation.”[2] (Hellinger, 2011)

The recognition of the spiritual dimension is a hallmark of constellations as developed and taught by Bert Hellinger, followed by many, and also a point of departure from his approach by others. In recognition of this dimension lies the crucial difference between constellations and other related approaches, like psychodrama or family sculpting and it also differentiates Constellations according to Hellinger from other approaches of individual constellators or constellation schools.

“In spiritual family constellations the helping in the usual sense comes to an end, for helping lies in the hands of the creative spirit with whom we come into accord. Therefore, when a constellation does not move any further, when we break it off, the movement of the spirit, the healing movement continues. In such a situation we might want to take things into our hands, against the movement of the spirit, because we are determined to produce a good resolution, the way we and other participants want it. This can be dangerous for us. Here, everything takes a different course than what we are familiar with. 

So, the constellation leaders remain fully in accord with this movement, without wishes of their own, only in the service of a greater movement.

After a while we get used to the experience that the movements of the spirit are different from what we imagined them to be. There can be nothing wrong for these movements. Whichever way someone behaves, whether we agree to it or not, the spirit agrees to their movements. Even if a person sometimes has to go deep down before rising to heights. After some time we know ourselves fully in accord with everything as it is. This is what the movement of the spirit shows us. It is in accord with everything as it is – because it comes from it.”[3]

The spiritual aspect in Hellinger’s constellations is reflected, among others, in the acknowledgement of the forces bigger than us, the awareness that the success of the constellation process depends on these forces rather than on a facilitator, relying on the information that comes to us from the informational field in the process of phenomenological inquiry, and seeing the phenomenon of representative perception as the process of receiving in-formation from that field. It is further reflected in the knowledge about systemic orders, ‘orders of love’, which regulate our relationships, also in the concept of destiny as a common fate we share with others from our systems and communing with our ancestors.

Hellinger’s spiritual approach has in parts of the Constellating field been replaced by relying on mirror neurons to assist us with the inner images of our families and the world around us, viewing constellations to be an intra-psychic exploration, imposing a pre-established structure on the process of a constellation, and explaining the process within a psychological theory of our making. Such approaches also dispose of the ‘Knowing Field’ as the source of information, the possibility of our connecting with ancestors and other departed and treat the loving reconnection with our parents as an illusion that we can reconcile anything from the past. This is often accompanied by placing the power and success of a constellation process with the facilitator and his/her personal power and skill, and who can therefore be called a ‘master facilitator’, this status often being accorded on the basis of the popularity of any given person and their ability to promote themselves better than others. 

Attempts to reframe Hellinger’s approach are often accompanied by a wish to stay clear of this ‘metaphysical’ or ‘shamanic’ aspect of the constellation method. Yet, in my experience, it is precisely in these aspects where the power and effectiveness of this approach lie. It is my conviction that we, the constellating field, should not shy away from that which gives constellations its strength, but rather stay at the forefront of the worldview paradigm change which is needed to accommodate the phenomena we encounter in constellations. And that certainly includes the acknowledgement and accommodation of the spiritual aspect, recognising our own spiritual nature and the essentially spiritual nature of the world we inhabit.

Could we and should we stick with Hellinger’s approach?

Some argue that we couldn’t and shouldn’t as this approach keeps developing and because Hellinger himself did explicitly not want that. Some see those who advocate staying with Hellinger’s teachings as sticking with a dogma or classify it pejoratively as guruism.

There is great resistance among constellators to follow a ‘guru’, as if keeping and passing Bert’s teachings on has something to do with being meek and is about some personal adulation of a particular person embodied as Bert Hellinger. ‘Following’ in general, is seen by many in our western worldview as something which has negative connotations, and is taken as a sign of weakness and uncritical submission to authority, without using our own individual (better) judgement. Conversely, displaying individual critical judgement towards everything is generally highly valued. In many eastern traditions or indigenous cultures across the world, there is no problem acknowledging that there are exceptional individuals in their tribe who are the seers, the shamans, those who see further into the spirit world than the others, and everyone follows their advice without question, without thinking about the right to display our own individual critical judgement and opinion. That in fact would be seen as ridiculous!

In Love’s Hidden Symmetry (Hellinger, Weber & Beaumont, 1998) there is an account of Bert being asked: “Did you know that some people think you’re trying to be a guru?” He answered:

“Yes, I’ve been told that before, but I don’t worry about it since I finally have found out what a guru is. During a workshop, the group climbed a mountain to celebrate at a restaurant there. When they got ready to walk home, it was pitch black outside and they couldn’t find the path down. One of them who couldn’t see either, took another’s hand; they made a chain and when they got down safely, they thought he was a guru.”[4] (Hellinger, Weber & Beaumont, 1998)

A popular etymological theory considers the term ‘guru’ to be based on the syllables gu and ru, which it claims stands for ‘darkness’ and ‘light that dispels it’, respectively.[5] The guru is seen as the one who “dispels the darkness of ignorance,” a guide to an uncharted territory, not so much a person but a presence, the guidance and the teaching. 

If we see Bert Hellinger as such a guide and follow his teachings, we can be taken to this world, take a glimpse at many of the forces that are at work there, and we can understand so much more about this life that we are a part of, which is us. We can do that regardless of the fact that Bert the person is not existing on this plain any more – what difference could it possibly make?

If we see Bert Hellinger as just another therapist who used a particular method, then we are free to dissect his teachings through our critical mind, demand the verification of its usefulness, question it, subject it to analysis based on our materialistic, scientific, objective approach and modify it according to our opinions. Only then we find that what is left of it is not worth following!

And as for the accusations of turning it into a dogma, the essence of Bert’s teaching is exactly that everything is in motion. By staying true to this teaching it doesn’t mean we advocate staying with one set of truths which are fixed and unchanging, but exactly that we understand that the truth is in constant motion, as is also the title of one of Bert’s books and as he explains in the following quote:

“When I look at the developments of family constellations, my own development, and the new insights that some of you report, then it is clear that family constellations are a movement. This means that in family constellations something is in motion and remains in motion. Family constellations remain in motion because we do not tie ourselves down to certain concepts and to what has been achieved up to this point, as if we had found the philosopher’s stone that must be held on to. Therefore, the development of theories is always in motion, always new. For it shows that much of what seemed important some years ago is already outdated and replaced. 

How is this possible? It becomes possible through the openness towards what shows itself, and how it shows itself. Recent controversies have perhaps intimidated some of us, so that they no longer trust what shows up in constellations. For instance, when suddenly there are attempts to impose external criteria on us that have nothing to do with family constellations. Then the pressure to conform is felt, which – that is my fear – could slow down family constellations in their forward movement.”[2] (Hellinger, 2011)

So, following constellations according to Hellinger means staying committed to this forward movement, based not on our own ideas, but on the phenomenological insights in the field.

Some still see the departure from Hellinger’s approach as a natural consequence of his passing. But Bert’s knowledge is very much alive and present and could easily be accessed by us – the living – and by subsequent generations, if we kept it alive and if we are open to that. I know that for me personally, Bert continues to be present in the work I do and his teachings guide me through every piece of work, even more so now than when he was alive. I am now able to internalise it better, to make it truly my own, as I allow myself to be the conduit for his teachings and his words. I also notice that Bert’s teachings can pass more easily through me to others – even to those who never met Bert, nor learnt directly from him if I, with my personal identity, stay as invisible as possible and I make myself just a conduit – a tool – an agent in the service of Hellinger’s teachings and, most of all, in the service of that which lies beyond. If by promoting myself I make a strong statement that my individual identity as a constellator is so important, how can I approach the work in a humble and respectful way, with a belief that this work is driven by invisible forces which: “cognise everything into being the way it is,” as Bert taught?

It is in this sense, I believe, that Bert answered the question about how he would best like to be remembered, by saying it is best that he is forgotten. It is him as an individual person, with a particular name, with a particular way of living his physical existence that we should forget about because this is not important. What needs to not be forgotten and must not be forgotten are his insights and his teachings AND that which they are pointing towards. What prevents us from accessing Bert’s teachings is not his passing and the absence of his physical presence, but rather the attitude that we adopt as the ones who are ‘big’ in relation not only to Bert Hellinger, but to the method itself and possibly even in relation to the forces which this method relies upon.

For as long as we have this need to promote our way of working, under our name, whilst at the same time being critical of him, we are drawing attention away from the essence of his teachings, his insights and his life’s work, which he bequeathed to us all, and which we are all equal inheritors and beneficiaries of, if we choose to be so. If due to our personal reactions to the man Hellinger was, we reject or forget his teachings, we will be left only with our own individual identities and our own way of understanding and ‘doing’ the work, which is definitely so much less than the promise and possibility offered by and through the original teachings.

“This shows us that family constellations have been taken to a completely different level, to a higher level that demands something from everyone involved, different from what they had imagined. This means, me, the client, the representatives in the constellation, and all those spectators who are taken in, open themselves to this other movement. Then they are independent from me in every regard. They are independent from their expectations and they are led to a higher level. 

There is resistance to this new and different movement, it’s obvious. Sometimes this resistance takes on strange forms. I sometimes hear about things on the Internet about my work and me that seem strange to me, for instance, in Russia. At the same time I know what goes on inside these people. Shall I tell you?

All those who continue with family constellations as before are richly given to by me. I am the mother of family constellations. All those who use it received from me. The question is have these people taken everything from their mother? Or do they, after having taken everything from their mother, complain to their mother that she should have been different? Well then, this applies to me, too. In accord with the mothers whom I deeply revere, I agree wholeheartedly. My love remains.”[2] (Hellinger, 2011)

Whatever the developments in the Constellating Field, it all clearly belongs as a part of a bigger picture that we cannot fully fathom or influence, only say “Yes!” to. Like everyone else, I can only make my individual choices and follow these. And I have, and I continue to do so – with love and devotion. For me this is the only way we can ever learn anything, how we can ever arrive anywhere or come closer to the essence of this amazing mystery and wonder that Life is, the wonder that we are.

In the end, and in the very beginning, as Bert taught, everything is in the hands of the Spirit. It was with this awareness that he could weather all the criticism and adulation, that he could let everything be and not worry about the future developments of Constellation Work. Every now and then, he did comment and ponder, but mostly he retained his composure in this regard, void of criticism, with great equanimity of the mystic and a seer, the one with the utmost trust in the hidden forces of creation that work through us all, moving each one of us in a particular way.

“Applying sameness here, too, I say that all who offer family constellations, the ‘good’ and the ‘bad’ are the same as me before something greater. We only need to sense in our soul what effect this has on our strength. How much strength do we have then, to guide it well in a certain humble way, and how much strength do we have when we deviate from this and say: Yes, some are better, others are worse. The most radical consequence that derives naturally out of family constellations would also apply here: I acknowledge that all others are my peers before something greater.”[2] (Hellinger, 2011)

Notes:

1. Quō vādis? is a Latin phrase meaning “Where are you marching?” It is also commonly translated as: “Where are you going?” or, poetically: “Whither goest thou?”

2. Hellinger (August 2012) Help for the soul in daily life. Interview by Andrea Brettner for the magazine ‘Connection’ published on www.hellinger.com, no longer available online.

3. Hellinger (August 2011) Help for the soul in daily life, published on www.hellinger.com, no longer available online.

4. Hellinger (September 2011) Spiritual Family Constellations. Talk at the Second National Camp in Pichl, Austria, 27.06.2010. Monthly letters, published on www.hellinger.com, no longer available online.

5. Wikipedia

REFERENCE 

Hellinger, B., Weber, G., Beaumont, H. (1998) Love’s Hidden Symmetry. Zeig Tucker & Theisen Publishers, Arizona, USA.

ABOUT ME

As a Psychologist, I have first encountered constellations in 1995 as part of my Gestalt therapy studies in Australia. That was the start of my constellation journey which drew me to immerse myself in this work, learning directly from Hellinger and others who were early students of his, on different continents, leading to me gradually leaving the field of psychology and psychotherapy to become a full time constellation facilitator and educator in this field. All areas of my personal and professional life have been inspired and in-Spirited by this process. 

The work has changed me and my life in ways I could not even have dreamt possible and continues to be a constant source of new insights and knowledge, as well as an unending source of joy, awe, challenge, inspiration and love. I remain in gratitude to my teacher, and also the forces which have brought me on to this constellation path.

– Alemka Dauskardt

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Personal Reflections

The reflections of one of Bert Hellinger’s students

Viktoria Pierce

Last September, it was three years since Bert Hellinger passed away. In a couple of months, Bert would have celebrated turning 97, three years before his 100th birthday.

I look at Bert’s books on my bookshelf and think about that unforgettable time when I had the honour to learn from him – a philosopher who helped me to expand my perception of the multi-dimensional world we live in so I could better understand myself and the people around me. 

When I think about my great Teacher, I have an image of him standing on the stage during the Spring 2013 Hellinger Residential in Bad Reichenhall (Germany), where I first saw him. He greeted us, an audience of almost 500 applauding people, by slowly waving his hand and peacefully smiling. 

Before that residential workshop, I believed that Family Constellations was a great tool that was so easy to use to fix anyone’s problems. Also, I thought that anyone, including myself, could do this work because it was so easy. Just choose representatives, set up constellations, and everything happens as if by magic, which was true… partially. However, I realised I needed to learn more about this technique to manage the constellation and ensure I did everything right.

But when I witnessed the very first constellation by Bert Hellinger, I realised how arrogant and presumptuous I was. It took years of training in the Hellinger School to acknowledge and accept that “in front of the Great, I remain humble.” 

I remember how every time after the training, my family asked me: “What new things did you learn?” And I never knew what to say. I didn’t know how to put it in words and explain the profound experience I went through. Today I can say that each seminar by Bert Hellinger contributed to the development of subtle senses that we all have but usually do not use in the material world. There is only one case when we refer to these senses when we have a ‹gut feeling’ that many would ignore because it’s illogical.

Thanks to Hellinger, I learned to hear and trust my gut feelings. I practised listening to the Field and feeling a movement of subtle energy. Eventually, it became natural to recognise the dynamics behind one’s words or actions. This understanding allowed me to build balanced relationships at home and work, and I am immeasurably grateful to Bert for that. 

When Hellinger set up constellations or led us in meditation, he wasn’t a messiah; he was a great but humble Teacher who gave us experiential knowledge that went way beyond our mental understanding. He didn’t give us long lectures to satisfy our mental need to explain everything. Instead, he demonstrated the movement of the Spirit… the hidden movement that our souls were able to perceive. 

Those who attended the 2013 Hellinger’s Residential may remember Bert’s meditation, My Education:

“Can human beings educate me? For instance, according to their ideas of right and wrong? Or does it take an intervention from another dimension, such as a constellation? Are not all of those who want to educate me in need of education themselves, in this sense? Education means here, we are guided along by a spiritual power beyond our distinction of what helps and what doesn’t.

The question is: How do we come into contact with these powers? How do we come into accord with them? We come into accord with them through a movement beyond our own volition, if we are taken by it, without any inkling where we are taken to. (Hellinger, 2014).

The desire of our mind to break the movement down into small parts so the brain can pack it into a causal, linear relationship is understandable. But breaking up the whole into manageable pieces would banish the life-giving principle that animates the world. Intentions to establish rules or norms for Family Constellations Work will have the same deadly effect. Any dogmatic thinking contradicts Bert’s phenomenological approach in Family Constellations. 

But the human ego can’t come to terms with the fact that we are all in the hands of God. It keeps saying: “It’s ME who heals people and fixes their problems” or: “It’s ME who knows how to make the spirit follow the norms set by ME.” Bert called it arrogance and helped us first track it down in ourselves. Thus through self-exploration and self-acceptance comes acceptance of others and reconciliation becomes possible.

During Hellinger’s seminars, I learned that it is not about some rules in Family Constellations. It is always about the inner position of a constellator. Bert Hellinger, by example, taught us how to remain openly honest with no fear, judgement, intention or pity. This way, a constellator becomes a pure channel and can hold a space for a client. Everything else depends on God’s and the client’s will. 

Like everyone else, I’m not a messiah. I’m too small to solve someone’s problem. Moreover, from my experience, the urgency to save others usually comes from unresolved issues with our mother.

Also, I learned from Bert that Family Constellations is not a tool or a method. This is an art. He repeated it many times. And like any other art movement, the Family Constellations movement enriches one’s heart when it is allowed to flow, not disturbed by lies of the judgemental, rational mind.

In some economic theories I teach in college, economists make assumptions that nothing else but material things (for example, prices) affect human decisions. It is so easy to understand for many students because it makes sense. Most students agree that people are rational until we start discussing real-life situations where we deal with human beings with feelings and emotions. But for study purposes, we prefer to put our humanity and spirituality aside because this is something that we cannot measure and keep under control in a static form. It will destroy any theory that is supposed to be true for everyone, forever.

We all know that even the most logical person becomes unpredictable when they fall in love. Love. These days, when humanity explores distant planets and stars, nobody can clearly define such a hackneyed word as ‘love’. Nobody can describe the multi-dimensional feeling of love in words. Nobody can measure love. Nobody can prove or deny love, and nobody can establish rules for love. We can only observe the effect love has on people.

Bert Hellinger opened the veil and showed us access to a world where Universal Love rules. He took us to another dimension so we could see the Orders of Love in action. And, in my humble opinion, Bert took us to another dimension not because he wanted to produce thousands of constellators but because he wanted us to recognise and use the Orders of Love and Conscience in our daily life. That is why Hellinger’s School was called a School of Life, and Bert’s teaching is a help in life and professions.

Moreover, Bert encouraged us not to make Family Constellations a source of income because it is hard to remain honest and with no intention if one’s ability to pay bills depends on clients’ loyalty. 

It reminded me how during Hellinger’s Intensive in Mexico City, Bert demonstrated how potential clients react to a facilitator who badly wanted to help them. Bert placed a facilitator on one side of the stage and several representatives for clients on the opposite side. The facilitator made a step towards the ‘clients’, but the ‘clients’ moved away. They looked intimidated and tried to hide or leave. 

One more important thing I learned from Bert’s seminars is that the Family Constellations approach is not for helping my clients or for me to justify their problems. It is for assisting us in gaining dignity and taking responsibility for our life circumstances, having a broader perception and a better understanding of the hidden forces behind our behaviour and our life situation.

Hellinger’s legacy allows us to discover a seed of opportunity in any ripe problem. And that is why the Art of Family Constellations intrigues me more and more. This is a never-ending path where each seeker can find something absolutely unique as a seeker themselves. 

With an open mind and heart, with no fear, expectations, judgement or pity, we turn towards an inclusive love, the movement of which we were lucky to experience thanks
to Bert Hellinger.

With gratitude,
Viktoria Pierce

REFERENCE

Hellinger, B. (2014) An Education for Our Time: Turning Towards an Inclusive Love. Hellinger publications, Bayern, Germany.

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Personal Reflections

Living Deliciously

Julia Paulette Hollenbery

As we know, Constellation Work can reach the parts that other therapies just can’t reach. 

Constellations played a big part in my personal healing journey of decades and now deeply informs my own work as a bodyworker, therapist, author and speaker. Here I’m sharing some insights, reflections and ideas on becoming increasingly embodied, happy and free, living pleasurably, expansively, deliciously, as a way of life.

My Story

As a small child, I felt misunderstood and alone, at home and at school. The people around me felt sad and much too complicated. My real home was out in the garden, under the drooping willow tree, looking out across the yellow wheat fields up to the horizon with the big blue sky above. Out there, surrounded by buzzing insects and colourful flowers, I was in touch with everything. There I could be.

Even back then, I knew without doubt, that I would one day in the future, write a book.

For about 40 years I lived the dark night of the soul. Over the decades, the deep work of personal transformation – of therapy, bodywork, healing, and many paths of spirituality – helped me greatly, to slowly move towards becoming who I really am, living out my soul’s destiny.

From my first constellation, about 25 years ago (in India) my heart’s desire, my deepest longing, was to be in a relationship with a boyfriend and to have a wonderful time together.

In my many personal constellations as a client, what showed up was charged ancestral secrets, tremendous personal energy and eventually, deeply peaceful resolutions were found. 

I kept following the thread of my strong inner knowing, to express something from my heart and to live really well. I was determined to fulfil this, to become who I really felt that I was inside.

Now, I’m delighted and grateful to be happily living a life of romantic deliciousness and professionally I am an expert in this area. My “highly recommended,” “fun and engaging,” “real treasure trove” book: The Healing Power of Pleasure: Seven Medicines for Rediscovering the Innate Joy of Being, was published by Findhorn Press, in December 2021.

Today, I work with clients, and through my book and week-long retreats, teach the principles that support a happy, sensual and more conscious life. I share inspiration and practices from systemic work together with a synthesis of many other spiritual and healing paths from around the world. I invite people into what I call the Universe of Deliciousness, a profoundly sensual and wise way of living – a realm known by mystics throughout the ages. 

So, I am writing this article for the last edition of The Knowing Field, in honour of the work, for all it has given me, to let you know about my book as a resource for you personally and professionally, and to share some of my ideas about constellations, relationships and Life.

Introducing Sensuality

The path to a delicious life, is remembering and re-embodying, the fact that we are subtle, sensitive and sensual beings. Modernity is so complicated, rational and overwhelming, we are distracted from distraction by distraction, and have forgotten who and how we can really be. I’m not sure where I read it, but I’m struck to know, we are currently living in the most unsensual civilisation. 

So my book, and the work we all do in our various ways in constellations, is a returning to our essential, spiritual, sensual nature. The deliciousness of life, is not just in healthy intimacy, but in our whole body and being. Presence itself is delicious. Life can be blissful. 

When entanglements are removed, we are left with our real selves, of clear, kind perception and rich, sensual experience.

I believe deliciousness is possible for us all. As we clear away the old conditioning, trauma, false dynamics and patterns; and as we drop out of our heads and into our bodies, we commit to seeing the deeper truth in every situation, system and person. At least that is my experience, as parts of my body, sometimes my whole body, melts into a dynamic, delicious stillness. 

I think sensuality is vital for us all, as individuals in our personal relationships and intimate lives, and collectively as a species. Sensuality is our true, essential, spiritual nature, connected through our body to both individual and social selves, heaven and earth, material and subtle realms. My passion is helping people return to living as their own wise, sensitive, sensual selves.

Especially now, as we face the current and imminent challenges of polarisation, war, food shortage, climate crisis, etc., I think it is very important for us to realise that our power is not just in our thinking, in analysing and strategising, but in accessing our bodily, instinctual intelligence. This deep, innate and fun capacity can help us to access our personal guidance. It can help us to know just what to do. It can generate spontaneous and unexpected solutions to the immediate problems and challenges we are facing. 

There is much magic that can happen, when we are fully present in mind, heart and body…

I could say that this is a way of being, that is like living in a constellation – being in tune with the Field. In fact, my repeated experience, after 25 years of being immersed in this work, is that constellations do not happen only as a therapeutic form; only in the studio or therapy room; only with human, felt, doll or animal representatives; only with other people as clients. Constellations are happening – or can happen – all of the time, within us and around us, in our ordinary, daily life.

The work, as we know, is subtle. What is needed for it to happen, is a kind of containment, a stillness and an invitation, that enables the situation to be clearly seen and the healing movement to unfold… A constellation is a living thing, a map of natural healing impulses and forces, clearly visible in the therapeutic form. But if we are sensitive, if we can tune into the ever-present Field, we will notice our own subtle perceptions and experience, for example, an internal turning away from ‘her’, or noticing we are now far away from ‘them’.

Constellations are not really separate from life. In the same way, shamanism and many other healing modalities are not separate either. They are all a way, a methodology, a ritual, to access the invisible, imaginal, spiritual world, that is just as constant and real, as the visible, material, measurable world. All healing – indeed all life – arises from this unseen immaterial field.

Seven Principles of Transformation

How is it that people can move from the usual anxiety, panic and freeze, into a more embodied, wise and pleasurable state? I work with, write about and teach a process of transformation via seven practical spiritual medicines, or seven life-affirming, paradigm-shifting, steps. These are universal principles. I call them Slow, Body, Depth, Relationship, Pleasure, Power and Potency. 

I’m going to relate these seven universal principles to the way in which we constellate.

Slow

The first step is slowing down, out of our usual non-stop frantic thoughts. In our culture, many people have fast minds and unmoving bodies. This widespread disconnect between head and torso is not good for our holistic health and our best functioning.

When our thoughts are all tangled up, life cannot move and flow through us, as it needs to. Slowing down out of our ideas, thoughts and preoccupations, begins to bring the vibrational tempo of the mind into alignment with the vibrational tempo of the body. Mind and body begin to unite.

As facilitators, we do this for and with our clients, as we help them clarify their heart’s desire, their intention for their process and imagined best outcome. We hold the clear space of stillness and quietness, encouraging focus on what really matters now, for the next piece of evolutionary unfoldment.

We move from the clock time of Chronos, into the eternally present time of Kairos.

Body

The second step is reconnecting with our sensate body – the physical three-dimensional form that we live in: our soul-body; our personal home. The body is our greatest resource. It is our ground of being. It is after all where our life actually takes place!

The body is a masterpiece of design, engineering and choreography, beautifully maintaining our health, hidden – unseen – beneath our skin. The body holds the difficulty and trauma, whilst maintaining function. It deserves our respect, attention and kind self-care.

This is akin to the setting up of the constellation: the physical placing of the representatives; the coming into physical form. For the people involved, this is the beginning of sensing their own body, discovering that it is a useful antenna of relevant information. In everyday life, sensing how the body feels is not always easy. It is something that, in our rationally-oriented culture, with an emphasis on speed and productivity, we all need to practice. Returning to I, here, now.

I love that the process of participation in a constellation, whether as client, representative, witness or facilitator, is in itself, a spiritual path of sensitisation and embodiment. Representing teaches us to bother to pay attention to our flesh. It encourages us to discover the value of noticing our posture, gesture, feelings, sensations and importantly our breath. It teaches us that the somatic information provided to us by our body, is of value. Our sensuality – and our appreciation of it – is expanded through the process of constellating.

Depth

Thirdly, we zoom out to the depth of reality present. In everyday life, most people, most of the time, think that they know everything that is necessary to them. They assume that what they can see, touch, measure, and label, is all that there is. But when we look again from a different perspective, our typical human arrogance fades into awe, wonder and humility, as we come to appreciate how much there is, that we do not yet know. There is always much more going on than is evident at first glance! This depth of field holds bigger and deeper truths… enabling us to come into alignment, integrity, health and flow.  

When I first discovered constellations, what I adored was the revealing of the unseen truth beneath the apparent appearance. Depth is exciting, dynamic and vital.

This step is akin to the gathering of information from the Field: finding out what is really going on; listening to reports from the representatives. All is not what it seems at first. We engage with a fuller spectrum of reality.

Relationship

Relationships are hugely important to all of us. Everything that we do, is in relationship with others and the world around us. The quality of our life depends on the quality of our relationships. 

The essence of a constellation and the heart of a relationship are both really the same: the profound acceptance of what is; accepting people and situations as they really are; exactly how they are. This is profound and although easy to know about intellectually, it is not so easy to put into practice. And yet when we can, everything transforms. Love is transformational. 

Personal relationships are a crucible of personal evolution. They have everything to do with the other person, and at the same time, they have nothing to do with the other person. We need to be with the discomfort of being triggered. For almost all of us, despite our best thoughts and intentions, we can often become triggered. Reacting is uncomfortable, for ourselves and those around us. It has the emanation of falsity, is off, not quite right. And there are many skills we can bring to our relating, to create more safety, clarity and fun. 

A constellation reveals to us the absolute truth that no person is an independent, isolated island. We all co-exist within a web of inter-relationship. When we can accept the truth in life of this, everything changes, because we realise that none of us is ever really alone. We are always in relationship with everything else: our physical environment of ground, walls, trees, insects, animals and neighbours; our feelings and emotional patterns; our family of origin, romantic partners and children; archetypal forces and elements; divine source. When we recognise the truth of our inter-connection with all that is, we can deeply relax and trust more fully. We can reach out more easily to relate with others.

Pleasure

Pleasure is the enjoyable alchemy that takes place between one or more people and things. It is the delicious nectar of the fruit.

Life itself is sensual – full of beautiful sights, sounds, tastes, textures and sensations. Our body is sensitive to not just the five senses, but also to movement, weight, darkness, stillness, presence and more. Pleasure is always present, waiting for us to notice it. It’s up to us to find pleasure and expand it in our lives. Pleasure can be learnt; we can choose it over suffering.

Maturity is the realisation that pleasure is an inside job, it always takes place within our own experience. It is ultimately not dependent on an external person, object or touch. It is up to us to create safety and open up to receiving the physical nourishment of delicious pleasure.

In human relationships, what supports really satisfying delicious intimacy, is respect for each other and oneself, sensing the somatic fabric of the body, and using the simple technologies of breath, movement and sound, to amplify pleasurable sensations.

There is often a moment in a constellation where something shifts, where someone says something or the facilitator realises something they couldn’t have seen beforehand, and a healing direction, possibility or movement becomes evident. This is characterised by delight that after inertia, hope, release and satisfaction are possible. A palpable exhalation and relaxation follow… It feels a bit like having reached the top of the mountain and it’s all downhill from here!

Power

Power throughout history has often seemed like power over others, power grabbed and made dominant. But the real power is that of being vulnerable, in touch with our primary feelings, on a solid foundation of physical embodiment and support from others around us. Learning to be with and in our vulnerability takes great strength, determination and clarity. We need to be safe enough to be really vulnerable. The way through is the way out.

The history of humanity is fascinating and is a study on the subject of who is deemed powerful and how the idea of power has changed over time. The very ancient cultures of matriarchs and matrilineal power had great respect for the life-giving qualities of the goddess and the feminine. Their important cultural stories told of the lovemaking of the masculine and feminine to produce the Earth, the lovemaking of sky and earth to produce crops, just as men and women made love and produced children. Over time, ancient respect for the gentle, feminine, inclusive way of being, changed. It became (what we are familiar with now) respect for a masculine way of being, patriarchy, valuing independence, possession, and competition. Men became the holders of positions of power as spiritual and social leaders. God became a disembodied concept in the sky. We live now in a time when I hope, we can begin to see the equalising of appreciation, for both masculine and feminine values and qualities.

In a constellation, this is akin to the redistribution of responsibility, empowerment, and freedom – returning things to their rightful size, order, and relationship.

Potency

Potency is the currency of potential. It is the vibrancy of aliveness, the life force, freed from defensive survival patterns. It is the light carried by the water in the cells of our body; our capacity to be loved by God as the unique form we each are.

We actualise our potential, by getting out of our own way; by being in the neutral, central energy channel of the body. This information was known in ancient realms of spirituality and is repeatedly encoded across history and geography into images, architecture, and artefacts. It’s in the modern medical caduceus: two snakes entwined around a central staff, representing kundalini energy rising up and around the central bony spine, activating the pineal gland in the head.

In my book, I list simple, integrative technologies we can easily practice, to get out of our own way and into central aligned neutrality. That is, in practice, behaving in a way that is neither too far left or right, back or forward, keen or lazy, etc. It is the middle path. A constellation is also an integrative technology, clearing away what is false and no longer needed.

Potency is what happens in a client’s soul after the constellation has finished; in the space where it’s the client’s responsibility to be a good caretaker of the new images they’ve received, creating for themselves perhaps a written record, a mini model, an imagined remembering or ritual action of honouring intention. It is letting the client go and trusting the harvest of the inner work will happen in mysterious and yet to be realised ways.

Potency is trusting in the unknown, in the benevolence of Life to always act in our own and everyone/everything else’s best interests.

I find this universal map of seven principles is repeatedly useful, in many different situations, to raise us ‘up’ a circuit in the spiral of life. I invite you to make use of Slow, Body, Depth, Relationship, Pleasure, Power and Potency as useful intentions and practices, returning you and your clients, to sensual awareness, alignment and a delicious life.

Conclusion

The Universe of Deliciousness is a state of delightfulness hidden just beneath the busy surface of Life. There is a great deal more pleasure available than most of us usually live.

As we continue to do our personal and professional work, we evolve to become more grounded, relaxed and happy – in the service of Life.

One of the early constellations I participated in, fuelled by my wish to manifest a strong inner impulse, had me going to members of my family, asking for their blessing to become ‘this yet unknown mystery’. 

May each of us become who we really are – mysterious and delicious.

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Book Extract

An Excerpt from ‘The Healing Power of Pleasure: Seven Medicines for re-discovering the Innate Joy of Being

Julia Paulette Hollenbery

The Medicine of Relationship

Relationships create our sense of self and how we see the world. They can squash and limit us, or they can be doorways, through which we can experience and see ourselves more clearly.

Illusion of Separation

We are confused between ‘relating’, which is a verb, and having a ‘relationship’, which is a noun. We usually think of ourselves as independent individuals in an empty space. We imagine we as people stop where the edges of our bodies stop. From this isolated perspective, relationship is something we make an effort to create, rather than something that we are already naturally held within.

Relationships are very important to our health and happiness. But we tend to elevate the importance of a primary, personal, romantic relationship above all other relationships with other people and beings, thinking that only an intimate love will satisfy our need for contact and connection. Yet however many people are trying to get into a romantic relationship, there are just as many trying to get out of one. Intimate relationships are complex, fulfilling and frustrating. Other people are often unpredictable. Despite our best intentions, we can keep repeating unhelpful behaviour patterns with our partner. It is more supportive of our happiness for us to have a web of several different loving relationships, including with our family, friends, colleagues and others, rather than only one. We need community, we are a tribal species, and our loving relationships reflect this. 

The ancient Greeks had eight words to describe different types of love. Eros is erotic love between lovers; philia is affectionate love between friends; storge is kinship or familial love; ludus is playful early romantic love; mania is obsessive love; pragma is enduring love in couples or friends; philautia is self-love as healthy self-compassion; agape is selfless, spiritual, loving kindness for truth and others.

These forms of love cannot exist without our interactions with each other; it is we who bring our relationships to life. Through our relationships we find out more about who we are, whether the relationship lasts for a moment or a lifetime. Relationship is a unit of evolution, a sacred crucible for healing, pleasure and creative possibility. 

Relationship Around and Within Us

If we are fortunate, we usually live as part of a local network of family, friends, enemies and colleagues, and we all live in the world as one part of a big global story unfolding through us. We were conceived, born and nurtured in relationship, created from the relationships of our parents, family and ancestral tribe. But we often forget all that. We tend to think of ourselves as just ‘me’.

Beyond relationships with other people, we are in direct physical relationship with everything all of the time, whether we are aware of it or not. We are in contact with the chair we sit on, the ground we walk on, the air we breathe and all that flies, crawls, walks, swims and grows in the environments around us. We are connected by water moving through us, from the sky into rivers, entering our bodies as drinking water and coming out as urine, tears or sweat, evaporated into moisture in the air. The seemingly empty air is full of water and dust from our own and our neighbours’ dead skin – breathed in and out by us and them. Our personal bodies are inhabited by many other forms of life, such as the vast communities of microbes in our gut. 

We are constantly exchanging information with others in all of these many different relationships. In a human relationship, especially an intimate relationship, there is a huge volume of information exchange. I imagine the exchange as forming an infinity sign, a non-stop movement back and forth between us of visual information, feelings, spoken words and the exchange of oxygen, carbon dioxide and water. Information is being exchanged by us all as we breathe air in and out, air that contains evaporated water. We can all immediately read the atmosphere of a room when we walk in; for example, is it heavy or bright? We have seen how water can respond to emotion: perhaps ‘psychic’ phenomena are actually us responding to the information in the water in the air of a room?

Just as I wrote this, sitting in a cafe, a drop of water fell from the ceiling directly on to my laptop. It must have come from the air-conditioning unit above, although the baffled cafe owner said that had never happened before. (The laptop was not damaged and I knew it would not be.) I find this happens frequently: I have a thought or feeling as I write, and there’s a direct response from my body or from the world around me. Something happens, someone turns up, I see a message ... The connection is precise. Each time, I engage with this information, to try to understand what is being reflected or invited, and how this leads me further into understanding what I’m writing about. For me, this is the stuff of everyday life: constantly translating and transcribing the sensations, thoughts, feeling, occurrences that arise; using life, you might say, or allowing myself to be included in life as we co-create together and as I allow life to lead me ...

We are never alone. Be alive to synchronicity interweaving the material and spiritual in everyday life.

Images of Inter-Relationship

Everything is made-up of fractals, holographic repeating patterns ‘nesting’ inside each other at different levels. Everything repeats and everything contains everything else.

The ancient Buddhists used the simile of a giant three-dimensional spider’s web, known as Indra’s Net, to describe their concept of the interconnections within reality. Imagine a web extending in every possible direction, covered at each juncture in reflective dewdrops, each reflecting everything else. Everything that has existed, every idea that can be thought about, is a pearl in Indra’s Net.

This symbol of complex coexistence is similar to descriptions in other spiritual traditions. In Christianity, Paul refers to everyone in the Church as being part of the body of Christ. Using the metaphor of the human body, he explains how different body parts have different functions, as do different individuals. The Tantric tradition says everything is interlinked consciousness and energy; that just as every cell in our body has intelligence and health, so we are each a cell in the whole of life, involved on the levels of both the local microcosm and as a part of the whole macrocosm. The Ridhwan psycho-spiritual school describes the awake state of Unilocality. This is the experience of being in more than one place at a time, accessing something of the lived experiences of others. When this state arises, it feels surprisingly natural, even though it sounds impossible if you haven’t experienced it. 

Science also now recognizes that, amazingly, atoms can exist in more than one place at a time. Dr Rupert Sheldrake has hypothesized that morphic fields exist, as the connection between everything, such that wild animals know to migrate and pets know when their owner is on their way home. On another level, the internet is a modern image of interconnectedness. It forms a planetary neural network transcending local, national and international barriers and divides according to gender, race, sexuality or ability. It is a symbol of our essential equality and our very many real-time relationships with each other.

How Awareness of the Interrelationship of Life Affects Our Own Relationships

How does being aware of our individual place within the wild-world-web of interrelationships affect us in our personal relating? Is interconnection just an idea? Does it change our behaviour?

We can imagine relationships as ripples from pebbles dropped in water, the ripples interacting, creating a new pattern. The Nguni Bantu term for ‘humanity’, Ubuntu, is often used in a philosophical sense to suggest how we all influence each other. 

Because we usually think of ourselves as separate, we may not realize the impact we have on others. If we’ve had a bad day and dump our anger on our partner or a person in the supermarket, we usually think that is that. We might feel a little better for releasing our ‘charge’ and perhaps pleased temporarily to see them suffer. We think it’s a private matter, between us and them. But when we remember the contextual web of interrelationship, we will naturally consider how our behaviour might affect others. If we rage and blame at a stranger in a supermarket, they might feel upset and stressed. Perhaps they will fail at work and get fired, or have a foolish accident and twist an ankle, or their blood pressure will increase, lowering resistance to a virus, or they shout at their colleagues, who are also affected badly, who then take their stress out on the people or animals they meet ...

It is mind-blowing to realize we do have an effect on everyone we relate with during our day – not just the people we talk to, but the effect we have as we walk past someone on the street. Do we knock into them by accident or give them a compliment? A dirty look or a smile? Does the way we walk stir the air around us with gentleness or hatred? Might other people actually feel that emotion? Could we really have such a big silent effect on other people, animals, birds, plants and insects? If we invite others into a sweetness of heart and deliciousness of body, how might they spread that on through their day? If a simple passing-by temporary relationship can create such a powerful positive ripple through the street, how important is it to cultivate easy delightful relationships with our family, friends and lovers?

I hear the depth of silence now and a bird singing outside. As in this moment, as I sit listening to birdsong, we can find inspiration in the natural world, hearing and seeing the interactions of different organisms. It helps us to realize we are but a speck in the great expanses of history and geography. We can feel more humility, respect for and cooperation with others, and kindness to our sometimes struggling self.

When we remember we are not separated from the many varied relationships all around us, we can behave with greater awareness of our impact on others (and sense into their impact on us.) We can more consciously craft our relational dance with the whole.

A Basic Need to Be Seen and Witnessed

Until we receive true soul witnessing, we will have a need for someone else to provide it for us and our relationships will become focal points for our projected feelings. We will want to get our needs met from our favourite people, and when they disappoint us, they will turn into our psychological triggers. We keep repeating our historical experiences, until we can find a deep healing resolution, in life or therapy.

The truth is that everyone needs to be really seen and witnessed in some way. As babies we need to be seen in our joy and distress by our mother, or the person who fills that role for us. Our capacity to relate well with others as adults depends on how well we were cared for as babies and children, and on how well we have healed any wounds we may have from that time. This is known in psychology as attachment, a theory first proposed by John Bowlby. Is a person securely attached, insecurely attached or ambivalent? Even the most well-intentioned caregiver can of course still get it wrong for the baby they are looking after, or the baby might feel unloved due to having a condition that isn’t resolved.

Ideas about best baby care have changed greatly over time. Some have advocated leaving babies to cry in prams in the garden, feeding them on a strict schedule, and children being seen and not heard. Many more variations on this approach ignore the natural arising needs of this unique baby, here and now.

Attunement is there in the quality of the mother’s glance, touch of her hand and body, her timing, talk and song. Breastfeeding enables mothers and babies to gaze at each other at an optimal distance for connection for both. This gaze offers soul contact. A mother’s love radiates through her eyes, heart, nipples and milk. A mother provides nourishment and is the equivalent of a god for the baby.

When a baby has not been really seen, there is a great sense of loneliness and abandonment. Many of us have unseen children inside of us crying out for attention, the walking wounded. The zombies are not out there, but in here. Many do not feel it’s possible to fill their inner void of emotional need. We all want and need to be seen, to feel ourselves safe, in happy relationship with another ...

Interplay of Masculine and Feminine Energy

In our everyday life, in the pairing of masculine and feminine, we usually regard the feminine as being the more passive and the masculine as the more active of the two. We tend to see men as playing active roles in the world, good at focusing, fixing and achieving things, while women are more in touch with feelings, details and food.

But if we zoom out to the bigger picture, we can see that in the cosmos, masculine and feminine are huge natural elemental forces, not the same thing at all as men and women, boys and girls. Masculine is the context, as constant awareness, emptiness, stillness and knowledge. Feminine is the manifestation, as changing form, energy, sensuality and aliveness. The masculine simply is, while the feminine is dynamic movement. The interplay between these essential energies is the essence of creativity and life!

In human relationships, there is attraction between the magnetic opposite poles that creates a sexual spark – and between similar poles as we seek what mirrors us in our desire to know ourselves and grow. Feminine energy leads by invitation. Masculine energy follows that up with penetration. Because our culture does not value the feminine, it does not see the feminine invitation as leadership. It only acknowledges masculine action as leadership. We are missing out on seeing the equal dance of difference.

People are born with clear natural tendencies irrespective of their gender. Shamanic cultures have long recognized that there are more than two genders. Each of us is a combination of masculine and feminine in our three different aspects: a physically gendered body with external genitalia, an inner sense of self as a gendered identity and sexual orientation of attraction to others as a gender. Every human being contains both archetypal masculine and feminine energies. These show up in different ways in different areas of our lives; for example, how we are at work is often not the same as how we are in the bedroom. The nineteenth-century psychotherapist Carl Jung called our inner masculine and feminine energy our Animus and Anima, while the ancient Chinese Taoists called these principles Yin and Yang.

We are attracted to someone who reminds us of our inner spiritual self. In traditional genders, a man is attracted to a woman whose feminine aspect reminds him of his own inner feminine, while a woman is attracted to a man whose masculine aspect reminds her of her own inner masculine. In this way we deeply recognize each other – a phenomenon we call falling in love. It is a mysterious process not organized by logic, time or space, but by significance, soul reflection and completion.

When we see someone in love, we recognize their bright soul light shining.

A Container for Healing

We learn about ourselves mostly through our relationships with other people. A relationship is a healing opportunity, a playground for exploring new pleasures and transforming old patterns. Very often, when choosing a partner, at an unconscious level we choose someone who is deeply familiar, meaning that they remind us of the difficulties we had with our parents. They often trigger our childhood wounds, but they also offer us the possibility of healing or retrieving a part of ourselves through owning our true feelings and taking responsibility for our actions. A relationship is really an opportunity that is less about the other and more about fully experiencing ourselves.

In relationship we move through cycles of ease and challenge, either resolving a conflict and deepening our connection, or separating. Relationship is not a fixed thing; it’s always changing, demanding us to grow, respond and change. What do we need now to see, feel, understand, say or do?

Being without a partner brings us different but no less valuable healing gifts. Being single does not make us ‘incomplete’. Being single is an opportunity to expand individually, and to appreciate a wider, more complex set of relationships. The temptation when ‘in a relationship’ is often to focus exclusively on ‘the other’, forgetting we are in relationship with everyone and everything around us. Both circumstances, being in and being out of intimate relationship, offer healing challenges and gifts.

Note from Editor:
As this is a book extract, American spellings have been retained.

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Book Extract

The Nature Constellation Handbook: An Invitation to Connection (Re-membering Nature in Systems)

by Francesca Mason Boring and Innovative Voices in Systems Constellation was released in September 2022.

The book is available in paperback and on kindle via Amazon in numerous countries.

Table of Contents

Invitation to the Journey  

The Emergence of Nature Constellations  

Seeds: Tanya Shapiro, LMHC, Family Constellation Facilitator  

What can Nature do for me? 

Seeds: Nancy Kehr, D.C. 

Can individuals be impacted by events in nature, which have been significant for ancestors? 

Seeds: Anngwyn St. Just, PhD  

Group Exercise: What did your parents teach you about nature? 

Personal Reflection for Facilitators: What did your parents teach you about Nature?  

Constellation Exploration: The Hollow Bone  

Constellation Exploration: My Family System and Nature 

Facilitating Constellations Outdoors  

Seeds: Starr Potts, MA, MSW, LICSW 

Nature as Resource: Clarification Constellation  

Nature Constellation Exercise: Are you my teacher? 

Seeds: Popsy Kanagaratnam 

Forest Baths for Our Brains: The Neuroscience of Nature Constellations by Sarah Peyton, USA  

Group Exercise: Forest Bathing/Shirin Yoku Constellation  

Me & My Tree Constellation Exercise: Dyad 

The Nature of Time in Nature Constellations 

Seeds: Candice Wu, SEP, MA, CYT500   

Group Exercise: Timeline Walking Meditation  

Seeds: Bertold Ulsamer, Facilitator  

Elk Teachings for Family & Human Systems Constellation   

Elk Teaching: The Treasure of Invisibility and the Invitation to be Seen 

What is my rightful place in relation to the land? by Tanja Meyburgh, South Africa 

Seeds: Rotger Heilmeier, M.A.  

Ancestral Indigenous Reconnection: A Sacred Weaving of Mystical Spirituality, Embodiment Practices, and Nature Constellations by Rani George

Pet Constellations  

Two Significant Constellations by Barbara Morgan, England 

Notes on “Corona & Mother Earth” Constellation held Thurs. April 9, 2020, By Megan Kelly, Belgium 

Nature Constellation and the Work that Reconnects, by Matthew Ramsay, M.SC, Pag, RTC, Canada  

Nature and Me: We humans destroy the environment: What is my part? by Bertold Ulsamer, Germany 

Meditations: Belonging within the System of Nature  

Sitting With the Stories of Brokenness by Stuart Taylor, Decolonial Activist, England 

The Bees in Constellations   

Chris and the Bumblebee by Chris Walsh, MBBS, DPM, FAChAM, Australia 

Seeds: Jeffrey Rich 

Nature Constellations by Amdal Rafael Ruiz, Mexico  

Sweet Dreams  

Invitation to the Journey

Welcome. You are in the right place. Whether you have been one of the many souls feeling isolated and alone, or one of those who has a sense that you are to be a catalyst for shining a light on the illusion of isolation, this is a book that will provide tools that may effectively expand your resources and honour your resilience.

This book will provide specific tools for facilitators of systems constellation, but it is designed to broaden options and interventions for teachers, therapists, parents, partners and human beings who are tired of a way of perceiving the world, which is compressed, petty and destructive. 

You may find your own way; perhaps you are drawn to read the book from front to back, or back to front or you may simply allow yourself to pick and choose what you read and when. Accumulatively, all of the parts contribute to the whole, a whole which is pragmatic and encouraging.

The image that continually provided support for the emergence of this text was one of a mountain meadow. Meadows, particularly in the spring and early summer are rich with variety. The number of flowers that may be found are varied, the grasses, the surrounding foliage, the rich soil, alive with worms and millions of creatures we cannot see who are busy holding up the earth, nothing has to be an exact duplicate of anything else. There is a peace in breathing in the complex aroma, and if our gaze softens, we can take in the whole. This does not change that no two flowers are the same. Some of the same species are varied in colour, some may hug the ground while others reach for the bees.

In listening to what was unfolding I have felt compelled to honour the contributions for the flowers that they are. Some of the contributions in this book are from areas where the Queen’s English is the normal written language, and the contributions of other writers are presented with the spelling that is standard for their region. 

There are writers from other countries who have a syntax which is slightly different, and still, has perfect rhythm and content. I honour the distinctions in the same way. I do not expect a lupin to bloom like a daisy, or carry the aroma of an apple blossom. I invite you to enjoy the subtle differences of the presentations.

The chapters are provided by seasoned facilitators who model the kind of humility and curiosity that can mentor your wading into an expansion of your work and worldview. They are generous human beings who face the chasm of not knowing what will emerge, trusting that we will have the courage to integrate something new. Whether or not you venture further into including nature to a greater degree in your life and work, my conviction is that these voices will embolden and encourage you.

Included in the book are nature constellation meditations. One of the meditations invites a deep process, particularly relevant for those who experience anxiety in regard to environmental issues. In every case, nothing needs to be rushed, and you can pause, or explore another avenue for a moment if you are not ready. These meditations are ways to engage groups, or to support yourself in exploring the deep sense of our participation in the natural system, to remember that we are a part, we are connected.

There are examples of nature constellations, templates for constellations that facilitators may employ, and descriptions of systemic constellation experiences through which nature opened a door to deeper understanding, a new openness, and peace. These have wide application.

Some of the chapters are shared in the form of story. They are non-linear embodied invitations to ‘feel’ nature in systemic constellations and to inhale the way of learning that is our natural inheritance.

In addition to the chapters there are contributions that are like seeds in the soil, or plants about to burst into bloom. These are delicate insights and sharing by numerous facilitators which I hope will serve as a pollinator for those who hesitate to step forward in isolation. 

May you be strengthened by this work and these voices as you remember your birthright of kinship to Mother Earth.

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Poets’ Corner

Resonance: In the eye of the storm

There is chaos without
It vibrates within.
I wake, aware of an internal trembling.
My body, my nervous system is resonating with all that is.

All that is, in this present moment.
In the ever-expanding circles of experience and awareness,
circles wide enough to encompass almost the whole world
And yet narrow enough to be felt like a light fluttering on the surface of my skin.

There is a sense of weight on my chest
And a tingling on the soles of my feet.
I can feel the beat of my heart
when I listen, it says: you are alive!
You are alive in this present moment,
You are alive at this point in time.
You are alive in the great swell of the ocean,
You are alive on the crest of this wave.
You are a droplet in the sea of life
And fear not, the tide itself will bring you home.

One day, not yet, we will merge forever in what is beyond.
We will become one with all that is, all that was and all that will be.
But just for now, we feel the pull of the tides,
the strength of the moon as we stand on the strand of life
with the water lapping around our feet.
Standing, feeling now, all the reverberations.
Hearing the mewing squawk of the gulls with the sound of the water lapping,
tasting the salt in the air
smelling the deep smells of the sea, looking to the horizon
the constant, ever changing and unreachable where sound
and silence coincide and the Soul speaks out and says:
Right now, right here, You are alive!

And we journey on feeling all the rhythms,
In alignment with all the eddies within the great flow.
We are rising and falling with the sway,
filling and emptying with our own breath.
Our wisdom knows that we can take in what is needed, 
what will strengthen and nourish us right now.
We can allow it to find the longed-for reaches of our being,
from the crown of our heads
to the very tips of our fingers,
to the very tingling on the soles of our feet.
And as we breathe out, on a longer, slower breath
We can allow the wave of the breath to bathe us, to release us gently, 
All the time bearing witness to our human ‘beingness’.

Now allow your body to make a movement towards life,
Perhaps it is an internal movement.
Let your gaze ease forward, moving outwards, out to the great beyond
A yes to the ripples and the waves.
A yes to the storm and to the calm
And feel a ‘yes’ to the rhythm of it all.
To the external and the internal.
A yes to what is, and to how it is.
An agreement to what your body is merely witnessing.
No need to run, no need to hide in our habitual places
No need to fight, no need to freeze.

Just feel the rhythm of your own heart beating, 
it beats in unison with other hearts.
We sit together with our ancestors behind us
they know about this, they know more and they also know other.
Their resilience brings us back to the present moment, strengthened, 
Back to the life we received through them, 
just as it is, just as it was and at the full cost and high price paid.

We draw down their strength as we come back,
Back to the external and then to the internal experience,
Back to the rhythm of now. 

The perfect rhythm of now, 
Feel the calmness of that and allow the freedom.

Colette Green
May 2021
colettegreen1@yahoo.ie

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In Memoriam

Richard Lamm 

25 July 1936 – 24 August 2022

Richard Lamm, long-term husband of Anngwyn St. Just died peacefully at home in August this year.

We will always be grateful to Richard for tirelessly working away in the background, supporting both Anngwyn and us here at TKF by organising all the photos which formed such an important part of her regular articles and subsequent books.

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Initially founded as the Systemic Solutions Bulletin by Barbara Stones and Jutta ten Herkel, the Knowing Field is currently the only international English-language journal available on Constellation work. In each issue, you will find articles representing a broad spectrum of how Constellation work is moving throughout the world. Articles are published from long time leaders in the field as well as newcomers. From deep philosophical and scientific discussions, to practical tips and techniques, to soul stirring stories of healing breakthroughs, you will enter a radically inclusive space that helps shine a light on the professional practice of Constellation work as well as the mysteries that continue to surprise, confound and humble all involved in this work. 

As you read through this journal, you will see there is something of interest for everyone involved with constellations. Many facilitators and trainers of this work, some of whom are quite isolated geographically, find the journal a great source of nourishment and education. We hope you do too.

SALES & SUBSCRIPTIONS

The website will remain open for 2 years and you can subscribe any time in that period and gain access to all of the journals.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ON ANY OF THE ABOVE CONTACT:

Barbara Morgan email: theknowingfield@gmail.com

All names of clients and incidental details have been changed to respect confidentiality. The views expressed by the writers are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of the editorial team or their advisors. Where possible, gender definitions are specified, but where doing so would render the style clumsy, the male gender has been used to cover both genders unless otherwise dictated by the context.

About the Cover

Cover photo by Johannes Plenio, unsplash.com

Copyright ©2023 Barbara Morgan. All rights reserved.