Dear Patricia,
Thanks for opening this discussion. I find that different facilitators work in
different ways depending on their background - the emphasis on how they
negotiate the knowing field changes with their own knowledge genealogy. The
question that arose in me around your question of the knowledge roots have both
to do with the biography and knowledge lineage of Hellinger, but also on what
makes a family constellation in the style of Hellinger a constellation? I have
been seeing people call their work Constellations in the tradition of Bert
Hellinger, but I do not see core philosophical principles of constellation work
present, so I ask myself: is this really a family constellation
(famlienaufstellung) as learnt through our teachers Hellinger himself and his
original students? The principles I refer to, which I am sure there are others
in this forum who can add to, are: conscience, the knowing field / the mystery,
inclusion, reverence and dignity, orders of love, and the phenomenological
stance of the facilitator. Although I have not studied many of the schools
that Hellinger studied deeply, I do see that some of these particular
principles are fundamental part of both the Catholic Church and rituals and to
Southern African traditions as seen in Zulu culture.
I am still after 15 years of observation and study convinced that a major part
of this work - more than what has been recognised - can be attributed (even by
Hellinger himself) to a deep observation of Zulu cultural traditions. Essential
in everyday culture here is order (positioned clockwise), the role of parents
vs the role of children in the family, reverence, dignity and extensive
knowledge of the ancestral field and what conditions lie where within events
that happened with the ancestors, pointing also men and women and their very
particular roles in family life and the masculine and feminine lineages. There
are aspects of the fundamental principles of constellations as mentioned above
that I have not seen explained anywhere else in the work of Hellinger’s
teachers that are clearly from indigenous Southern African cultures. Perhaps I
am mistaken, because my focus has been more in this direction than in his other
teachers. Some of the link between the Constellations and Southern African
traditions has been addressed in the article:
http://tanjameyburgh.co.za/reverence-and-dignity-an-exploration-of-southern-african-traditions-and-bert-hellingers-orders-of-love/
<http://tanjameyburgh.co.za/reverence-and-dignity-an-exploration-of-southern-african-traditions-and-bert-hellingers-orders-of-love/>
. I hope this is also useful. I have been trying to write as much as
possible about this as I am aware that it is difficult to find information
about Southern African traditions as the knowledge is mainly held by elders and
medicine people.
All the best with your search,
Tanja Meyburgh
Founder and Director
African Constellations
Cape Town, South Africa
083 2182668
tanja@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
www.tanjameyburgh.co.za
www.africanconstellations.co.za
