Yes it's very interesting Barbara.
From my Australian perspective and experience, we as a nation are collective so
fearful of our violent past with our Aboriginal people that we are still
conquering them today but pretending we are not. I believe we are not yet
mature enough to really! acknowledge the truth. There is so much subconscious
fear of what this would actually mean today.
I have left professional positions that were "supposedly" about helping current
day Aboriginal people because my experience is they were really just covering
up the truth. We say the right words but our actions do not show to me that we
have fully looked directly into our origins and accepted them as they were. We
very quickly move to "heal". A quick and panicked grab for the remedy before we
have really seen the full extent and depth of the wound.
We have armed ourselves with a clever denial that is very invested in keeping
the power imbalance intact. I wonder if that were removed, weaponry would be
"needed" in Australia.
Already in the early days of my systemic constellation work with organisations
I see this turning up. Many if not all of our systems were established upon
this violence and theft.
I also experience as a facilitator the very powerful pull into the cover up.
It's so strong! Having grown up here I witness the influence this has had on me
and I have had a background in equity! It's a challenge to stand outside of
this part of the field. One needs a lot of strength and clarity as a
facilitator when this issue starts to arise.
Constellation work has in my view so much potential for this country and this
deep seated part of our roots. I know many others must sense this too.
I am inspired to hear that you are doing some work in Bristol in October and I
would love to hear how this progresses.
Blessings Nina
Sent from my Samsung GALAXY S5
-------- Original message --------
From: "Barbara Morgan theknowingfield@xxxxxxxxx [ConstellationTalk]"
<ConstellationTalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: 25/02/2018 1:51 PM (GMT+08:00)
To: ConstellationTalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [ConstellationTalk] Children and Gun Violence in America
What an interesting subject I didn’t know this about the British
involvement in the arms history of the USA. It made me think about the fact
that it would make sense if you invade and take over land from the indigenous
populations killing many on the way that you as a society would be afraid of
the repercussions and therefore think you need arms to protect yourself. I saw
a similar situation in South Africa when I last visited several years ago -
huge opulent houses which looked liked prisons because they had bars up at the
windows, Alsatian dogs, burglar alarms, barbed wire fences and prickly bushes.
In the particularly poignant scene I remember there was a line of Black
Africans opposite these houses sitting on the pavement singing. I remember
asking myself who was happier! With the latest events at the North American
Conference last October and the ensuing articles that came from it on slavery
and other themes (appearing in the latest Knowing Field Journal) maybe the time
is ripe to begin looking at this thorny issue worldwideWe in Britain have so
far only scratched the surface but some of us will be inviting Anngwyn to
Bristol in Oct this year to begin looking at this more deeply for ourselves and
would welcome anyone to join us. Please contact me personally if you wish to go
on the mailing list. Bristol has a strong connection with the history of the
slave trade as a major port involved in shipping the slaves. Constellations are
a powerful tool for helping us begin to address these very painful issues and
face up to our history. Warm wishes to allBarbara
Sent from my iPhone
On 23 Feb 2018, at 20:53, Leah leah@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
[ConstellationTalk] <ConstellationTalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Hi Nina,Thank you for looking into this. An email in my inbox this
morning from Rabbi Michael Lerner speaks to your question: “In a society which
has never acknowledged its violent foundation, from the genocide of Native
peoples, to slavery, the violent overthrow of governments around the world in
order to impose regimes that favor U.S. corporate interests, its brutal war
against the Vietnamese people, its recruitment of young people into a pre-army
ROTC, and its romanticization in movies and T.V. of super weapons and violence,
it is no surprise that it is easy to convince men that "real men" use weapons
and violence to get their way in the world.” I also wonder about the American
Revolution and the creation of the USA. One of the key factors in the American
Revolution was the fight against British intentions to disarm the colonists –
that’s what would have happened if Britain had won the war. It’s a fascinating
piece of history that I’m not sure many of us picked up in U.S. history in high
school. I remember the focus was mostly that the colonists rebelled due to
unfair taxation. But the British would have disarmed the colonists and created
a permanent standing army. The majority of the colonists believed in the right
to bear arms and that no government or authority should have control over this
right. All of the colonies actually had laws requiring males to own guns:
“Among the Colonial militia statutes, Connecticut's 1650 code contains one of
the clearest expressions of the duty to own a gun: “That all persons that are
above the age of sixteene yeares, except magistrates and church officers, shall
beare arms...; and every male person with this jurisdiction, above the said
age, shall have in continuall readines, a good muskitt or other gunn, fitt for
service, and allowed by the clark of the band....” (source:
http://www.tulprpc.org/attachments/File/Colonial_Firearms_regulation.pdf) The
USA was not just born from a violent revolution, but the right to bear arms
seems to have been the issue that finally precipitated the full-on revolt.
Another interesting fact: it’s estimated that 15-25% of the population during
the American Revolution (300,000 - 500,000), loyal to the British crown,
migrated and settled in Canada. The Yale research was shockingly high and has
been criticized for including young adults up to age 19 in a research project
on “children”. The CDC defines “children” as 0-14 years of age. I guess that
when you include young adults, it raises questions of much wider circumstances
around the incidents.
(https://www.theblaze.com/news/2014/01/31/theblaze-fact-checks-abc-did-diane-sawyer-use-misleading-stats-in-2020-report-on-children-and-guns)
I’ve had limited experience with this issue in Constellations. I’m interested
to hear if anyone has any insights from their constellations, or plans to
address it? Many thanks, Leah Green From: <ConstellationTalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
on behalf of "ninaishtar@xxxxxxxxx [ConstellationTalk]"
<ConstellationTalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Reply-To: <ConstellationTalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Wednesday, February 21, 2018 at 7:05 PM
To: <ConstellationTalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [ConstellationTalk] Children and Gun Violence in America Hi Everyone
I am from Western Australia, a new comer still establishing my work in this
field. I am wondering if anyone has done any constellation work that has
touched upon gun violence and children in America? I have been commenting on
an interesting discussion on Facebook about a video of a young American girl
who looks about 10/ 11 receiving her first rifle, it seems from her parents.
She is so overwhelmed with emotion she is in tears. The discussion was
around the culture of American families and hunting. How this girl may have
been experiencing the strong emotion due to the "gift" representing
something like a rite of passage; old enough to be trusted with her first
rifle. The recent protests in America in relation to school massacres
stimulated this topic and sharing.
I just read a 2014 Guardian article about the culture of American families
and hunting. It quotes that 3000 children die each year from hunting
accidents. A Yale University study reports 7000 children are either admitted
to hospital with serious injuries or die from hunting accidents each year in
America. These figures do not of course include street violence, domestic
violence and school massacres. If this behaviour is so strongly apart of the
family institution in America I do wonder what the roots of this are all
about. The right to bear arms and hunt freely even if it's killing and
injuring lots of children, who in fact are not living in a war zone. No
disrespect to American culture but this stuns me.
Any experiences?
Thanks
Nina Ishtar
Denmark Western Australia
MC900023779[1]
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