Fw: AW: [ConstellationTalk] The Legacy of Slavery Workshop

From: "Carolyn Zahner" <cpzahner@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <ConstellationTalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Sun, 8 May 2011 13:03:09 -0400

Dear Dan and all who have contributed to this thread,

I offer this post with deep gratitude for having had the opportunity to be
involved in the “Slavery’s Legacy: A Workshop on Intergenerational Trauma and
Healing,” led by Belvie Rooks, Tom DeWolf and Dan Booth Cohen.  Thank you Dan,
Belvie and Tom and to all who had the courage to participate and show up as the
field offered its wisdom. I notice that it is, today, on Mother's Day that I
find my attention so drawn to this.

I would like to share some of what unfolded for me, in representation, during
the Constellation that Dan led with such grace and wisdom.

When the representative for the “Beat of the Pulse of Life” begins offering his
penetrating rhythm, it immediately floods my body.  I feel deep relief and
gratefulness knowing we will be held in a good way as we proceed.  I want to
stand up and join him in his sound and movement.  But it feels most right, most
respectful, to contain it.  I know to be quiet and still, holding it only in my
own body and small space; for now. And so, unseen, I remain seated beating a
soft rhythm on the desktop.

I remain there until the representative for the ancient Scottish ancestor cries
her pain of loss and grief; of everyone having left her, of the old ways and
wisdom being lost. I know her as Grandmother – Wise Woman.  My grandmother of
the old ways: of the time of priestesses, of honoring nature, of deep mutual
respect between men and women…They tried to erase her, but she is not lost.  I
remember.  I know. I must know in order to live; to receive the Pulse of Life.
I can no longer sit.  I want to tell her, “I have not forgotten you!  I know
your ways.  I need your ways.  I belong to you! You are my tribe, my indigenous
roots.  Your knowing, mingled with the knowing of the land I was born to, are
the pulse of my life.”

I stand, trying to get my ancient Grandmother’s attention.  She does not see
me. I remain silent. Grandmother’s attention is focused on the other
granddaughter whose mother was enslaved and raped by Grandmother’s son. This is
the field that is present. It is to this granddaughter that this time and space
belongs. I understand.  I agree. I remain standing on the edge of the system;
my rhythm becoming louder and stronger. I belong exactly where I am.  As one of
the granddaughters of the Ancient One, knowing her ways, I have my place in the
Collective Circle of Humanity, supporting the healing offered to this aspect of
Earth’s wounded children.  I bow before my Scottish grandmother by holding my
right place.

As others join in with percussion, singing and dancing, my contribution to the
Pulse of Life finds more space. I feel relief as my body moves more freely in a
soft dance to the collective rhythm. I am tall, strong and gently fluid. A
white man kneels beside me; on the right.  A white child kneels beside me; on
the left.

I am the US “white” woman of Scottish descent.  I am Sister to the light
skinned woman who is comforted by her African and Scottish ancestors. It is
simply true.  We are sisters. My sister’s father is my father. Our father is
her mother’s rapist. Our father is my rapist. I can look and know this and say,
“yes” to this truth; acknowledge what is. It is simply true. We cannot take our
father without taking this. It does not honor our father to deny the burden of
guilt that is his to carry. It is a heavy fate. I have compassion.  Still, not
taking this truth perpetuates the legacy that offers ongoing, present day
wounding to his children. I know this. I have compassion.  My sister and I
share the Scottish ancestors; grandmothers and grandfathers, who stand behind
our father.

Yes, I have my own wounds, my own pain. All of humanity has its own pain.  So
what? I do not need to have my wounds tended or expressed in this space.  To
try to have it tended now would disrespect my sister, her mother and our
grandmother.  It would disrespect me. I know the ancient ones tend me sweetly
in my own time and space.  I can be here, in this way with my sister; even if
she does not see me.

The time when my sister will come to see me or know me stands in the future.
Like the representative for the Child of the Future, I too am unseen.  For now,
it is the pain of the past, still carried in living flesh and the pain of the
present, ongoing wounding that is tended. The field provides the place to cry
the pain, to have the “erased ones” remembered, to find clarity and ancestral
blessings in moving past the collective amnesia. I stand with my sister and the
human community as we move forward.

Only after this work is done are we able to tend the Child of the Future.
Finally, it is time and the Child cries out her anguish at having not been
seen. Only then is she seen.  Only then is she heard.  Her own grandmothers,
who had not previously seen her, tend her as only they can.  The white, male
facilitator, who had not previously seen her, gently asks what she needs from
him. And in the quiet, the Child of the Future sobs and whispers to him; “Just
listen to me.”

My ancestors stand behind me and give me their blessing to just listen.

To all of you who have taken the time to read this, thank you for listening.

Happy Mothers Day!

With deep gratitude,

Carolyn

Carolyn Zahner, MSW, LISW
Program Chair, 2011 US Systemic Constellations Conference
513-697-0260
www.USConstellations.com
www.carolynzahner.com

From: gary stuart
Sent: Wednesday, May 04, 2011 10:01 PM
To: ConstellationTalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: FW: AW: [ConstellationTalk] The Legacy of Slavery Workshop



Yes, Dan great stuff and to all who contribute....

In my numerous Constellations with this issue I would like to alert out
community about a few dynamics we need to think of on top of everything else.
One thing I have found is that many died on the ships transported to North
America or even South America so there are many missing ones on the journey as
well as those left behind.... They may have started out enslaved as families
and arrived as orphans... So Grief & Loss is a biggie...The good news is that
despite Slavery they survived and thrived... which should not be overlooked as
many get caught in the blame game with guilt etc... I personally experienced
this in Joy's Lecture in Portland to me it seemed like her fate was my fault?
Plus all other injustices because I was Caucasian....I like her spunk
regardless....

Bert Hellinger has said on many occasion, "Children Blame, Adults take
Responsibility" so just maybe those who feel superior by their cultural
victimization could be open and learn from a Constellation or 2 that Fate and
Destiny are also at work in their creation in a neutral way.

There was also White Slavery too. My core white, Scottish Ancestor of 1611 was
sold by the British into Slavery to another British, white colonist family in
New England 1630ish..... Their "owners" were so impressed with their service
that they were released after a year and He and the Head female servant became
my 5th Great grandparents on my fathers side.

This brilliant, objective, Black, Author Thomas Sowell (see link below) has
traced the roots of every minority in America and their cultural evolution and
assimilation. He also brilliantly address how attitudes of their origins
manifest 200 years forward both positively and negatively....Ironically he
feels his people progressed the slowest (in America) compared to the Italian,
Irish, Mexican, Chinese etc...

He goes into great detail.....I highly recommend reading it for Cultural
insights in our field.

http://www.amazon.com/Ethnic-America-History-Thomas-Sowell/dp/0465020755/ref=sr_1_21?s=books

<http://www.amazon.com/Ethnic-America-History-Thomas-Sowell/dp/0465020755/ref=sr_1_21?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1304544234&sr=1-21>
&ie=UTF8&qid=1304544234&sr=1-21

Sincerest support, Gary Stuart LA, CA Gary@xxxxxxxxxxxx

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: AW: [ConstellationTalk] The Legacy of Slavery Workshop
From: William Mannle <billmag@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Wed, May 04, 2011 4:09 am
To: ConstellationTalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Dan,
This is rich, intense and deep. Thank you. Here, here to your courage to move
into these waters. I have often wondered about the aftermath of slavery and the
continuing effects of our Civil War. And It's interesting that in the April 7
edition Time magazine discusses "Why We Are Still Fighting The Civil War," The
article states there was an eagerness to "forget," and in this collective
forgetting, wounds were never healed. The article ends with, "the path to
healing and mercy goes by way of honesty and humility. After 150 years, it's
time to finish the journey."

Thanks again,
Bill Mannle

Read more:
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2063679,00.html#ixzz1LNeBy300
On May 4, 2011, at 4:23 AM, Ursula Franke wrote:

Dear Dan and all,

thank you for your posting. I am touched by your courage, as always, and the
moves that come through your impulses.
Doing trainings all over, also in countries who had many slaves as Brazil
and South Africa,
travelling in and loving Africa, I am very interested in how big we have to
set the context to have the actual system become stable and silent.

Talking about slavery I have seen that we have to consider that this is not
only a subject between white and black.
African tribes always had slaves themselves. The slave trade was with the
lucrative cooperation of indigenous people and Arab people.
This had been a fact for a long time, before white people joined the cruel
trade.
The slave on the west coast were mainly sold to the Americas, the slave from
the east coast went in large numbers to Arab countries
and the east.

And the whole system is just moving in the wish for healing.

Kindly

Ursula

Dr. Ursula Franke-Bryson
www.ursula-franke.de

-----Ursprüngliche Nachricht-----
Von: ConstellationTalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
<mailto:ConstellationTalk%40yahoogroups.com>
[mailto:ConstellationTalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ;
<mailto:ConstellationTalk%40yahoogroups.com> ] Im Auftrag von Dan Booth Cohen
Gesendet: Mittwoch, 4. Mai 2011 08:22
An: ConstellationTalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
<mailto:ConstellationTalk%40yahoogroups.com>
Betreff: [ConstellationTalk] The Legacy of Slavery Workshop

Hello All,

Some long time CT members may remember the thread about the Legacy of Racism
workshop with Albrecht Mahr and Joy DeGruy at the 2005 US Constellations
Conference in Portland.  The entire morning and part of the afternoon was
devoted to processing Joy DeGruy's objections to our doing any
Constellations as part of the day.  (The thread is archived beginning
October 12, 2005.)

As things go round, Carolyn Zahner and I, who were each deeply stirred by
our experiences that day, are now helping to organize the 2011 US
Constellations Conference in San Francisco (www.USConstellations.com). A few
weeks ago, we again heard Joy DeGruy speak about the Legacy of Slavery,
followed by a workshop on the same theme at the California Institute of
Integral Studies.  For the workshop, organizers Belvie Rooks and Tom DeWolf
invited me to participated as co-facilitator and lead a Constellations
process.

I posted a report about the Constellation to my blog
http://danboothcohen.blogspot.com/.  Here is the text:

*The Legacy of Racism Workshop at California Institute of Integral
Studies<http://www.ciis.edu/> with
Belvie Rooks and Tom DeWolf*

The Legacy of Racism Workshop at California Institute of Integral
Studies<http://www.ciis.edu/> began
the night before at a public lecture by Dr. Joy
DeGruy<http://www.joydegruy.com/> attended
by 300 people. Her topic is Post-Traumatic Slave
Syndrome<http://www.joydegruy.com/ptss/index.html>.
She spoke for 2 hours, giving a passionately delivered, scholarly-based
overview of the experiences of Africans kidnapped into slavery in the United
States. One thesis is that the trauma of the African-American slavery lives
on and the traumatization continues to be inflicted.

The next morning, 30 workshop participants gathered at the CIIS to continue
the dialog and look at how we might individually and collectively support
healing and social transformation.

Belvie Rooks <http://growingaglobalheart.weebly.com/about-us.html>, Tom
DeWolf <http://www.inheritingthetrade.com/author.html>, and I were the
co-workshop facilitators. Belvie and Tom had presented similar workshops in
the past and invited me to join them by contributing a Constellation to the
day’s experience.

The Constellation part of the workshop began about 1½ hours into the day.
During the first part of the morning, I was listening and feeling the group
to get a sense of where to begin. Following the DeGruy lecture, the emotions
in the room were raw and somewhat tense. As a white male being invited to
offer a healing process to a group largely composed of African Americans, I
was aware that my offer might be met with skepticism by some and declined by
others.

Before setting up the Constellation, I offered a brief introduction to
contextualize the process and prepare the groups members as best I could for
what might follow. Not everyone embraced me or the introduction. When I
invited questions and comments, one woman offered that my language and
phrasing caused her to lose interest. Another, challenged whether a healing
process from Germany was appropriate for the setting. A third found my
explanations lacking. There seemed to be a risk that the group members were
not comfortable with moving forward. Given the larger context and people’s
unfamiliarity with me and Constellations, it was to be expected.

An African American man spoke up and broke the drift towards stalemate. He
offered that his spiritual practice is based on African
traditions<http://www.tribeofthesun.com/obatala.htm>,
that the workshop program said there was going to be a Constellation, and
the spirits that guided him were encouraging him to speak up. This comment,
and a supporting statement from Belvie Rooks, gave me permission to begin.

Listening for a theme or an image that speaks to the larger context, I heard
two that felt strong. One came from a young African American woman who told
about a time she was traveling by train through Peru. It was multi-hour
journey and she passed the time looking at the landscape. Suddenly, she felt
a strange disturbance in her body. Her emotions grew strong and dark, her
heart rate increased, and she felt overcome by feelings of stress and dread.
Frightened and confused, she turned to her traveling companion and asked him
what she was looking at. He glanced out and said, “Those are cotton fields.”
In recalling the story, she said, “Cotton is in my DNA. Even though I don’t
know what it looks like, somehow my body knows.”

The other image came from Belvie. Her family history was traced in the
book, *The Seed of Sally Good'n. Sally
Good’n*<http://www.amazon.com/Seed-Sally-Goodn-Arkansas-1833-1953/dp/0813108764/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1303930926&sr=1-2-fkmr0>was
a bed woman to plantation owner Taylor Polk. Their son, Spencer Polk, was an
emancipated slave who became the patriarch of a large and energetic Arkansas
family. After Sally gave birth to a child with darker skin than the others
she was “sold down the river,” presumably to become the sole possession of a
poor white farmer. There is no record of her after that. Her heartbreak and
that of her children stirred Belvie to tears when recounting her story.

The Constellation began with 3 representatives: one for the land on which
the cotton grew; one for the poor Scottish American farmer; one for the
slave woman. After several minutes, I added three more: one for the same
piece of land a billion years earlier; one for the Scottish ancestor who
stayed behind when the children left for America; one for the African mother
whose child was kidnapped into slavery. Again after several minutes, I added
one more representative, a person to create the beat, a heartbeat, a drum,
the beat of the pulse of life.

Then, I spoke to those remaining on the outside of the circle and asked them
to feel into themselves whether there was a place for them in the circle. I
invited them to stand for themselves, another person, or an abstract
element. Stand in for what felt true for them and belonged. Gradually,
another 10 people stood up and moved into the circle. Last, I asked others –
if so moved - to join the beat and create their own beats and pulses.

From there, the Constellation took on a life of its own. Each person had an
individual experience and emotions. While, I did check in with them, most of
what occurred happened in silence. The cotton field hated being torn apart
and poisoned. The slave woman was deep in misery, but heard the rhythm of
the beat to keep her alive. The Scottish farmer was working hard to survive
and worked the slave without remorse. The Scottish ancestor felt abandoned
and alone. A tall African American man with gray hair beat his hand on his
chest; he said he wanted to stop but could not. A light-skinned African
American woman said she hated the rapist father from whom she received her
complexion.

The beat goes on. The beat goes on. Goes on. Goes on.

I asked people to rearrange themselves in the space by time, with the oldest
elements at one end and the most recent at the other. The representatives
found their places without words. The man beating his chest became the
father of the slave woman. They were reunited and embraced with tears. A
woman representing the Native Americans found her father in the land that
was the cotton field. The Scottish and African ancestors found their
daughter, the woman with the lighter complexion. Words were whispered; I
stood away and did not hear them, honoring the sacred quality of the moment.

The beat rose in intensity with more people contributing sounds and
percussions. Someone began to sing, followed by others. People danced. The
Constellation transitioned into beat, movement, and music. Already, well
past our allotted time, I brought the experience to a close.

The process continued after it ended. An African American woman who had
stayed in her chair became very upset. She was speaking for herself, but
also could be understood to be in resonance with the mind of the
Constellation, expressing feelings that lived in her, but were much older
and larger than her. She was the future, the unborn, who no one wanted to
see. Two elders tended to her while I sat close by and listened. I told her
that I had been looking for her the entire time, but had not recognized her
because of my own blind spot. I asked her, what did she want me to know? She
responded, “Just listen to me.”

------------------------------------

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Follow-Ups:
- Future Constellations
  - From: Dan Booth Cohen, Ph.D.

Fw: AW: [ConstellationTalk] The Legacy of Slavery Workshop

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