Writing our own Songs

by Mark Morey on July 9, 2010

{ 0 comments }

One of the keys to healthy culture is the creation of song, poem and story that reflects our values, dreams and visions.

As a cultural creative I have looked to other cultures to get a clue about authentic songs and stories. Songs written from the land, songs with power. Until recently this was a pattern in many places, borrowing songs from other cultures to express the intangible connection to nature that we value so much.

Recently in Vermont and the Art of Mentoring, we put out the high vision that we will become the visionaries and artists again. We will write our own songs, from our direct experience with nature, held by our authentic community.

Three songs were created, by the teen girls, the teen boys and the children.

The song from the girls was about water.

The song from the boys was about fire.

and the song from the children was about the birds and bird language.

The song about fire spread to the west coast, whenever hand made fires were being made. And then to Europe. And recently to Africa. Jon Young went on a special trip to the Kalahari to spend time with the San Bushman and this is the story he told in England this week:

Greeting Customs

by Mark Morey on July 2, 2010

{ 2 comments }

I’m in th UK tonight in a 500 year old Manor Cottage.  Thatched roof, the whole deal.

I arrived with Evan McGown to Heathrow airport.  We’re here for the first UK art of mentoring.

We learned a song, after an official cup of tea, called Raggle Taggle Gypsy O !

The scene of English Gardens, castles, and manicured Manor lawns provided the backdrop to the passion the singers
brought to this song.  Listen in to the lyrics, what is this song expressing ?

 

After having done some research, art of questioning and curiosity, I found these origin stories and lyrics:

http://www.contemplator.com/child/wraggle.html

an even older version:

http://www.contemplator.com/child/johnnyfa.html

There is a lot ancestry coming together this week, england, ireland, scotland, american, native american, german, sweden, netherlands.  As we track ancestral connection to nature together, we will find a common longing for nature connection, and for our wild selves.

Circles and Squares

June 26, 2010

Back in Toronto.
Last night I gave a three hour talk at the Royal Botanical Garden.
It started with the awareness question of  “Notice all the squares in the room, anything that is a square or rectangle.”  Then another question: ” Notice all the circles in the room”.   Once asked, the shapes came into our awareness.  What [...]

Read the full article →

What if I gave up knowing ?

March 23, 2010

Today’s post is an audio clip from my recent Toronto talk, a wicked brief 2 minuter.
It’s a special edit for the folks that I spoke to in Montague, Ma recently.
What if I gave up knowing ?
To create the changes we would like to see in the world, in our community, our family, and in ourselves, [...]

Read the full article →

Ontario Talk #4: The big city of Toronto

March 19, 2010

Today’s post will be short since I am dropping in a 10min clip from the Toronto evening talk.  This talk was at The Ontario Institute for Studies in Education and we had over 100 people in attendance, plus a subway train with distemper.
The theme: Mentoring deep nature connection, it’s the Mentor’s Choice

A couple of things [...]

Read the full article →

Ontario talk #3: The Nature Center at RBG

March 7, 2010

Today started at the nature center at the Royal Botanical Garden.
We had 39 people register for our day long workshop.  The morning was about Brain Patterning and the Core Routines of nature connection.  The afternoon was an experiential session outside.
Right off the bat a young woman came up to me with and told me that [...]

Read the full article →

Ontario talk #2: Royal Botanical Garden, Burlington

March 6, 2010

Tonight we went to the Royal Botanical Garden in Burlington and 50 people showed up.
Each night the staff open up with a song called “Go Outside“.  Chris Gilmore of  Earth Mentorship, opened up with a story about a red fox that would show up at his high school weekend bonfires.  The amazing thing was it [...]

Read the full article →

Ontario talk #1: London

March 4, 2010

Here I am in London, Ontario.  There are 45 people at this talk and hungry for something, I can sense it.  Could be hockey.  They like their Junior Hockey.

Three months ago I was approached by Andrew McMartin, founder of the Pine Project, (Toronto).  He asked if it would be possible to run an Art of [...]

Read the full article →