The Knowing Field Issue 22

Dear Reader,

The future of The Knowing Field is as yet still uncertain. Some discussions have taken place about possible ways forward and I will keep you informed once a decision has been made. In a way, what is happening around the journal seems to be mirroring a wider process taking place in the f ield amongst the more ‘seasoned’ practitioners – reviewing where we are now and where we go next. So it seems to fit with this overall theme that in his article, Taking our Leave, Bert Hellinger gently invites us to lay to rest some of our memories of the past through a process of gently letting go and moving on. As I read this piece, it has a kind of settling effect on me. Of course, there will no doubt continue to be a stream of people new to the work, transformed in their way of seeing the world and their first constellation experience and that ongoing spreading of the work with its ongoing new developments is exciting.

We have two Spotlight conversations in this issue. One of the ‘elders’ of the work in the USA, Ed Lynch, much loved and respected by many, talks to Don Opatrny about his own thoughts and progress through the world of constellations and his successful run of annual intensives held in Connecticut, USA. Verónica Menduiña talks about her experiences of working as a trainer and facilitator in Spain and the need for a continued focus on the transgenerational impact of years of dictatorship following the civil war. She also makes a plea for trainers and facilitators in constellation work to ‘walk their talk’.

In the New Developments section Julie Roberts give us an outline description of how she weaves energy psychology with constellation work and how the two can complement each other. We have a novel article from Antje Rickowski, describing a game she and her partner have devised which uses some constellation principles alongside other tools to create a game which for me, is similar in some ways to the Transformation Game (which I believe originated at Findhorn in Scotland), but with a constellations bias.

The Constellations section also contains a ritual this time, from Don Paglia which is aimed at engaged couples. Using the ‘orders’ as his baseline, he manages to create a beautiful ritual for people wishing to seriously commit to each other. Diana Douglas and Marilyn Hamilton provide us with a description of their application of constellation work to issues connected with large cities. They define a city as a living human system and offer examples of their work. We have three more constellation examples from Gloria Davila and Harrison Snow. Gloria tells a moving story of a constellation where a young child’s security blanket turned out to be representing a missing male figure in the family. Harrison’s two articles are very different – the f irst is an organisational issue which, with some insight and a constellation he is able to link to a personal issue around sibling rivalry.

The second is a moving story of Harrison’s work at a residential venue for young, disaffected ‘street’ youths and the progress they made as a result of the constellation work and the relationships they built with Harrison and his colleagues. The Personal Reflections section has quite a large number of authors this time. Dan Booth Cohen uses a constellation example to demonstrate his belief in the power of the field and he compares his approach, which incorporates ancestors, to that of Franz Ruppert who, he says, believes representatives to be a projected intrapsychic image of the client. Max Dauskardt takes a look back at history and the possible applicability of the ‘orders’ in days gone by and how they may or may not fit today.

Kate Regan challenges us to think carefully about our views regarding exclusion and the opening and closing of the heart – a thought-provoking and touching article, whilst regular contributor, Gary Stuart offers a model for working with depression using constellations, seeing it as a new way to resolve this very common affliction. He makes links between depression and possible ‘unresolved grief’ within the family system. Following Gary’s article we have an interesting article from a new contributor, Indra Torsten Preiss on his views regarding the loyalty that exists to our own gender and the way religion has contributed to some of the stereotyping of men by women.

This article is followed by two shorter pieces: the first is from Nancy Kehr on ‘The Backstory’ of our lives where she sees constellations as a living story which moves and flows and the second is from Sneh Victoria Schnabel who shares her thoughts on what she sees as ‘Truth’ within constellation work. Finally, to complete this issue we have four book reviews, two letters to the Editor, responding to Anngwyn St. Just’s letter which appeared in issue 21 and five poems.

Since my announcement in the last issue I have received a lot of positive messages of gratitude and encouragement from people and I wish to offer my appreciation to you all.

At the moment, the future is uncertain but as constellations facilitators and trainers it’s no bad thing for all of us to sit for a while with ‘not knowing’!

Barbara Morgan