The Knowing Field Issue 18

Editorial

As I lay listening to the birds at Kloster Bernried in Germany at the beginning of May, I was aware of a deep feeling of peace and serenity. Even the birdsong seemed to convey spaciousness and timelessness. When I returned home and lay listening to the birds here, it seemed to me that they were singing faster. Of course, I do not know what the reality of that experience is and how much of the change was to do more with me than the birds and that links into one of the main themes of this issue of the journal: so many different perspectives on one particular event are possible. It just depends where we stand, which group we belong to and what lens we look through at any given moment.

Given all this, how can we ever know the truth about anything, if indeed such a thing exists at all? We start this issue off quietly as Bert Hellinger describes to us, in his introduction to his new book ‘Laws of Healing’ the need for connection to spirit to heal ourselves. Then we move into a very interesting selection of thought-provoking, sometimes deeply moving articles. In the Spotlight this time we have Jane Peterson, long time supporter of the journal, via her position on the advisory team, who talks with Kent Layden about her journey towards constellation work and her current passion for using ‘soma’ to help us in our observations and experiences of constellations.

Ty Francis then speaks to Tomás Kohn, who will be familiar to some of you as the person who, along with others, is working very hard at helping to move ISCA (International Systemic Constellations Association) forward. the knowing field 2 The History of Nations section is full of a rich array of articles. We start off in Japan with Chetna Kobayashi’s very moving piece about her experiences of running constellation workshops at Hiroshima, Nagasaki and Okinawa. This is followed by another moving account by Meera Finnigan of her experience of the Australian Intensive and the contact with the indigenous people there. It is inspiring to see the beginnings of some moves towards healing the wounds resulting from the intense cruelty we as human beings are capable of inflicting on each other. Verónica Menduiña writes for us on her method of using narrative therapy alongside constellation work to help immigrants adjust to their new lives.

Her article is a clear demonstration of what I was describing in my opening paragraph and so aptly conveyed in the cover design – there are many different ways of seeing the world around us. It is not what happens that matters but how we make meaning of it for ourselves. This follows on from Alexander Campbell’s article in the previous issue which started us off down the road by pointing us to some of the distortions of history. In her article, Joy Manné also shows through her three examples of conceptual constellations, how it is possible to work with these large scale historical tragedies and their long term effects and maybe be open to the possibility that some healing can take place.

In a similar vein, Liz Martins’ description of a large group constellation facilitated by Vivian Broughton on the past, present and future of the city of Bristol in the South West of the UK – a town with a history of slavery – appropriately rounds off this section with a reminder to us of the potential for constellations to make a difference. The organisational field of constellation work continues to stride forward and Jan Jacob Stam tells us of his exploration into the field of trauma in organisations, what to look out for and what can help; Raquel Schlosser reminds us of the unconscious memory of organisations which is still operating in the current work environment (a very similar process to what happens in families) and we finish off this section with a report from Claude Rosselet on the use of the ‘spirit’ in an organisational constellation to bring to light hidden dynamics.

We have some interesting contributions in the Personal Reflections section. Michael Reddy starts with Part One of a three part series of articles to appear in this journal, looking at where constellation work fits with the move within scientific circles towards a more complex, holistic way of viewing the world, rather than the old linear way. In this first part, he explores the history of reductionism and attempts to make sense of how we have ended up in this place that we find ourselves now.

This is another article which is heading us in the same direction, towards more discussion and openness to a holistic way of seeing the world. Linked into this, Jane Peterson demonstrates in her article, just how tricky it is to carry out research effectively and find a body of people willing to take you seriously. She uses a beautiful image of different groups of people at a party to demonstrate her ideas and ends with a note of encouragement to all potential researchers. Brenda Vos and Jan Hein Mooren offer some new ideas on how to make sense of constellation work, venturing to explain what happens in a constellation as more of a moral than knowing field.

Victor Velasco concludes this section with an enlightening report on his experiences of working within the field of sexual diversity, with explanations behind some of the many different definitions that exist today. In our Reports section, Katrina Kirchbaumer describes her personal experience of the international conference hosted by Infosyon in Vienna and several different attendees at the annual intensive held in Bernried in Germany this year, offer their personal view of events there. With the image of Bernried or a similar kind of peaceful environment in our minds, we can begin to return to a quieter place in ourselves, allowing us to lap up the atmosphere conveyed so vividly by Aurel Mocanu in his review of Francesca Mason Boring’s new book Notes from the Indigenous Field. We also have two beautiful poems by Lisa Wells and Joy Manné.

The issue is completed with an extract from the unpublished manuscript of Bert Hellinger’s next book ‘Fulfilled’ about his meeting with Tata Cachora (alias Don Juan Matus). This article, together with the flood of letters at the end of the journal which came in at the eleventh hour before completion, have helped me to see more clearly than I ever have before, my responsibility as Editor to represent multiple viewpoints. There is a challenge in writing and publishing – opinions and facts are not always synonymous. In this issue, the journal is not only holding different perspectives, it is also representing completely different paradigms. One paradigm demands and assumes that everything is known, everything is seen and everything can and should be verified. It may be that we are faced with an insurmountable challenge.

How do we co-exist with those things which come from a completely different paradigm, such as indigenous culture? How do we bear the tension (and sometimes pain) in the western mind when things cannot be seen, known, or verified? These are big questions not answered within the limitations of a brief Editorial. I am moving into a new era with this journal. I’m not sure quite what the landscape ahead looks like yet, but I am deeply grateful to my advisory team who have supported me so well thus far and continue to do so, as the terrain begins to change somewhat.

I want to offer a special thanks this time to Jane Peterson and Francesca Mason Boring who have both invested a vast amount of time and effort into helping me move the journal forward, the first step of which is that it is being designed and printed now in the USA – hence the slightly different American size!

Barbara Morgan