The Knowing Field Issue 39

When I look at the design on the cover of this issue I feel my heart warm up at the sheer beauty and comfort of knowing nature is still thriving in certain areas over and above all the crazy things that are happening in the world right now. Perspective is a crucial aspect of how we are in the world as it is both horrific and deeply beautiful and awe-inspiring at the same time. Thank you Lubosh, my designer, for this amazing image from Mahahual, Mexico.

When searching for a submission from Bert Hellinger, I found myself wondering what he would make of the current state of affairs in the wider world and I landed upon this piece, taken from one of his more recent books: Rising in Love. For me, it goes straight to the heart of some of the difficulties we are currently facing as a species, as he explores our will to annihilate ‘the other’ and what might be behind it. As I read it, I was reminded once again of his ground-breaking words on conscience and belonging. Over the past couple of years, as we’ve been forced across the globe to separate from each other, to lock ourselves away, to not communicate openly, or question the official narrative, the push for a ‘them and us’ divide has become very strong. Trust in our leadership is shaky in many countries, with people fearing rather than respecting the law and the leaders who impose it. Whatever you think about ‘vaccination’, is there justice in segregating a section of the population who choose to say no to it? Bert’s last sentence is telling in this respect: “In the name and under the protection of justice, destructiveness forges ahead.”

Our questions remain and fear is rife. I find it comforting personally to remind myself of the deep inter-being that pervades Constellation Work in these troubled times and helps move us beyond the ‘them and us’ narrative. This is the essence of Constellation Work for me.

There is a sharp contrast between this stirring piece from Bert and Hunter Beaumont’s thank you letter to the community for the way constellations have developed and thrived beyond his original input, when he stood alongside Bert and helped to spread the work across the world. He is full of gratitude and admiration for the way the constellations community have taken the work forward since those early days at ZIST and Kloster Bernried in Germany, where he and Lutz Bessel originally set the ball rolling for people to gather from so many different countries and form an ongoing community. It’s heartening in these troubled times to recall those precious experiences, to be able to bask in our work as a community for a moment and to honour Hunter’s major contribution to this amazing work.

It is a pleasure to once again include an article from Sarah Peyton, this time on the work of Beatrice Beebe around early attachment. I enjoy reading Sarah’s articles because she is able to put into comprehensible language, potentially difficult concepts and this makes it easier for lay people to grasp. She covers the various attachment styles and links them to our task as both facilitator and client in this respect.

I continue to be grateful for the articles Anngwyn St. Just submits as they capture so explicitly an area of the world that is troubled and link it to the history. This time she tackles the thorny issue of Afghanistan and the effects of American invasion and destruction in this country, at the cost of many lives on both sides.

Likewise, Nikki Mackay invites us to examine the trauma beset on the Irish people of the famine, which had such long-term effects across the generations. We, in Britain, still seem to be a long way from fully facing our perpetration of this country over decades.

Undine Whande continues with the theme of destructiveness with her description of a constellation looking at the post-apartheid effects in schools and the ongoing presence of racism, despite efforts made to eradicate it. The level of destructiveness and grief is masked by stuckness and disconnection and it takes the cry of a child to shift the stuck energy. It is interesting that unseen children are common to both Nikki’s and Undine’s constellations. I guess they are closest to the family soul and therefore more in touch with what needs addressing than we are as adults, with all the clutter that over-rides our soul connection. Children seem to be the instrument for releasing long held-in grief and pain.

Julie Wevill explores for the first time in the journal, the theme of betrayal on a wider, systemic level and individually both of ourselves and of each other. She describes how not speaking our truth is a betrayal of our souls and how painful it can be when it features in couple relationships. She shows how betrayal brings into play some of the systemic laws of the right to belong and the balance of give and take. It often triggers a traumatic response in people, because the feelings are so strong.

Ricí Ní Chléirigh picks up the theme of trauma and specifically re-traumatisation. Having found very little material written about this theme, she addresses more directly the issue of trauma first and then the risks of re-traumatisation and whether we should in fact try to avoid it at all costs. She concludes not, even though at times the best option is to run away.

Patricia Cleary invites us down the road of the Interrupted Reaching out Movement, a rarely tackled theme in the journal. Here is another area of trauma and Patricia movingly describes her personal experience of the trauma surrounding the birth of her two sons and the period immediately after. She describes how this initial trauma affected her ability to bond with her sons. This links directly to Sarah Peyton’s article on attachment described above.

We then move from motherhood to fatherhood and Martin Paine uses mythology to help navigate us through the tangled web of fatherhood and includes his own personal journey to illustrate some of the difficulties involved. He quotes Steve Biddulph in addressing the loneliness of men, so rarely understood by women.

Stuart Walker offers us a different kind of journey through the embodiment work of Philip Shepherd, offering us suggested embodied exercises to help illustrate the points he is making. The little known word ‘enantiodromia’ – a term coined by Jung – is described through his personal experience on one occasion in his training group of the ongoing morphing of one feeling into another and the concluding transformation if we are able to stay with the moment-by-moment emergence of apparently opposing feelings.

Lorraine Tolmie shows how the visual arts link to Constellation Work and uses illustrated examples of how her personal work as a visual artist combined with constellations to help her understand the historical trauma in her family.

Maria Gorjão Henriques passionately shares her perspective on systemic consciousness and what we have lost through our individualism. She makes a strong case for returning to solidarity as a new way of thinking and including all that is.

Francesca Mason Boring was present at the online Conference organised by Maria in Portugal and in her presentation at that Conference she expands on the theme of systemic consciousness, describing her own deep connection to nature and to all that is, coming from her tribal roots and embeddedness in this way of being in the world.

Rafael Ruiz-Amdal presented a seminar at the ISCA Conference last April on the theme of death. I was so moved by what he shared that I asked him to write something of his presentation for the journal. He shares his own fear of death and the root of that and draws on Bert Hellinger’s words about death to support his approach. He then offers us some possible exercises to help alleviate some of our fears and prepare for this inevitable transition.

Stephen Hausner is the second participant in our new Tips for Facilitators section and offers many words of wisdom taken from a 3-day workshop he ran in the UK as part of the training programme offered by this Editor.

Katherine Curran reviews Diana Claire Douglas’ book: Whole Systems Design: Inquiries in the Knowing Field next and acknowledges Diana’s willingness to work collaboratively in dealing with large systemic issues, an increasingly popular theme in the Constellations World. I am sure Diana’s book will be a real asset to future constellators.

Alongside our regular contributor Angus Landman, I am pleased to include in our Poets’ Corner a couple of new poets: Alison Strandberg and Poppy Altmann.

In drawing this Editorial to a close, I want to thank all authors for their contributions which keep alive so many of the important themes in the Constellations World. Also my thanks, as always, to Francesca Mason Boring, Abi Eva, my designer Lubosh Cech, the rest of the Editorial team and to all those who contribute in other ways, such as ‘Friends’, regular advertisers and of course, subscribers.

As we look forward to the next year, let’s join together in hope for an easier and more joyful world.

Barbara

Maria Gorjão Henriques (page 91)

Francesca Mason Boring (page 93)

Rafael Ruiz-Amdal (page 99)

Stephen