Michael,

Thank you for your stunning introduction and your stories. I particularly 
remember the closing circle at OSonOS (before it became WOSonOS) in Berlin in 
2000. Mostly I remember taking to heart your instruction to think of what to 
say beforehand. I viscerally felt that stick calling forth what I said from the 
silence. I don’t remember the words or even the message. To this day, I 
remember the feeling of being a vessel for a message coming through me and 
others telling me afterwards that they were moved. It was an experience of 
spirit flowing through me. 

I appreciate your stories Birgitt. So instructive. I have found learning from 
indigenous cultures and applying that learning without it being cultural 
appropriation challenging. And I’ve valued my teachers, including people on 
this list and real time experiences with indigenous participants, along the 
way. 

I wonder about the term “input”. I tend to not use that word because to me it 
implies a secondary role for the speaker: they give “input”  for use by those 
in primary roles. Talking piece is the term I usually use. I suppose that has 
the same issue as talking stick. If there are others who cringe at “input,” any 
thoughts on a term that captures the role of the object as an attention focuser 
that invites by its presence heartful speaking and listening that is a gift for 
all? Or, if you see the role of the talking piece differently, how do you think 
about it?

Peggy


_________________________________
Peggy Holman
[email protected]
Twitter: @peggyholman

Bellevue, WA  98006
206-948-0432
www.peggyholman.com
www.journalismthatmatters.org

Enjoy the award winning Engaging Emergence: Turning Upheaval into Opportunity 
<http://www.engagingemergence.com/>

 
"An angel told me that the only way to step into the fire and not get burnt, is 
to become 
the fire".
  -- Drew Dellinger



> On Aug 21, 2022, at 12:55 AM, Andrew Betts ICONDA 
> <[email protected]> wrote:
> 
> Thomas,
> 
> Bonne initiative !
> 
> Les femmes présentes étaient Clarisse Chanel et, je crois, Françoise Tondella.
> 
> Ciao,
> 
> Andy
> 
> 
> ---
> mobile: +33 6 12 19 49 
> Schedule a 10 <https://calendly.com/andrew-betts/10min>, 30 
> <https://calendly.com/andrew-betts/30min> or 60 
> <https://calendly.com/andrew-betts/60min> minute meeting
> https://www.icondasolutions.com <https://www.icondasolutions.com/>
> 
> 
>> On 20 Aug 2022, at 10:58, Thomas Herrmann <[email protected] 
>> <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
>> 
>> Wow, that is a beautiful introduction to a closing circle, Michael, gives me 
>> goosebumps.
>> Thanks for sharing!
>> Thomas
>>  
>> Från: Michael M Pannwitz <[email protected] 
>> <mailto:[email protected]>> 
>> Skickat: den 18 augusti 2022 00:15
>> Till: Thomas Herrmann <[email protected] 
>> <mailto:[email protected]>>; OS LIST 2022 <[email protected] 
>> <mailto:[email protected]>>
>> Kopia: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>; 
>> [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>
>> Ämne: Respectful listening / talking stick ritual
>>  
>> Dear Thomas in Sweden, 
>> 
>> alter Schwede (gosh), what is "inviting/using a talking object for the 
>> speaker"(and inviting the others to be respectful listeners)? 
>> Maybe its the 32 Celsius in this part of the world that disables my 
>> mind/understanding. 
>> 
>> I guess you are referring to passing a talking stick in the closing circle 
>> of an ost event? If that is not the case, read on anyway.
>> 
>> In that situation, if I recall correctly, I never asked folks to be 
>> "respectful" listeners in a closing circle in my role as facilitator. 
>> Mind you, in other roles it could slip  into my language...
>> 
>> Last time I sat in a closing circle in the role of facilitator was 2012. (It 
>> was also in Berlin and definitely not 32 Celsius, in fact, this particular 
>> sponsor had his events always in January or February, see here
>> 
>> https://openspaceworldscape.org/events?tag=&q=NACOA&commit=Search 
>> <https://openspaceworldscape.org/events?tag=&q=NACOA&commit=Search>
>> 
>> I recall what I usually said before passing the talking stick (by 2012 and 
>> earlier  I had stopped using the holy talking stick I was given by Canadian 
>> colleagues at the WOSonOS in Toronto in 1997, a small piece of charred wood 
>> that was part of a very old oak... this oak originally was doomed to be cut 
>> down to make room for the Scarborough Civic Center in Toronto but saved by 
>> very concerned folks who convinced the architect, Raymond Moriyama,  to 
>> build the center around the oak... not long after that was completed the oak 
>> was hit by lightening and caught fire... everyone who was part of the 
>> initiative to save the oak received a small piece of it... it was so 
>> powerful that everytime I used it I had to cry and others in the circle 
>> apparently, too... I wrapped this powerful talking stick in a cotton bag and 
>> its been sleeping there since then).
>> Oh no, I keep indulging in my passion to writespeak ad infinitum. Sorry.
>> 
>> Ok, here is what I said in the os in 2012 with 200 participants at the end 
>> of a three day event in my role as facilitator at the closing circle ritual:
>> 
>> "This talking stick works like this: Coming your way you don't think about 
>> anything beforehand. When it reaches you, hold it, and hold it for a moment. 
>> Don't pass it on right away, just hold it for a moment. And then if 
>> something surfaces,  you say it. And the others listen. And if nothing 
>> surfaces, we listen into the silence. And if you say something from the 
>> heart, then we listen with our hearts." 
>> (I also remember now, that these words, spoken after the 200 had entered a 
>> phase of silence, intensified the silence widening the space for listening, 
>> speaking, reacting in non-verbal interventions, singing a song, getting up 
>> and bowing into the circle...)
>> 
>> Right, I introduced them into the ritual in a way one might speak to an 
>> actor before the take. 
>> It worked this last time in 2012 and had worked every time before without me 
>> requesting respect or other such stuff.
>> 
>> Respectfully yours and hoping you  are in a cool nook in Sweden and all the 
>> best for your motorbike ride to the WOSonOS in Bilbao at the end of 
>> September with Jo
>> see here
>> 
>> https://www.openspaceworldmap.org/worker/jo-topfer 
>> <https://www.openspaceworldmap.org/worker/jo-topfer>
>> 
>> and maybe some of the others I have seen coming to European OSonOS (Learning 
>> Exchanges) such as the biker Andrea from Italy, riding his bike all the way 
>> from Italy to Utrecht/Netherlands in 2013 see here
>> 
>> https://www.openspaceworldmap.org/worker/andrea-moretti 
>> <https://www.openspaceworldmap.org/worker/andrea-moretti>
>> 
>> Love and Peace
>> mmp
>> 
>> This email above is in response to what Thomas in Kungsbacka/Sweden wrote to 
>> Michael in Boise/USA in  the string started by Christine Koehler in 
>> Paris/France:
>> 5 days OST in 3 langages. Practical and general considerations
>> 
>> "Wow Michael, this makes so much sense and I experience it stronger every 
>> time when inviting/using an talking object for the speaker (and inviting the 
>> others to be respectful listeners) – both in-person and online. Powerful, 
>> beautiful and healing for the soul, I believe.
>> Thomas"
>>  
>> Michael M Pannwitz
>> Draisweg 1, 12209 Berlin, Germany
>> +49 30 7728000     [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>
>>  
>> See the Open Space World Map with 511 Open Space Workers living in 77 
>> countries and active in 142 countries worldwide: www.openspaceworldmap.org 
>> <http://www.openspaceworldmap.org/>
>>  
>> And see books/ebooks and task cards on open space and other related 
>> treasures, most in German, some in English, some multilingual:
>> https://www.westkreuz-verlag.de/de/Kommunikation 
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