Beautiful find Raffi! Chris
On Fri, Aug 22, 2008 at 4:37 PM, Raffi Aftandelian <[email protected]> wrote: > Harrison and all, > > One delightful Usual Suspect at the WOSonOS- in a fit of loving reproach, > perhaps, for me being a bit of a loudmouth at times, said, "The only person > that Raffi represents is his himself." > > Harrison, I must admit I had a hard time listening to what you were saying > that evening because it sounded like more of the same. : ) It was good to > see you, however! I'd point people to your "Understanding OS" 5 CD series > available through the OS online bookstore. A gem! > > Another gem is your first book, the photo essay from your time as associate > director of the Peace Corps in Liberia from '67 to '69, When the devil > dances. Pub'd some 40 (!) years ago, I read it as part of the (his?)story > of > the inspiration for OS. > > Especially this passage- which may not have been the intended as such- but > seems to describe very aptly the energy of an Open Space Technology meeting > and speaks to the deeper essence of OS: > > A very special part > of any village celebration > is the appearance of the various "devils." > The word devil is very misleading, > and was undoubtedly > the unwanted gift > of an early missionary > The devils are not evil, > but rather represent > a respected (albeit feared) > part of the village. > Nothing of importance happens > unless they appear and dance. > In their appearance, > all aspects of the village > are brought together-dance, > music, government, and religion. > When the "Devil" dances, life goes on. > > *** > > In the village, > all things go in a circle, > and everything fits. > To speak of the drums > is to speak of the dance, > is to speak of the Devils... > > Weaving and Forging > Fire and Steel- the Bush > Life, Death and Life again. > > __________________ > > I love this passage because it brings harks to a definition of love you've > offered: "challenge and acceptance." (the "devils" being a respected and > feared part of village life- "What is it that seeks to be expressed?") And > also when reading this piece it recalls that etymologically "conversation" > means "to dance together."-- Thanks to Alan Stewart for pointing that out. > > warmly, > raffi > > * > * > ========================================================== > [email protected] > ------------------------------ > To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, > view the archives of [email protected]: > http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html > > To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: > http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist > -- CHRIS CORRIGAN Facilitation - Training - Process Design Open Space Technology Weblog: http://www.chriscorrigan.com/parkinglot Site: http://www.chriscorrigan.com Principal, Harvest Moon Consultants, Ltd. http://www.harvestmoonconsultants.com * * ========================================================== [email protected] ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of [email protected]: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist
