Talking sticks and listening sticks

Harrison Owen hhowen at comcast.net
Tue Apr 27 07:36:36 PDT 2004


When you take a branch from a tree -- you have to ask first. I'm serious.
Talk to the tree. It is amazing what you will hear. Also, when the circle is
closed, you can't just throw the branch in the trash. I always lead a little
procession (sometimes I am the only processor) back to the woods to lay the
branch on the ground. So I don't think it is a about a "freshly killed"
branch -- but rather a still living creature on loan. And some branches will
sprout and grow if you simply plant them in the earth.

Harrison

Harrison Owen
7808 River Falls Drive
Potomac, Maryland   20845
Phone 301-365-2093

Open Space Training www.openspaceworld.com
Open Space Institute www.openspaceworld.org
Personal website http://mywebpages.comcast.net/hhowen/index.htm
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-----Original Message-----
From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] On Behalf Of Phil
Culhane
Sent: Tuesday, April 27, 2004 8:56 AM
To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
Subject: Re: Talking sticks and listening sticks

Thank you, Harrison, for another wonderful idea (see below).

Anyone care to suggest what kind of stick they use? I have seen stylized
talking sticks
and have always shied away from them in favour of a simple piece of wood,
though I've
always used dead wood. The idea of using a live (or perhaps "freshly
killed") branch off
an evergreen (as Harrison suggests below) is a new idea to me. An olive
branch sounds
like it has potential (since we're being symbolic with the "talking stick"
in the first
place, why not use an olive branch?). I've often thought of a freshly cut
magnolia
branch, in flower.

As much as it's not about the physical branch itself, it is. In my
experience, women will
shy away from the talking stick, particularly if it is stylized to appear
even more
phallic than a bare branch (in my experience). In my experience also, many
people will
find it "hokey" or "mystical" or "so much pixie dust" if there's any
artifice attached to
the stick.

In short, I've always stuck to a 12-16" long piece of dead, usually barkless
wood from a
deciduous tree, usually maple (because they're easy to find near my house,
no other
significance). What has anyone else used, what has been your experience;
what have you
found "useful"?

Thx for any comments you care to offer.
Phil Culhane



On Apr 27, "Harrison Owen" <hhowen at comcast.net> wrote:
>
> I think the key is not what you call it, but how you introduce it.
> Historically, it is a "Talking Stick" so I don't think you can change that
> (but then again, why not?) -- Anyhow, when I introduce it I say something
> like "This is a Talking Stick. Whoever holds it may speak. Those who do
not
> will listen. In either case, talking or listening will be done with
> respect." That said, everything seems to work out just like usual. And for
> whatever it is worth, I personally prefer a living branch (usually
> evergreen). A stick always seems a little on the dead side and more than a
> little male (not to say phallic). A fresh evergreen (pine, cedar) is
softer,
> and has the added benefit of having sap, which when warmed by many hands
> runs a bit and smells good. In Rome, with the Israelis and Palestinians, I
> used an Olive Branch. I was worried that it might be a little over the
top,
> but I guess I shouldn't have. Certainly made the point and did the job.
>
> Harrison
>
> Harrison Owen
> 7808 River Falls Drive
> Potomac, Maryland   20845
> Phone 301-365-2093
>
> Open Space Training www.openspaceworld.com
> Open Space Institute www.openspaceworld.org
> Personal website <a
href='http://mywebpages.comcast.net/hhowen/index.htm'>http://mywebpages.comc
ast.net/hhowen
/index.htm</a>
> OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
> To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives Visit:
> <a
href='http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html'>http://listserv.b
oisestate.edu/
archives/oslist.html</a>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] On Behalf Of Phil
> Culhane
> Sent: Tuesday, April 27, 2004 7:00 AM
> To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
> Subject: Talking sticks and listening sticks
>
> Choosing the stick - when I first put the stick in the centre of the
circle
> and invite people to pick it up if there is something they'd like to say,
> there's always that pregnant pause. I've never had anyone jump on the
stick
> (yet!) like they sometimes jump on the markers at the beginning of day
one.
>
> Some people pick it up reverently and carefully, and replace it just the
> same. Others pick it up like a loose football and toss it back when
they're
> done. Some groups will only pick up the stick once, and it's a fairly
solemn
> experience. With my group last week, there were some playoff-hockey jests
> made back and forth, several individuals holding the stick three and four
> times - yet they used the stick each time, no one speaking out of turn.
Some
> hold it like a torch or a baton, tightly gripped in one hand. Others seem
> almost to caress it, noticing the texture and brailling it as they speak.
>
> Is the difference between a "talking stick" and a "listening stick"
> philosophical or semantic, Doug? Would I notice a difference were I refer
to
> it as the latter? Would I and the attendees perhaps react with it
> differently if it were named differently?
>
> Phil Culhane
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] On Behalf Of Douglas
D.
> Germann, Sr.
> Sent: April 26, 2004 11:23 PM
> To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
> Subject: Summary of a recent single-day event
>
>
> Phil--
>
> Sure, I'd love to talk about the listening stick!
>
> Tell us, please, what you mean by "choosing the stick?"
>
>                               :-Doug. Germann
>
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