<html><head><style type="text/css"><!-- DIV {margin:0px;} --></style></head><body><div style="font-family:times new roman, new york, times, serif;font-size:12pt"><div style="font-family: times new roman,new york,times,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Wow, I love where this discussion has gone. I really appreciated Tania's story said about how spirit is preserved outside of the ritual space... in the ongoing story of a system.<br><br>In these last two posts, I have been prompted to reflect on this polarity/interaction/tension between what Harrison calls Mythos and Spirit. If Mythos is ritual and myth, then these to me are mechanisms for ensuring the continuation of Spirit. Myth is story, and story is a part of culture (I lean towards this definition of culture: "the sum total of ways of living built up by a group of human beings and transmitted from one generation to another"). Also if Ritual is a set of steps used to recreate Myth, or to act congruently with Myth then...<br>Mythos
is a way of ensuring that a particular Spirit is preserved. Mythos is the making of something. Whereas Spirit is the being of something.<br><br>It strikes me that in some of our work we (as external agents, disturbing an existing system) when we use something like OST, we are creating a space and tone in which new Mythos can emerge. We do this consciously. It is very much like the interaction that cognitive behavioural therapy recognises between doing and feeling. If you do something often enough, not only does it evoke a particular mood in the momet, but also generates a longer term perceptual shift - as well as (the more recognised) vice versa.<br><br>In this way, through providing a space in which new ritual and myth can occur, through providing an empty space that can be filled with whatever is in the room, through modelling ritual, we move the system into a behaviour where it identifies its Spirit. Well, that's the way I see it. That's just whacky me, I'm sure!!
:)<br><br><div style="font-family: times new roman,new york,times,serif; font-size: 12pt;">----- Original Message ----<br>From: Harrison Owen <hhowen@verizon.net><br>To: OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU<br>Sent: Tuesday, April 24, 2007 8:28:35 PM<br>Subject: Re: Imposed Structure, Self-Organisation, Ritual<br><br>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><font color="red" face="Arial" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial; color: red;">Nancy</span></font><font color="red" face="Arial"><span style="font-family: Arial; color: red;"> – For sure the
world is filled with dead rituals along with their cousins, the myths. That is
just what happens when Spirit moves on. But just because we have some dead ones
does not invalidate the class. Myths and rituals (what I call Mythos) are
profoundly useful if only because they form the essential ground of our self
understanding. In a very real sense, we are the stories we tell (and the
rituals we enact). But as our consciousness changes (evolves or devolves) all
of that is made manifest in our mythos. I suppose you could get into an
interesting conversation about whether Mythos creates consciousness or visa versa.
I would guess it sort of goes both ways. The church has a wonderful word for
myth and ritual, but because it is churchy, people tend to shy away from it –
but it still has power I think. The word is Liturgy. Comes from two Greek words
“</span></font><font color="red" face="Arial"><span style="font-family: Arial; color: red;">laos</span></font><font color="red" face="Arial"><span style="font-family: Arial; color: red;">” and “ergos”
(people/work) – and can be translated “what the people do.” I
like that. All of life is liturgy. It is what we do. </span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font color="red" face="Arial" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial; color: red;"> </span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font color="red" face="Arial" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial; color: red;">And why bring any of this up on </span></font><font color="red" face="Arial"><span style="font-family: Arial; color: red;">OSLIST</span></font><font color="red" face="Arial"><span style="font-family: Arial; color: red;"> (apart from the
fact that you gave me an opening, for which I thank you)? I think that when we
pay attention, deep attention to what is happening in Open Space, we are quite
apt to catch Spirit in the act – performing new stories/myths, new
rituals, new mythos. It is what the people do. Sure they are having a meeting.
Maybe they a designing a new airplane, launching a new business, solving deep
problems in their community, and that is very important. But they are also
creating new understandings of what and who they are. It is a birthing process,
and we are privileged to be there in that moment. I think it helps if we have
some idea of what is going on, even if we don’t understand (or even care
about) the details.</span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font color="red" face="Arial" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial; color: red;"> </span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font color="red" face="Arial" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial; color: red;">Harrison</span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font color="red" face="Arial" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial; color: red;"> </span></font></p>
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<p style="text-align: center;" align="center"><font color="red" face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; color: red;">Harrison Owen</span></font></p>
<p style="text-align: center;" align="center"><font color="red" face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; color: red;">7808 River Falls Drive</span></font></p>
<p style="text-align: center;" align="center"><font color="red" face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; color: red;">Potomac,
Maryland 20854</span></font></p>
<p style="text-align: center;" align="center"><font color="red" face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; color: red;">Phone </span></font><font color="red" face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; color: red;">301-365-2093</span></font></p>
<p style="text-align: center;" align="center"><font color="red" face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; color: red;">Skype hhowen</span></font></p>
<p style="text-align: center;" align="center"><font color="red" face="Arial" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial; color: red;">Open Space Training</span></font><font color="red"><span style="color: red;"> <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.openspaceworld.com/"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-family: Arial;">www.openspaceworld.com</span></font></a>
</span></font></p>
<p style="text-align: center;" align="center"><font color="red" face="Arial" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial; color: red;">Open Space Institute</span></font><font color="red"><span style="color: red;"> <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.openspaceworld.org/"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-family: Arial;">www.openspaceworld.org</span></font></a></span></font></p>
<p style="text-align: center;" align="center"><font color="red" face="Arial" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial; color: red;">Personal website</span></font><font color="red"><span style="color: red;"> <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.ho-image.com/"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-family: Arial;">www.ho-image.com</span></font></a> </span></font></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;"><font face="Tahoma" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Tahoma;">-----Original Message-----<br>
<b><span style="font-weight: bold;">From:</span></b> OSLIST
[mailto:OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] <b><span style="font-weight: bold;">On
Behalf Of </span></b>Nancy Wells<br>
<b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sent:</span></b> Tuesday, April 24, 2007
11:17 AM<br>
<b><span style="font-weight: bold;">To:</span></b> OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU<br>
<b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Subject:</span></b> Re: Imposed Structure,
Self-Organisation, Ritual</span></font></p>
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<div>
<p style="margin-left: 0.5in;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Interesting topic... form exists as long as there is
life ... we create form in as many ways as we choose... and... ritual is, in my
mind, only of value if there is a deeper understanding of what is behind the
ritual.... call it spirit, call it nature, call it unity... if one is
just 'going through the motions' of a ritual then it has lost its sense of
meaning/purpose... so if you find meaning/purpose in ALL things, then no matter
what the form or ritual can you come to the same place? Or do some
forms/rituals lend themselves more easily to coming together? Certainly
the circle form has been around in many cultures for centuries...</span></font></p>
<p style="margin-left: 0.5in;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Just random thoughts floating through...</span></font></p>
<p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 0.5in;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Nancy<br>
<br>
<br>
</span></font></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 0.5in;"><font face="Tahoma" size="1"><span style="font-size: 5.5pt; font-family: Tahoma;">From:
<i><span style="font-style: italic;">Scott Willard
<revscott_2000@yahoo.com></span></i><br>
Reply-To: <i><span style="font-style: italic;">OSLIST
<OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU></span></i><br>
To: <i><span style="font-style: italic;">OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU</span></i><br>
Subject: <i><span style="font-style: italic;">Re: Imposed Structure,
Self-Organisation, Ritual</span></i><br>
Date: <i><span style="font-style: italic;">Mon, 23 Apr 2007 10:42:26 -0700</span></i></span></font></p>
<div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">One thing that I would add to the definition of ritual
is that ritual is all about spirit. I just finished
reading The Healing Wisdom of Africa- great book. I believe it was
by P.M. Some' and he states very clearly that ritual is an opportunity for
spirit to impact the lives of the observant. To me, that's what happens
in OST. One idea sparks the room and the market
place, conversations, evening news act as litany that welcomes the spirit
of unity and community to emerge. </span></font></p>
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<div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Writing this, I wonder about what happens after
folks leave the room. While in the ritual space of OST a pseudo community
is formed. Do folks have experience in fostering community once the
meeting is closed and folks go back to their homes? I see the
meetings that happen all over the world, where folks go back time after time
for OS on OS, but what about smaller scale scenario's?<br>
</span></font></p>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Scott Willard<br>
Affinity Consulting Group<br>
affinity-scottwillard.com </span></font></p>
<div>
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<div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 0.5in;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">-----
Original Message ----<br>
From: Andrew Ballance <andrew_ballance@yahoo.com><br>
To: OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU<br>
Sent: Monday, April 23, 2007 5:45:56 AM<br>
Subject: Imposed Structure, Self-Organisation, Ritual</span></font></p>
<div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 0.5in;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Hi
again!<br>
<br>
On the subject of my writing.. When it rains, it pours.. I didn't want to
clutter the previous post with too much reflection and interpretation. [If you
didn't read the previous post, you need to, or you might not know where this is
coming from]<br>
<br>
There appeared to be a polarity at play here, between order and chaos, or
between imposed structure and self-organisation, something that the chaordic
thinkers have probably already chanced upon. To paraphrase what some of the
participants said, "Why do we need Open Space? Surely we can just decide
to be free, and have whatever conversations matter, that's our decision and
responsibility, and if anyone needs some help doing that, I'm here to
help." This is an important point: Open Space is a structure. To my mind,
though, there is an important dimension to it: it is a ritual structure.
Rituals allow us to say or do things that don't normally come out in everyday
conversation, they set the tone and say it's ok to express yourself now in a
particular way.<br>
There are two definitions of ritual that I find quite interesting in this
context:<br>
- any practice or pattern of behavior regularly performed in a set
manner<br>
- a prescribed code of behavior regulating social conduct, as that
exemplified by the raising of one's hat or the shaking of hands in greeting<br>
It's clear to me that OS already is the first of these. That's great, because
that's the way we get results, or rather that's the way in which we as
facilitators regular social conduct for a period of time. But what about that
word 'prescribed'? What do you think of that? What happens if it is prescribed?
By whom? If it's not by anyone in particular, then that means OS is accepted
practice. But as accepted (expected?) practice.. does that limit its
effectiveness? Is that no longer a structure that generates energy, but one
that feels like an imposition and so acts as a dampener?<br>
<br>
OK, enough philosophising for one day. Not that I expect we can come to an
answer to these questions, I'd be interested to hear what other people think
about OS as ritual?<br>
<br>
Andrew</span></font></p>
</div>
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