peter mumme
Stories
place of magic .. wamoom, yiruk
We love stories, we live our stories, we create our own stories all the time ..
Classic stories can connect us with nature, life, people .. many are of experiencing different worlds, of experiencing this world in different ways .. some inspire, create wonder; some open our ears, eyes and hearts
Stories may emerge from anywhere; they may come from inspiring conversations or talks that we have or hear, from books, from life experiences that we occasionally 'bump into', or from film, theatre, ceremonial occasions, dreams
May I offer a selection of personal stories written in response to experiences, places and situations ..
There is also a 'connecting' section on this site listing experiences, stories, teachings and considerings
Stories for our time .. index
alternate representation
beyond literal
within-without
mother magpie
feeding old cockatoo
good story - oral history
alternate representation
I would like to broach this idea - for sending delegations to conferences concerning ’global warming/climate change’
as we appear unable to offer anything more than further ‘official’ excuses for failing to engage with such ‘inconveniences’ (in australia at least) .. may I suggest that we offer the presence of alternate representation ?
ie .. a small group of indigenous elders - knowledge holders of culture, nature, earth and people to enable both this continent - and all countries, possible gaining broader insights so to better engage this problem ?
so to provide a ‘tacit’ presence that does represent the deeper wisdom now sorely needed - for all peoples (and mother earth, nature and life) to heal !
Let’s see
PM
(posted flook 7 oct 2021
)
beyond literal
our arts are only able to be ‘pointed to’ - using (english) literal languages
‘arts’ - as stories, as nature, as life .. are not ‘literal’ - ie are not able to be reduced to word ‘structures’
we are not able to express ‘like, love, connection, feeling, intuition, nature, natural, flow, awareness, sunlight, attraction .. or life herself, ‘adequately’ - or even ‘get close’ - if restricting our-selves to such simplistic objectification
within - without
life arises within earth-life energy .. its vital spirit source
we respond as all earth life does .. we grow, mature, age, reproduce, create 'languages’, rely on all ‘other’ life forms to co-xist .. this is its nature
is spirit energy ‘at work’ - continually creating and transforming into ever changing 'shapes' .. some visible, many not ..
we generally do not see the source energy (sunshine, gravity, magnetism, love) .. just the temporary results as physical perceptions 'without'
experiencing earth-life ‘without’ ~ earth-spirit-life ‘within’ ..
looking out within
mother magpie
Kobi is a grandson who, one day in his first year, was lying on a blanket in our garden, sun lit, warm. green trees, flowers .. and attendant friendly magpies
Kobi was gurgling, waving himself around - and uttering the occasional maybe ’hungry’ cry
We realised that our ‘boss’ mother magpie - she who does most of the food collecting and feeding of her fledglings - was taking a keen interest in Kobi’s cries
She ran over close to the child, listening and looking closer - to see if this being also needed feeding !
Her mother instinct would appear to transcend her body ‘form’ .. a baby human or magpie both make a ‘need food’ cry - and she, as mother, needs attend to it
There was no real surprise in her response, nor any fuss or resignation .. she was just doing what she does. being as she is
lovely bird, lovely mother, lovely spirit
feeding old cockatoo
We often entertained a ‘pandemonium’ of white cockatoos visiting our mountain-top garden .. they came in response to ‘chestnut season’ - and also in case a human was offering morsels they had sussed out
One season, the group arrived with, what we thought was, an immature bird - messy feathers, making noise and waving wings
After a few visits, we then saw what was really occurring .. the noticed bird was not an infant unable to feed itself, but an old bird - it had lost a lot of feathers, and its beak was really worn and chipped .. it couldn’t feed itself - hence the noise and waving to the group
We soon then saw the result .. just as the mature adult cockatoos feed their immature fledglings - by grounding the nuts and seeds they collect in their own mouths and then stuffing the ‘cereal’ into the open beaks of the infants - so they did the exact same for the old bird
No compunction, no fuss .. just nature - and bird - caring for their group
oral-history - good story !
Nathaniel lived with us outside melbourne in semi rural country mid 1990s; he came with his bapu (father), first time away from home
he went to the local small school, played with the other children, went on many different adventures over the 8-9 months or so ..
see story ..
I was visiting his Indigenous family home near Ramingining in arnhemland NT last year, and was enthralled by a young fella - aged about 8-10 - who wanted to relate to me the story of how ‘he’ spent his younger years living with me and going to a local school in victoria some 25 years earlier
My immediate reaction was surprise .. he wasn’t telling some else’s story, he was talking in first person - and knew the details
He was ‘Nathaniel’ at this age recounting his experiences - this ‘oral history story’ being held in collective memory
The relationship construct of (traditional indigenous) culture is sufficiently well developed so as to transcend (what we pass off as) ’time’ and 'sequential event' suppositions
The old fellas all say that they have ‘lived here for ever’ - they are not talking about clocks and egos .. they are referencing life as a flowing interwoven energy totality, with spirit, form, event all manifesting, emerging and dissolving in a joyful and resilient whole !
