|
|
Using the SAGA and MYTHOS decks as a jumping-off point for creativity has proved itself useful time and time again. As a writer, there are times when the words won’t flow and the creative spark is lost. At these times when my creativity is blocked, finding my way back on course is not easy.
Drawing a card from one of these packs allows me to take a step back from the work I am struggling with, and to refresh my mind with the newness of the image I see before me. Even a card that I have drawn and worked with many times before will have new meanings for me with each drawing. The state of mind that I am in will influence the shades of meaning I see, reflecting itself through the subtle overtones of the story that emerges.
The imagery fuels my mind, allowing me to wander into new territories and across unfamiliar terrain. As I allow my imagination free reign to make the associations that it chooses, to see the past or the future through the eyes of the card, I am able, at that moment, to let my mind touch new depths, to discover new possibilities.
Although the story that comes to me from the card may have no clear link to the work I was doing, the process of working with the image changes my thinking so that I am no longer stuck.
As well as using the cards in this way for creative work, I have used them for problem solving. Here, in a similar way, the story that comes from the card or cards will usually have no link to the problem, yet by firing up my creativity, my field of vision expands so that new solutions come into focus. The solutions that emerge are almost a by-product of the story that’s formed. Tapping into the hidden reserves of creativity allows the options to flow, and as they do, solutions present themselves for consideration.
Steven Weir
London, England
Excerpted from original material for the book Strawberries Beyond My Window: Games of Association for Opening the Door to Creativity and Communication, 2nd German Edition, by Waltraud Kirschke.
A contributor to the Child Therapy and Mental Health website posted a short article about using various OH genre cards in therapy practice with children. The article, “Associative cards,” was posted by blaxter on December 15, 2008.
Team Training for Leadership
 During the last ten years the “human factor” (that is, acknowledgement of the emotional level) has also gained in consideration in the industrial sector. Emotions, naturally, have a direct influence on achievement as well. It is now acknowledged that a well-functioning team does not hesitate to address conflict and is practised in discussing problems and issues.
We often work with the OH cards in seminars and workshops. Spreading them out on the floor so that everyone can see them, we try to home in on an emotional quality in the participants by asking them each to select a card which corresponds approximately to their feelings at that moment in their current situation. A question at any seminar, for example, could be, “With what feelings did I come here today?” The OH cards present many possibilities in answer to such a question. The associative cards function as a catalyst both for communication and for the experience of closeness among the participants. This feeling of closeness is important because the success of our work as trainers is dependent on the participants opening up during the three or four days they are together – that is, that they reveal themselves more readily than they might in a normal, more formal situation.
Our workshop and seminar participants come from various domains of business, are usually from the industrial or service sectors and are often managers and their assistants – a colourful assortment of people, really, not only from Audi but also from a broad spectrum of the free market economy.
Sometimes I use the SAGA cards as well as the OH cards, especially when the topic is leadership: these images with their figures of highly symbolic characters facilitate a ready comprehension of particular group mechanisms having to do with leadership.
Ralf Linde ~ Trainer for the AUDI Academy
Ingolstadt, Germany
Excerpted from the book Strawberries Beyond My Window: Games of Association for Opening the Door to Creativity and Communication, by Waltraud Kirschke.
Storytelling with Children
 To inspire children to give accounts and tell stories – this was the task I was assigned at the youth centre and school in the Rivierenwijk district of Utrecht. Not only should everyday experiences be related but also short pieces of creative composition, such as stories that are found in picture books, stories with a plot, stories that make sense. This process should give the children, especially the foreign children, a fresh impulse for communication.
Out of this task evolved a storytelling club. Each week ten children between the ages of 7 and 9 met with the aim of composing stories and telling them to one another. A suitcase filled with various objects served as the goldmine of material from which to extract ideas. As we handled and examined the objects we would ask ourselves, “To whom could this object belong and what role could it play in the story?”
The children were delighted. They began to create never-ending stories that eventually did end – in nothing. It was the beginning and the end that posed the problem. The children could not come to grips with a story structure – quite logical, actually. To tell a story by heart presupposes an overall and advance knowledge of the story. The teller has to orient him/herself like a bird in flight; otherwise s/he loses track of the path. For many of the children this proved to be an impossible task. Children experience a story like a film – it unfolds word by word. This can be observed in their experience reports. After school vacation it goes like this: “First we drove to … and then … and then we ….” All the experiences are stored in the memory chronologically. The only way to recapitulate it is to tell it in the correct chronological sequence.
 When I realized this, I wondered how I could give them the necessary signposts for orienting themselves within their stories. For this, I got some help from the philosopher of Greek antiquity, Aristotle. In his “Poetica” he stipulated the structure of the story to comprise five main parts:
- introduction
- incitement of the plot
- climax of the plot
- fading out of the plot
- conclusion
I had found my signposts! For the children it would be possible to simplify this somewhat:
- on the way to the incitement of the plot by making introductions
- on the way to the climax
- marching toward the end
I wanted to introduce the children to these points of orientation, but a lesson on the ancient Greeks was out of the question! The subject must be approached in as lively a manner as possible. At this point I considered the possibilities for using SAGA. With only three cards it would be possible to set the decisive milestones for orienting the story:
introduction - plot impetus – on to climax – climax - on to the end – end
It almost worked. Story structure stood tangibly before the children’s eyes. (For me the only thing missing at this point were SAGA images in large format.) They were able to “read” the details directly from the pictures. It was possible to use the picture cards as notes or “cheat-sheets,” so to speak.
 Yet the final image proved to be problematical. Although it was fairly easy for the children to put together a story from the first two images, the last picture restricted them. It represented a prison for the imagination. Although necessary for the structure of the story, in composing stories independently this picture seemed to act as a barrier. Once again, logical: a prescribed ending to a story presupposes an overview. For the children the situation was like a topography: if your task is to get from your own house to Berlin but you only know the streets as far as the town limits, then the rest of the way is like a black hole that can only be filled in by a general map.
The solution to this problem, however, proved to be simple. The final image would be created by the children themselves, after they composed the conclusion to the story. (Author’s note: suitable here are the CLARO cards, which are meant to be designed by the user!) Based on what I have just outlined, we finally developed our approach for the storytelling club. During the initial phase the children practiced creating stories based on objects. In the second phase the SAGA cards were introduced. The children were divided into groups (two to three participants), each receiving two pictures and one object. The pictures were to mark the plot impetus and climax of the story, with the object taking on some significance during its development. The stories, usually short, were written down and the last image painted.
This approach would be practiced several times in varying groups. The main focus, during phase three, was on turning these mini-plots into real stories, to be told in a detailed and understandable way. In order to function as points of orientation for the children, the pictures, in the manner of an “oh! experience,” must stimulate the memory at the relevant points in the story. It was therefore important that these “oh! experiences” be as vivid as possible.
 However, the pictures didn’t automatically stimulate this response. For the children the images were just pictures from the SAGA deck until the necessary connection between picture and story was established by acting out the story, the most important structural points being the plot impetus, the climax and the conclusion. The dramatised scenes were linked to one another by the SAGA images. As soon as the structure became clear, the story would be practised once again, this time with the pictures laid out on the floor.
After practising like this the children would remember the story without having to memorise it. It was even possible to improvise on the story with the structure firmly established in this way. And so with the help of Aristotle and SAGA it was possible for us to animate children to storytelling!
Marco Holmer ~ Storyteller and member of the Utrecht Storyteller Group
Utrecht, Holland
Excerpted from the book Strawberries Beyond My Window: Games of Association for Opening the Door to Creativity and Communication, by Waltraud Kirschke.
Card images are from the SAGA deck.
Adam Bourgeois’ book, The Power of OH: A Path to Growth, Insight, and Appreciation of Self and Others has prompted these positive reviews:
“The OH Cards are a wondrously useful, intuitive tool for accessing the forces that lie behind an event or question. In Adam Bourgeois’ hands, the two decks of OH, one each of words and pictures, become both oracular and revelatory. He delves into the symbolism of the cards and shows how they trigger emotions, intuitions, feelings, fantasies, and ideas to express our innermost realms.”
~ W. Brugh Joy, M.D., author of Joy’s Way: A Map of the Transformational Journey
“Adam Bourgeois and I discovered the world of the metaphysical together many years ago. We have explored the inner workings of the psyche in cities around the world — Paris, Montreal, Moscow, Athens, Rome, London, Puerto Vallarta, Casablanca, Cairo — as well as throughout the United States. During this time, Adam has honed his skills as a reader and a teacher. He takes calls from all over at all hours. In this book he passes on some of his wonderful philosophy and knowledge. He gave me a set of OH Cards when he first found them and, for us, OH has proved to be the best personal tool for self-development that I know of. This magnificent book be the same for its readers.”
~ Dick Gregory, political and social commentator, activist, entertainer, writer, and author of Callus On My Soul
“Adam illustrates the ease with which you can use OH Cards to explore your deepest secrets, and the joy that comes with the rewards of understanding. He is a true teacher and guide. Don’t miss a chance to learn from him.”
~ Barbara Biziou, author of The Joy of Ritual and The Joy of Family Rituals
“This book by Adam Bourgeois is a journey to the place from which all essential waters of life flow. His is the voice of the experienced traveler sharing the delights of his adventures, pointing out exotic corners and wondrous vistas, and urging exploration on our own to find our own delights.”
~ Ely Raman, artist and creator of the original OH Cards.
Barbara Biziou, author of The Joy of Ritual and The Joy of Family Rituals
A group of people were playing OH at a centre where workshops on personality development are held. One of the participants was only observing. During a break he commented that OH is too simple. One of the payers suggested that he draw a set himself and find out what it meant to him. He drew the word WAIT and a picture of children at a playground. Without thinking about it he explained that what occurred to him in looking at this card combintation was that he had a wonderful relationship with his sons and that he could hardly wait to be back home with his family.
The next day he spoke again to the workshop participant who had suggested he draw a set, too. He admitted to having behaved rather arrogantly and said that he had not slept well the previous night. He kept thinking about the cards he had drawn. “I do have a good relationship with my sons,” he said. “However, the word WAIT does not refer to ‘wait’ but to another word that sounds exactly the same: WEIGHT. I have been fighting against my excess weight without success for years. I have long since gained the impression that the entire shell of fat I have built around myself is none other than a defense against my feelings. During the night it became clear to me that my being overweight has something to do with the fact that I have a hard time accepting the love and affection that my sons have for me!”
Ely Raman ~ Artist, teacher, creator and painter of the OH, SAGA, and PERSONA cards
Victoria, Canada
Excerpted from the book Strawberries Beyond My Window: Games of Association for Opening the Door to Creativity and Communication, by Waltraud Kirschke.
|
|
