Journeys in the Dreamtime - Music CD
Healing Stories: Seven Journeys of the Soul
In between dreams, there lies a sound....this is it.
Guterally familiar, shamanically mystical vocals, guitar, percussion, traversing earthly landscapes, cultures and universal energy.
Shamanic healing trance dance music; perfect for yoga. Try listening with closed eyes and meditating, too - you will be amazed! Our music is created through improvisation, allowing spirit to channel through us.
"Journeys" is an elemental awakening of fire and water, splitting the surface to magical perceptions. Makes you want to hum, to sigh to float on by in a cloud of sunshine, storm, to be inspired, ever present, ever here.
Speak language from the depths of ancestors.
Drifting on a tranquil river, riding on a lightning flash, dancing with the animal guides, traveling into mist…and home.
"Some bands call themselves shamanic, but you guys are the real thing!" Osiris Stargod, musical artist
The members of Life Force Ensemble (Barry Bennett, James Cornolo and Joan Forest Mage) have been creating shamanic healing dance-music ritual since 1995. Joan is the founder-director of Life Force Arts Foundation, a center for shamanic healing and art in Chicago.
Band Members:
Barry Bennett - djembe, dun dun, vocals, balaphone, miscellaneous acoustic and electronic percussion
James Cornolo - guitar, cuatro, recorder, percussion
Joan Forest Mage - vocals
Musical direction - Joan Forest Mage
Produced by Barry Bennett at North Mission Studio www.milkbaby.net
Liner notes - Will Bennett and Joan Forest Mage
Graphic design - Will Bennett
Order the CD online at: cdbaby.com/cd/lifeforceens
A compilation of songs Joan wrote in honor of each season from 1995 - 2001, this solo vocal CD is a wonderful meditation on the rhythms of Nature.
"Season Songs" may be purchased at Transitions Bookplace, 1000 W. North Ave., Chicago.
You can purchase a CD online at cdbaby.com/joanforestmage
Joan writes of "Season Songs"
These songs are part of my shamanic practice of keeping in touch with Nature. They were composed for each season and sometimes each cross-quarter from 1995 - 2001. As a modern shaman living in Chicago, I have made it my business to be intimately acquainted with the life forms that surround me in an urban setting - grass, trees, snow, flowers, rain and more. These are their songs.
Though I live in downtown Chicago, there are still open fields in vacant lots and parks. The wonderful sky soars above, and changing colors, shapes and textures of leaves and flowers abound. Just as I sing of in the songs, I do embrace trees, scoop snow into my mouth, squeeze berries in my hand and drink their juice. All in downtown Chicago! And no passerby has ever asked me what I’m doing – perhaps it just looks natural on me?
Each song is a sung poem. I go out into Nature on or near the day the season changes, my senses alive and waiting for inspiration. A song then channels through me. Each song thus captures a special time, place and occurrence in Nature. For example, “Wild Wind” is about the day there were 69 mile per hour winds off Lake Michigan, and I was literally blown forward by the wind when I leaped into the air! Each song is also about universal themes of life, death and rebirth: the cycle of the seasons.
The songs come from a deep personal place inside me. “The Lushness of Summer” is my pledge to be a vessel for creation and beauty; “Golden Trees” is about my gratitude to the trees for nurturing me after my husband died.
Throughout my life, I have used my voice to soothe, encourage, energize and spiritualize. From teaching aerobics to yoga, from chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo to guiding students in improvisational dance to doing chakra clearing for clients, my voice has had the privilege of channeling marvelous spiritual energy and participating in many healing rituals. I invite you to meditate on these songs, and see what they awaken in you.
The songs are performed as they came to me, a cappella; the way I’ve sung them dozens of times, in Nature, during the season they were written. People who’ve heard these songs say they suit my voice perfectly. It’s because they truly are an expression of my soul. My work in this lifetime is to encourage everyone to find their own voice, as I have found mine.
People have said these songs sound Celtic, Native American, Chinese. I think the sound of the human voice transcends all ethnicities and musical styles. The sounds and rhythms of instruments create distinction among types of music. When we listen to the unadorned human voice, it’s amazingly similar across all times and cultures, especially when it sings of the deep roots we share with the more-than-human world.
I began including these songs on my voicemail messages, as an encouragement to all of us to stay in touch with Nature. I change them as the season changes. So many people have commented on how enjoyable the songs are, that I recorded this CD. Enjoy!
Joan has just published her first book, Healing Stories: Seven Journeys of the Soul.
This book is a compilation of seven stories that were written as a therapeutic process during healing sessions. Beautiful illustrations by Will Bennett accompany each story. The book explains how you can do this type of writing as a healing modality for yourself.
The book is $20. For more information or to purchase a copy, please contact Joan at 312-642-1811 or magelife@yahoo.com.
Joan writes of Healing Stories:
Since ancient times, people have used the power of story and metaphor to create healing. This is a book of modern-day healing stories.
Each of our lives is a story. Some people simply act out the stories that other people (family, teachers, society) have written for them. But we become empowered when we realize that we can be “the writer, producer, director and star of our own stories” as Pascual Olivera says.
Sometimes there are conflicts within the story we are living. Each story has an energy to it, and this energy can be represented by a metaphor. For example, the metaphor might be, “I am a river, and there are huge boulders in me stopping my flow.”
By finding a metaphor for the issue he or she wishes to resolve, the client can often find the solution. For example, in the story of the river, the client finished it this way: “The people planted trees to break up the boulders. Finally the roots of the trees broke up the boulders, and the river was able to flow unimpeded.” By changing the story, the client is able to make positive changes in her/his life.
The Process
The process of creating a Healing Story is a collaboration between the practitioner and the client. Each time I do this process with a client, it is different. I tell clients that the creation of the story happens in the space between us. This collaborative approach to developing material comes from my many years in theater as a modern dancer and performance artist. It is reminiscent of the way that actors, directors, dancers and choreographers utilize autobiographical material collaboratively to create a script or choreography.
I do often make suggestions, or add words or sections to the story. At the same time, I make it clear that ownership of the story is the client’s. My role is simply to help them tell their story. I encourage the client to tell me if he or she doesn’t like the suggestions I’m making, or the input I’m giving to the creative process.
One essential part of Healing Story is that the story be told from the perspective of the metaphor. It can be told in either the first person or the third person, but it is not simply the client explaining what’s going on in her life. This makes it different than many types of therapy, in which the process is for the therapist to listen empathetically to the person talk about his life.
As a facilitator of Healing Story, one of my tasks is to keep the client focused on developing the metaphor and the characters: the dartboard, the dragon, the robin, etc. I say to the client, “The story we are creating is about you – but at the same time, it’s not about you! It’s just a story.”
Working with a metaphor this way allows the client to view her issues differently in several ways:
- It helps the client to see the larger picture of the situation. It encourages viewing one’s situation as part of a universal condition that many people experience, rather than feeling so isolated.
- Since the story is not directly about the client himself, it provides a way that he can express and explore feelings through the medium of the characters. It removes any need to defend one’s position.
- The client realizes she can change how the story ends! In other words, she has developed an action plan that she can now implement in her actual life.
Sometimes when a client comes into the session, the necessary metaphor quickly becomes apparent. At other times, I guide the client in finding the metaphor, through asking questions such as, “What does this problem you’re having feel/look/sound/taste like?” If we reach a deadlock, working with non-verbal modalities such as making vocal sounds and doing body movement often encourages the creative flow. Then we go back to writing the story.
As the session progresses, some clients almost completely dictate the story to me, so I simply write it down. Sometimes the reverse is true: I will be inspired to speak whole sections of the story, and the client will write it down. Tears, laughter, anger and long silences filled with compassion often happen, too.
Not every story has a transformation within it, or a conclusion. Sometimes we only get to the point of describing the metaphor, the characters, and the situation they are in. This may be all that has developed by the end of the session, and that’s fine. (At least, we have arrived at the beginning, i.e., we know what the problem is!)
The most important thing is that the story come from the heart, and not the head. The point of the story is not to find what the person logically thinks should happen, or to imitate stories the client has heard from others. Rather, the story is the sacred space in which the soul can speak its deepest needs, and its brightest dreams.
About These Stories
I have chosen to leave these stories in an “unpolished” state. They are almost the same as when I transcribed them during the actual healing session. This can help you understand the process of their creation. The structure of each story is slightly different. Some have endings and/or resolutions, others do not. This reflects the reality of the healing process: not every conflict is resolved in one session. However, each story brought greater clarity to the person who created it. Two of the authors reported having major breakthroughs in changing situations that had troubled them for over a year.
The voice of each author comes through in their choice of metaphor, their rhythmic phrasing, their use of mundane or poetic speech. I have been truly privileged to work with these individuals! When the light of the individual’s soul shines through, they find the most correct path for themselves, and continue the journey to its fruitful conclusion.
Everyone Has The Creative Flow
These stories are a tribute to the creative flow going on inside each of us. We just need to tap into it. A wealth of information and healing power is coming to us all the time from the individual unconscious and the spirit realm. Through creating metaphors, and stories from them, we can bring our issues to consciousness, find answers to our problems and create deep healing.
You have this power within you, too. The Universe is user-friendly! It wants us to get well and be whole. And never doubt that when we heal ourselves, we heal the world.
Knowing how to write a healing story yourself is a tremendous self-healing technique, and it is one that you can use throughout your life. It can be part of your repertory of health maintenance techniques. Just as brushing your teeth and eating healthy food prevents disease, techniques that help you resolve conflicts within yourself can nip problems in the bud before they escalate.
It is a great honor and privilege to do this work, and I thank you for letting me share this with you. My hope and wish is for your greatest healing and greatest good. Best wishes!
For more information
Call Joan at 312-642-1811
or e-mail her at magelife@yahoo.com
Life Force Arts Foundation ~ Chicago, IL ~ 312-642-1811 ~ email : mageworkshops@yahoo.com |