We Walk a Crooked Path Into the Light- Using Finger Labyrinths with Refugees- March 2018

This past week, I had the pleasure of conducting a workshop on the Labyrinth at the Torture Abolition and Survivors Support Coalition (TASSC) in Washington DC. Not knowing anyone I would be working with and wanting to present something that would be easy to do yet have a deeper meaning for each participant, I decided to teach them about the labyrinth and specifically to have them wall a finger labyrinth.To warm up and get to know each other, we created a central altar simply consisting of a scarf given to me by a Shaman in Peru, a candle and ‘touch’ stone, which I had created earlier. We also used the Native American talking stick as a way to ensure that each person would have his or her ‘space’ to talk and be heard. When it was someone’s turn to introduce him or her-self, she would simply reach in the bag and take a stone and read what it said. (Each stone was hand-painted and had a word or phrase on it, such as, Unite, Brave, Beautiful, Breathe). The stones were placed on the ’altar’.

Each participant was given a printout of a Labyrinth. We did a silent meditation and relaxation, with some writing and artwork leading up to a question, a thought, and a wish for each intention. The goal was to be fully present to release, receive and return as our fingers walked the labyrinth, in silence. After the ‘walk’, participants was invited to write or draw, in response to what had happened on their ‘walk’. They were then invited

to use colored pencils to design their labyrinth as they wished.

As you can see from the images above, everyone had a unique and meaningful experience.One participant, a young woman from Syria wrote: Thank you very much for your time last Tuesday. It was a great opportunity to think deeper and more bring self -awareness into our life.

I was happy that ours lives crossed on her path and that she felt so positive. It made me think of all the ways we walk on our paths, alone and together.

Image-Labyrinths on altar from workshop at TASSC

2018- Wise Woman Ceremony- Gift from an Elder Happy New Year everyone!

The Goddess of Many Arms

January 2018- Wise Woman Ceremony- Gift from an Elder

Happy New Year everyone!

 We survived, we endured and we are still angry and so we march and protest and still imagine this country of ours getting back on track of all of the good things we have to offer each other and the world.

This January I turned 70 and decided to do that one up big. I created a Coming of Age/Wise Woman/ Crone ceremony for the occasion and invited all of my women friends to attend, one freezing cold morning. We honored our foremothers and sisters and those friends who had passed away. I took vows and I released what held me back at this point in my life. My sister read my story. We sang, read poems and I gave and received gifts from those younger and those older. Many stones were painted and given away which honored our journeys. I received a walking staff and wore special clothes and shoes. We broke bead and toasted and hug and took the time to honor the passing of years, the changes upon changes we have endured. So, not yet old but certainly no longer young, I am embarking on this journey in my life with love, support, friendship, some scars and renewed focus and energy. Amen!

I am eager to sign everyone up for my women’s weekend retreat July 13-15, in the foothills of the Shenandoah Mountains near Charlottesville, Virginia. There is only room for 15, so please sign up early to ensure your place. Click here for more information!

For my new book of poetry- click here :

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=sally+brucker

Namaste, Sally

The ReDress Project

I've just returned from a 6 day conference of IEATA (International Expressive Arts Therapies) in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The image above was in a photo exhibition at the Museum of Social Justice, also in Winnipeg. The ReDress project was created as a living memorial to the thousands of First Nation( indigenous) women and girls who have gone missing, raped, abused and murdered. This is a very real phenomenon in Canada and especially in the Winnipeg area, where more than 40% of the population is First Nation, meaning that they belong to a tribe of either Cree, Ojibway, Matie, Danee, Inuit, Lakota, or Ojicree. ( I hope I got this right).

I was stunned by this statistic, though I should not have been, given that women are abused all over the world.

The ReDress project seeks to hang a red dress for every woman, victimized and not brought to justice. This is a national shame which is being addressed, which might give some, some hope. While I was there, the government also proclaimed Oct. 4th as a National Remembrance Day for these women.

I applaud the activist artists who created this installation project. It's what we do as artists. Another amazing artist KC Adams, spoke to us about her billboard photos which aim directly at dispelling stereotypes about First Nation men and women. Powerful work.

What would you like to do?

Send me your ideas and thoughts!!

Our Nature-Inside and Out

It is the Autumn equinox and I'm just back from a camping trip in the glorious Pacific Northwest of the United State and Canada, full of breathtaking vistas, many tragically clouded by smoke from forest fires started by  mindless people unaware of their impact on the world. It was a constant reminder of both the resiliency and epic strength of nature. It was such a joy to see thousand years old trees, boulders full of sleepy sea lions, whales on their yearly migration, birds flocking, nesting, flying, feeding; cute bunnies and chipmunks, flowers, shrubs and wild, worn seacoasts with craggy lighthouses. We hiked, sketched, photographed, looked, listened, biked and watched as the road stretched out endlessly before us. The smoke was somewhat contained, though most noticeable around the Crater Lake and Mt. Hood areas, reminding us that we have the capacity to destroy equal to our capacity to steward our land. Would we ever learn the difference?

I have been writing and teaching about doing Eco-Art Therapy or 'Land Art"(known also as a branch of trans-personal psychology) for about 4 years. It's a way of being in nature, using all of our senses, and selecting 'natural' materials to construct artwork that melds into the environment.

This work is directly drawn from the artist Andy Goldsworthy who has created monumental temporal works on an international basis. The idea here is that Nature is a creative and healing 'vessel' within which we can individually and collectively collaborate and create meaning, bringing us closer to some elemental force of 'life'. By getting our 'hands dirty', ie-playing in the muck or mud, we are letting go of inner gravity or seriousness, allowing ourselves to observe and follow the 'plan' that  unconsciously evolves.It's a lesson we can apply to our lives, for sure. 

Here is something you can do today, tomorrow or some time you can find:

1. Take a walk anywhere, around the block, into a park or woods, by a stream, up a hill or moutain.

2. Allow yourself to quiet your mind and to awaken you sense of smell, touch, sight, taste and sound. Notice the sensations by feeling them in silence.

3. If you see something that you can pick up and hold do so and begin to collect leaves, nuts, branches, etc. (you can bring along a bag to hold them in ).

4. Make mental pictures of what you see.

5. Find a space to create a small ( or any size) installation in Nature, where you take what you have gathered, adding more, if needed and make your own work of nature art.

6. Sit with your piece and breathe it in, taking a mental or physical picture of it. 

7. Notice how it felt doing this and how you feel now.

8. Come back in a day or so and visit it, accepting the natural process of change and decay inherent in nature as a metaphor for change in life.

9. Post your photos here!! Please!!!!!

Namaste, Sally

A Note on Maturing

How have you matured? How would you like to mature or ripen?

Take care of Yourself-As women we spend a great deal of time tending to the needs of others. What would happen if we paid more attention to ourselves, perhaps in areas of our lives that we may have neglected or even forgotten that we had? Self -exploration can lead to discoveries and new understandings of yourself and others.Draw your attention to all of the different roles you have played in the past and in the present.Take a vow to be more honest with yourself and others and you can ‘find what you never lost”.

Quest-ions---For All Queens and Crones-Women Over 50

Are You Ready? You can answer one or as many as you wish. Please share!

At this point in my life:

1)    What would I like to begin to cultivate?

2)    What ‘liabilities’ can I begin to accept about myself?

3)    What would I like to cherish and honor?

4)    What am I happy to leave behind?

5)    What am I reluctant to leave behind?

6)    How have I grown through difficult times?

7)    What still needs forgiving or releasing?

8)    If I was a goddess, what would my name be and of what would I be the goddess?

9)     Who are my role models?

10)  Who are my female ancestors?

11)  What is my song, my dance, my poem? (you can create one)

12)  What further quest-ions do I have relating to myself as a wise-older woman

THE GODDESS of MANY ARMS

 

 Sally BRUCKER ATR-BC,CAGS, LCSW-C

Hi Friends,

This past month, I attended a wonderful seminar with Jungian analyst, Susan M. Tiberghien at the Jung Society of Washington, DC. She spoke about the Jungian principles of mind, body, spirit and reminded us that we need for these to all be in synchronicity with each other, in order to reach that state of transcendence (something we strive for in meditation) where we can truly focus on what matters to us in the world. She also spoke about the quest for meaning in our lives and that when we have both meaning and conviction, we can then act in ways to bring about change.

Change can take many forms including ‘planting’ seeds, taking chances, finishing up something that was put-off,  or reaching out to someone. Any one of these ‘acts’ changes our relationships to our body, mind and spirit and to each other. Sometimes these changes take time to formulate and sometimes they jump out, demanding that we see them. For me, this change came in an organic and synchronistic way (another favorite of Jung!), which I will explain below.

About 48 years ago, in fact, before I even knew what art therapy was, I had lived in the West African Country of the Ivory Coast and worked for one year in a Biafran refugee camp for children. This experience apparently etched itself into my unconsciousness. 25 years ago, I followed a dream I had about my grandmother and it not only took me to Russia for the first time, but it changed the course of my career (see-Dreaming and Waking in Russia- Journal of the American art Therapy Association, Vol.13, n.4, 1996.) Working with refugees in London at the Medical Foundation for Victims of Torture, I met Alain, a 17 year old Burundian refugee. We stayed in touch over the past 17 years. Yesterday I returned from visiting Alain, his wife and 2 boys, living in Ottawa, Canada, where with his MD, he works to help resettle refugee families. 

This time change came as a ‘link’ from Melissa, my wonderful technical assistant. Melissa sent me some ‘art therapy’ links hoping I might be stimulated to write a Blog-post off of one. The one that caught my eye was about an art therapy project run by the UK charity Flourish-Foundation, at the Ritsona Refugee Camp for Syrians, in Halkida, Greece (less than 2 hours from Athens).,

I am still working out the details of going there and hope when I do, that the work I do will honor the integrity, bravery and complexity of what the women, men and children are experiencing and striving towards. In addition to co-leading art therapy groups there, I hope to write about my experiences, in a way that respects the privacy of those I meet, but also tells their stories in their words.

You can help.

1. Sign up below for my newsletter to receive my writings and donate to support this work and the needs of the refugees.

2. Check out these links for you to learn more about Flourish-Foundation as well as the Ritsona Refugee Camp.

http://ampthemag.com/the-real/road-ritsona-diary-month-syrian-refugee-camp/

www.huffingtonpost.com/.../how-art-therapy-is-making-a-difference-in-the-ritsona_u...

2. Give a secure donation: 

JUST GIVING LINK (Below) 

CLICK HERE

(Charity no: 1154196) (please note that there are several organizations with similar names. Use the exact spelling and note that this is a UK organization.

(Note: Please let them know that you heard of them through Sally Brucker, so they can know and thank you. )

Your donation will support efforts of art therapists, like me, who are paid only a small housing stipend. It will also help purchase toys and art supplies, books and other needs that arise.

Keep those goddess arms moving and we can change the world!

Share your stories and responses here!

 Namaste,

Sally