Den jungianska psykoanalytikern och författaren Clarissa Pinkola Estés vet hur viktiga sagorna är för oss moderna människor. Genom berättelserna och myterna kan vi upptäcka oss själva, skriver hon i ”Kvinnor som slår följe med vargarna” som kom för ett tjugotal år sedan. Boken blev en världssuccé och den svenska översättningen kan dessvärre vara svår att få tag i.
Nu är det 2011 och jag har återupptäckt denna cantadora, historieberättare, som hon kallar sig. På Facebook av alla ställen. Där lägger hon upp tidigare opublicerat material och uppmanar sina followers att hålla ögon och öron öppna. Historierna finns överallt, skriver hon och berättar vad hon har sett under en helt vanlig dag i köpcentret.
Dear Brave Souls: Do not tell me, nor the Baba Yaga, that you have no stories to tell. Stories happen to us every every day. Today, as Baba and I went out, she in her usual weedy gown and me with my welders hat with the two black 4 inch long velcro horns on the front (for holding the light while welding)
These stories were called to us:
Standoff at the mini-castles:
It is dead of winter here; sub zero, the snow squeaks, and the mice are wearing bright yellow surveying equipment for finding holes the size of a dime to get into warm houses. Homeowners have used up all their nickels and duct tape, trying to repel the legions
Seeing with Eyes in the Back of One’s Head:
How to back up a truck down a snowy curve without running over the lilac bush, mostly.
The motherless man:
How pale and sick young man at checkout of grocery store has no mother to tell him to go take some herb.
The man who read minds:
How the man handing out samples of quinoa at Costco knows who will buy his grain packs and who will not, by whether they make eye contact in certain ways.
The Flower Antennei Wonder Baby
Happy smiling little baby girl seated in transport on the front of her young mother, has big flower in hair that bobs with every step her mother takes. Baby is pointing her little finger at every shopper, reading them. lol
The Man Who Ate and Ate and Yet Was Bony
How skinny old man is looking at pastries longingly, and loads up on several trays, smiles at us, says he loves these baklavas and other fancy dancy pastries, that they will be gone by morning.
CostOZco: Costco=OZco
How lady like wicked witch of Oz slams her cart into everyone else’s. Offensive shopping. lol
The Magic Jacket That Can Be Many Things
How to make feet warm enough when there is an arctic draft in the house at floor level, and hanging blankets is not enough. Use wool jacket, put feet in sleeves, wrap rest of jacket around ankles, and button it up. lol
There are at least 50 more stories called to us this day. Think of your story life too in your own way. I see what I see as I see it. You too, to each his own, to each her own.
The main thing is notice, listen. This will serve. Story is not hard. It is easy… as you have eyes to see, ears to hear…
Dont make it hard by prejudging everything. Go get lost in it all. It is ALL right before you. YOUR OWN Life, unique to YOU alone!! No one else’s stories sound anything like those that actually happen right in front of your very eyes and ears…
with love,
dr.e, and Baba, who right now is busy cooking up something with orange and yellow and green weeds in it on the stove.
Excerpt from unpub’d manuscript about Dr. E’s adventures with Baba Yaga, to her, the ultimate storyteller, and their advice to those aspiring to carry stories… in: ”Telling Stories that Matter: How to Spill Dirt and Cloud, Blood and Tears on True Stories You Yourself Have Lived,” by C.P. Estés, all rights reserved ©1985, 2011