"We
are conciously supporting the oral tradition and are enthusiastically
involved
in
many activities which uphold and promote this ancient form of
entertainment".
A Little History
Before
people wrote things down we recorded our origins and traditions by
use of
memory. We
would recount these tales in the long cold months of winter or in the
sleepy hot season of the tropics. This could take days! The chosen
few from the younger
generation would remember the saga in order to retell it, obviously
adding a new chapter for
their own
times. One could imagine that the more exciting parts of the history
would be memorised by
many and continually retold with embellisments added as they went,
until it bore scant resemblance to the original.
These
accounts were inseparable from early spiritual beliefs, bringing to
life the gods of the animals and plants, moon and sun,
earth and water. Thus they effectively
became the first myths and legends, beginning for us the rich
traditions
of
Norse, Greek, Irish, Native American and African storytelling and many,
many more.
Workshops on the Bardic Tradition
People
in
every part of the world have always had stories as part of their
identity. We
need
not lose (to our detriment!) the tradition of telling each other
stories in this age of TV, Internet and DVD. Alchemy can lead workshops
on the
Bardic Tradition demonstrating and interacting to show how we can all
unlock the bard within, creating our own entertainment and giving us
another way of looking at the things which affect us in our everyday
lives.
We can offer short talks on the oral tradition alongside our
storytelling sessions, or more indepth, audience-specific workshops
which
can dovetail perfectly with course work on composition and creative
writing.
"Before you can write it you have to be able to dream it"
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