July Eliot 2020 NOW ONLINE "Lifting Up the Sky: Myths, Poems, Songs, and Rituals of Healing and Renewal" with Will Hornyak

Saturday, July 11, 2020 from 07:00 PM to Friday, July 17, 2020 to 09:00 PM

   Hornyak, Will (photo)                                                       

Program Description: The wise Rabbi known as the Bal Shem Tov said many years ago: “When the thread that holds heaven and earth together is broken, not even prayer can help, only a story can mend it.”
      When the legendary storyteller Scheherazade saw her people torn asunder by grief and anger, she employed the use of countless stories over “a thousand and one nights” to heal the heart a wounded sultan gone mad and change the fate of her realm. 
      And as the cultural anthropologist Angeles Arrien has noted, “many indigenous cultures agree that storytelling is an antidote to a primary cause for illness and disease: ‘loss of meaning.’”
     In challenging times of radical change when collective despair and grief can seem to overwhelm the spirit, deaden the soul and impair vision, the ancient medicines of story, poem, song and ritual are essential in healing and renewal. As well as reweaving the torn fabric of communal life, these age-old practices can remind us of the unique medicine we each carry and inspire us to come forward with the healing and blessing that we alone can bestow to the world.
     Celtic lore holds: “Every wound makes its own medicine and every cut carries its own cure.” During our week together we will employ a variety of stories, songs, poems and rituals to recall threads of meaning, feeling, healing and renewal that are inspired by such difficult times. We will consider what ‘medicine of healing’ is made by and required of us in these days.  Through dialogue and storytelling we will see how the old myths and legends can remind us of our own stories and recall to us the nature of our own journeys of healing and renewal. 

About the Storyteller: From Russian fairytales and Irish myths to Middle Eastern legends and Japanese folktales, Will Hornyak weaves a wide web of traditional and original stories, songs, poems and lore into thoughtful and engaging performances workshops and seminars. A widely recognized storyteller, Will has performed at the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, Tennessee and at numerous regional festivals around the United States.  He has taught storytelling in professional communication at Lewis and Clark College, Marylhurst University and Clackamas Community College.  Will works with the Portland non-profit Open Hearts Open Minds to integrate theatre, dialogue and storytelling into Oregon’s prisons.

                     “Storyteller par excellence....” The Oregonian

July Eliot 2020 will be held online on Zoom: We will be offering several opportunities for participation. Registered campers may choose to participate in only an hour or two of programming during the week or could choose to participate for several hours each day, depending on their interests and availability. Here is a sample daily schedule for camp:

9:00 – 9:20

Ingathering

9:30 – 10:30

Morning program with Will Hornyak

10:45 – 11:45

Small groups

12:00 – 6:00

Afternoon activities for: Children (45 minute session each day) / MAGS (60 -90 minutes) / Youth (60 – 90 minutes)

Possible Supplemental Activities for All Ages: Examples are “Show off Your Pet”, online games and jigsaw puzzles, scavenger hunt, “Ask a _____”, the costume parade

6:00 – 7:00

Dining Hall – an opportunity for casual social conversation | Evening small groups

7:00 – 7:30

Worship

7:45 – 8:45

Evening program: Firelight, TED talks, Talent show, Singalong, Game Show Night

9:00 –

Late program: Coffeehouse (1 night), Fishbowl, Young Adults

If you’d like to join us, you can still register – this year’s Eliot is just $50 to participate. We’d love to see you there.