http://mfmiller.wordpress.com/2008/04/23/centering-sticks-and-jewish-mystics/
In I and Thou by Martin Buber, he talks about how humanity has always used religion as a way to explain the unknown, a way to confront their fears, a way to ground them to the power of a collective identity. An image he uses to illustrate this point is how the Achilpa, a nomadic tribe in Australia, carried around a “centering” stick that represented the origin of the universe. No matter where these people went they were always within the realm of creation–a powerful symbol of their identity as a “first people” as well as a reassurance against the darkness beyond their campfires.This is a very nice story. It is a porte-manteau of myth; it is a myth containing a myth.
It is also an illustration of what St. Paul refers to as "the things of a child". A child loves to hear stories over and over, and a child uses these stories to play their own games and create further stories. Such are stories about the teachings of centering sticks.
A centering stick takes us from the infinitely busy and detailed engagement with creation, and it is a pointer that reminds us there is more - much more - that is silent and beyond words, so we are quiet then.
It abruptly stops the train of thoughts and experiences flowing in
And that is all it does, but that is quite a lot these days.
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2 comments:
:)
I assume you have a fancy for the "sticks". For some reason - and forgive me if I have it wrong - I associate you with the holistic Earth Chiropractor, who sticks poles in the ground.
I think it was you. In my memory, I have a picture of a guy crawling about the perimeter of your backyard greenhouse, trying to place geomagnetic dowsing sticks, and falling over empty terra cotta pots, cursing and what-not, and in general not adding anything good to the geomantic reading he was intending to take shortly.
I still snicker about it.
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