MythDance

A Ritual journey of embodied storytelling

with live drumming in the forest

MythDance is weaving of movement, meditation, and world mythology. Through practices of embodiment and imagination, we bring to life the stories that want to be told.

Myths are stories which have been told throughout the ages; they speak both to our personal stories and to the stories present in the collective. We look into the Soul of the Self, into the Soul of the Collective, and dance these stories into being in a new way. In telling our story, we heal. In creating our story, we evolve.

May we listen more deeply to ourselves, to each other, and to the Truth held within the myth...

MythDance is currently in its third incarnation, now being held in Bern, Switzerland.

After each MythDance, a poem-gift comes, in honor of the journey and words spoken from the dancers, in honor of Life. Please scroll down for both text and audio versions. To hear a selection of these poems shared on the Medicine Caller podcast with Sophia Wise One, please visit here.

Upcoming Events:

MythDance returns to the forest with live drumming!!!

Please register at least 24 hours in advance at the link below

• Save the Dates 2025 MythDances (always on Saturday): 15.2; 26.4; 14.6; 16.8; 18.10; 29.11

• MythDance in the forest with live drumming

  Day and Time: Saturday, 15 February 2024, 15.00-17.30

  Location: near Glasbrunnen, Bern CH (weather permitting - register for details)

  Cost: CHF 30.-

  
  A loving welcome to returning drummer Beat Rihm. Beat is an heartfelt percussionist who has studied with René Barth and Tom Ehrlich of SpiritDance Drumming.

  
  Beat Rihm: https://www.offener-kreis.ch
  

Myths Danced

Poems from our journeys, as a gift for you…

Mother Earth and the Twins, Fire and Water

16 November, 2024

Water,

I heard your raining rhythm

And I pulled back

Like a flame whipping itself

Into darkness

Fire,

I saw your blazing

And I flowed away

My colors swallowed

Into the wetness of

Myself

Yet Grandmother and Grandfather

Knew

That there was

Something

In you

for me

And something

In me

For you

So we did not blow

The Fire out

Nor did we part Water's

Waves

In the drought

Of our desperation

Questioning

The oh-so-different worlds,

We whirled in place,

Spinning like our Earth Mother

Until

Something

Opened…

It was Her Joy,

Which had grown

Up

Through

The broken pieces

To drink the Sun and Rain

She called us each by name,

Then,

To bloom forth

In the vibrant colors of

Our sameness

And differences,

As witnesses

To see each other,

And to hover at that bridge

Between

The worlds,

Their pollen rich

Upon our lips

So, My Dear -

Sip

The Purity of Water,

And do not falter at

the

E

d

g

e

Of letting go...

For the Fire will

Ignite that Sparkler-Light

At your breast

And even from the shadows,

New Life, new Love now grows

The Weaver, the Hunter and the Magical Cloak

19 October, 2024

That glowing, darkened cloth

That the Weaver wore

Was the story

Of her

Aloneness

On her own breast

It had been written,

In moonlight threads

Of generations

But the Weaver's obligations

To Truth

Ran deeper

Than to her cave of

Embroidered expectations

And so, she follows her Yearning...

Yes,

She had gratefully learned

To weave with both light and dark -

But now pulls the unraveling threads

To meet

That spark

In Another's eye

It is the dying of the world she knew, and

She

Chooses

This.

As fist-fulls of rocks and dirt

Work their way

Into her weaving,

She sees that the threads

End

In

Knots.

So she stops.

Looks

Into the eyes

Of Other

and

Wonders...

Where can help be found?

Around and around she turns

As the Hunter follows

But only stillness sounds

Until she comes to the ground,

Seeing

The small and simple spiders

Gracefully, easefully

Weaving sunlight into

Pure

Gold

Showing us how to weave

A new and

Untold story -

Where the unfolding of

“I Being I”

Contains the unfolding of

“You Being You”

My child,

The night is through

Moonlight fades now

To Morning's bloom

Come, come

Weave with me the Waking

Amidst the sparkling

Rainbow

Dew

The Old Man, the Old Woman and the Whales

7 September, 2024

“Höre den Herzschlag des Himmels

Klingen in deinem Herzen

Spüre den Herzschlag der Erde

Pochen in deinem Sein”

Hear the heartbeat of Sky

Resounding in your Heart

Feel the heartbeat of Earth

Beating in your Being

Black bear comes

To the edge of the Waters,

Announcing

Change.

What we thought was Shadow,

Gently offers gifts

Of Blue-Stone Change

And the pain that throbbed

In our chest -

The pain that second guessed

All we thought we stood for -

The pain that pursed its lips

And whistled

Into the cracks and hollows

Of our own Being -

Gives way to Truth

Losing our way on the Spiral Path,

We somehow

Find ourselves in the middle,

Dropping riddles and roses

Like seeds

From our tongues

Tongues of Fire,

Purify the liars, the lies, the cries

Of all we let go of

Of all we hung on to

So we can see the unexpected

Blessings,

Small as flies,

Along our way

Ocean Blue,

Frayed at the edges of Earth,

Whisper

Your growling, pearl songs

Into the Night

So we can remember

Why we came

“How does the Change happen?”

Protect the Sacred,

But be willing to let go

Until you are naked

Of all of your symbols,

Your adornments,

Even of your awakening...

Have hope

That the shaking leaf

Will dance gracefully,

Once it is released...

But most of all,

Dear One,

Belief

In each other

Brings us within reach

Of that rooted sky

Called Change

The Songbird and the Blossoming Golden Flower

8 June, 2024

The Golden Apple

28 April, 2024

(Poem coming soon)

The Tree of Life

9 March, 2024

Here,

At the Sacred Fire

Where the Shadow-Birds

Clawed out

The stones,

Painted fallen trees with ash...

We were asked

To cover our eyes,

But our hands had

Been broken

By a landslide of leaders and lies

So we tried (for a time)

To put the pictures

Out of our minds-

War-torn bodies,

Children barely alive,

Crimes

Of a world grown over

with sharp-toothed

Sharply-divided

Sharp-thorned

Vines

Yet still,

We find

Ourselves

Here,

At the Sacred Fire

Rebuilding, stone by stone

Into the Heart of the Unknown

Into the Heart of the Abyss

Into the Heart of our own

Aloneness

We sing into the Dark -

Cultivating our inner world,

Preparing for that blessed spark of

A new story,

A new way,

A new life -

Where the path of strife

Gives itself to a sea

Of light-filled

Flowers

At the hour of the Dark Moon,

We part the thicket,

Venturing beyond the thickness

Of our fear

To meet each other,

To greet each other,

To feel Earth under our feet

Like the StarSeeds,

Root into Earth,

My Child...

Receive

The sweetness

Of that Wild Fruit,

The Truth in the Myth -

Be humble

Like the Tree, and

Embody

Your

Gifts