Centre of the Storm: In Search of

Introduction and Contents  Spring 1999 A pageant in three parts: arrival, disconnection, search for place/home.   Performed at Karuna Conference Centre and surrounds, Katoomba;  Gundungurra country. Stories of arrival…birth…nature…dislocation…impact Remembering northern ancestral beliefs, celebrations, symbols, deities and writing which welcome Spring and celebrate nature and fecundity. [1] …and the arrivals of my ancestors from the north, Elizabeth Pulley . Eliza Ann Miller and Francois Constant Rups ,     I want to tell you a story a story of my people   Many years ago in the lands of my ancestors, Ireland...England...The Netherlands, in the time before, the time before the one land became three, there was a mighty freeze, a long, cold Winter.   Then imperceptibly, gradually, the ice began to melt and on this barren land life a different kind of life appeared. A Garden of Eden. And into this Eden arrived a people. Small groups two or three families together living off th

Centre of the Storm is a series of performances-rituals embarked upon from 1988 to 2000 as a way of discovering how to bring ancestral stories and ritual into the past and present story of Australia, and by so doing begin to develop a spirituality that has meaning in this country and recognises the long and enduring story of First Nations peoples. [1] “These histories were swirling around us unspoken as we sipped our tea and Jane continued: ‘If you are not connected with your ancestors, if you are not honouring of them, then it won’t be possible for me to trust you, for us to work together.’ ‘But what if my ancestors’ actions caused profound harm to your people?’ I asked. ‘You must still find a way to connect with them, to acknowledge them. You will find a way.””   [2] CONTENTS Posts Women and the Land BEGINNINGS: Midwinter stories ARRIVAL: Spring Stories  SURVIVAL: A Summer story PASSAGE:  An Autumn Story Pages Centre of the Storm : Thesis Introduction Midwinter - Stories of Origin O