Από τότε τα κύμματα τους έγιναν ο μετρονόμος που μετρά το πέρασμα του Χρόνου και συντονιζουν τους παλμους της καρδιας ολων των τυχερών θνητών που περασαν τα Καλοκαιρια τους εδω...

Οσοι εζησαν εστω κι ενα Καλοκαιρι στο Πηλιο μυήθηκαν για παντα στην μαγεια του, τους καταλαβαινεις ακομη κι αν τους προσπερνας σαν αγνωστους στον δρομο, ειναι σαν μια μυστικη χειραψια, ενα σημαδι, ενα συνωμοτικο κλεισιμο του ματιου, οχι μονο "ξερω ακριβως αυτο που ξερεις" αλλα και "ξερω ακριβως αυτο που εννοεις"...

In listening, slowly these stories have been carving out for me a new idea of how life shapes itself around intersecting ideas; what the poet Mary Oliver refers to as 'a sharp iron hoof, at the center of my mind...' * And in sharing these narratives we've not only deepened our understanding of this landscape (in the mythology the Pelion was the summer garden of the gods, where they went for sanctuary and refuge); it has also offered the young people a context to re-frame and express their own life experiences, upbringings in various parts of the globe, and their relationships.

So here I am, climbing on the stalagmites of Megalamata Panagia, known also as the Cave of the Assembly of the Gods because it was the roof under which the marriage of Thetis and Peleus took place, significant in that this monumental wedding precipitated the Trojan War. But of equal interest, in terms of archetypes, is our discovery that Thetis is a primordial being, older than a god, the water aspect of the divine feminine. She is not just of the ocean, she IS the ocean, the originating chaos that we read of in Genesis, beginning of the Jewish old testament. So, in her marriage to Peleus, who in his name is likewise not just the mountain but is the very IDEA of the mountain before it comes into being, (as of the word incarnated into matter echoed in the mystical gospel of John, the 'word made flesh - new testament), order emerges out of chaos... sea and land are differentiated, the process of individuation (Jung's term) begins. A process that, as earthly and spiritual realms become more and more integrated, is still being fulfilled...

There in the cave, bumped up against each other in our canoes, sea water sucking and moaning in the creeks and blow holes, we heard this myth echoing around its walls, and realised the reverberations in our contemporary world; the extremes of chaos and control that come from a split collective psyche, the loss of meaningful narratives on which to create ethical choices. And we were reminded of our part in the unfolding story, (how, in Mary Oliver's words, we might 'lift the hoof! For that you need an idea...'*) and that Pelion itself means 'Gate of the Sun'. In mythology the god of light, Apollo, is constantly shining through the wound of his disciple, Chiron, the wounded healer who inhabited this peninsula; the centaur who, with his arrows in his quiver, mediates the light that is coming into the world, (echoes again of figures like John the Baptist)... and is the oracle who speaks from his wound in order to heal.

I think all in our different ways we have heard the call of Chiron here. Now with just less than a week to go, I am filled to the brim with the richness of this co-created teaching and learning experience. It has opened a new cave of the heart that will travel with me. Gratitude for this land and people, and to be part of this wonderful group.

* ref - One Or Two Things - Mary Oliver