Cosmic Walk Event
WHAT: Cosmic Walk/Playback Theater Event
WHEN: March 19, 2016
TIME: 7-8PM
The Cosmic Walk is a ritual created by Sr. Miriam MacGillis of Genesis Farm. It has subsequently been modified and facilitated by many people around the world. The Cosmic Walk is a way of bringing our knowledge of the 14-billion-year Universe process from our heads to our hearts. It is a simple ritual that can be performed in a large room or outdoors. A spiral representing the entire almost 14 billion years of the cosmic and evolutionary journey is laid out on the floor or ground. At Genesis Farm this spiral is painted on the floor of the library, but one can also lay out a rope in the spiral form. The spiral should be at least 100 feet long, 137 feet is better (so that 10 feet is equal to one billion years), with each instance of emergence in time marked at a proportionate distance along the length of the spiral. Each such station is marked by an unlit votive candle and, optionally, by a card describing the emergence.
The first station, located at the very center of the spiral, represents the Flaring Forth of the Universe itself. This primary emergence is represented by a lit candle by itself or sometimes within a large, faceted glass bowl. One person, the walker, lights a candle from the primary candle and walks the spiral, starting with the Flaring Forth and lighting each candle in turn. The walk is synchronized with the reading of the text below by a second person, the reader. The ritual is accompanied by music, traditionally “The Fairy Ring” by Mike Rowland.
This ritual works for any size of group, the limitation being the audience’s ability to see the candles well. For fewer than about 15 people, it is feasible to have each person walk the spiral, in turn, reading the cards to itself in silence. Since the Cosmic Walk was born, many variations in text, process, and music have emerged.
Some of these versions are below. Feel free to create your own.
Larry Edwards, Desert Edge, CA
Diarmuid O’Murchu, Ireland & England
Claudia McNeil and Paulita Bernuy at the Still Point Retreat Center in Seattle, WA
Presentation by Sister Miriam Therese MacGillis at a workshop held at Loyola in July, 1998
Ruth Rosenhek with an introduction by Mary Coelho
A brief description of a physical Cosmic Walk created by the Sisters of St. Joseph
Marie-Andre Michaud of Quebec, Canada (in French)
SEE MORE:
Playback Theatre — Ongoing Activities at the Ark:
www.thecommonsviroqua.org/playback-theater/
About Playback Theater:
WEBSITE: www.playbacktheatre.org
Interactive and spontaneous, playback theatre bases its material on the stories of the community. In theatres, workshops, and a wide range of educational and organizational settings, Playback Theatre draws people together and allows fresh perspectives.
Performances are carried out by a team of actors, emcee (called the conductor), and musician. As the show begins, audience members respond to questions from the conductor, then watch as actors and musician create brief theatre pieces on the spot. Later, volunteers from the audience come to the stage to tell longer stories, choosing actors to play the main roles. Although performances often focus on a theme of interest or concern, the performers follow no narrative agenda, but bring their dramatic skills and their humanity to embodying on the stage the concerns and experiences of audience members..
Playback theatre is practiced in over 50 countries.