https://thepoetstable.com
http://www.christian-rogers.com
When the ink flows, a soul comes to life,and when he drew a picture of a bird on a stone, the heavy stone became light, and where it lay, it flew up!
Mawlana Abdur Rahman Jami of Herat. 1414-1492 CE ...
One of the greatest of all the Persian Sufi poets.
It has been my privilege to have worked for more than 35 years as a professional oral storyteller. Storytelling, in its most fundamental form, is the oldest art form in the history of humankind. From the prehistoric representations of animals and hands on cave walls, through the ancient tales told by the Zen masters and Sufi teachers, to the tales told by travellers along the silk routes, stories have played a vital role in guiding their listeners toward a balanced life. These oral folk or "wonder" tales provide us with a platform to discover the concept of life as a learning process, and this understanding empowers us to prosper. No matter what is thrown at us.
What got thrown at me, as it was to most of us, was the pandemic in 2020. I was in Morocco then, researching and writing my first book, "Tales From The Teahouse". The person who was to have illustrated it was unable to do so, and it was suggested to me that I try to do it myself instead. I had never drawn a thing since leaving school in 1979. Well, I had time on my hands. There was no storytelling, theatre, performances and workshops in sight. So, I gave it a go. I took a table to Grunewald, near Berlin, where people walked their dogs and sat at it writing small poems illustrated with birds onto bookmarks, which I sold for a few euros. The sign below my table read, "I am an artist, not a victim".
Each illustration I drew showed me the path to travel, and each one I finished told me to step forward again, to keep going.
The results of that journey are here to be seen.
