“In many indigenous societies, if you came to a medicine person complaining of being disheartened, dispirited or depressed, they would ask one of four questions. When did you stop dancing? When did you stop singing? When did you stop being enchanted by stories? When did you stop finding comfort in the sweet territory of silence? Where we have stopped dancing, singing, being enchanted by stories, or finding comfort in silence is where we have experienced the loss of soul. Dancing, singing, storytelling, and silence are the four universal healing salves.” (Angeles Arrien, The Four-Fold Way)
WELCOME
Welcome to my Wisdom Story resource page. The stories compiled here are from all over the globe from different cultures, spiritualities and religions. The few stories I have created are inspired by contemporary and ancient mythologies. I believe that wisdom stories provide for us moments of pause, giving us our bearings amidst the ever-changing life terrains, especially liminal experiences of crossing life's thresholds. When moments of crisis disorient us, archetypal language in mythology provides a wide and deeper lens to view our human life. Feel free to read my blog which reflects on how wisdom stories can help deconstruct and metabolize our painful experiences.
While I initially created this resource for my work as a hospital chaplain (I lead spiritual care support groups in Behavioral Health), I offer this to anyone who finds it useful including educators, spiritual care providers/chaplains, mental health workers, bereavement coordinators, grief support counselors, church clergy, community organizers, spiritual guides, spiritual directors, retreat facilitators, storytellers, artists and musicians. It can also be handy for any spiritual seeker - anyone who is seeking meaning/purpose, or a perspective on what they are going through. Each story includes reflection prompts, worksheets, slides, art projects, and other resources (potential visual background, music & song) to help deepen one's reflections on the spiritual theme.
Most spiritual care curricula rely heavily on cognitive verbal reflection. However, this curriculum is designed to go beyond the default reliance on cognitive verbal reflection. It embraces a holistic multi-modal approach, integrating community singing (music), story-telling (wisdom stories), journaling, art, body movement, and breath/silence. This multi-modal framework allows participants to process and engage with their spirituality in a manner accommodating to a neurodiverse and multi-spiritual/religious context.
THEOPOETICS
To align with professional chaplaincy's commitment to patient autonomy via "culturally sensitive" and "person-centered" spiritual care, this curriculum embraces theopoetics. This framework offers a non-dogmatic path for engaging with spirituality (or theology), grounded in the notion that spiritual reflection is inherently experiential and expressed through imagination, particularly through the arts - including poetry, stories, visual art, and music. It also fits with the curriculum's utilization of wisdom stories, mythology and archetypes because theopoetics finds a home with metaphors that have multiple possible meanings. In this framework, spirituality - namely, the innate human drive to feel connected with meaning and purpose or to something larger than oneself - is understood as a present-moment, relational, physical experience, not narrowly limited to intellectual belief. Open to creativity and imagination, it refuses to limit spiritual reflection, often operating with a "yes and..." logic rather than dogmatic "I believe..." statements. Theopoetics affirms a broad spectrum of ways of knowing—verbal, analytical, musical, kinesthetic, empathic, bodily, introspective, imaginative, and contemplative—without elevating verbal knowledge above all others. Inherently interfaith, it embraces religious pluralism and diverse spiritualities, welcoming varied ways of conceptualizing the Sacred, both theistic and non-theistic or somewhere in between. Ultimately, theopoetics is an inclusive and expansive endeavor that democratizes spiritual reflection and engagement. It is not restricted to trained academics, philosophers, theologians, pastors or clergy; anyone is welcome to participate.
STORY TELLING VIA GODLY PLAY®
Influenced by the Montessori-based approach to learning, Jerome Berryman (the founder of the Godly Play® storytelling modality) valued the participants' capacity to articulate their inner wisdom and insight into the story. As opposed to pouring in knowledge (the "banking concept of education" per Paulo Freire), the pedagogical approach in Godly Play® is to draw out the inner wisdom and insight that is already in each participant. The Godly Play® storyteller's role is to support the participant's work of articulating insights and making connections – specifically, to notice how one's inner life mirrors the story – a process aided by the tangible materials and representations within the story box. In short, Godly Play® values each participant's autonomy to interpet and self-reflect on the meaning of the spiritual theme or archetype as it relates with their journey towards healing.
In the world of counseling and psychotherapy, therapists use parallel therapeutic tools, such as . . .
Welcome to my Wisdom Story resource page. The stories compiled here are from all over the globe from different cultures, spiritualities and religions. The few stories I have created are inspired by contemporary and ancient mythologies. I believe that wisdom stories provide for us moments of pause, giving us our bearings amidst the ever-changing life terrains, especially liminal experiences of crossing life's thresholds. When moments of crisis disorient us, archetypal language in mythology provides a wide and deeper lens to view our human life. Feel free to read my blog which reflects on how wisdom stories can help deconstruct and metabolize our painful experiences.
While I initially created this resource for my work as a hospital chaplain (I lead spiritual care support groups in Behavioral Health), I offer this to anyone who finds it useful including educators, spiritual care providers/chaplains, mental health workers, bereavement coordinators, grief support counselors, church clergy, community organizers, spiritual guides, spiritual directors, retreat facilitators, storytellers, artists and musicians. It can also be handy for any spiritual seeker - anyone who is seeking meaning/purpose, or a perspective on what they are going through. Each story includes reflection prompts, worksheets, slides, art projects, and other resources (potential visual background, music & song) to help deepen one's reflections on the spiritual theme.
Most spiritual care curricula rely heavily on cognitive verbal reflection. However, this curriculum is designed to go beyond the default reliance on cognitive verbal reflection. It embraces a holistic multi-modal approach, integrating community singing (music), story-telling (wisdom stories), journaling, art, body movement, and breath/silence. This multi-modal framework allows participants to process and engage with their spirituality in a manner accommodating to a neurodiverse and multi-spiritual/religious context.
THEOPOETICS
To align with professional chaplaincy's commitment to patient autonomy via "culturally sensitive" and "person-centered" spiritual care, this curriculum embraces theopoetics. This framework offers a non-dogmatic path for engaging with spirituality (or theology), grounded in the notion that spiritual reflection is inherently experiential and expressed through imagination, particularly through the arts - including poetry, stories, visual art, and music. It also fits with the curriculum's utilization of wisdom stories, mythology and archetypes because theopoetics finds a home with metaphors that have multiple possible meanings. In this framework, spirituality - namely, the innate human drive to feel connected with meaning and purpose or to something larger than oneself - is understood as a present-moment, relational, physical experience, not narrowly limited to intellectual belief. Open to creativity and imagination, it refuses to limit spiritual reflection, often operating with a "yes and..." logic rather than dogmatic "I believe..." statements. Theopoetics affirms a broad spectrum of ways of knowing—verbal, analytical, musical, kinesthetic, empathic, bodily, introspective, imaginative, and contemplative—without elevating verbal knowledge above all others. Inherently interfaith, it embraces religious pluralism and diverse spiritualities, welcoming varied ways of conceptualizing the Sacred, both theistic and non-theistic or somewhere in between. Ultimately, theopoetics is an inclusive and expansive endeavor that democratizes spiritual reflection and engagement. It is not restricted to trained academics, philosophers, theologians, pastors or clergy; anyone is welcome to participate.
STORY TELLING VIA GODLY PLAY®
Influenced by the Montessori-based approach to learning, Jerome Berryman (the founder of the Godly Play® storytelling modality) valued the participants' capacity to articulate their inner wisdom and insight into the story. As opposed to pouring in knowledge (the "banking concept of education" per Paulo Freire), the pedagogical approach in Godly Play® is to draw out the inner wisdom and insight that is already in each participant. The Godly Play® storyteller's role is to support the participant's work of articulating insights and making connections – specifically, to notice how one's inner life mirrors the story – a process aided by the tangible materials and representations within the story box. In short, Godly Play® values each participant's autonomy to interpet and self-reflect on the meaning of the spiritual theme or archetype as it relates with their journey towards healing.
In the world of counseling and psychotherapy, therapists use parallel therapeutic tools, such as . . .
- bibliotherapy
- poetry therapy
- story therapy
- narrative therapy
- Joseph Campbell on mythology: 1. Monomyth, 2. mythology in psychotherapy, 3. Joseph Campbell in modern psychology
QUESTIONS?
If part of your vocation is facilitating support groups, I encourage you to visit the Godly Play® website to understand its pedagogical approach (its values and principles) and learn about opportunities for training. If you have any questions about the Wisdom Story Curriculum, or want to learn more about holistic/multi-modal facilitation, do not hesitate to reach out to me through my contact at the bottom of this page. If you are using the resource materials compiled here in your work/ministry context, I would like to hear from you. Email me and let me know about your work.
If part of your vocation is facilitating support groups, I encourage you to visit the Godly Play® website to understand its pedagogical approach (its values and principles) and learn about opportunities for training. If you have any questions about the Wisdom Story Curriculum, or want to learn more about holistic/multi-modal facilitation, do not hesitate to reach out to me through my contact at the bottom of this page. If you are using the resource materials compiled here in your work/ministry context, I would like to hear from you. Email me and let me know about your work.
