Holistic Parents Workshop #2 - The Bardic Parent

Renown firm believer in play, Joseph Chilton Pearce, was known for uttering travesties such as this, 

"What we are teaches the child far more than what we say,
so we must be what we want our children to become.” 

This type of rhetoric is dooms-talk for teachers and parents that have long since strayed from pathways of learning. I hear it all the time, 

"Oh, I'm not an artist." 

"I was never good at drawing." 

"I'm not very musical." 

"I sucked at math in school."

(ad infinitum)

If what Pearce claims is true than future generations are doomed if left in the hands of the defeated. 

Thankfully, there are small bands of menacing crooks stirring up trouble wherever apathy dares even to whisper.  Be on the lookout. We are THE BARDIC PARENTS. What we are teaches our children far more than what we write in our blogs. We know what we want. We our children to be bards as well.

And you? What do you want for your kid? A job? Ha. All Bards have jobs, but not all jobs have Bards. 

Along these lines, was the kick off for the second workshop of our Holistic Parents Certification Program. The topic of the night: THE BARDIC PARENT. 

God bless the Welsh.

See for yourself a window peak into the magic of Eisteddfod, a modern annual gathering of bardic families scattered all across the land of Wales:

Upon viewing, excitedly, our parents committed to slowly growing an Eisteddfod of our own, here in Shishi China of all places!! 

I must admit a certain thundering epiphany seemed to rumble through the room as our parents recognized how our bi-monthly MT Shows are headed towards a bardic North already. Time will tell. Dreams this big require committed community. Ember style. No flickering wicks in these winds of flat and stale uncultured modernity. 

What is a Bard?

The etymology of Bard. 

The roots of the word BARD stretch back to the age of the Proto-Indo-European (PIE). PIE is the mother of over 400 languages currently spoke around the world. It was a language spoken more than 6000 years ago at around the same time when the two main strands of eastern languages, the old Chinese and ancient tibetan-burman languages were also one, now referred to as the Proto-Sino-Tibetan language---around 4500bc, long before the era of Huangdi, the Yellow Emperor. 

Etymologically, the word Bard, derives from the PIE word for: gwredho which meant: THE ONE WHO MAKES PRAISES. 

What a beautiful idea to consider.

How to become parents/educators who make praise.   

I'm keen! And, as mentioned, I know a handful of good souls also up for this sort of blessed mayhem. In the words of Joseph Chilton Pearce,

"I want to be a bard--one who makes praises,

so that my kids may be ones who make praises."

Can I get a hoo-hoo? Hoo-hoo!

Life-giving or Life-preserving 

Before their decline in the 17^thcentury, Bards were those whom one of our favorite poets, Robert Bly, would refer to as people who are LIFE-GIVING rather than simply LIFE-PRESERVING. 

Are you life-giving or life-preserving?

In essence, this question asks each of us to consider to what extent we maintain life/culture/the planet/etc….as it was passed on to us, or are we of the small remnant of bardic people who are committed to a life that regenerates life/culture/the planet even further. 

The essential skills, abilities and wisdom of a Bard. 

1. Bards are storytellers. 
2. Bards are musicians. 

3. Bards are poets.

4. Bards are Magicians. 

5. Be the family Genealogist.

6. Bards are Lovers of Lore.

7. Bards are Arbitrators. 

8. Bards understood a deep need for Community. 

No doubt a tall order but absolutely plausible if one has the right community within whom and whom within to grow. 

One of our favorite mystic authors is Thomas Merton. Here is a quote from his book, NO MAN IS AN ISLAND,

“It is therefore of supreme importance that we consent to live not for ourselves but for others. When we do this we will be able first of all to face and accept our own limitations. As long as we secretly adore ourselves, our own deficiencies will remain to torture us with an apparent defilement. But if we live for others, we will gradually discover that no one expects us to be 'as gods'. We will see that we are human, like everyone else, that we all have weaknesses and deficiencies, and that these limitations of ours play a most important part in all our lives. It is because of them that we need others and others need us. We are not all weak in the same spots, and so we supplement and complete one another, each one making up in himself for the lack in another.”

Do you want Bardic kids? Find a community that wants it as bad or worse than you do. 

Culture can not be experienced, preserved or celebrated without community. Much less can it be regenerated. Every bard knew this. As you consider the life of the bard, know that your social circles will change. Like the old adage goes: Iron sharpens iron. So it is with becoming a bardic parent: BARDS FOSTER BARDS. Together we must bring our gifts to the offering table. 

Be off now. Like a flying arrow. 

Additional Links and Resources:

On Eisteddfod: https://eisteddfod.wales

On Bardism: https://fotm.org.uk/introduction-to-bardism/

Etymology of Bard: https://www.etymonline.com/word/bard

The Wheel of the Year:http://www.thewhitegoddess.co.uk/the_wheel_of_the_year/

Proto-Indo-European: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proto-Indo-European_language

PIE Language Tree:

http://mentalfloss.com/article/59665/feast-your-eyes-beautiful-linguistic-family-tree

Sino-Tibetan: http://stedt.berkeley.edu/about-st.html

Parable of Talents:

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+25%3A14-30&version=MSG

Essential Chinese poetry:

http://www.chinawhisper.com/top-10-most-influential-chinese-poems-in-history/