A story is like water

That you heat for your bath.

It takes messages between the fire and your skin.

It lets them meet, and it cleans you!

Very few can sit down

in the middle of the fire itself 

like a salamander or Abraham.

We need intermediaries.

                                                                                                       Rumi

Telling stories is inherent to human nature. It is found in every culture and era of history. People were telling stories long before they could write. They have been passed down through generations by word of mouth, even after the invention of writing.

Perhaps one of the most well-known collections of stories is the “One Thousand and One Arabian Nights”; tales from across the middle east.  The frame story is that of the ruler Shahryar who, learning of his wife’s infidelity, has her killed.  Afterwards, he marries a succession of young women, killing each of them the morning following the wedding night so she cannot dishonour him.  Eventually, the vizier’s daughter, Scheherazade, volunteers to become Shahryar’s next wife and saves her life by telling her husband a story each night which she leaves incomplete.  His desire to hear the ending is so strong, that he keeps his wife alive to hear it the following night.  And so it continues night after night until her husband decides to spare her life.  Such is the power of story. 

Stories can promote compassion, understanding and cooperation. They can promote and explain cultural traditions and values. But they can also entertain, enhance and encourage our active imagination. lifting us from our daily lives.

Storytelling is widely used in the world of business. There are many training courses that teach people how to incorporate stories into their presentations. People remember information presented through story so much more easily than lists of facts and figures. A story can also eloquently promote understanding of a point being made. 

The storyteller's role is to create vivid multi-sensory images, actions and characters, which will arrive in the mind of the listener, who then becomes a co-creator of the story as experienced. This two-way interaction between storyteller and listener, with no barrier of book or text, is the essence of storytelling.

Some Types of Story

Teaching Tales/Folk Tales

“Once upon a time...”.  When we hear these words, we know we are going to be transported from current time to another time.  Folk tales are stories passed down through a culture’s oral tradition. There is usually some kind of dilemma or test for the characters in the tale such as telling the truth, or not. Here the boy reveals the emperor’s nakedness.  Here the rabbit finds a diplomatic way to avoid answering the king of the beasts’ difficult question, for the wrong answer will cost him his life.  Here a downtrodden character is helped by an animal or non-human being. 

Through folk tales, we see the fight for justice, the weak becoming heroic, a character overcoming any manner of challenges. Folk tales teach us that life is challenging, that acting appropriately is rewarded and that power when misused, can be reversed.

Jesus told teaching tales to his followers and we usually refer to them as parables.  Parables tend to be short and simple.  Through the telling of these stories, Jesus sought to pass on moral or spiritual lessons.  Some of the best known are “The Prodigal Son” (Luke 15, 11 – 32), “The Talents” (Matthew 25, 14 – 30) and “The Good Samaritan.” (Luke 10, 30 – 37).

Wonder Tales

Here we meet stories of transformation and initiation.  There may be happenings that can’t be explained.  Animals may speak and offer wise advice.   The hero accepts that he must die and because of this, is saved by events at the last minute. The boy becomes man.  One of the most well-known wonder stories is “Cinderella”.  Our heroine is helped by a fairy godmother and her magic to elevate her status, a reward for her uncomplaining acceptance of her earlier destiny. 

Myths

Many cultures have their own mythology.  Myths endeavour to explain the cosmos, creation and natural phenomena.  They also pass on the religious and spiritual traditions of their people at the time they were written.  In Norse mythology for example, we hear how the universe was created through the meeting of fire and ice.  We are introduced to the pantheon of gods who were worshipped in those northernmost parts of Europe during the Middle Ages.  These are gods who personify the best and worst of character traits, demonstrating their fallibility, despite their status.

Personal Stories 

Everyone has their personal stories to tell and there are clubs in this country set up specifically for this.  Telling a personal story to others can be cathartic. It can also be instructive. Hearing how a person dealt with a challenge can resonate deeply within us and be therapeutic.  It can also show us that many human challenges are universal and it is through hearing others’ stories that we can appreciate this and perhaps receive healing.  This shared connection can foster an essential sense of empathy and understanding.

Indeed, stories can be a therapeutic way to address difficult topics in a gentle and effective manner; a powerful tool for healing in both children and adults.  This is how story becomes medicine.

The Storytelling Event

The stories we have chosen to tell on Thursday January 16th are from many countries and sources.  Alongside other themes, they highlight the emotion of LOVE in its many guises. The redemptive power of love is a common theme throughout what we call Fairy Stories. Think of the Sleeping Beauty, brought back from her enchanted sleep by a kiss; the Frog Prince waiting for someone to love him enough to share a bed with him, to break the curse.  But sometimes love is not enough to break the spell or curse and, at other times the lure of money can overshadow love.

There will also be some musical accompaniment.

The performance is suitable for all adults and young people aged 14+.

About Us

Catherine Chadwick is a therapist with a local practice. She specialises in helping people with fear of public speaking and social anxiety.  Catherine became interested in storytelling during her time as a member of the public speaking organisation, Toastmasters and joined Surrey Storytellers in 2016.  She has also received some training at the School of Storytelling.  She has performed in libraries, at dance shows, storytelling clubs - both in person and online - and raised money for charity through curating a storytelling and music event.  She has a particular interest in Norse mythology. 

Gill Larley studied Theology at Bristol University, and after graduating started to tell stories to young children in schools. After gaining experience from storytelling courses at Emerson College, she is now passionate about telling stories to adults, and has performed in abbeys, castles and beaches in Scotland, as well as other venues in the UK.  Gill has also worked as programme planner and concert reader for The Gallery Players and has performed Vaughan Williams’ ‘Oxford Elegy’, Britten’s ‘The Company of Heaven’, and the poetry of Thomas Hardy in ‘On a Fine Morning’.

Patrick Larley is a freelance composer, conductor, tenor and keyboard player. He has performed with choral societies and orchestras throughout the UK, and given recitals in many of the country’s cathedrals and churches.

Patrick’s compositions encompass a variety of styles including choral, orchestral, instrumental, theatre and advertising. His music owes a debt to a number of influences which can be discerned in his work, especially Gregorian Chant, flowing Celtic melody and even Jazz. Recent concerts have included A Shropshire Lass, Patrick’s settings of commissioned poems by Shropshire/Welsh poets, and his cantata, The Gentle Earth of Wales, based on Welsh folksongs and poetry.

Stories from the New Testament

Visitors from the East

In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, ‘Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.’ When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. They told him, ‘In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet:
“And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
   are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for from you shall come a ruler
   who is to shepherd my people Israel.” ’

Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, ‘Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.’ When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure-chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road. (Matthew 2:1–12)

One of Jesus’ parables

Again he began to teach beside the lake. Such a very large crowd gathered around him that he got into a boat on the lake and sat there, while the whole crowd was beside the lake on the land. He began to teach them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them: ‘Listen! A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and it sprang up quickly, since it had no depth of soil. And when the sun rose, it was scorched; and since it had no root, it withered away. Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. Other seed fell into good soil and brought forth grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.’ And he said, ‘Let anyone with ears to hear listen!’ 

All Scriptural quotations are taken from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible (Anglicized Version), copyright 1989, 1995 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.