Our Organon (Toolbox)
Let us introduce our Organon, meaning Toolbox. You might be interested in which approaches & methods we are applying in our work. Here is our toolbox given in alphabetical order:
The Art of Archetypes
At critical moments of our history, an unceasing weaving of bead-work-like collection of stories appear, like out-of-nowhere, telling us of gods and heroes, of wonders and dreads, of great threats and dramatic changes. Coming from the deep essential and archetypal fountain of our humanity’s psyche-the same place where our empirical experience of universal laws of the Universe originated-they explain to us the blue print of life using story-telling through allegories, myths and legends.
These archetypal stories were like light-houses in the dark and war-troubled night of human history and the immense cortege of suffering and pain each transformation brought, from the stone age, the bronze age, the iron age to the classical period and are still invaluable up to today. Of course, they are not to be taken literally but they share a recognizable quality of truth, teaching us how to remain human and compassionate in the middle of bewildering changes, in their role of a much-needed life-compass.
Along these archetypal stories, we also use archetypal symbols, such as the Tarot. It was put together as early as Alexandria B. C. by some philosophers-doctors that are at the origin of the hermetic society called ‘Brethren of the East’, who produced a set of 300 therapeutic templates of human behavior that were at the renaissance reduced to 50 and then to the 22 arcana we know now of. Introduced in Italy by Gemistus Plethon, the golden proto-tarot was then spread in diverse appellations, the ‘Visconti’, the ‘Mantegna’, the ‘Sola Busca’, all serving their own purpose, etc.…Until they were codified in Marseille by some master card-makers who enshrined in the ‘Tarot de Marseille’, the art of mind-body and soul transformation method that, at Via-HYGEIA’s Scola Hermetica we call ‘Hermetism’, an ‘operative’ set of tools for self-discovery and beyond: Community development.
At Hygeia, we celebrate the mythological stories and the tarot, as they are a precious legacy from the cultural heritage of Greek and Roman classical times, helping us to better understand our own uncertain times. They keep inspiring us with precious insights, fostering hope in humanity when all seems lost, motivating us, together, to overcome the challenges we are now facing, in a dignified and ethical way.
More about archetypes:
Why joining an archetype training?
Coaching
“A Medicine Woman’s Prayer” (by Sheree Bliss Tilsley) explains best our core belief into the resources of each individual being:
I will not rescue you, for you are not powerless.
I will not fix you, for you are not broken.
I will not heal you, for I see you in your wholeness.
I will walk with you through the darkness, as you remember your light.
We are here to support you to re-connect to those resources in order to experience your blueprint.
Creative Drama
The first thing to share here is that Creative Drama is NOT equal with theatre. Therefore it doesn’t need a theatre or stage. It can be done everywhere. Creative drama is an interdisciplinary, improvisational, non-exhibitional (means no audience), process-oriented (!) form of drama, where participants are guided by a facilitator to imagine, enact, and reflect on experiences real and imagined.
Creative drama workshops are built-up in a systematic say. They consist of stages such as Preparation, Improvisation and Assessment. It is important that all the stages serve the purpose of the workshop and have the feature of forming a whole.
Creative drama has features that can support a holistic learning where simultaneously body, soul and mind are included. Here, learning is made experiential.
Nutrition
Our food has dramatically transformed over the last 100 years. A ‘variation’ of increasingly ultra-processed foods is provided to us which makes us think that we have many choices in terms of products and tastes. The fact is, that additives, GMO’s etc. create the bases for chronical illnesses.
The purpose of our work is to make people question their relationship with food and how it effects their well-being and to provide a guide encouraging them to eat clean. Our content is mainly based on the Functional Medicine approach.
Besides all of this our eating habits are showing us our connection with life, the bigger picture. We understand how our circadian system is out-of-alignement with nature, how our body talks to us, how we build relationships, what is given to us as a heritage in our ancestral line and much more. Doing this, it becomes the manifestation of the inner in the outer world.
Philosophy
At Hygeia, we live ancient philosophy as a powerful ethical way of life. We use its empirical methods to learn from the world we live in in order to gain knowledge and grow understanding through repeated experience and trials but we do not crystalize information, as we are open to change and how it teaches us to evolve further. In this we are ‘eclectic’, as we do not see ourselves following only one school of life, but rather be engaged in dialog with many.
We see ourselves as ‘bees’ pollinating the surrounding nature, so to make our ‘honey’, which would be our living synthesis, the fruit of our work. We are lovers of truth(s), peace and harmony but we are not afraid to name the problems we are confronted with, so to find workable solutions at personal and community level. We are convinced that we need to step out of the comfort of ‘self-development’ and prepare, nurture and maintain the conditions for a striving and enjoyable community development.