yyjStoryteller

  Somethings to think about: A story is not only what is told — it is what is remembered. The listener shapes it as much as the teller. Every family has “that one story” that gets told again and again. Pay attention to it — it is carrying a truth your people want to keep alive. Folktales endure because they give us permission to imagine beyond the ordinary. Sometimes a fairy tale is the most honest way to speak about life. Quotes from others “Stories are a communal currency of humanity.” — Tahir Shah “Those who tell the stories rule the world.” — Hopi Proverb A Question for YOU What is the one story from your childhood that still echoes in your life today?

The Japanese Baku was a mythological beast comprised of the parts of a bear, an elephant, a tiger, an ox and a rhinoceros Do you have trouble sleeping at night? Do really bad nightmares wake you up? A Japanese grandmother would say that you need a BAKU talisman by your bed. When you wake, repeat this phrase three times: “Baku-san, come eat my dream. Baku-san, come eat my dream. Baku-san, come eat my dream.” The BAKU will then enter your room and eat the bad dream. Then you will be able to drift off and awake the next morning after a peaceful sleep. Just make sure that it was really a bad dream. Should the BAKU still be hungry after eating your nightmare, it might keep munching and eat some of your good dreams and hopes too! In that case, you might end up living an empty and unfulfilled life.

  National Magazine Awards rounded up this list of grants, with opportunities from coast to coast to coast. The roundup includes grants for emerging artists and students pursuing a career in the arts, to professional artists practicing in various disciplines. Well worth a look.

Did you know that spaghetti grows on trees? It’s April Fool’s Day! Widely recognized as the best April fool’s dayjoke ever, on 1 April 1957, the BBC produced a television documentary on theSwiss spaghetti harvest. Inspired by the Egyptian legend of Osiris and Seth, Romans celebrated Hilaria at the end of March. People dressed up and joyfully mocked important people. In 1582, France switched from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar. A lot of people were slow to get the news that the start of the new year had moved to January 1 and continued to celebrate it during the last week of March, leading to a lot of laughs on and about April 1. Paper fish were fastened to the backs to symbolize how these gullible people were easily “hooked.” In the United Kingdom, during the 1700s, people were sent on phony errands searching for gowks (a word for cuckoo bird, which became the symbol of a fool. The following day became known as Tailie Day, when pranks were played on people’s derrieres, such as ...

  Get your bling on for Spring, and join the Victoria Storytellers Guild for some glittering stories! Stories at Fern starts at 7:30, virtually. Connections accepted from 7:00 pm onward Stories at Fern is the Guild's regular monthly meeting. Admission is free for members who have paid their dues. If you would like to become a member or pay your $25 annual dues, you are always welcome. If you are just dropping in to a virtual event, the suggested donation is $5, which can be made in three ways: via Paypal (paypal.me/storytellersvictoria), an e-transfer to treasurer@victoriastorytellers.org, or you can contact them to obtain a mailing address for a cheque. They use Zoom, the online conferencing system. Admission is free, and there is no need to create a Zoom account, however they ask folks to register in advance for a secure, enjoyable experience. To register now click here , or copy and paste this link into your browser: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAtdu6hqTsuGNRrE-y1...

Today, April 7, is the birthday of the innovative African American, social activist, jazz and swing music singer Eleanora Fagan (April 7 1915 – July 17, 1955.) She was known professionally as Billie Holiday. After a troubled life, Holiday died handcuffed to a hospital bed. Posthumously,   she won four Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and the National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame. At the end of her show each night, the lights would go down, all movement and chatter stopped, and Holiday would sing the piece called " Strange Fruit. " In 1999, Time magazine declared that song “song of the century.” The song was originally written by Abel Meeropol, a Jewish school teacher, poet, and activist from New York City. A photograph of a lynching in Indiana some years earlier had deeply disturbed Meeropol, inspiring him to write “Strange Fruit,” and the song eventually made its way to the Greenwich Village nightclub where Holiday sang. The lyrics of "Stra...