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• Celebrating the Saint of Ireland - St. Patrick
• Celtic Cats - Magical Mystery Purr!
• Celtic Love, nothing short of Epic!
• An Interview with a Faerie in the 21st Century
• Five Miracles of Storytelling
• Halloween, the Celtic American Holiday!
• Irish Standard Time
• Kerns + Galloglass. Scariest Team on Earth!
• One old Biddy you don't mess with
• The Problem with Fairies.... NEW!
• Saint Preserve Us
• Shaggy Dog Stories - a Celts best friend!
• St. Patrick's Day: A story of celebration and survival
• Storytelling for Kids
• A Tough Act To Follow - Mystic, Legend, Saint,… Patrick.
• Tying the Knot, Celtic Style

Five Miracles of Storytelling

By: True Thomas

The First Miracle: There is something special about a storyteller.

Granted, any one can tell a story, but there are people who are born to find, keep, create, and tell stories. They come from all walks of life, and come to their gifts through a variety of ways. They are the little kids who put a big blob of black paint on the paper and tell their kindergarten teacher "....it's a cave....full of bat's!" They might be truck drivers, or presidents. Storyteller's are the canaries in the coal mine of the human experience, sensitive, perceptive, and crucial. We are unique, crazy, needed, and that's a miracle.

The Second Miracle: Stories come to us.

On the side of cereal boxes, in car pool lanes, from old books, and little kids. Stories will come to us from ancient days and the grout in the shower. They grab us by the ears, and crawl into our hearts and heads and demand to be told. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but tell them you will. If you put a stethoscope to a storytellers head, you will hear the whispers...."tell me", "no, tell me!". We find stories in so many places, and they become a part of us, and sometimes go out, and come back to us in new and incredible ways. And that's a miracle.

The Third Miracle: You never know how a story will affect the universe.

That person sleeping in the back of the audience, the little kids who just won't settle down, will come up after the story and tell you that it meant something to them. Years can go by, and someone will tell you- my daughter, my grandfather, loved that story you told, and it changed them. Made them sing the silly refrain, look for monsters under the bed, or rediscover parts of their heritage. Stories go out and change the world, and you with them. And that's a miracle.

The Fourth Miracle: Stories have a life and power of their own.

They are continually changing, shifting, moving. Stories can build a nation, or destroy a people. When stories die, untold, unrecorded, a little of what we are as the human race dies with them. To attempt hold a story, to own a story is to deny the power of the gift we are given. Cinderella was born around the world, Jack has seven league boots to cross any boundary. The right story in the right time and place can change the world, and the world can and will take that story, change that story, and hand it right back. Believe in the power and life of stories. And that's a miracle.

The Fifth Miracle: The universe conspires to have stories told. "a.k.a. Storyteller Synchronicity."

Your car will break down on the way to a garlic festival, and a garlic farmer will give you a ride to the event, just full of interesting stories. You'll mention a cat in a story, and one will walk behind you on that stage, just as you mention one. You'll tell a story with the wind coming roaring up, and nature complies. I've seen it, you've seen it. It raises the hairs on the back of your neck. You'll be desperate for a story, and a friend will hand you just the right book, that they found at a library sale, on the off chance you might not have it. People on planes, in the doctors office, are there to hear and more importantly give you stories. Little children and garage sales, bring you stories. People out of the blue contact you and ask.....can you tell stories about _________? And miracle of miracles, you can. The universe conspires to help you find and carry these stories to their next destination. Believe, and you'll see some amazing things. Ask any storyteller, and they'll tell you their 5th Miracle story.

And that's a miracle.

Believe in the Power of Stories...