facilitators of Family Constellations have also contributed to our knowledge of this still-evolving practice. If there is one thing we have learned from observing the constellation practices of other facilitators, it is that the constellation method is a healing art of the highest degree. Each facilitator creates his or her unique healing style when administering this particular medicine for the Soul.
We are no different. Our Constellation Approach will help you find peace through your family lineage by emphasizing three distinct elements: an awareness of subtle energy, understanding larger energetic fields of influence on familial and lineage dynamics, and a focus on Soul Consciousness. Only when we move with Soul Consciousness, can we move towards deep peace.
What is a Constellation?
A Constellation is the placement of people or place-markers that depicts a relationship and/or situation in one’s life. It can reflect inner feelings and images which are unknowingly carried, bringing new and different perspectives to light.
Imagine your family—extending through several generations—as a constellation. Each family member, alive and deceased, known and unknown, is a star of sorts. The relationships among those various stars create their own unique patterns and dynamics. You are who you are, in part, as a result of those dynamics. A Constellation within the Constellation Approach methodology draws from this analogy but also makes it concrete. We have described Constellations in detail throughout Chapters 3 and 4. We also have identified ten key kinds of Constellations that allow you to take this journey layer by layer. There is, for instance, a Mother’s Lineage Constellation and a Father’s Lineage Constellation. There is an Illness Constellation, and a War and Conflict Constellation. Part II and III of this book will guide you through each of these ten key Constellations:
It’s important to remember that healing is not theoretical. It is experiential. Your first-hand experience of a Constellation is instrumental for your healing and movement towards peace. One method, which this book guides you through, involves the use of figurines to represent various family members. In the pages ahead you will find direct instructions and exercises to facilitate your own Constellation experience.
A second way you can experience a Constellation is through our Constellation Approach seminars and our Immersion Program, which are outlined in the appendix. We have organized this program into ten modules in accordance with the ten key Constellations. During these live program events, a participant may be a Client who is actively working on an issue related to family. Through a carefully facilitated process, participants also become a part of the Constellations of other participants. A Constellation can be comprised of two to ten or more individuals, depending upon the nature of the Client’s issue.
How to Use this Book
The book is divided into five parts. Part I orients you to the central tenets and concepts of the Family Constellation and Energy Field models that we use in the Constellation Approach. Because this process is nuanced and its effects emerge in a non-material sphere of energy fields and Soul Consciousness, it will help to have language for these new experiences. Part I will help you navigate this powerful process.
Parts II and III provide more direct experiences of each of the ten key Constellations. This section is divided into the ten Universal Themes that affect families regardless of social standing, ethnicity, or culture. At the end of these chapters you’ll find sections labeled “Words of Empowerment” and “Reflections.” These pages are designed to help you explore your personal relationship with these themes. They also offer you the opportunity to create a record of your family lineage and the facets that have had the most impact on your life. If you enter our Constellation Approach Immersion Program, these chapters will become essential guides to your experience. At the end of several chapters in Parts I, II, and III, you’ll also find a section called “A Constellation Journeyer.” These stories will help you recognize parts of your own journey in our experiences and those numerous people with whom we have worked.
Part IV invites you to extend your experience of Constellations into the realm of our shared Soul nature. This section reinforces the concepts that we are spiritual beings incarnated into human form with the distinct purpose of contributing to the evolution of the personal, familial, and the larger consciousness of humanity. We offer a variety of ways to practice Soul-level awareness by enhancing self-perception, your role within your family, and your current life within the world.
Part V offers the opportunity to practice and apply the Constellation Approach to your own family lineage. Here, the “Constellation Experiences” will guide you through detailed steps to set up your own Constellations for each of the Universal Themes presented in Parts II and III.
This book, the Constellation Approach seminars and Immersion Program are a direct result and reflection of our own journey of transformation. We offer this book as a tool to empower you, your loved ones, your friends—all of us—on our collective path towards peace.
We thank you for joining us as peacemakers and peacekeepers. May you journey to inner peace and may our efforts together heal, and lift the consciousness of humankind everywhere on the planet. Together.
—Jamy & Peter
Recognizing the sacred begins, quite simply, when we are interested in every detail of our lives.
—Chögyam Trungpa, Tibetan Buddhist meditation master
Chapter 1
Remembering