The Memory of Places

The Author Kristine Alex (née Erb), Dipl. oec. troph., was born in 1963. She has a son and lives with her family nearby Lake Chiemsee in the Chiemgau region of Bavaria, Germany, where she also works in her own institute and seminar house. She also has a practice in Munich. In 1988, Kristine graduated in Nutrition Studies and Ecotrophology from the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelm University in Bonn with a specialization in World Food Economics and Consulting and Communication. Before she discovered constellation work, she worked professionally on various international projects in Europe, Africa, and the Caribbean. This included leading international nutrition studies in Haiti, Mauritania, and Zaire and setting up an international epidemiological cancer study in Europe. She also held a responsible position at the International Red Cross for one year in the crisis area of Rwanda (refugee operation in Tanzania, Burundi, Uganda, Congo). She first encountered constellation work in 1993, and since then she hasn’t looked back. In 1998 she founded »Systeme in Aktion« (Systems in Action), a systemic constellation and training institute, and opened her practice in Munich. At that time, constellation work in a professional context was still very new and unknown. In 2001, she published her book The Orders of Success. An Introduction to Organizational Systemic Constellations (German Title: Die Ordnungen des Erfolgs. Einführung in die Organisations Constellation), which was one of the first on the subject and is still being used today as a foundation textbook. Her third book, The Memories in My Body (German Title: Mein Körper erinnert sich) was published in 2011. In addition, she works with a wide variety of areas, including supporting the clarification process for family issues, and working with children and adolescents. One area of expertise is working through the psychological background of bodily symptoms in everyday life and at work. During the last years she concentrated on the Zeitgeist and begleiten Menschen to adapteto the changing world and new ener. fields. Through many years of working with energetic fields, she has sharpened her view for a wide range of perception levels, including those already known from classical family constellations, and incorporates them into the solution processes. Her work is mindful and profoundly comprehensive, characterized by a clear and open-hearted approach. In recent years, she has been particularly fascinated by the work of accompanying people in their search for an energetic clarification of their home and a suitable business location. Privately and professionally, she has found and established her home and her workplace. Other Publications by the Author Constellation Methods Erb, Kristine: Die Ordnungen des Erfolgs. Einführung in die Organisationsaufstellung im Verlagshaus Alex 2020 + Ebook In english: The Orders of Success. Introduction to Organizational Constellations (translation in preparation) Health Alex, Kristine: Mein Körper erinnert sich. Symptomaufstellung lassen Gefühle sprechen, Gstadt: Verlagshaus Alex 2017 + Ebook In english: The Memories of Places. Giving Emotions a Voice Using Symptom Constellations

Table of Contents

Introduction .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
The Systemic Constellation Methodology.. . . . . 15
The Constellation Process.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Clarifying the Issue.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
The Constellation Process. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
The Role of the Representative.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Constellations and Their Effects.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
The Phenomenological Approach.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
The Ideal Spatial Setting for a Constellation.. . . . . 21
A Wide Range of Diverse Layers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Places, Spaces, Buildings.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Finding the Right Place.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Why Don’t I feel at Home Anywhere? .. . . . . . . . . . 30
I’m Torn Between Two Homes.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
My Roots.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Where Is My Right Place Professionally?.. . . . . . . . . 38
I Want to Finally Reclaim My Place.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40


Privately and Professionally?.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
How Does My Ancestors’ Wartime Escape Affect
Me and My Profession as a Real Estate Agent?.. . 42
Considerations for Buying, Selling, and Renting
Property and Land.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Buying A Property.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Ownership Conditions and Their Influence
on a Property.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Why Can’t I Find an Apartment?.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Selling a House.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
My Mother’s Beloved House .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
What’s Next for Me After I Sell the House?.. . . . . . 50
Sell My Property – Yes or No?.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
The Final Step to Selling A Property.. . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
What Does My Heart Want? .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
House Sale Due to a Divorce .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Rental .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
My Inherited Apartment Building Is Difficult
to Rent Out .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
I Can’t Find a Tenant for My Apartment.. . . . . . . . . . . 56
Why Can’t I Rent Out My Practice Space?.. . . . . . . . . 57

Construction and Renovation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Marital Dispute During the Construction Phase.. . 60
Genius Loci – The Spirit of a Place.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
This »Cursed« Land.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
How Do I Build?.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
My Newly Renovated Old House.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
The Construction Plan.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
The Architect’s Design Resembles a Prison.. . . . . . 67
Why Do My Debts Feel Like such a Heavy Load?. 68
Living a Healthy, Happy, and Content Life at
Home and at Work .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
At Home .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
What Does Living in a Semi-Detached House
Remind Me of?.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
I Want to Establish Order and Feel at Home.. . . . . 71
Why Do I Feel So Lifeless and Worn Out in
My House?.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
I Don’t Feel at Home.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
What Does This Painting Mean to Me?.. . . . . . . . . . 75
What Does the Chaos in My Home Office Have
to Do with a Past Love Story?.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
The Ongoing Disputes with the Landlords.. . . . . . . 79
Why Is My Neighbor Behaving so Strangely?.. . . . 80

At Work .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
I Want to Attract More Clients to My Practice.. . . . 82
What’s Wrong with My Restaurant?.. . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Why Doesn’t the Restaurant Succeed Despite Its
Good Location?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
What Is Getting in the Way of Success?.. . . . . . . . . . 87
What is the Source of all the Agitation in the
Seminar Room?.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
What is Disrupting the Clarity in the
Course Room?.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
Physical Symptoms Associated with Places
and Buildings.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
All The Staff Is Experiencing The Same
Physical Symptoms.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
What Does the Site Have to Do with My Heart?.. 93
An Unusual Rate of Illness At The Kindergarten.. 95
The Inheritance.............................................. 97
Buying an Apartment with the
Inheritance Money.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Is My Inherited Small Property Cursed?.. . . . . . . . . . 99
Inheritance – Why Are There So Many Difficulties
Selling This House?.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Special Places.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
What Do Power Places Give Us?.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

The Special Place.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
The Power of a Place.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Sacrificial Places – The Call Of Ancient
Knowledge. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
The Birthplace.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
The Past Events of a Place.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Nature.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
What Does My Tree Want?.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
The Walnut Tree. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Living Abroad.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
How Do I Do Well Abroad?.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
Africa .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Mechanisms Of Transformation.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Epilogue .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
Acknowledgements.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
The Author. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Other Publications by the Author.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138

Introduction Places, buildings, and spaces hold a wide range of different energy fields, and a growing number of people all over the world have become attuned to this dimension. Many find themselves asking: Why do I feel so different in this place? Am I feeling restless because of the energy of this new house? What effect does this site’s past events have on me? I have been working with place-related issues in my constellation work since 1997 and in the process have discovered several new systemic layers and dimensions. Time and again, the work has shown that incidents and events of past centuries that transpired in old structures and sites play a significant role in the constellation field; that there is a sort of »native soul« or spirit that belongs to a family and moves around with it. Or that spaces tend to complain when their occupants don’t acknowledge or accept the energy they have to offer. In my work, I have experienced on numerous occasions that people resonate with the places they live in and the past conflicts attached to them. This includes wars, accidents, and natural disasters, but also murder and abuse of power. Much of it is relived on the unconscious plane, giving rise to new conflicts and, for some residents, even illnesses. It’s often unclear at first why a person feels or behaves in a certain way. The reasons remain unknown and cannot be resolved using classic systemic constellation methods, such as family or organizational constellations. These systemic processes mainly reveal family patterns and current professional situations that, on an unconscious level, are shaping and steering the way people behave. To recognize and resolve these underlying 12 Introduction 13 matter in the construction and real estate industry, where decisions can often have a far-reaching impact financially. Place constellations can also be very useful for clarifying issues in urban planning, architectural projects, and in the search for the ideal business location. The systemic constellation method can help quickly identify problem areas, but it doesn’t just stop at the analysis. By revealing what is hidden, it can often lead to finding solutions to certain problems in a remarkably short time. The past fates of earlier occupants often want to be seen and acknowledged. Sometimes parts of the soul of the deceased are still very present in a place and want to be released. What makes the constellation method so effective are the speed by which issues are revealed, the transparency gained for the client, and the possibility not only to diagnose issues but also to clarify them almost immediately. Clients consistently describe the extraordinary speed by which solutions set up in the constellations were implemented – particularly in cases concerning houses and property. Many have expressed their astonishment at how quickly a property sold soon after an energetic clarification had taken place. My book is for people who have fully embraced this subject and for those who are simply curious and still unclear about how it all works. I hope that my work can contribute to helping readers gain a deeper understanding and acceptance of this rather unusual methodology. The examples selected for this book are not exhaustive. I have selected both typical and extraordinary cases. The solutions described offer only a fractional overview of the enormous diversity of the systemic and energetic dimensions affected. Perhaps one or the other case may remind you of a similar situation in your life and offer you insights into issues, systemic constellation methods make use of representatives who sense their way through the unconscious morphogenetic field. Resolving issues in this way, in turn, enables the clients to regain their sense of selfdetermination, freedom and choice in their own lives. A particularly fascinating feature of this type of constellation work is that spaces and buildings gain a voice through the representative’s perception. Tuning into the sensitivities of a space and the wishes and concerns of a house reveals that buildings and places have a significant memory field. The spirit of a place, also known as Genius Loci, becomes visible. The soul of a house remembers the past and has wishes for the present and the future. It’s with this Genius Loci that occupants of a place – mostly very sensitive people with a highly developed level of awareness – resonate. Some even unconsciously sense a space’s past events and wonder why they are confronted with unusual problems in certain places. Of course, these past events can also have a positive effect, like the experience of one family who, after moving to their new house, found they all suddenly enjoyed playing the piano. It turned out that the woman who used to live in the house was a piano teacher. The issues that can be explored and resolved using this kind of constellation work are by no means limited to the private sphere. This work can be used to examine whether a house should be sold by an agent or on one’s own initiative. Or why a restaurant is not attracting customers despite its good location. It’s also worthwhile finding out and respecting the wishes of a place when it comes to building projects. If acknowledged, construction projects can run more smoothly and cost efficiently. If ignored, however, it can lead to costly construction flaws, energy sapping delays, and much unnecessary inconvenience and expenditure – no light your own personal issues. However, it is equally important to bear in mind that every story and situation is unique and thus requires its own solutions. Through statements, descriptions, images, and gestures, each constellation issue reveals unique insights that cannot be fully expressed in words. I have deliberately avoided describing other methods that deal with energetic issues regarding spaces and places here, although these may certainly have a few overlapping points with place constellations. I wish you an exciting and insightful reading Kristine Alex

IntroductionPlaces, buildings, and spaces hold a wide range of different energy fields,and a growing number of people all over the world have become attunedto this dimension. Many find themselves asking: Why do I feel so differentin this place? Am I feeling restless because of the energy of this newhouse? What effect does this site's past events have on me?I have been working with place-related issues in myconstellation work since 1997 and in the process have discovered severalnew systemic layers and dimensions. Time and again, the work has shownthat incidents and events of past centuries that transpired in old structuresand sites play a significant role in the constellation field; that there is asort of »native soul« or spirit that belongs to a family and moves aroundwith it. Or that spaces tend to complain when their occupants don'tacknowledge or accept the energy they have to offer.In my work, I have experienced on numerous occasionsthat people resonate with the places they live in and the past conflictsattached to them. This includes wars, accidents, and natural disasters, butalso murder and abuse of power. Much of it is relived on the unconsciousplane, giving rise to new conflicts and, for some residents, even illnesses.It's often unclear at first why a person feels or behaves in a certain way. Thereasons remain unknown and cannot be resolved using classic systemicconstellation methods, such as family or organizational constellations.These systemic processes mainly reveal family patterns and currentprofessional situations that, on an unconscious level, are shaping andsteering the way people behave. To recognize and resolve these underlying12 Introduction 13matter in the construction and real estate industry, where decisions canoften have a far-reaching impact financially.Place constellations can also be very useful for clarifyingissues in urban planning, architectural projects, and in the search for theideal business location.The systemic constellation method can help quickly identifyproblem areas, but it doesn't just stop at the analysis. By revealing whatis hidden, it can often lead to finding solutions to certain problems in aremarkably short time. The past fates of earlier occupants often want tobe seen and acknowledged. Sometimes parts of the soul of the deceasedare still very present in a place and want to be released. What makesthe constellation method so effective are the speed by which issues arerevealed, the transparency gained for the client, and the possibility notonly to diagnose issues but also to clarify them almost immediately. Clientsconsistently describe the extraordinary speed by which solutions set up inthe constellations were implemented - particularly in cases concerninghouses and property. Many have expressed their astonishment at howquickly a property sold soon after an energetic clarification had takenplace.My book is for people who have fully embraced this subjectand for those who are simply curious and still unclear about how it allworks. I hope that my work can contribute to helping readers gain a deeperunderstanding and acceptance of this rather unusual methodology.The examples selected for this book are not exhaustive. I haveselected both typical and extraordinary cases. The solutions describedoffer only a fractional overview of the enormous diversity of the systemicand energetic dimensions affected. Perhaps one or the other case mayremind you of a similar situation in your life and offer you insights intoissues, systemic constellation methods make use of representatives whosense their way through the unconscious morphogenetic field. Resolvingissues in this way, in turn, enables the clients to regain their sense of selfdetermination,freedom and choice in their own lives.A particularly fascinating feature of this type of constellationwork is that spaces and buildings gain a voice through the representative'sperception. Tuning into th