Re-remembering Our Way : The Practice of Circle
The timeless and intuitive ritual of council; gathering in intimate circles around a warm fire, sharing stories and wisdom, has been intrinsic to human community since time immemorial, but has been lost in translation in recent western culture. The spirt of council is a gift offered to us by the elders of many cultures which placed strong circle practices at the centre of connection. I was first introduced to the origins and methodology of this practice through The Way of Council, a text which came to inform so much of my life and work and with such value I have gleaned thought its teachings, I feel called to share some of its wisdom.
With roots in the natural world, these practices are visible in diverse cultures and religions around the world, and can be seen in the sacred stone circles of the many earth-centred traditions, in the governance and circle-of-life teachings of First Nation peoples, the native Hawaiian sacred ‘talking story’ ceremony and in moon and women gatherings of past and present, in the ancient Greek and Roman ruins and referenced in texts like the Iliad, to reference a few.
This is a practice from which we came, council is not a way we must learn but re-remember.
Nature is by no means individualist and through drawing from the depth of human memory, archetypes and myths of ancient traditions for guidance, we can navigate our inner and external challenges and cultivate the worlds we wish to embody. Relating consciously in non-hierarchical communication is how to begin; feeling into our inner selves, ‘listening from the heart’, attentively and deeply to those we commune and ‘speaking from the heart’ openly, honestly and authentically is the path to discovering new insights, understanding, truth and healing.
In this time of an almost terrifying level of opportunity, where the structures that have formed and upheld so many of the conceptualisation and boundaries of self, purpose and society and fallen away, the moment and impetus to shift consciousness at the macro and micro levels is even more evident. While it has been said that /we become the average of the five people we spend the most time with/ reflection into who and how we cultivate our circle of counsel is paramount.
Counsel vs. Council. Concillium from which the word council derives, means 'a gathering of people’ and offers a method of communication to facilitate this, and counsel can mean to advise, the person doing the advising or the advice itself.
Heightened by the times we live in, I feel a great yearning for conscious connectiveness, a sentiment also reflected by so many in my community, and a way of practice to facilitate this. The way of council is a form and practice from which I resonate with and perhaps offers a tool to help navigate this moment.
With this, I ask - who makes up your counsel? And if you resonate with the teaching I have reflected; does your council reflect the tenants of council?
To delve more into this topic, I recommend The Way of Council, Jack Zimmerman + Virginia Coyle