The Way of Council
The Way of Council is a community building practice to share and listen deeply from the heart in an organized, communal way.
The Way of Council is a very old practice of gathering with community to express freely and story-tell, to listen deeply to those in our community, and to weave connective threads through our experiences. Council can be a unifying force as you listen to others deeply, you see your experiences reflected in their stories. It answers the call to find beauty in our differences as each individual within the whole shares from their perspective.
Generally speaking, council is called for an intended purpose. Council is utilized in journey circles as a means of connecting those who journey, which is the framework I use council within, however there are many applications. One may wish to utilize council for bringing a circle together with the intention to expand the connective container of a group: a work team, an intentional community, a group of students or attendees of an event, etc. There are countless modern applications for this ancient connective practice.
When we gather in the way of council, in the circle, we utilize the use of a talking piece to show the speaker as “having the floor,” but I also find that it acts as a needle with an unseen thread; it goes around the circle weaving between each being as they express from their heart. The act of holding that piece in the hand is like holding this material expression of the voice, like a microphone to all hearts within the circle.
For those who are experiencing blockages in sharing from the heart in daily life, the connections found within the protected space of the council circle can be deeply healing. There is healing when we bear witness to others in their authentic expression, and to find the place within from where authentic expression originates. It has been my experience that we can find deeper meaning in personal experience when sharing from the heart, as you speak to things that come up as they come up, you witness yourself speaking out loud - the vibration of the share seems to shift. It is a deep self-encounter as you find your space within the circle. Sometimes you find that honoring your expression is to take silence in the circle, and that is quite fine as well.
When we access deep listening from the heart, when someone else in the circle is sharing, we are able to activate the parts of our hearts that may be under-active in daily life. Our hearts sometimes take a backseat to ego consciousness, when we hear with our programs, wounds, and other mechanisms that filter the sound and experience of another. Within the circle we ask that part of us to rest, to take a break, to let authenticity flow.
In council, we offer that there is no cross-talk, no interruptions during the speakers share, and to not offer solutions to others within the council as sharing is happening. This creates a clear flowing container that allows these expressions to be raised up to Spirit, released into the winds. When we offer solutions to others within the circle, it can be seen as energetically intrusive to the flow of energy. Council is not sought as a means of counsel - we are not expressing for diagnosis, analysis, or really - to solve anything in that space.
Within council, we would want to share only the essence of what we are expressing authentically; being “lean” in our expression. Details and explanations often come from the logical mind; the “heart of the matter,” is where we align within the council circle. We don’t wish to share what we think we should share, but rather what is moving through us at that time.
Honoring the integrity of the circle is the deep understanding and respect of that space created together. We don’t share outside the circle what was shared within it. It is a sacred space, and we want to avoid violating the authentic heart-based expression of another. To violate one’s word within sacred space is to violate the container of which it was shared within. This is how connective practice works; boundaries, ethical participation, respect and honor are important in community sharing. It is important to remember this in our modern world that moves fast and honors very little at this time, collectively speaking. We seek not to exploit the hearts of others, but to connect and enliven the soul.
In short, the guidelines for council can be seen as such:
Share from the heart
Listen from the heart
Access the Heart of the Matter
Honor the speaker’s turn with silence
Integrity, confidentiality, ethical participation
These are simply guidelines, and there will be times deviations happen, but to consolidate and explain the guidelines allows us to have a connective jumping off point, while allowing authentic expression to flow.
Can you think of some time or place where the way of council may have been beneficial to resolution through the movement of energy in a connective container? I feel this connective remembering will assist us in re-membering a very dissolved sense of community in an updated, heart centered way.