What is Way of Council?
There is something very powerful about the circle, in which everyone has their place and even the quietest will be listened to in their turn. This is important because in Council we hold that everyone has a piece of the truth, and the deepest wisdom may be held by the quietest person. Council is very egalitarian and non-hierarchical; there is no leader, instead a facilitator who sits in the circle and follows same guidelines as everyone else, These are: to listen in a heart-felt way; to speak from our hearts with spontaneity; to keep it brief (while saying what we need to say) and not to chat about it outside of the session (keeping confidentiality). When someone has the talking piece everyone else listens without interrupting until they have finished.
How it works
Participants are invited to commit to four basic precepts: to listen in a heart-felt way, leaving judgments out; to speak from the heart with integrity and spontaneity; to practice leanness of speech and to keep confidentiality. In Council we don’t interrupt or speak across each other or reply directly, we don’t try to fix people or make it better. We learn to listen, to let go, to see the whole.
We explore the origins and pan cultural roots of Council; how to set up the ‘container of the Council, setting it in the Beauty way, and experiencing some of the many different forms of Council.
Contact Sara for details of ongoing Way of Council Circles in East Devon and upcoming weekend immersions in Devon and Brighton
“…all those years forgetting how easily you can belong to everything simply by listening…” from ‘The Winter of Listening’ by David Whyte
