The Practice of Council in Nature
"Embracing Council as a form of communicating in our modern day, we are nurturing and nourishing the spirit of the old ways. "
The ancient practice of council is rooted in land and nature. Council knows that all life is connected - the elements, the animals, the place and each other. Council teaches us that listening in a whole and more inclusive way embraces all parts of our being. It teaches intimacy and truth within ourselves and all life. Living in council you will experience the whole circle - as this heartfelt way of being deepens so does your intimacy and trust - a sense of community grows.
In the first two days of this retreat the emphasis will be on The Way of Council
- enabling you to create special time and place for the council setting
- practising the four Intentions of council
- use of story from our own life to embrace the art of attentive listening
- various forms of council will be practised to highlight the numerous situations and uses council can serve.
"It's very simple. Council is always in the unknown, always unique and always a new beginning."
Having familiarised ourselves with the practice we move our focus into the solitude and stillness of nature. We will meet each morning to explore and discover the powers and teachings of the four directions - a universal map that evokes the whole being - all symbols, seasons, colours, animals and elements all inside us and outside - all nature. (The knower and the known) We will uncover this ancient form as a place and space to find reference in ourselves and in our life.
Several hours each afternoon will be spent in nature - a threshold time in the natural world, alone, with no food or shelter, evoking a story from within your own soul, memories, feelings and dreams that lie just beneath the surface of your everyday life. This is a time of personal ceremony with the spirits of nature being witness, teacher and mirror.
Evenings will be storytelling. The telling and expressing of our story from our threshold time brings forth the myth of your own life revealing the sacred mirror of each person within each other and the whole of nature as our community. Our story serves the circle and is the healing - the heart council.
"You think your mind is your thoughts and concepts,
but really it is the trees and grasses."
Dozen
Finally, we will move to 'a council of all beings' speaking as and for the heart of the mountain, river, tree, buzzard or crow. With lessons learned we will speak, share and explore how these lessons and gifts inform and are bought back to the healing of our own life and our place in the world.
"It's a practice of truth and a path towards peacemaking, which invites the phenomenal power of the vulnerable heart, in the name of love."
This retreat serves those who seek deeper and compassionate communication with their community, families and loved ones.
