Practice of Council in Nature

Eryri National Park, North Wales.

June 12th - 19th 2026

Circles widening, circles deepening

Walking Deeper into the Way of Council -

This Council is a Stage Three - offering / serving: There comes a moment on the path when the circle begins to speak through us,
when Council is no longer something we do, but something are and serve.

This retreat invites you into a deeper exploration of what it means to speak and listen from the heart, this Council is for those who have some experience of Council, for those who already hold and lead circles within their relationships and communities.

The path to healing and wholeness becomes real when we begin to accept ourselves fully, including the parts that feel difficult, hidden, or rejected. As we name and sit with what has been exiled within us, we open the possibility for transformation. With ritual and courage, we meet our shadow and allow our fuller nature - including each other and wild nature - to become our guide, teacher, and mirror.

Wild Nature and Our Nature in Council

Throughout this week, we will be in the ceremony held by the wisdom of the Four Directions - an ancient map of consciousness, which includes the seasons and cycles of life. We will practice listening like a mirror, attending to the whole person: body, mind, heart, and spirit. We will listen not only with our ears, but with our presence. The land, the elements, and the beings around us will reflect back the truth of our own nature and wholeness. We will learn to speak with clarity and heart, sharing our stories with honesty and depth. Our words will carry the details of our lives - raw, beautiful, essential - helping us to embody the full expression of who we are.

From here; will be opening and learning - :

Council is Ceremony - The circle becomes a threshold, the field calls forth ritual within its own timing, its own grace. We enter the space where Council and ceremony meet, where something ancient rises, and the familiar becomes sacred.
The intentions and guidelines -To tend to the Five Intentions as living companions. To build containers strong enough to hold the truth when it arrives. You will be deepening the role of the witness and its many layers.
Reading the field - There is the story that is spoken… and the story that moves beneath. We learn to listen with the whole body. To feel the subtle tides between people. To recognise the shimmer of distortion, the flicker of projection, the opening of a theme before it has words.
Intention for a threshold - This is the art of perceiving the invisible architecture of the circle. Through deep listening we will be learning the importance of and how to support and find clear intention for and ourselves and another.
Mirroring – In wild nature the world listens. The wind joins the circle. Stone, bird, water, shadow, each becomes a teacher. We learn to walk with signs, to follow synchronicity, to let nature mirror what the heart is ready to see. You will be learning to mirror someone’s story with the mirror of nature as metaphor for their life.
Beyond words – movement and sound - There are moments when words cannot hold the truth. When a gesture speaks more clearly, or a single note carries the weight of a whole story. In movement and sound, we discover the wild, non-verbal roots of Council. Where the body remembers what the mind has forgotten.

The continuing way -

The Way of Council is not mastered. It is lived. It is renewed each time we take our seat, each time we remember to begin again with a beginner’s mind. This training invites you to discover your place of offering whether in schools, community, family, relationship, or the quiet circles of your own life.

May this be one of the thresholds that marks your way.