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One: Honor the
circle as sacred time and space by doing simple rituals to
mark the beginning and end. A ritual creates a shared
sensory experience and a demarcation from ordinary life. Light a
candle, for example, or take a moment to breathe deeply.
Share a brief period of silence or burn some incense or sage.
Listen to a selection of evocative music or to a guided
meditation. You can be as creative as you want with this.
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Two: Create a
collective center by mutually agreeing upon a topic or
intention. This might be visioning the future, healing
wounds, going within to learn more about ourselves, making
decision or planning actions that sustain and enrich life for
ourselves and others. A group may choose a focus specific to
its needs, or it can allow for topics to surface determined by
individual needs. A question is usually a useful way to frame the
topic. Make a physical center in the middle of the circle.
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Three: Ask to be
informed by our highest human values such as compassion and
truth, by the wisdom of those who have gone before us, and by the
needs of those yet to be born. You can also invoke mythical
or historical figures who symbolize desired values. One
person can speak for the group, or each person can do a personal
invocation.
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Four: Express
gratitude for the blessings and teachings of life.
Acknowledge and honor our interdependence with everything in the
Web of Life. In silence, or by taking turns, give thanks for
those things great and small whose gifts enrich and nourish you.
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Five: Create a
container for full participation and deep truth-telling.
Allow each person to speak without interruption or cross-talk.
Use a talking stick (or any object that has symbolic
significance). The object may be passed around the circle or
taken from and returned to the center. Respect a member's
right to silence. Keep everything confidential.
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Six: Listen from
the heart and serve as compassionate witness for other people
in the circle. To be an effective witness requires paying
attention to what's being said without interpreting, judging, or
trying to "fix" or rescue the person speaking. It
also means a willingness to discover something about yourself in
the stories of other people.
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Seven: Speak from
the heart and from direct experience. When you are moved
to speak, do so thoughtfully and with care. Avoid abstract,
conceptual language, and stay in touch as much as possible with
your feelings. As this capacity develops, you may be moved
to share those feelings and to say difficult things without
self-judgment and without blaming others.
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Eight: Make room
for silence to enter to allow for reflection, for meditation,
for feelings to surface and for a sense of the sacred to emerge as
the group proceeds.
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Nine: Empower
each member to be a co-facilitator of the process. If
possible, designate a different person to be the circle-maker each
time. This person readies the physical setting, initiates
the opening and closing rituals and facilitates consensus on a
topic. Encourage each other to give voice to feelings of
satisfaction or discomfort with the group's process.
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Ten: Commit to an
ongoing relationship with each person in the circle so as to
engender trust and caring among members. Extend that caring
to other people, to the Earth and all her creatures by practicing
capacities developed within the wisdom circle in daily life.
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