Wisdom Circle - Renewal

One of the most powerful experiences in a Wisdom Circle is the experience of renewal of Spirit that is created when like-minded souls come together.
When our group first started, we had all sorts of wonderful agendas and focus areas of study.
We still do.
But what continues to be one of the most important functions of the Circle is re-newal.
When we come together, we share our stories from the week.
We share 'what has been learning us'.
We pray and meditate together and in sharing our 'energies' we help to uplift each other's energy, vitality, strength, courage and focus.
This experience in the Circle has often been the one that goes unnoticed until a member is absent.
Then we hear reports of 'wow, I missed the Circle...I noticed my energy just wasn't what it has been'...and 'I surely was more tired this week since I missed the group'.

The power of the form of the Circle shape is truly amazing in that it creates this flow of support.
Within this circular form, there are no interruptions or barriers to the natural flow of energy.
There are no corners, no angles, no dead spaces to block the movement of vitality.
The end result is that this energy moves freely around the Circle filling everyone's cup.
This experience creates a sense of renewal and refreshment and re-fueling.
Each member experiences release of those energies that no longer serve them and replacement with new energies that reenergize their entire cellular makeup.

By simply showing up to the Circle, the blessing of Spirit is made available to all.
By simply showing up, we are offered the 'cup' of life force by our Creator.
By simply showing up, we open the door to our souls and create a space for feasting at the Table of God.
By simply showing up, we acknowledge our Source.
By simply showing up, we receive and are blessed.

Wisdom Circle - Music of the Soul

This past Friday night, our Wisdom Circle was led by my husband, Stephen.
He is a lover of music.
Music, for him, is a powerful force that unlocks the joy, peace, hope in his heart.
Stephen created a program that focused on the favorite song of each of the members of our Circle.
He created a CD of everyone's songs and then played them for us one by one.
Before and after each song played, the person in the group who had chosen that song, shared a story about the meaning of the song in their lives.
We were all taken back to that place in our own lives when we first heard the song, whether we were in high school, college, or at other times.
Memories came forward, and each of us healed a part of ourselves that was waiting to be released and surrendered.
For some, it was a long standing hurt or betrayal.
For others, it was a missed opportunity.
For others, it was a chance to remember a joy that was experienced to a depth
beyond measure.
Each individual was able to participate in the experience of the music and create
their own healing.
So, although, within a Circle there are individual experiences, the group as a whole heals together as well.

Music has a magic of penetrating our walls and our inner fortresses.
Music moves in places with ease whereas words in normal conversation cannot seem to access.
The river of Music has a flow to it that overtime can wear down even the largest
boulder in its path.
Where once a damn was built over many years of pain and suffering, slowly but surely, the gentle flow of music finds its way through.
It's truly amazing how this happens without any notice, any fanfare, any announcement.
Music heals the core within as it catches us unaware and unguarded.
There are things that we allow ourselves to feel through music that we shut down in other discussion or conversation.

The power of music to heal has been written about for centuries.
In Europe in the 19th century, patients were diagnosed as being 'out of tune' and were prescribed specific songs and melodies to reestablish their rhythm and health.

Here is a little excerpt from my son's research paper on Music Therapy in Behavioral Health:

Specific musical pieces or musical dances were prescribed for patients based on their
symptoms of disease. It was thought that the role of the physician and nurse was to tune the patient through the use of the healing power of the music(MacKinnon, 2007). Specific plans were created for each patient including movement and music that would help their hallucinations, or other maladies.

MacKinnon (2007) also goes on to state that there was a belief that music was inherent in our bodies. Our bodies naturally make many sounds and health is often defined by the presence or absence of these sounds. Historical techniques with music were focused on trying to reestablish the natural music and movement of the body. The diagnoses were made for insanity by listening to the sounds that the patient made as well as those sounds that the patient heard as in hallucinations. Then the music therapy treatment plan was organized in an effort to normalize these sounds.

MacKinnon (2007) describes that in the late 1800’s some of the asylums had positions for Music Directors. They were responsible for providing the music for the weekly asylum dances. The director would be assigned the responsibility of writing pieces that were suitable for the patients that were housed there at the time. Each of the mental disorders that patients had were considered to be “arrhythmias” (Mackinnon, 2007, p.18). The Director wrote music to treat the arrhythmia and reestablish the patient’s natural rhythm and internal harmony.

In Australia, the focus was a bit different. MacKinnon details the use of sacred songs and hymns that would be sung by patients individually or in groups to bring them back to harmony. It was believed that there was a direct link between the body, the soul and music. Creating spiritual harmony was thought to be part of the treatment plan for music therapy.

Horden (2000) describes the use of music in asylums in Baden, Germany in the late 19^th This was a model treatment center for psychiatric illness and it advertised that it utilized music and singing as part of its treatment plan. The belief was that the soul has a rhythmic quality and the best way to effect and treat its problems is by musical means. Both staff and patients collaborated together with music therapy in an effort to create an environment that was healthy for all. Horden (2000) also describes other accounts of music therapy use in Britain in the early 20^th century when professional musicians were brought into hospitals to play but were carefully concealed behind screens. They were trying to incorporate the healing sounds without the distraction of watching a performance.

For all of recorded history, music has been used to heal.

Many believe it heals the essence of our souls...the essence of who we truly are.

Many believe it is the language of the soul...and that's why it can be used to communicate when nothing else works.

Open to the beauty of the unique music that is you and allow the sounds and the rhythm of the universe to heal this Spirit within.

Wisdom Circle - Focus Your Attention and Intention

In our Wisdom Circle, January has been the month where we create and share our intentions for the upcoming year.
As the year progresses, we have often found it helpful to re-focus our attention on our intentions in order to energize them and support their development.
By visiting our original intentions and giving them added creative energy and thought, the chances of manifestation increase significantly.
We are careful not to place a 'box' around our intentions, because that doesn't give God and the angels much space to go 'beyond' our finite imaginations and actually give us far greater gifts that we can even conceive.

Surrendering to divine timing is critical.
Wonderful things happening at the wrong time aren't really very wonderful.
Our sense of timing is limited by our world view.
But God's view encompasses things that aren't in our field of vision.
This is where trust comes into play.
Trust takes us from our own sense of urgency to a sense of the perfect timing of God.
Letting the field of possibility have time to be cleared and fertilized is critical to the 'right' answer showing up.
Trust brings us so much closer to experiencing the joy, happiness, peace and serenity that is the essence of who we are.
Trust reminds us that we 'know' who we are and that all manner of miracles are
available to us.
Trust places us in a mode of 'receptivity'...of patient 'waiting'...
Trust sidesteps the need to control and dictate.
Trust creates space for much greater good.
Trust knows no time constraints.
Trust brings sweet peace.
Trust brings more trust.

Trust.

Wisdom Circle - Focus on 'Hope'

I honor my hope and I give it my best energy.
I keep my eyes on my hope and do not let it out of my sight.
I listen to my hope and respect what it teaches me.
I stand strong in my hope and trust in its possibilities.
I become one with my hope and cherish its presence.
Joyce Rupp and Macrina Weiderkehr



Within our Wisdom Circle there are many different subjects discussed and considered.
But we do find that there are often repeating themes.
One of them seems to be Hope.
In every person's life, there are challenges that appear in our paths.
These challenges are wonderful opportunities to learn and grow and from that new wisdom, share with others.
One of the things that supports us through these challenges is the power of Hope.

Hope is truly very under-rated.
It often isn't given enough credit for the power that it gives us as we take on life's challenges.
Hope carries us and it lifts us; it directs us and sustains us.
It is a power beyond ourselves and our current life situations that serves to connect us back with courage and strength.
Hope often shows up when despair has set in.
Because of the way Hope does this, She demonstrates magical qualities.
Hope comes at moments of disillusionment, confusion, distrust, and reminds us of the Spirit that guided us in the past through troubled waters.
Hope also realligns us.
She slips back inside us and reminds us of who we are and Who we belong to.
She wakes us up.
She sets us straight.
She helps us remember what we already know.
She leads us to create connections with others that will re-inspire us.
She opens doors.
She creates potential.
She surrounds us with a Spirit of possibility and innovation.


Hope is a gift we give ourselves.
Hope is also a gift we can give others.
Sometimes Hope is all there is.
Often, Hope is all that is needed.

Wisdom Circle - Unfolding Into More of Itself

The flower in the picture is unfolding...it is in the process of becoming more of itself.
When it started out as a seed, it had a memory of 'who' and 'what' it was to be.
As it grew, more of the 'who' and the 'what' presented itself.
There were effects and conditions along the way that impacted the flower.
The environment, the surroundings, the sun, all added to this process.
It is a beautiful creation of nature, perfectly unique and singular in its display of color and form.

This has been the course of our Wisdom Circle.
Initially, we sensed what it was that the Circle would become...actually, what it truly was already.
The Circle was a place of exploration, sanctuary, healing, support.
As members came and left and new members emerged, the Circle took on new color, energy and form.
And the process continues.
No two Wisdom Circles are the same.
Each holds it own signature of what it is becoming.
Each serves the world in a somewhat different way.
There are learning circles, healing circles, support circles, resilience circles, circles for
peace building, dancing circles, meditation circles, sacred circles and many more.
The magic of the Circle is that it keeps on recreating itself, just like we do.
There are some things that resemble the original form, but other things have been replaced and a metamorphosis has happened.
The Wisdom Circle is a perfect metaphor for life.
It is a wonderful experience in creation, healing and the dynamic flow of change.

Wisdom Circle - Create a Pathway for Form and Flow

Every year in January, our Wisdom Circle creates intentions for the Circle as we look forward to the coming year.
In addition to the creation of intentions, is the important work of crafting a schedule or calendar to create a natural flow of focus areas.
So, we make a list of desired programs for the year, check it twice, and then commence to review the year and choose the perfect time and date in which to place each individual program.
We begin by posting on this calendar, those things that we have defined at important 'repeaters' thoughout the year.
For our group these 'repeaters' have been, walking the Labyrinth as a group at least twice a year, meditating and clearing our 'energy bodies' together at least quarterly, honoring the miracles of the four seasons of winter, spring, summer and fall, honoring holy days from other religious traditions, focused study on the Spiritual Laws.
We place these items on our calendar and then proceed to get a 'sense' of what is missing as we view the year.
Do we have enough scheduled time for prayer and meditation?
Do we have time for learning about new discoveries in science and spirituality?
Have we captured enough movement and creative expression?

As we consider 'what is missing', we open to the wisdom of the group as to how to incorporate balance.
We listen to innovative ideas, radical thinking, compassionate concern in order to make sure we are considering a wide spectrum of interests.
We also want to make sure that we open to the guidance of our Creator as we create sacred space for spirituality within our Circle.

Another important concept to create over the scope of the year is spontaneity.
We have found in past years that you can actually overschedule programs and create rigidity and inflexibility as to what wants to just 'show up'.
We have learned that it is important to create space for improvisation, for newness, for wild adventures and for peace.

By taking the time at the beginning of the year to create a pathway for form and flow, we also remove the 'stress' related to creating new programs each week.
This way, everyone knows who is responsible for each program and the Circle takes on the feel of a smooth flowing river with a clear destination...but also with plenty of variety and opportunity for adventure built in.

Since we meet weekly, it also has created an opportunity for many different members to 'lead' or 'call the Circle'.
Individuals have a wonderful opportunity to share their gifts of writing, singing, sharing, and creating with others and this also adds great diversity to the Circle.
We have sensed that this diversity is a powerful strength of our Circle.
The support we demonstrate to all 'brave souls' who are willing to get up and lead a group is also a strength.

There has been enormous growth in each individual 'pilgrim' over the years as well as growth and development in the Circle as a whole.
We, as a group, have chosen to share this part of the journey together and the richness of the experience has been invaluable.
We have come to cherish the 'family' of like-minded souls that come together opening their hearts to what the Creator would teach each week through the stories that are told.

Wisdom Circle - 2008 Intention Ceremony - Take a moment to contemplate what you want to create in your future...

Each year in January, our Wisdom Circle creates a space for an Intention Ceremony.
This gives each person in the group an opportunity to begin the process of active creation for the upcoming year.
Rather than have the new year 'happen to them', this supports the process of active creation.

For the weeks preceding our ceremony, each individual Circle member is asked to focus on all those things that they would like to release in anticipation of the upcoming year.
They are asked to give consideration to those practices or behaviors that contributed to their highest good and which did not.
What things do they want more of in 2008 and what is ready to be a part of the past?
By first taking the time to release and 'let go', more space is created for the 'new', the innovative and the creative to enter.

As we come together for our ceremony, we each write down those things that we wish to commit to making a part of our experience in the new year.
It may be that we will choose to focus on specific spiritual laws that inspire us such as the Law of Surrender, the Law of Peace, the Law of Honor, etc.
We might chose to focus on daily spiritual practices to bring ourselves into greater communion with the Creator.
Whatever is our individual choice for focus becomes the foundation for our intentions.
As we write our intentions, we place them in envelopes in our intention bowl and keep these in a central place in our space all year.
These intentions can be reviewed during the year to determine if we want to make course corrections or adjustments or to simply celebrate our successes.

Just as Tiger the cat is contemplating his prospects for the new year, we have an opportunity to wipe the slate clean and create a new beginning.
In every new beginning, comes an opportunity to honor the past and the teachers and experiences that have been part of our experience.
In every new beginning is an opportunity to stretch beyond our comfort zone as we plot our new course.
In every new beginning comes an opportunity to see, feel and touch in larger ways.
In every new beginning enters the possibilities of a whole new chapter in our lives, unlike any we have written before.
In every new beginning, comes the hope of seeing the face of God more clearly, more fully and in everything we experience.

In every new beginning, God is.