Wisdom Circle - Everyone Can Be a Leader

The beauty of the Circle is that there is no defined absolute leader.
Within the Circle, everyone can be the leader. It is a shared experience.
There is a person that 'Calls the Circle' and initiates a gathering, defines the general format and content, and opens and closes the Circle.
Other than that, the Circle flows from person to person just as water flows in a river bed.
There is no need to have someone in 'control', dictating agendas, etc.
The Circle takes on its own flow and manages to ensure that all voices are heard, even the silent ones.

In our Wisdom Circle, we have a process that has developed of shared responsibility for who 'calls the Circle'.
The pictures above are of three of our members who have led our Circle many times.
One of them is a Sister that comes from a community that is committed to supporting the underserved in the Hispanic culture.
The other person in the picture is a woman who works in Organizational and Leadership Development and is committed to making more room for Spirituality in the workplace.
The other is my brother who is an Internal Medicine physician with a passion for re-creating meaning in medicine.
They have each led our Circle in sacred ceremony, expressive arts and honoring of other faith traditions.
Our Circle has been blessed to have a very diverse nature.
We have midwives, doctors, lawyers, dentists, nurses, pastors, social workers and many others.
We have Catholics, Protestants, Seventh-day Adventists, Mormons, and many others.
It is the diversity of the group that adds wisdom and dimension.
Different perspectives on where we came from, why we are here, and where we are going are shared all the time.
We learn through the experience and wisdom of each other.
Through the stories that are shared, we gain insights that make our own journeys richer.
As we share joy, pain, fear, bliss, we come to a deeper understanding of that which is of greatest importance in our Earthly travels.

It is so often easier to learn through the experience of another rather than having to experience everything in the first person.

The Wisdom Circle creates a safe container to explore, learn, experience, venture, voyage...
Whether you are 'calling the Circle' or you are 'holding space' within the Circle, you play an important role.
Sometimes just 'showing up' is all that is necessary for deep connection with the Divine.
It is through this Spiritual connection with our Creator that we come alive into a true 'knowing' of ourselves and the world we live in and love.

Wisdom Circle - Create a Space for Light to Enter

The simple practice of lighting a candle can transform ordinary 'space' into 'sacred space'.
Lighting a candle can become an invitation for Spirit to enter and be present.
It is an opening created for the experience of 'sanctuary'.

In our Wisdom Circle, we regularly light candles to consciously open to the Divine Light of the Creator.
As we light each candle, we create the intention to speak from our own inner wisdom and to be instruments of this light, love and peace.
As we gaze upon the lighted candle, we are reminded of the Source of our own light.
We watch as the flame from the candle continues to burn brightly and light up the darkness.
This light also reminds us of the passion and fire that exist in our bellies to transform any space we occupy into a space of wholeness and peace.
This light is a reminder of the gift of light that is available to all that open to its power and magnificence.

The picture above shows what has happened as the candles continue burning together.
They 'melt' into a union of lightforce that continues to burn in harmony and oneness.

Light does attract more LIght.

Wisdom Circle - Take a Field Trip to a Sacred Site

Sometimes our Wisdom Circle group has chosen to hold a Circle gathering at a sacred site.
A sacred site might be a place in nature, a church, a monastery, or as in the picture above, a labyrinth.
A labyrinth is an ancient symbol that is in the form of an outer circle with a meandering pathway that leads to a center.
It was used in many different cultures for meditation and prayer or pondering important questions.
By walking the path in the labyrinth, one could spend time reconsidering their own life path and opening to Divine guidance and direction.

One way to experience the labyrinth is to focus on re-leasing all those things that no longer serve you as you walk on the pathway to the center of the labyrinth.
When in the center, one would focus on re-ceiving gifts from Spirit.
And when leaving the center and walking out of the labyrinth, one would focus on re-turning the gifts that are received back into the world in service.

By sharing this experience together as a Wisdom Circle group, we had an opportunity to imagine how other diverse cultures explored ways of reconnecting with their own souls.
By wondering about what might have brought meaning to them, we had a powerful experience ourselves.
Many in our group found that by taking a question into the labyrinth, they were making an appointment with their higher selves.
It created an opening to release more deeply and receive more fully.
A space was created within that could be truly filled with Spirit.
Our own questions and answers were surrendered and we opened to the ones from Above.
We found our questions changed and therefore, the answers did also.

By holding space for each member of the Circle to have an opportunity to experience the Divine fully, we created our own sacred sanctuary.
Sacred space is wherever and whenever we open to Spirit.
It is also wherever two or three are gathered together in the name of God.
Joy is welcoming the sacred into every moment and in every space that we are in.

Wisdom Circle - So What Do You Talk About?

Early in the formation of our Wisdom Circle, we decided that one of the things we wanted to focus on as a group was perennial wisdom.
We had a desire to explore the wisdom that crossed diverse spiritual and religious traditions.
We wanted to delve into an experiential study of the 'wisdom' that was 'core' to many indigenous peoples.

Lee Kaiser, my spiritual director, has created a summary of 108 of these wisdom principles.
A summary of these principles can be found on his website, www.twoworldswisdom.org.
These principles are timeless and are foundational to the universe we live in.

Our Wisdom Circle has purchased 'flags' that have these principles written on them and we have some of them hanging in the room that we meet in.
Here are some of our Circle's favorite laws:

• The Law of One - Everything is part of everything else.
• The Law of Love - Love unifies.
• The Law of Intention - All intentions create.
• The Law of Forgiveness - What you do not forgive holds you in bondage.
• The Law of Abundance - Sufficient resources exist to accomplish anything you want to do.
• The Law of Service - You grow only through serving others.
• The Law of Surrender - To attain all you must surrender all.

We often begin by speaking the Law out loud and then passing the 'talking stick' to each Circle member.
We open a discussion as to the application of the law within each individual's life.
We may also ask questions that relate to the Law for the group to consider such as:
'Can you share a story about experiences you had with this Law over the course
of this last week?'
'How might this Law change the way you look at life?'
'Within your work - life, how might this Law improve the way things work?'


Sometimes we bring in a specific meditation that connects strongly to the Law.
For the Law of One, we brought in a meditation for the group to experience where we opened our hearts and then sent 'compassionate heart' energy to the person to our left and to the person to their left and again and again around the Circle, until the 'compassionate heart' energy returned to us...
Creating this 'experience of oneness' helped to bring greater understanding to the Law and also created an opportunity for each person to 'know' the Law from a first hand point of view.
Together we experienced Oneness within the Circle when we shared the compassion in our hearts with one another.
Creating this experience makes the Law more real.

Another week we discussed the Law of Surrender.
We created a ceremony where we each held a special stone and imagined surrendering into the stone all those things that no longer served us.
Then we each took turns releasing the stones into a large bowl of water.
This meditation again created an opportunity to have the experience of 'surrender' rather than just talking about it.
The combined discussion and experience creates a bridge to the inner knowing of what
true 'surrender' really is.

By choosing to focus on content areas such as these Wisdom Principles, a Wisdom Circle can create opportunities to explore the true nature of our universe.
They help form a bridge for building unity and openness rather than disconnection and
further differences.
They challenge us to think beyond our 'boxes' and come together in a larger way of being in the world.
They give us a pathway to discover how similar we are and yet how diverse we are as children of the same Creator.
They are a gateway to greater understanding of the beauty and wonder of the Universe.
They are a door to seeing life as it truly is rather than the world that has been built on our previous limited views.

Wisdom brings us closer together.

Ignorance separates our hearts.

Wisdom Circle - Holding Space

This 'Heart - shaped' bowl is on the center table at Grace's House where our Wisdom Circle is held every Friday evening.
This bowl contains stones that were collected from beautiful places in nature all over the United States.
These stones know all about 'holding space'.
Stones have been the great 'space holders'.
They know all about holding and supporting the Earth.
They were there when history was made and hold all the stories of all that has
ever happened.
Stones are anchors, grounding forces, foundational structures that are a very necessary part of the way Mother Nature holds herself together.

In the same way that stones 'hold space' for the Earth, we 'hold space' for each other.
By believing in someone and keeping that belief alive in our hearts, we are 'holding space' for that person's 'becoming'.
We are acknowledging the soul potential that we see in another that they may not
yet see in themselves.
We are holding a picture alive of the other person in a larger more expanded form.
Teachers 'hold space' for their students.
Parents 'hold space' for their children.
Brothers hold space for their sisters.
Sisters hold space for their sisters.
And it goes on and on...

Each week in our Wisdom Circle, individuals may chose to take a stone from the Heart - bowl, and place it on the table.
This is done with the intention of the stone 'holding space' for someone that might need a bit of extra support, strength, courage...
We also create the intention that the Creator will give them exactly what is best
for their highest good.
By creating this simple ceremony, we honor the person, their life and their
work in the world.
We honor their efforts at becoming all they can be as well as their humanness.

We each have benefited tremendously over the course of our lives from having a teacher or a family member or friend 'hold space' for us.
Sometimes, this experience is the difference between us 'making it' or not.
'Holding space' for another can give them just the 'umph' that they need to
shift into a whole new place.
Our angels do this for us constantly.
Our Creator does this for us every moment.

How blessed we are that there is so much support for us to be all we can be.

Wisdom Circle - Creating Intention

Another aspect of Wisdom Circle design is the process of creating intention.
In the picture above, you can see the 'bowl of intentions' created by our Wisdom Circle group.
When our Circle began, we took the time to explore possible intentions or focuses.
We considered creating intentions to exploring other religious traditions, ways to increase peace in the world, how to support environmental health issues, and many more.
After a lively discussion on the possibilities, our Circle chose to create intentions surrounding spiritual openness, community, and exploration.
These intentions were accepted by the group and have served us well over the years that we have been meeting.
They form the foundation of what we choose to consider and discuss as we continue to gather together week after week.
Anyone that wishes to bring up other options certainly can and the Circle will then consider it in the larger scope of its service in the world.

Additionally, each year our Wisdom Circle members create individual intentions for the upcoming year.
As the previous year closes out, we take time to honor our current intentions and share how they came to manifest themselves in our lives.
Then we create ceremony to support release and surrender of all the the things that no longer serve us.
As part of this ceremony, we release our 'ego' and all the things that get in the way of our full 'becoming'.
We make a conscious choice whom we will serve and how we wish to commit our lives in this service.
On the first Wisdom Circle of the new year, we all complete the documentation of our individual intentions on specially prepared cards for this purpose.
These cards are then placed in a bowl and a blessing is asked for these intentions that they may all serve the Creator and be offered in full humility, goodness and integrity.
This bowl of intentions 'holds space' for our intentions all year until we are again ready to repeat the process for another blessed new year.

This process has served our group well.
It is a reminder to us that to live a life of service to the Divine requires conscious intention and action.
We have chosen as a group, to support the intentions of each other as we journey on this Earth together.
The Circle is a powerful way to come together in community and intention.

Wisdom Circle - Creating a Sacred Center

When our Wisdom Circle first began, we decided as a group that we wanted to create a
Sacred Center.
This was to be a space at the 'center' of our Circle that reminded us that when we came together, we would focus on the sacred.
This space at the 'center' was to be symbolic of the 'heart' of our Circle...a place where we hold our hopes, dreams, intentions, commitments...
It was always to be a way for us to stay grounded in the original purpose of our Circle...
to create a space for spiritual openness, community, and sharing from the heart.

We were blessed to receive a gift of an angel from our friend, Heidi Kujat.
She is an amazing bronze sculptor who creates beautiful magical angels.
The angel she gave to our Circle is called Radiance.
She is the one who is on the center table of our Circle and who reminds us about the importance of 'radiating' our light and love in service to the world.
She holds the space of deep reverence for the Divine and also for the beauty in each
individual soul.
The presence of Radiance in our Circle has served to further create a sacred space for us to experience each week as we gather together.

Having a Sacred Center within the Circle also serves as a reminder of the importance of creating a Sacred Center within ourselves.
This Center is our oneness with our Creator.
It is from this Center that we can connect with others and with the Divine.
It is from this Center that we experience true love and acceptance.
This Center is our core...it is who we truly are.
This Center is a place that must be nurtured and honored.
This place is one that we must visit often and pay attention to, if it is to grow and flourish.
This Sacred Space can, in turn, nourish us so that we can grow and flourish.

Sacred Space within is a place where we welcome the Divine...it is a place where we 'show up' to listen to the Whispers of Spirit speaking directly to us.
By consciously creating an opening for God to enter, we 'make room' for more than just the routine of daily life.
We 'make room' for a fuller life...one that is abundant with miracles and healing and hope.
We build a bridge to a life of service and joy.
We create a direct connection to hear the voice of God within.