My first memory of "council" was at summer camp. I was seven. We were told that Sunday night was to be Council Fire. It was my favorite part of camp. We filed into the circle around the fire to the beat of a tom-tom, two lines of girls from the tallest to the shortest. We prayed to Great Spirit as the fire was lit and three older girls uttered sacred pledges as they lit red, white, and blue candles to love, health, and happiness. The director gave a talk, many girls received awards, and we sang together into the night sky.
Those moments in circle were magical for me and set the course of my life to work with groups. The kind of community that develops when people sit together in a circle over a period of time has become essential to my well-being. I now sit in many such circles-praying, singing, listening, making pledges, and striving to find ways of communicating at a soul level. For years I have pursued a question: what enables a community to develop soul connections with one another and keep those relationships flowing, loving, honest, current, and clear? And further, when things get rough or people get hurt, how do you heal the wounds, the slights, the misunderstandings, and the differences of opinion that inevitably arise in any group or relationship over time? In short, by what means do we fulfill that dream of living together well?
