This month’s circle tale comes to us courtesy of Sandra C. Walters in Hamburg, Germany. Sandra received a grant from The Circle Way to participate in Thinking Circle, a training program offered by global colleagues, Matthias zur Bonsen and Jutta Herzog.
The Power of The Circle
The mirror
The circle was complete as everybody had taken their seat. I look around. As the people in the role of the host and the awareness-keeper greeted everyone present, it felt like a clasp closing. The two of them were positioned exactly opposite of each other and both held a respectful connection on the heart level. Because all of us had brought a story to share, we participants began to get to know each other and to connect with each other more and more through the individual information shared by each person. I perceived who was sitting opposite me. It seemed like a mirror for my projections. What I had not yet integrated within myself, showed itself to me through the person sitting opposite of me. I was able to experience the power of the circle, as we gradually brought all topics and stories into the middle, and more and more different projections started dissolving. I noticed how after a practice phase some people took a new seat within the circle. As if the projections had done their job, were dissolved and integrated, so that now the counterpart was no longer needed as a mirror.
Non-duality and all being One
The two people who held the roles of the host and the awareness-keeper and sat opposite of each other, tangibly reached beyond duality by being connected in non-judgmental love, appreciation and mindfulness. This made it possible to step out of duality, because the mirror sitting on the opposite side was a mirror of the same ground of Being that was thrown back onto itself. So no separating boundaries came up; energies of separation could not come up - somehow it felt non-dual. The power of the ring began circulating and became the energy of all. Everything individual could be experienced as a communal part together. That created an even stronger connection. We all remained as parts of the whole, as in a multiplicity of non-duality, where everything was allowed to be as is - colorful, alive, unique - and above all, without competition. Frontiers dissolved. This energy could be utilized as the force of the circle and spiral upwards to spread more and more.
The male in the female
Our circle was looking for guidance, which we found in the host, the awareness-keeper and the theme-host. They, together with a scribe and every Self, stretched out like a triangle or quadrangle, as the male energy in the circle. The liveliness of the Torus of the Thinking Circle could unfold, because the reliable resilience and structure of the male energy could come together and mate with the feminine energies of the circle, the holding and being with, the witnessing of all the elements during the round in the circle. As more and more of each individual was protected, respected and valued, the potential of the circle's power grew; more and more of the new could unfold. This protected space functioned like a collective uterus in which completely new and fresh ideas and inspirations were birthed.
The true guidance came from the Spirit in the Center, which on the one hand was nourished by all of us and at the same time went far and beyond us, like a flame of the Holy Spirit.
Summary
Everything living has a rhythm, movement, an energy field and a core.
This rhythm is an interplay of opening and contracting.
The movement is rotating, spiraling.
The field of a living existence is a geometrical form, like a sphere with a central channel and poles, which always strives to balance itself = torus.
The nucleus carries the flame of its contents and stands in the center.
All life forms strive for the light.
Female power
When we use the circle as a formative force, all this happens.
The round shape is the power of femininity. Like a grail, a vessel with a love that embraces and unites everything, that integrates and holds. And that connects everything.
The spirit
The flame in the middle decides the tenor of the process and the growth. The core carries the flame of aspiration - the spirit. Everything is already there.
The feminine power of the circle facilitates and allows that all aspects communicate on eye-level with each other with mutual appreciation.
All parts are at an equal distance from the center / core. They are equally valuable and each unique, and they all contribute to perfection.
In order to experience developmental processes and to continue growing, in the dual world we both need the feminine and the masculine form.
All round forms are attributed to the feminine, all straight to the masculine. The Circle, spiral (= feminine), a triangle, square, star (= male).
Sandra Claudia Walters lives in Hamburg, Germany. The mother of two sons, and one stepdaughter, for more than 20 years she has had a professional practice accompanying individual clients and groups in the development of potential, health, prevention and decision making. She hosts workshops and training in mindfulness, systems constellation, coaching, and provides process support to inspire a new spirit for the corporate world through the power of the circle, trusting its power of connectedness.