The circle is an ancient, universal form of social structure that has accompanied people in the development of community and identity since the beginning of time. Sitting in deliberative councils provides a source of governance and guidance. The importance of dialogue, of listening to every voice, of receiving one another’s stories and experiences and of making decisions based on collective wisdom, remains strong, even in this time of hierarchy.
In the midst of the modern world, circle is emerging in adapted forms that maintain the fundamentals of traditional practice:
People face each other and every voice is considered contributory.
Agreements of participation and respect are articulated.
Conversation is viewed as a practice set apart from casual social interaction.
The council is held as a social ceremony with a beginning/middle/end and a structure that holds it.
The archetype of circle lineage is present in the space.
The Circle Way is one of these modernized practices that draws upon a global lineage, and it is in in the company of other practices who also draw upon this shared source and have developed their own adaptations. Please welcome and explore these models as we inform one another’s practices and each bring more circle into a world in desperate need of dialogue and listening.
Note: In recent years, two lineages of circle have emerged that each bear the same name, “The Circle Way”.
Manitonquat Medicine Story’s Circle Way emphasizes practices and resources that use circle to develop clear communication within the self, the home/family, and the community. To see more of this work, please go to www.circleway.org.
The Circle Way represented on this website, streams from the life work and writings of Christina Baldwin and Ann Linnea, and is now held as a global network here at www.thecircleway.net. Our focus is to mainstream circle as a collaborative shift in the operating systems of the modern world; to change how organizations and communities function and work together.