The Way of Council
Objectives:
- - Develop skills to guide or participate in Councils with empathy, attentiveness, and respect for diverse perspectives.<br />
- - Recognize the importance of creating a safe, inclusive, and ceremonial space that supports authentic sharing.<br />
- - Gain a deeper understanding of the differences in people’s opinions and approaches by listening to their personal life stories.
Preparation: The Council requires a bit of preparation to create a space that feels welcoming and ceremonial. These are the elements for preparation:
The Space
The seating is always arranged in a circle to support connection and equality. Participants should sit on the floor using pillows, blankets, or other soft supports. Make sure the seating setup is comfortable enough for everyone to sit for 1–2 hours without discomfort.
The center of the circle
In order to create a ceremonial atmosphere and to prepare the participants for a deep sharing, in the middle of the circle can be arranged a beautiful “altar”. There you can place a candle which can be lighted in the beginning of the council, few stones, feathers, a scarf, wood, important objects for the group etc.
The talking object
Is the object which will be hold by each speaker. The object should be something meaningful for the group or connected with the theme of the council.
Tools needed: You'll need a few simple tools to help create a welcoming and meaningful atmosphere.
It's best if participants sit on the floor, so provide pillows, rugs, or blankets to make it comfortable.
You can also create a small altar in the center of the circle — this could be a collection of flowers or natural elements arranged on the floor or placed on a low table.
To support the flow of the process, you'll need a talking object (like a wooden stick, a stone or a shell) to pass around during sharing and a chime or singing bowl and a candle to gently open and close the session.
Description
The important elements of the Council
- The Council keeper. Each Council is facilitated by a person, who is leading the process. This person is presenting the principles and elements of the Council to the participants. This person is opening and closing the Council and will be the only one person allowed to speak, besides the speaker holding the talking object.
- The speaker and the listeners. Only one person can speak at the time in the Council. The person who speaks must hold a talking object.
The council has 4 intentions:
1. Speaking from the heart (sharing personal stories, opinions which are important for the person, which come from the heart), 2. Listening from the heart (Listening with full attention, with empathy and no judgements),
3. Speaking the essence (Sharing the most important parts of the personal story, having a sharing which is not too long and not to short),
4. Spontaneity (being fully present, not planning what to say, but saying what feels right at that moment).
Confidentiality
Since the participants will share personal stories, some of which can be very intimate, one important element of the council is the confidentiality. The stories shared during the council will remain in the Council and the participants shouldn’t spread the stories to other people.
Passing the talking object
The first person who will feel the calling to speak will take the talking object. After finishing the story, this person will pass the object to the person in the left side, following the Sun movement. When the talking object is passed the two persons will look into each other’s eyes. Or the other variation is if the talking object is places in the centre, on or next to the altar and whoever feels the call to speak, take the talking object, sit back, talk and when finished, place the talking object back to the middle of the center.
Share or skip
The person who is holding the talking object can speak or pass the object to the next person. Nobody is forced to speak during a council.
The theme of the Council
Each Council has a theme, a question, based on which the participants will share the stories.
Few examples of council themes:
o Why are you here?
o What is your dream for this world?
o What are your fears and what gives you courage?
o What does trust means to you?
The duration
The duration of the Council is hard to be precisely approximated. Depending on the theme and person. Normally each people shares between 1 and 10 minutes.
The group
You can make the council with small groups 4-5 persons up to 20-30 persons. If there are bigger groups it will take longer and the unexperienced people may lose interest.
Making breaks
If the council will last 1-2 hours then you can make it without having breaks, but if it takes longer then the council keeper can make one or more short breaks. The participants can go to the toilet during the sharing if they feel the need, but they should be in silence and not interrupt the process.
The opening and ending
Opening and ending the Council are important parts of the process, all participants shall be present, sitting and waiting for the moment when the circle gets open. At the opening all these previuosly explined elements must be presented by the Council keeper if the participants are attending a Council for the first time. The 4 intention is always mentioned at the begining. The Council keeper also shared the leading question or story. The circle is open when the Council keeper lights on the candle and make a sound with the chime.
At the end there is a closing moment of the Council when the keeper makes a sound with the chime and turns off the candle, thank the participants, appreciate them and their stories and announce the end of the Council.
Variations
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Resources
Tools and methods for eco-centric youth work - Booklet (www.salto-youth.net/tools/toolbox/tool/tools-and-methods-for-eco-centric-youth-work-booklet.1969/)
Comments
This is a deep and meaningful method of sharing. While this is a basic overview of the process, we recommend exploring it further if you plan to lead a Council yourself.
Further information: https://waysofcouncil.net/
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