What is Council of the Muse?
Council of the Muse is a virtual gathering space modeled on the deeply nourishing practice of Community Council— a practice being revived, re-taught and remembered by more and more people in these immense times. Councils of the Muse are intimate events (limited to 15 ppl) offered periodically to the public, as well as woven into all of Bombilore’s Group Immersions.
Council is an opportunity to touch into the great current of feeling, sense and poetry running like a river beneath the veneer of everyday experience and communication. It’s a chance to witness and be witnessed in our human-ness, in a spirit of both personal and communal revelation & healing.
Council is a container for deep listening and lovingly seeing each other. Speaking our truth from our hearts spontaneously in sacred spaces allows our innate wisdom and vulnerability to surface in unexpected ways— ways which become medicine for everyone.
Council of the Muse has a special theme of nurturing our creative well-being & soul emergence— to discover pathways through blocks, stumble upon hidden treasures and be gently encouraged on our quest to create what longs to be brought to life through us.
Contact me (amanda@bombilore.com) if you’re interested in bringing the tradition of Sacred Council into your community, and are interested in having me facilitate.
Why Is Council Important?
Everyday conversations are not enough for these immense times.
Conversing as we know it will always serve a purpose. But too often in our culture the egoic desire to fix, advise, change, challenge, compare and compete gets in the way of true listening. Many of our ancestral cultures knew the importance of sitting in circle together to listen and receive in deep and nuanced ways.
Traditional Elders knew that remedies to what ails us are uniquely embedded in each of us.
The best of our ancestors knew that the cathartic nature of sitting in circle could save a community and/or any of its individual members.
Sadly for Western culture, the art of council is almost lost.
The clever invention of hierarchy came to replace the deep valuing of each member of society. Each unique and much-needed voice was subverted into those born to serve and those born to be served. We began to sit in triangulated distance from each other’s hearts. Instead of circles, where all are valued equally, we learned to line up behind the authority figure, whether they are deserving of leadership or not.
We long to sit in circle again.
We long to re-member a just and equitable society where we not only feel we belong and are valued, but where the mystery that is each of us— our unique magic— is seen and celebrated.
The Art of Council is an invaluable part of untangling hierarchical/ patriarchal/ capitalist structures.
It’s a heartfelt weaving of new threads of belonging, inspiration and reverence for ourselves and each other.
We owe a deep gratitude and debt to the many Native American traditions who have fought hard to continue to nurture the art of council and have been generous enough to share some of their council practices.
Guidelines for Council of the Muse:
Council will begin with a guided meditation or deep imagery journey. The opening meditation/visualization will serve as the inspiration for that particular council, though anything that’s up for you can be spoken.
The group will then be invited to share as they feel called. Each person’s share acts as an invitation for continued sharing, based on whomever feels most moved by the share / feels something potent rising up that wants to be spoken.
There is no verbal responding to each other’s shares, though if you feel moved, you might rub your heart, offer “mmhmm,” etc.
Council shares are completely confidential. You agree to not discuss what is shared in council outside of council, including with others from council or with the sharer themselves.
Shares may be timed based on how many folks are in attendance.
You do not have to share. Nor do you have to share words— your share could be silence, song, gesture, tears, laughter.
Your share will be something that’s really alive for you in the moment. It cannot be planned. It may contain threads you’ve been sitting with for a long time. It may be a story you’ve told before. But it won’t be told in the same way; it’s not something you’ve rehearsed or prepared. It’s going to come from the spontaneous voice of the heart.
It’s good to go slow, breath and get to the heart of the matter. You’re free to speak directly to what is happening / moving through you, without feeling the need to give us a back story, tell chronologically, make sense or “get to the point.”
What’s Sitting in Council Like?
Relieving. Exciting. Soothing. Cathartic. Moving. Safe & dangerous at once. Revealing, magical and revelatory.
The first time I sat in Council, I spent nearly the whole circle fending off my mind’s attempts to do precisely what we were encouraged to avoid: rehearse. With big effort, I kept coming back to the listening. As the talking stick drew closer, I felt increasingly moved by each and everyone’s share. From the simple to the grand, the loud to the whispered, everyone’s truth-speaking had a gem that nourished me. When it finally came to be my turn, none of the rehearsals made sense, and what came forth instead was so surprising, honest and vulnerable— and I felt so seen. And then, palms sweaty and heart beating, I passed the stick along— no advising, no questioning, no saving me or giving me answers only I can find— just a deep witnessing that is an uncommon gift in these times. Something changed in me forever that day.
