Autumn 2025 Newsletter
The Micro-blog:
Wow, where did the year go? As I look out of my study window onto the mountainside, the copse of Aspen trees that cluster above a deep ravine cut by the fast-flowing stream are starting their slow burn: green into yellow, into gold, and eventually amber and then black, the last to fall.
As we turn with the season towards the West and into a more reflective time, I notice that my plans to hold 5 trainings and 2 workshops this year were a little over done: the 5th training had to cancelled due to a lack of participants. An over-reach on my part, ‘getting ahead of the medicine’ again (some lessons I learn slowly!).
What has been delivered this year though was delivered well, and landed well, so there’s satisfaction and contentment there.
In 2026, there will be only 4 scheduled public trainings (I’m slow but I get there in the end). Two Council 1’s and two Council 2’s – each level having one course in person and one online.
And there’ll be no Meaningful Circles Online workshops (unless someone asks for one), so it’s going to be a spacious year – allowing room for new things that I hope are going to grow from seedlings into saplings during 2026. One’s a ‘200 year project’ to package up and pass on the seeds of healthy culture to future generations. Another is a right-here-right-now response to the efforts of some to sow discord and division between communities. Exciting stuff.
Even with the planning and nurturing of these new things, the cancelling of the October training means my own late Autumn and early Winter will be largely empty of ‘doing’. A space perhaps for rest and healing. An opportunity to practice proper ‘Wintering’ so that I can return in February grounded, aligned, well-resourced, and ready to roll.
Below you’ll find details of the nice lean little training programme for 2026. Do get in touch if any of these call to you.
For now, I’ll wish you a beautiful Autumn and a smooth slope down to a deep still Winter. I’ll write again in the mid-Winter, and I hope you will keep in touch too: I’m resting but I’m not quite hibernating!
Green-Gold blessings of the Aspen trees to you and yours,
Dave
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Upcoming Courses:
Saturday, 14th February 2026 4pm UK – Sunday, 22nd February 2026 9.15pm UK
Online, timed to suit N.A. and European time zones, spread across 2 weekends
Learn the essentials of Council, and the basics of facilitating your own Council circles, from the comfort of home, with no travel or accommodation costs.
· Delivered via Zoom but in small groups and with technical tweaks that maximise the experience of sitting in a real circle with other humans. Feels like real council, real Council magic happens.
Council 1 - in person (West Sussex, UK)
Saturday, 4th May 2026 1pm –Monday, 6 May 2026 3pm (Bank Holiday Weekend)
Micklepage Barn, Horsham, West Sussex
Residential, and fully catered.
This is a more spacious 3 day version of this training that allows you to more fully experience and lean into this powerful set of group practices, and to learn the basics of facilitating your own Council circles.
Friday 11th September 2026 1pm - Sunday 13 September 2026 3pm
Venue: To Be Confirmed
· A 3 day training specifically for Council facilitators with at least one year’s experience. This course delves into the joys, the nuances, the challenges, and the perils of being a regular facilitator of Council circles.
Council 2 – online via Zoom
Saturday, 3rd October 2026 4pm UK – Sunday, 11th February 2026 9.15pm UK
Online, timed to suit N.A. and European time zones, spread across 2 weekends
A training specifically for Council facilitators with at least one year’s experience. This course delves into the joys, the nuances, the challenges, and the perils of being a regular facilitator of Council circles.
· Delivered via Zoom but in small groups and with technical tweaks that maximise the experience of sitting in a real circle with other humans. Feels like real council, real Council magic happens. Since 2020 Dave has facilitated over 650 online Council circles, and delivered 18 Council trainings online.