Summer Newsletter 2025
Welcome to the Summer 2025 True Circles newsletter
The Micro-blog:
Hi there. How are you doing?
Things are pretty tough, aren’t they, in the human-made world of culture and our societies? Genocide, climate catastrophes, wars, the loss of other species and so many wild places. What a mess we’ve made. We seem to have allowed our worst, most damaged people to rule over us and to dictate what happens. And yet, it wasn’t always so – for hundreds of thousands of years we lived on Earth with the same wisdom and grace as the other beings. We gave and received in equal measure, we brought unique gifts and were blessed by the unique gifts of other, older, brother and sister species.
That gives me hope. Hope that we may one day, return to sanity, and with humility, once again take our place in the web of life, as it regrows and heals itself. Until then I intend to go on carrying this ancient-and-ever-new practice of Council to those who are waiting to remember it, always seeking more potent, more abundant ways of sharing the gift and enabling others to begin new circles in new places.
The sense of flow I spoke about in the Spring newsletter continues with the regular online and in-person circles, mentoring, and full’ish roster of courses spanning Introduction (C1), Going Deeper (C2), and Meaningful Circles Online (MCO). With the in-person Council 1 course in September and the online Council 1 in October (see Upcoming Courses below), the final tally for 2025 will be four C1s, one C2, and 2 MCOs.
The work to sow and then tend seeds of Council in specific places continues too: my trip to Timberyard Farm in Suffolk in September will be my second annual visit, and we hope to put on a Council 2 there in 2026. In the same way this year’s first visit to Micklepage Barn in West Sussex may lead to a Council 2 there in 2026. Looking further afield I’ve received an invitation to travel to Turkey next year to put on some courses for the already established Council community there. And of course there’s the annual European Council Network ‘Gathering’ in Greece in April ’26 to look forward to as well.
Oh and I got interviewed for a podcast! Mark McCartney, who asks the best questions, and listens like a barn owl, hosts the podcast What Makes A Good Life? The conversation that ensued was rich and revealing. If that intrigues you, it’s available in full here:
The Newsletter: https://www.whatisagood.life/p/what-is-a-good-life-131
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6MHuhWoVYkovwb3GSIAsHq?si=e9a827cce0944ced
Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/what-is-a-good-life-131-the-art-of-aligning/id1663668603?i=1000717268801
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtKPQzgUQRg
Scroll down for courses coming soon!
Upcoming Courses:
Council 1 - in person (Suffolk, UK)
Fri, 5 Sept 202510:00 Sun, 7 Sept 202517:00
Timberyard Farm, Great Glemham, IP17 2DL
Non-residential, but delicious lunches and refreshments provided
A full 3 day training this time, that allows you to experience this powerful set of group practices in a more spacious framework, and to learn the essentials of facilitating your own Council circles.
Council 1 - online (via Zoom)
Council 1 - online (via Zoom – timed to suit UK, USA, Canada, and European time zones)
Sat 4th Oct 2025 – Sun 12th Oct 2025
Online but live and for real (no pre-recorded material here!)
No travel costs, no accommodation costs, but the same 16 hours of live experiential learning as the in-person course
Spread across 2 weekends so we only spend 4 hours per day on Zoom with plenty of breaks. Each day is: 2 hours of learning (with a short break mid-way), then a 1 hour break for food, then another 2 hours of learning (with another break mid-way).
Other powerful offerings from people I know and trust:
(because we all get endless ads for programmes that sound terrific - but we know it's a risk. How much better when someone we know and trust says to us: "I know these people, I vouch for them, you can trust them").
I don't do this often, because I'm not willing to promote other people's offerings to you unless I know that they are from deep, wise, heart-centred people who are both gifted and experienced at what they do. Natasha and Werner both pass that test.
Vision quest in Scotland in August:
https://www.theartofrewilding.com/events/vision-quest-scotland
OK, lovely people, that's it for now. Take good care of yourselves and I'll write again in the Autumn – in the meantime check out the website under ‘News’ for more micro-blogs!
Sending strength and compassion in a hard time,
Dave
And if you don't want another newsletter in your in-box just let me know and I won't send you any more - no hard feelings.
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