How Three Days of Scared Council Taught Me The Power of Stories
Stories Weave And Connects Us To Meaning Making And Unified Consciousness
As my creative partner Jasmine and I are getting ready to tune into the flow of Fresh Water Society, we decided to take a “break from deadline.” It’s the start of 2023 and we’re starting our flow with setting the energy and intention of our focus and creativity. We’ve decided to take 3 months off deadlines and connect weekly in regular Councils.
This break from deadline is intended to give us the space we need as Creators to gestate with our feelings and desires. We use the Native American Council framework ( learn more here and here) to connect with the emerging energies we feel as we reflect upon the work we’ve already created. We reconnect with our principles and the initial desires we held when we started creating together.
Over the last year, we’ve incorporated the Council framework to replace meeting structures, host brainstorm sessions, workshop stories, produce story work and hold scared ceremonies. Part of the shift for us was incorporating practices that connected us with Spiritual Integrity for the community we were creating. Our ceremonial podcast production, Coming to the Circle: 7 Seeds of Consciousness ( on Youtube), was recorded using the Council framework to encapsulate the integrity of stories and the storyteller.
We wanted to be Stewards of Spiritual Integrity and found the framework of Native American Councils to honor the sovereignty of Spirit, the oral telling of One’s story, culture, lineage and people and the passage of Life. We also found Councils rooted us in responsibility for our own stories serving community and healing.
At the beginning on January 2022, I had just completed one year of mentorship with Self Ascension and my spiritual evolution accelerated. I was looking to slow down and integrate with myself when I came across an event that carried energies I was looking for.
I had explored a lot of community spaces and I was looking for spaces to help me tap into my own essence and energy. I wanted spaces where I could harvest from myself and be in the abundance of my creativity in community. I was over instructional spaces, I wanted community spaces for deep intimacy with myself.
I met two women hosting a Sacred Renewal Council during a global 7 Days of Rest event. One of our host, Isabel Rosa of Portuguese Ancestry left an impression on me. Her Presence was slow paced and stilling, her face told a story of patience with a nostalgic accent. She was captivating in her own way, an ‘ol crow.
And so for 3 days this ‘ol crow and her disciple took a small virtual group connecting land and water through stories of nourishment, communing and valuing. It was these three intimate days in connection with stories of nourishment, communing and valuing that opened me up to the power of stories and storytelling in Scared Council.
We opened our Council honoring the Elements and the Directions. We honored our collective Ancestors and set our intentions for being in Scared Council. We learned there is a code of conduct we are all responsible for while in Scared Council. This code of conduct is how we learn responsibility and honor and respect what is scared between us.
Code of Conduct in Councils
The Code of Conduct in Council were rules we all agreed to follow while in Scared Council together. Together we created intimacy for each other to be able to feel deeply interconnected and woven. We opened a space for our stories to become transformative for the community we came together to be part of. These rules helped our stories connect us from far and wide because it facilitated deep listening and wisdom sharing. When you enter into Council with sovereign beings..
Speak One's own story. The stories shared are your stories, your feelings, your lessons and not the stories of anyone else. Share your story concisely and succinctly and take as much space as you need. Each voice has space for their authentic expression, insights and understandings to be heard with attentive listening and compassion.
Stories are Scared gifts. Stories shared in Council are for council members and are not allowed to be shared outside of Council. What is spoken of in Council stays in Council. We are responsible for our stories, the way we respond to the stories we receive and how we treat stories shared with us.
Practice Taking Turn. Council members take turns sharing stories with their talking piece. Council members not sharing stories are practicing deep listening and connecting with the way their Presence is engaged. Take time listening and feeling into the connection arising in your body with the stories shared.
The stories shared with me these three days opened me up to a community model I became obsessed with. It was in this space that I connected my stories to community and community was weaving with my stories; we were in a symbiotic healing relationship. The stories I walked with were moments for scared bonding, connection and intimacy sharing. The stories shared with me connected me deeper to myself and my self-awareness.
These stories stayed with me- from deeply connecting with our scared Oneness to our concerns for the animals to changes in our friendship and needing community connection; all voices were embraced. All voices were sovereign with agency to make meaning and find common resonance with each other.
We were practicing peace, peace keeping and peace bonding. After experiencing Scared Council I wanted to only be in Councils. I decided the Council framework was the best way for me to practice being a responsible steward of stories. I saw stories as a transformative tool with deep cultural roots to connect us with cultural teachings and wisdom. Stories weave and connects us to meaning making and unified consciousness. Through stories we can find unity within.
Through our stories we connect with our histories, our Ancestors, our values as a People and our cultural way of life. We can honor and be prideful of the value our stories carry as we carry on with our stories. We can be assured our stories shared are for the healing and transcendence of all. When we find communal ways to unify our consciousness in peace, love and harmony we create peace for all our relations.
As I deepen my work with stories and Scared Councils, I encourage you to connect with yourself and the power of stories on your passage of life. If you are called by stories, practice telling stories. Share a story of a moment in your life you truly felt heard in community.