Council of All Beings
Participants go outside and let themselves be 'chosen' by another life-form: a river, a heron, a fungus. They make a simple mask, then gather in a formal council where they speak as that being about what is happening to it, address the humans in the centre, and finally offer the humans the strengths they will need.
Use when a group working on sustainability, land or climate needs to step out of its own interests and feel what its decisions mean for the living systems around it.
Solves: Environmental strategy stays abstract; people argue about targets and never feel the stakes for the place they are standing in.
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Step 1: Open with a short invocation or framing of why the council is being held (10 min).
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Step 2: Send people outdoors alone to wander and let a life-form choose them (15-20 min).
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Step 3: Silent mask-making with card, markers and natural materials (30 min).
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Step 4: Optional practice: move and speak as the being in small groups (10 min).
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Step 5: Convene the council. Round one: beings say what is happening to them. Round two: a few people take off their masks and sit in the centre as humans, and the beings address them. Round three: beings offer their strengths to the humans (40-60 min).
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Step 6: Close with thanks, take off the masks, and let people step back into their own identity (10 min).
- Frame it clearly as a ritual and a practice of imagination, so sceptical people can join without feeling silly.
- Agree boundaries for the solo time outdoors (area, return signal, buddy check) and offer a sheltered option for people with mobility limits.
- Leave real time for the closing; people who have spoken as a dying species often need a moment before returning to normal talk.
- One-hour version in foursomes without masks, each person speaking once as their being.