In-Person Gathering Template

Gathering of the Tribes

The intention of our in person gatherings is to deepen our relationships with one another as community and tribe… as well as deepening our connection with spirit and nature. Below is a general format and template for our gatherings. Each local community has the liberty to modify and adapt the format to meet the needs and requests of your local group… yet we kindly ask that you follow some of the format to ensure the gathering is similar in feel and intention to gatherings that are taking place in other locations… this way we can build coherence with all of our local communities.

For inspiration and reference you can see what we are doing with our San Diego Gatherings here. 

These gatherings are family friendly and substance free (no drugs or alcohol please). We will be getting naturally high on connection with nature, spirit and community.

Schedule

• 4:00 – Arrival and Connection
• 4:30 – Opening Circle, Sharing and Community Connection Groups
• 5:15 – Potluck
• 6:00 – Fire Circle / Music / Dance / Connection / Celebration

Template for Gathering

• Cultivate an atmosphere of…
  • Inclusivity so everyone participating feels welcomed
  • Intentionality and sacredness
  • Joy and celebration to honor the beauty of life and community
    • (this could be done with incense, smudging, and intentional music – could be meditative or native/medicine music – possibly something similar to what would be played in a yoga studio or beginning of ceremonial gatherings)
• Have one of the hosts or co-facilitators open sacred space and begin the opening circle
  • Acknowledge and honor the indigenous tribes of the local land. You can use this website to find what the local tribe is of your region (https://native-land.ca/)
    • It could be done by saying something similar to this, “We acknowledge and honor the “LOCAL TRIBE” that has lived upon and stewarded these lands for MANY years before colonizing entities came here to claim it and turn it into private property owned by the colonizing entities.”
  • (Not mandatory) If someone in the group feels inspired and knowledgeable to call in the Four Directions (or more) of the Medicine Wheel – this is a beautiful way to start the circle and open sacred space.
    • There are many ways to call in the four directions (or 6 or 7 directions, depending on how you like to do it). Feel free to do it in a way that you have been taught or that you have learned about with the resources below…
      • Free masterclass webinar that demonstrates how to call in the four directions:
        • Four Winds Seven Heavens Masterclass
        • Four Winds Prayer / Ceremony
      • Gaia: Four Directions
      • Medicine Wheel: Legends of America
      • Medicine Wheel: Tribal Trade (video)
      • Lakota Four Directions Prayer (video) 
• Read the “Gathering of the Tribes” Manifesto (local-earth.org/manifesto)
• Opening circle welcome, introductions and checkin
  • Each person has 30 seconds to introduce themselves and share why they are feeling inspired to participate in this gathering (please honor the 30 seconds: if needed someone can be a timer with their phone and provide gentle reminder when someone has reached their 30 seconds)
• Breakout / Connection Groups (6 minutes)
  • Get into small groups of 3 people – each person has 2 minutes to share their thoughts and feelings about…
    • What can bring the most joy, beauty, meaning, purpose, fulfillment and positive impact to these in-person gatherings?
      • (we want this to be enjoyable, meaningful and impactful)
    • What can help us deepen our connections and build strong relationships with one another in this group/community?
    • These questions and prompts will evolve and change over time as we continue to gather – please stay in communication on the Telegram group each month to ensure all of our local groups are synced up with the same questions/prompts for the breakout connection groups
• Main Circle Sharing (15-20 minutes)
  • The intention is for us to come back to the whole circle and share some of the inspiration, insight and wisdom that was cultivated in our small groups
  • Share more in depth about some of the things you spoke about in your smaller groups
• Close the sharing circle
  • Share one word of that authentically communicates how you are feeling in this moment 
• Potluck
  • Please bring something yummy and healthy to share with the group
• Fire Circle / Music / Connection / Celebration 
  • If there is a fire pit – gather around the fire
    • If having a fire, everyone either please bring a couple pieces of wood for the fire or $1-3 dollars to contribute to the group if someone else is buying wood for the gathering 
  • If there is no fire pit – consider making a small altar with natural materials (stones, crystals, shells, wood, flowers etc.)
  • Everyone is welcome and invited to bring instruments
  • If the group is musical, play music and sing songs together (try to do songs where everyone can participate and sing along as much as possible)
  • If the group is not musically inclined, maybe play music on a speaker and dance
  • No matter what you do – the intention is celebrate the beauty of life and community
• Gratitude Closing
  • Hosts acknowledge the sacred space that has been created
  • Intentionally close the circle with a few moments of silence and gratitude for the experience

Locations

When choosing a location for the gathering consider some of these things below…

• It could be a public space or someones private land/home (backyard)
  • Public spaces (park, river, lake, forrest, cafe, community room, library) have the potential benefits of beautiful nature immersion and easy access by people without the need to reserve a specific spot. The potential cons of a public space is less privacy, more distractions – if you are opening sacred space, calling in the four directions and/or reading the manifesto – it is nice to have somewhat of a private/focused container.
  • Private spaces – potentially a more focused and intentional energy and container for more of a ceremonial experience. This can bring beautiful intentions and energy to someones land or home.
• It is great if the location can have a feeling of connection to nature (potentially outside if the weather is nice – maybe a park, beach, mountains etc.)
• It is great if there is a place to have a fire!
• Think about parking and accessibility of the location – we might want it to be somewhat secluded in nature – yet we also want it to be somewhere that people can fairly easily find – as well as a place that has a decent amount of parking for ease
• Some of the main priorities for the location is a space that feels inspiring, safe and conducive to intentional connection and celebration