Spiral Up and Unify

"Spiral Up and Unify" was a phrase I first heard at Fall Council/Circle/Counsel in California at the end of November 2023.

The phrase came out in response to discussions about why the 2023 annual gathering of the tribes happened without a dedicated kids camp. Most annual gatherings in the prior decade had two kids camp: DKV (aka Dirty Kid village) and Kid Village.  Both camps offered amazing love and support to families and children. After all, it's not that easy taking care of a 1-year old and a 3-year old in the woods.

So why did we not have a kids camp in 2023? Lack of both human and green ($$$) energy. What does this say about our culture if we cannot support our next generation?

Yet the issue isn't unique to space for kids. Many camps and kitchens are short-staffed, volunteers over worked, and communally based services struggling to keep going.

In Ancient Greek Mythology the spiral is the symbol of rebirth, the spinning and weaving of the web of life and often time the portal to the prehistoric Great Mother. This symbol tracks back to neolithic times and continues to be used today. But what can the spiral teach us in how to bring to fruition the hopes and dreams that we put into our gatherings?

C.G. Jung sees the spiral as a symbol of growth. As he wrote almost 100 years ago:

The spiral in psychology means that when you make a spiral you always come over the same point where you have been before, but never really the same, it is above or below, inside, outside, so it means growth.

        From (Dream Analysis, Parts II & III. 1929. Seminar notes)

I often see the annual gathering of the tribes, which has been happening for over fifty years, as a spiral. Every year we gather, we circle back to where we have been metaphorically but not physically. Hopefully we have grown since the last year, added layers of wisdom, and created new imaginal and physical tools with which to gather.

Why Unify?

Since our gatherings are smaller than they were twenty years ago, me thinks we need fewer kitchens so that each kitchen has a great crew who doesn't work themselves to the bone feeding our family. 

Me thinks we need more people supporting the monetary costs of buying water pipe, walking the land, food preparation, tools, etc. 

Me thinks we need to take all our separate fiefdoms and create a functioning and coherent whole. 

After all, if we can't learn to work with each other, how can we expect to find peace?

This family has endless amounts of love, oodles of opportunities for growth, and plenty of space for  enthusiastic people. 

One of many truths I know about the gathering, is the more you sow the more you reap.  Please join us.  If you don't know how, visit my page on Plugging In. 

Do it for yourself, your family, and future generations!