The Circle Way
By Paul Beich
Crisis
Our world is in a deep crisis. The way we humans have been living for the past hundreds and thousands of years has brought us to a moment in which we humans must radically change the way we live. If we are to survive, we have no choice except to drastically change how we live.
Opportunity
This moment is also one of great opportunity. We have the privilege of being alive at the time of the Great Re-awakening of the Earth. Each of us has the opportunity to use our lives to lay a foundation for the healing and reflowering of Life on our precious Earth home.
Re-tribalizing
Human beings evolved to live communally and cooperatively, in tribes. hat is the way of life we are made for. The modern way of life is in every way built on a paradigm of separation, competition and exploitation. The institutions and cultural forms that got us into the gigantic mess we're in will not be able get us out of it, and back into living in the Way of Beauty. Now is the time for us to find our tribe, and together become pioneers of the much more beautiful way of life that our planet is about to re-awaken into.
Ecovillages
The basic unit of human life is not the individual, the "nuclear family", the city, or the nation-state. It is the tribe, or the village. For people who are not nomadic, the tribe and the village are largely synonymous. Our world desperately needs us to develop models of how human beings can once again learn to live harmoniously with each other and all of Creation. The eco-village movement is that movement.
The Native way, the way of the circle
In the Circle of Life and the Circle of the tribe, all are of equal value. The keepers of the Circle Way of living are the indigenous cultures of the Earth. We need to turn to our indigenous sisters and brothers as elder siblings who can help guide us back to a sane and beautiful way of living on the Earth. The circle reminds us that everything in Creation is connected, important, and sacred, but it is also a spiral, becoming ever more complex, interesting and challenging. As we are able to think and learn about our evolution we are also able to guide and create conditions for the ever greater spiritual transformation of humankind.
Manitonquat
Manitonquat, also known as Medicine Story, is an elder and wisdom-keeper of the Wampanoag people, the People of the First Light, the people who first greeted the Pilgrims in what is now southeastern Massachusetts. He is the author of many books, a teacher, storyteller, community-builder, and a leading visionary of our times. He is very active in teaching the Circle Way in Europe, where people are beginning to develop Circle Way eco-villages. Manitonquat is also the primary developer and teacher of The Circle Way--a holistic way of living that builds a much-needed bridge between our modern way of life and the wisdom of indigenous ways using the interactive tools developed in the circles he has led for the past 40 years. The Circle Way is about creating a way of life rooted in love, joy, creativity, beauty and respect for all of Creation.