Mitle Southey
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by Mitle Southey

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Welcome

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Welcome to the Circle School Blog. Musings, personal essays and writing by Mitlé, our Certified Circle Holders and the wider Circle School Community. You can expect to read about topics such as holding space, ceremony and ritual, mythology and folktales, storytelling, sacred practices, ancestral healing, rewilding, book reviews, recipes and more.

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I write about:

  • Ceremonies & Rituals
  • Circles
  • Community
  • Holding Space
  • Kinship
  • Podcast

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The power of Presence Each round of Presence has The power of Presence
Each round of Presence has pulled me into a deeper relationship with holding space. 
The process of creating, updating and sharing this immersion always invites me to sit closer to the flames of life! 
I held the first incarnation as I relocated my family from Australia to England. It was a time of upheaval, farewells, releasing, grief, travel, jet lag and anxiety! And joy and celebration. 
I postponed the start of the live round in 2020 in the wake of the unexpected passing of my partner’s mother. She died in care at the end of the first lockdowns and we hadn’t been able to see her for several months. It was a time of disbelief, shock, anger, grief and deep sadness. And love, compassion and kindness. 
I didn’t think I’d run another live round, but those in the Presence community shared with me how supportive, expansive, nurturing and transformational this container was for them. 
I have created a new version for 2022 with circles, classes, guided practices, conversations, reflective guidebook and a guide to creating your own mini-retreat. 
We were due to gather in Circle on the Solstice but instead I was arriving in Sicily after my father was rushed to hospital whilst on holiday. It has been a time of anxiety, “what-if” thinking, worry and grief. And connection, love and tenderness. 
Collectively each day brings another blow for human rights, for our precious earth and for social justice. And, a rise in grass-roots community organisations, activism and the union movement. 
To be a space holder in these times is to navigate this intensity, to hold the tension of paradox, to make space for inner and outer conflict, to alchemise rage to action and to tend to our grief. 
Our journey begins in Circle on July 5th and we are joined by @kathryn__sullivan, Circle of Life Doula and Space Holder.
Presence is a pathway of inner work within community. It is a daily practice because holding space is a daily necessity in these times but you can take as long as you need and return to the resources as required. 
Will you join us? Link in bio 💚
Image ID: in comments
What does it mean to be a space holder in these ti What does it mean to be a space holder in these times? 
It means holding space for the fullness of our emotions, needs, longings, outrage, desires, disappointments, anger, grief and fears.
It means being willing to meet ourselves again and again; to witness and honour our lived experience and acknowledge how our perspective of things is filtered. 
It means recognising the opportunities to connect with others through our presence; to witness them without fear that they are broken, without judgement that they need fixing, without assumptions or projected interpretations of their experience. 
It means embodying our humanity and embracing our responsibility to belong to one another with generosity and compassion. 
This is the practice of presence. It is not an alternative to professional support  or practical action. They are not mutually exclusive. 
Our capacity to contribute to the change we desire to see in the world is rooted in the practice of presence, which contains the potential to be a powerful catalyst. 
Join us in PRESENCE to deepen your capacity as a space holder for these times. 
Full details and enrolment via link in bio @circleschoolwithmitle. We begin on Tuesday. 🌳
Image ID: a graphic split in half horizontally. On the top half is a picture of two tree trunks overlaid with green transparent filter and in gold text it says: To hold space is not the absence of doing
On the bottom half is a representation of the roots of the trees formed into two heads facing each other, with green text that says: But the presence of being.
To hold space…. If, through our engagement with To hold space….
If, through our engagement with the world, we have attached our worth to providing solutions, holding space can feel challenging. 
If, through our interactions with others in our homes or places of work, we have been recognised for giving good advice, holding space can feel like we’re risking failure. 
If we have received validation from others for providing remedies to what ails them, holding space can feel like risking rejection. 
Holding Space can be deceptive. It can appear as if we’re doing nothing, whereas what is unseen but felt, is the potency of our willingness to be fully present and available for what is unfolding. 
To offer the deep medicine of holding space, requires deep trust in ourselves, in each other and in the practice of presence. 
To hold space is to relinquish our attachment to being seen to be useful, and the myth that to be useful is to offer solutions, advice or remedies. 
Deepen your capacity as a space holder in your life and circles, by joining us in PRESENCE. We begin on Tuesday. Enrol via @circleschoolwithmitle 💚
[Image ID: a photo of a woodland at sunset overlaid with white text: To hold space is to relinquish our programming that to be useful is to provide solutions, advice and remedies.]
I’m more interested in questions than answers. I’m more interested in questions than answers. 
I wish to take action propelled from anger but grounded in peace. 
I want to hold spaces that have the capacity to meet difference, explore conflict and sit with discomfort; that will foster our shared humanity, deepen our capacity for compassion and enrich our imaginations for collaboration and co-creation. 
Circles offer us an ancient technology to recover our innate ability to use our voices, to befriend our rage, to remember how to rebel and to weave our hopes into reality. 
Each of us has a contribution to make for our collective liberation. Through (un)learning, experimenting, exploring and holding our faith in our shared willingness to try, perhaps we will show each other a way. 
I’ll be sharing more on this and the books which are helping me (which are included on the PRESENCE suggested reading list) in my next Musings from Mitlé. To receive those, subscribe via link in bio @circleschoolwithmitle 
Image ID: 2 slides
1. A photo of a stone path leading up to the woods with the sun streaming through. Overlaid with white text : What I am currently reading to find a path through
2. A photo of green oak leaves overlaid with the front covers of five books: Five Rules for Rebellion by @sophiewalker_official , Hope in the Dark by @rebeccasolnit , Rage Becomes Her by @sorayachemaly , Holding Change by @adriennemareebrown , How to Stay Sane in an Age of Division by @shafakelif 
3. A photo of acorns with a green transparent part-circle in the top left corner with a small circular photo of Mitlé and white text: Musings from Mitlé. Link in bio: @circleschoolwithmitle
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Musings by Mitlé

Would you like to receive letters from me in your inbox? I share my journey of walking the ancient path in a modern world, reflections on Western wisdom traditions and British mythology, what I’m currently reading and the latest happenings in Circle School.

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