OUR STORY

We return to the archives for a story of the Fens of East Anglia, retold by Mitlé Southey.

The moon becomes trapped in a marsh pool. Without her light, the bogles and beasts of the darkness take over the Fens. Through a combination of community care and the wisdom of the old woman at the edge of the bog, the local people finally find and liberate the moon.

OUR GUEST

Mitlé is a Circle Holder walking the ancient path whilst contributing to a modern movement. The founder of Circle School, she teaches internationally and has facilitated circles, retreats and courses since 2016. She believes in the power of connection, community and circle to provide a path of integrity back to ourselves, and authentic relationship with the more than human world. As a woman of British heritage, Mitle’s circles and courses are deeply rooted in the old Western wisdom traditions and British native mythology. As a former lawyer now learning the old ways, she is seeking ways to fracture the current systems that uphold oppression and is committed to increasing her capacity to hold diverse, inclusive and safer spaces for those marginalised by those systems. When not in Circle, she can usually be found out walking or in a cosy corner with a book and a cup of tea.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gatherwithmitle

Substack: https://mitle.substack.com/

OUR CONVERSATION

• We can see ourselves in every character and every element of the more-than-human-world in this story. This is a story of community and connection and of Sister Moon who is so caught up in overgiving that she loses track of her own needs.
• The power of the unknown and finding answers when people come together as a community.
• The mark of the heroine: the “do it together” ethic as an alternative to the hero’s journey.
• Mitlé’s experience of holding circles, both in person and online, and how we are called to continue to adapt
• How the “architecture of circle” can help us today. What is being included or suppressed in a circle? What is said or unsaid? The power of silences and words? Conversations about power and biases, and what perspectives are welcomed into a space.
• Western culture’s limits of time and how it contrasts with indigenous cultures where circles last as long as they need to go.
• What we can learn from indigenous traditions that gathered in circle. Questions of cultural appropriation and Inclusion.
• Mitlé’s source: from the folklore collected by Mrs. M.C. Balfour from the 1890s.

WORK WITH MARISA

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Music by Beth Sweeney and Billy Hardy: billyandbeth.com