Deb welcomed everyone to the Roundhouse in Hawbush Gardens

Caz tended the fire.

We drank lemon balm tea harvested from the Gardens.

Deb reminded us of the Council of all beings Invitation and provided some context to DPSFCJ. She then introduced us to the originator and author of Council of All Beings ritual Joanna Macy.  Macy invites us through the Council to first acknowledge, name, and share the grief of this moment of loss and the harms done to the lifeworld of our entity; and then move through the grief towards hope by naming the gifts to humanity of the entity we are representing at the Council. The Council is a ritual experience intended to nurture a sense of empowerment in the face of planetary suffering.

Deb explained we are free to co-create this council experience together but the key elements will be the mask making of 2D masks using compostable materials only. 2D re-centre the more-than-human of our alter ego. We can take the materials away and grow our masks. In the second convening of the Council we will develop our messages that will be shared in the final Council. It is hoped that the Council will become a travelling installation stopping first at CoLab Dudley on Dudley High Street for the Summer/ Autumn Gathering. [I asked Debs if we might share the installation at the December Gathering of Understory Partners and we are inviting our Derbyshire partners Make/Shift to take part in the second session in July]

We then spent some time alone and in small groups in the gardens quietly reflecting upon who we would represent and for many this was a case of their entity choosing them in a range of other worldly ways. We reconvended to begin the mask making process. Often visited by Robin who is a regular Roundhouse visitor.

As Deb drew us back together in a circle around the fire she asked us to share any reflections and ideas of co-creation:

Asheena  - she has decided on Nettle as her being. She found Nettle kin in the garden and rubbed them on her hands feeling the sting and closeness of her chosen Kin. She showed the red bumps of her hands and the tingling sensation of their correspondence.

Jo - have decided on the River Stour as my being. It is a shared River river in my home place in Dorset and an important Kin in the Black Country and DPSFCJ. I also asked if our Undertory Sandwitch / Bog puppet can be part of our Council, the Council conversations got me thinking of our version and reimagining of the Wellbeing of Future Generationa Act (Dudley) and how it might evolve to Wellbeing of Future Life Act(ion) as way to record our practices in place and unusual data].

Erika - has decided on a Moth as her being. Representing the moth allows her to share the loss/ harm caused in terms of pollinations and light pollution.

Helen - has decided on Frog Spawn as her beings. She has started a mask on many little eyes. She wanted to share their collective presence rather than a single frog. She explained that this keystone species as Spawn are 99% water. We all agreed it was wonderful to reclaim the Froggery!

Caz - has decided on the Sea as her being. She is pondering on whether it should be a specific sea.

Rachel - before I came here I had decided I would be Fire, but then I was walking on the path in the gardens and a Red Cardinal Beetle walked across in front of me. And I realised Beetle will be my teacher.

Lorna - Lorna was part of a previous council during Lockdown and where she spoke for Beetle and it took her a week of learning all about beetle which she is looking forward to returning to for this council.

Clare - is uncertain of her being yet … maybe it is hedgerow, maybe it is the jungle, maybe it is a hedgehog - she wants to think some more about it.

Sarah - thinks her being will be a tree - specifically trees she visited in the Welsh Borders that are special to her … many of whom have Ash Dieback. She feels the importance of being witness to and witness for through this Council.

Helen - “I’m a tree person. The lungs of the planet - when they are cut down [unnecessarily] it does something to me.” Helen will be a tree as her being. [She shared a Climate Choir song about Sabrina the Roman word for the River Severn “Flow River Flow…”]

Deb- Has chosen the owl as her being. She has a secret passion to cohabit with an owl! She reflected upon how we can learn from their wisdom, re-learn the wisdom we have lost, to recognise our nestedness; to consider different perspectives of zooming out and then back in, whereas humans are often very blinkered.

After the reflections we all helped tidy away the chair and materials from the Roundhouse to the Shareshack.

Then we said our goodbyes until the next Council gathering on 3rd July …