The Inner Circle

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The Inner Circle
by Karen Saura, MH
copyright 2005, all rights reserved

"...in the circles where we face ourselves,we listen like a miracle,and I reclaim the song which is mine..."- Janice Mirikitani, Where Bodies Are Buried (Bolen, 1999)

The circle is an ancient symbol. It is a line without end. It can symbolize a container, a seed, a well, a womb. It has been used by cultures as a place for communion, celebration, communication, a place of equals. The circle is a universal archetype which holds a timeless and ancient position in our psyche.

Jean Bolen is a Jungian analyst who uses the circle as a sacred place for women to come together in communion to share, to heal and from this place of newfound wholeness, to create. In her book, The Millionth Circle, Bolen casts a vision of women’s circles forming in women’s gathering places all over the planet. Each circle has the impact of a pebble cast into a pond... it’s presence in the pond creates ripples that continue to spread over the surface and to the depths, around and around throughout the entire pond, quietly, subtly affecting each and every thing within that pond.

Bolen hopes to inspire women to form women’s circles and to see these circles in the larger context of a planetary transformation. She writes, "When a critical number of people change how they think and behave, the culture does also, and a new era begins". Bolen has created The Millionth Circle as a process which proposes to "(change) the world and (bring) humanity into a post-patriarchal era. Women...will be the ones to do it, if it is to be done" (Bolen 1999).

I was inspired by this vision of Bolin’s Millionth Circle. In contemplating its intricacies and implications I wondered why it couldn’t be applied to personal inner growth as a way to heal the many embodiments of one’s inner female persona, the Anima the female complement to the masculine Animus, as Carl Jung chose to call them. Why couldn’t it be applied to shadow work and the reclamation of the unconscious hidden parts of our female psyche which we have lost along the way?

Robert Bly describes the unconscious as a "long bag we drag behind us, heavy with the parts of ourselves our parents or community didn’t approve of" (Bly, 1988). Why not create an inner circle, a place to go to in meditation where we can call forth and reclaim from our bag of unconscious stuff these fragmented and lost parts of our Anima, our Goddess self, our inner feminine nature in her infinite forms?

When a woman’s inner Goddess nature is reclaimed, healed and empowered, this woman then becomes a Goddess in her own right, a Goddess in whatever situation she lives in whatever part of the world she finds herself. True inner and outer transformation can only occur as each one of us begins the journey of healing and reclaiming all the lost aspects of our Goddess self. As these emergent Goddesses in woman bodies unite through outer sacred circles in their infinite expressions, there will emerge a tremendous potential for unprecedented global transformation.

The Inner Circle was created to complement Bolen’s Millionth Circle. I share Bolen’s conviction that "when a critical number of people change how they think and behave, the culture does also, and a new era begins". Here’s to a paradigm shift and ultimate global transformation!

Bolen speaks of the first circle we see as existing in the mind’s eye and imagination. The Inner Circle is invoked through creative visualization, yet the ways to cast a personal circle are as many as there are women on the earth. Perhaps one paints their sacred circle and uses this sacred painting as the focal point for the circle journey. Writing could be used to describe circle. The circle may manifest as a cave or a garden, it may float over the water or in a bubble. A circle might be danced, or sung, and it may change over time. The circle is a sacred place where we will go to get to know our inner Self. Once the circle is cast it will serve as the inner sanctuary for inner reflection, inner healing, and for the reclamation of the lost aspects of our psyche.

The circle must have a center, a focal point around which the many aspects of our Self can come together. Perhaps in the center of the circle is a deep quiet reflection pool that allows whatever needs to come into my awareness to surface. It might be a sacred alter where personal power objects will gather. It could be a yawning cavern into the underworld through which to call to our unconscious to come forth when beckoned. Fire may hold the center with a flickering candle, a warm campfire, or a fiery cauldron into which we can cast our outgrown self images, beliefs, and thought constructs to be burned, deconstructed, purified and offered back to the fire Goddess Pele resting deep in the molten core of the Earth.

To enter this sacred place and hold the circle intact over time, one must first master some basic meditation techniques. These are numerous and might include processes such as learning to quietly sit with oneself while remaining distant from the chattering mind, or deep and relaxed breathing techniques. These techniques allow one to become centered and still. As the mind slows and time spreads out, the moment arises from which you gather your intent and cast this inner circle, this sacred place where the inner family will eventually gather and reunite over time.

This is a magical circle which will shift and change to meet the needs of the inner aspects of Self as they are called forth to be heard, recognized, accepted, and honored. Remain open to the unexpected and trust the process. Ask your subconscious to provide you with any tools you may need to work with at any given time. These shall emerge from your unconscious, perhaps they materialize on the alter or appear in your hands. Also intend that the full knowledge and understanding of how to use them emerges simultaneously. These tools are gifts from your subconscious, forgotten skills and abilities and they will serve to aid in bringing the lost fragments of self to the conscious awareness. As they are bathed in the light of consciousness, these fragments will become one with the conscious psyche and will recover their proper positions in the inner hierarchy of the sacred circle of the inner Self.

Into the circle call forth all aspects of the inner Self to take their position around the circle. Bolen defines the Self as that archetype through which we derive a sense of meaning and affiliation with something greater than our small selves (Bolen, 1994). As these aspects of Self come forth, each will have a seat at the circle. Yet not all the places will be filled. The empty seats are awaiting aspects of Self that have been completely lost into the unconscious and have yet to be reclaimed. These can be called forth, eventually, over time.

The aspects of Self that enter the circle come in varying states of focus, intensity, and awareness. Some are startled at being noticed as they have been ignored for a very long time. Others are frightened to come into the open as they have not been protected and nurtured and have had to fend for themselves over the years. One might be dominant, powerful, well-dressed, and arrogant. Another might appear disheveled or wounded. Whether they come into focus quickly, or linger unfocused on the shadow edges of the circle, every figure which emerges must be recognized, contended with if necessary, listened to, reasoned with, brought into balance and eventually loved and healed and reclaimed into the collective psyche of the Self.

As we visit our inner circle, we find that every time we enter this sacred place in our inner world, it develops in richness and detail, gradually taking on a force and vitality of its own. Some days it emerges as a bright, happy and enlightening place. Other days it remains shrouded under dark clouds of emotion. Occasionally, all of our inner hierarchy may be present for the circle dance. Other days one or another may be away, or reluctant to enter the circle, hiding behind a rock perhaps, needing to be coaxed out or comforted, frightened perhaps by events in the outer world which need to be addressed by the circle group as a whole.

Intend, (v.t.) is defined as: to have in mind as something to be done or brought about; to design or mean for a particular purpose, use, recipient, etc.; archaic, to direct (the eyes, mind, etc.) (Stein, 1984).

The inner circle is created through personal intention and for the purpose of calling in and reclaiming lost parts of self. Intentions are used to gather the mind, will- power and emotions together. From this point of inner alignment and personal power one then begins to visualize and create the inner sanctuary. Follows is a list of beginning intentions which will serve to hold the space for the inner circle and its process. Intentions may need to be added to or changed as the inner circle grows and evolves.

Set the intentions for the circle. It will be visited daily. This is to be a safe place. Any disruptive influences will immediately be put into containment thus insuring the sanctity of the circle. Nothing is permitted into the boundaries of the circle which could cause harm to any aspect of the inner family. The circle is to remain intact over time and space. Once the process is begun, it will continue day and night as the inner reunion progresses. All which occurs in the sacred circle will come to conscious awareness in right timing for healing and integration. Intend that the work of reconciliation of the inner family will continue in dream time and that all which comes to the surface will be brought to the awareness of the conscious mind for integration. Intend that the integration be at a pace which allows for the complete and thorough integration and assimilation of the reclaimed aspects of self and that it also occurs at a pace which does not interfere with the obligations of daily life.

It is helpful to write out the intentions for the parameters of the circle and review them daily. This helps to hold the focus. Feel free to amend these intentions as necessary to allow the circle process to fit your individual needs and the needs of the inner family as circumstances arise.
Journaling is a valuable tool for capturing insight and personal reflection as one embarks upon this journey of reclaiming the lost aspects of Self. Writing has long been heralded as a tool for accessing one’s unconscious. Each journey into the sacred circle will be unique unto itself and will be a window into the psychic atmosphere of the moment. There will be days when the inner aspects come forth with terrifying intensity full of details and stories which are stunning in their startling and personally intimate details. Other days may be filled with resistance and obstacles.

One must trust the process and allow for whatever is arising to have its place in the circle.
Through the circle process we are calling psychic fragments, parts of ourselves we have lost along the way. We call these fragments back into our conscious awareness, learn from their journey into the darkness of the unconscious and then reintegrate them into our psyche. Jung speaks of these fragments as "splinter psyches", bits of the psyche which have split off, most frequently as a result of a so-called trauma, emotional shock, or as a result of a moral conflict, ultimately deriving from the apparent impossibility of affirming the whole of one’s nature (Jung, 1981). These lost parts of self, buried in our unconscious, carry the emotional charge which was present at the moment of the splintering. These emotions must find a place for _expression. As these lost fragments of Self are called back into the circle, space is given to each one to tell their story and to express any anger, rage, and pain. In this way the energy is discharged and emotional balance is re-established.

In coming together, some of the fragments may begin to take on the form of universal archetypes, mythical figures such as the divine child, the twins, the crone, the primordial mother. Jung proposed that archetypes are "primordial images, representations of the instinctual energies of the collective unconscious". This collective unconscious, according to Jung, is shared by all humans and "results from experiences that are common to all people". It includes material from our pre-human and animal ancestry. Jung felt the collective unconscious and the archetypes which emerged from this rich universal psyche to be "the source of our most powerful ideas and experiences" (Fadiman & Frager 2002) (text).

In Crossing To Avalon, Bolen explores many faces of the Goddess in her infinite bodies of _expression. These same archetypal God and Goddess forces have emerged in cultures in all corners of the planet, from the present to the most ancient remnants of civilization. The names and depictions vary reflecting different eras and cultures, yet the qualities remain throughout time and place.

Bolen identifies the three aspects of the triple Goddess - the three faces of the feminine - the maiden, mother and crone. These feminine faces mirror the three masculine faces of God - the father, son, and Holy Ghost. Bolen refers to the triple Goddess by their ancient Greek names, Persephone, Demeter, and Hectate. The Romans knew Demeter as Ceres, and Hectate as Artemis. Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love and beauty was called Venus by the ancient Romans. The Virgin Mary has many names and faces in the Christian world and is known as Quan Yin in many parts of the Far East.

Figures such as the child, the fool, the queen and priestess have names too numerous to undertake in this writing. Other archetypes include plants, animals, the elements, caves, ponds, and mountain peaks. Mankind has forever called upon the Sun, the Moon, the Planets, and the Stars. We can invoke mermaids, centaurs, unicorns, Pegasus, angels, devils and demons. Transitional phases are embodied in the archetypes of seeds, floods, birth and death.

Through reflecting upon these rich and ancient archetypes, becoming familiar with them and calling them into the circle, we can bringing their universal qualities into our psyche thus serving to fill in missing parts of our psyche and to trigger unconscious aspects to emerge. As Jung reminds us, "we are in the realm of archetypal experience and share a collective unconscious". These "archetypes... are universal, and if we are receptive to these archetypes in ourselves, there is a corresponding resonance in us... a sympathetic reverberation of inner chords" (Jung, 1964).

Jung’s collective unconscious is composed of archetypal images, associated feelings, patterns of behavior. We are unaware of them until they are activated and brought into our conscious. Through the device of the inner circle we are calling in these unexpressed archetypes laying forgotten in our psyche and bringing them into the consciousness via the circle. Here we will reclaim their strengths and understandings, ultimately bringing these gifts into _expression in our external world.

Bolen advocates focusing on the feminine archetypes as we live in a patriarchal culture which subverts feminine attributes while emphasizing and emulating the attributes represented in the male archetypes. In The Millionth Circle she explains why. "Western civilization is the story of patriarchy, a dominator, hierarchical history of power and intellect that together have brought us to new heights of technology and to the possibility of destroying our planet". Bolen continues, "If the patriarchy is to be healed and the planet is restored, might women’s wisdom be needed?" We need to heal the feminine nature, reclaim our women’s wisdom, and recover our female voice so that when we speak our truth, it is heard!

We must recover those archetypal aspects of our psyche which have been rejected by this patriarchal society we live in. A place must be made for our Wild Woman, she who knows the truth and must live it. It is she who recognizes the Goddess, and in embodied sacred moments, becomes the Goddess.

We must come to terms with the four faces of the Great Mother - the life-giving, Nurturing Mother; the Death Mother, she who is so depressed that she refuses to let anything grow; the Ecstatic or Dancing Mother; and the deeply wounded and broken Stone Mother, she who no longer feels (Bolen 1994). Bolen suggests that we use these faces of the Great Mother to help heal our own maternal relationships.

We can call upon these aspects of the Great Mother to comfort the inner child. We can empower the inner Crone by seeing through her timeless eyes and observing our outer circumstances through the filter of her timeless wisdom. We can invoke our inner Warrior to summon the courage to encounter the challenges ahead. Each aspect of our inner Anima has a place at the circle as does every aspect of our Animus. As we come to know the many facets of Self through reflection, communion and relationship with our inner archetypes, gradually we heal our wounded psyches. The stories they share are forgotten aspects of our own individual personal history. As these stories are heard through the voices of the archetypes, the fragments are gradually reabsorbed back into the psyche of the Self. As our inner Self heals and expands, the transformation is mirrored to outer Self, that part which expresses who we are in all of our relationships and daily life situations. From this newfound position of psychic wholeness we can now embark upon the journey to bringing transformation into our outer reality. The path to true transformation begins in first reclaiming the inner psyche.

I began working with my Inner Circle as inspired by Bolen’s The Millionth Circle about a month ago. The process I used followed the general instructions set forth earlier in this article. I began with the Inner Circle intentions and allowed them to evolve over the last few weeks. Although I do not have a designated time and place where I meditate and reflect, I do take time daily to work with the process.

I first cast and entered my circle, created my center there and called for all aspects of my inner Self to come forth and take their places. I focused on the feminine aspect of my family as this is the focus of Bolen’s Millionth Circle. I looked around the circle and called forth my inner child, the adolescent girl, the teenager and the young adult. The mature adult woman came forth and she reminded me of my inner infant and toddler. I called forth my ancestors to fill the positions of the inner elders.

I looked around and surveyed who had come forth. In their customary positions were my familiar companions, my priestess advisor, the indian crone, my inner child, amongst others. The ones who were messed up or missing were those who mirror areas in my present life which are presenting strong challenges and those who mirror yet unresolved times from my past which were especially difficult, challenging, and overwhelming. As I reflected on why this is so, the wise woman elder steps in and explains that in order to get through the tough times I shoved these parts of myself aside and took care of basic survival needs, neglecting the maintenance of my psyche. "Splinter psyches" as Jung had defined them.

I have worked with my inner child for many years now and I will share a brief recounting of her gradual evolution to illustrate how the inner archetypes can grow and evolve as we work with them.

I easily recognized my little child when she came into the circle. I know her by name (she said it’s a secret-I can’t tell) and she’s about 8 years old. She used to be timid and too frightened to come out and play. I would often find her hiding, trembling under a large rock, terrified of situations occurring in my outer life. Long ago I asked our ("our" refers to my inner family of which the "I" that my conscious self identifies with is a part of) Source, that presence which holds all that I am, for a tool to help her feel safe. Our Source materialized a magical rainbow cloak, long and flowing, with a wonderful full hood. This magical cloak holds the wearer invisible when the hood is pulled on. My little child self loved this gift from our source and pulls it on whenever she is threatened or afraid. Since receiving this gift she no longer hides and has become much more present, playful and available in daily life.

My inner child needed lots of attention early on. She required lots of holding and comforting from my mother aspect. As she began to heal over time her behavior changed. She has become much more settled, less compulsive and demanding. It is truly amazing to watch the progress over time.

Working with the Inner Circle has brought me into contact with my shadow world and given me tools with which to call it forth and reclaim it. This Inner Circle can be compared to the first circle which Bolen speaks of, that circle we see in our mind’s eye and imagination. Once the inner circle is cast it can then be made manifest in out outer world. The next evolution of the circle journey is to reach out to other women, join a woman’s circle or form one (Bolen, 1999).

Just as the inner psyche mirrors the outer psyche, so the inner circle mirrors the outer circle. As one becomes acquainted with the Inner Circle journey, the next evolution is to embark upon the outer circle journey.

A peaceful revolution is going on,a women’s spirituality movement, hidden in plain sight.Through circles of women, healing women, Might the culture come around?-Jean Bolin, The Millionth Circle

References
Bly, R. (1988). A little book on the human shadow. San Francisco, CA: Harper & Row.
Bolen, J. (1994). Crossing to avalon: a woman’s midlife pilgrimage. San Francisco, CA: HarperSanFrancisco.
Bolen, J. (1999). The millionth circle: how to change ourselves and the world: theessential guide to women’s circles. Berkeley, CA: Conari Press.
Estes, C. (1992). Women who run with the wolves: myths and stories of the wild woman archetype. New York, NY: Ballantine Books.
Fadiman, J. & Frager, R. (2002). Personality & personal growth, fifth edition. Upper Saddle
River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.
Jung, C. (1964). Man and his symbols. London, England: Aldus Books.
Jung, C. (1981). The structure and dynamics of the psyche. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

Copyrighted 2005 by Karen Saura, all rights reserved. ksaura@gmail.com

Bio: Karen Saura, MEd, MH is a Master Herbalist graduate of The School of Natural Healing, science teacher, holistic and nutritional counselor. Consultations are based around the principles if combining inner healing practices with the use of whole, organic foods, nutritive herbs and supplements to promote optimal health and wellness.
Phone consultations are available. ksaura@gmail.com