Sitting by the Fire: Facilitating Sacred Circles
Sitting by the Fire: Facilitating Sacred Circles
A Practitioner’s Path to Holding Space
To sit by the fire is to remember — to recall the ancient way of gathering, listening, and tending to one another. This workshop is for practitioners who feel called to hold circles but are new to facilitation, or who have not yet guided larger groups.
Together, we’ll explore the art of circle holding as both a skill and a sacred responsibility. You’ll receive practical tools, rituals, and structures, as well as the embodied confidence to begin creating spaces where others can feel safe, supported, and transformed.
At its core, holding space involves creating an open environment where individuals can share their stories, emotions, and experiences without judgment.
For practitioners, this means mastering the delicate balance between guidance and presence, allowing the group to navigate their collective journey.
The sacred circle serves as a metaphorical and literal hearth—where warmth, connection, and transformation unfold. Practitioners must cultivate deep listening skills, empathy, and an understanding of group dynamics, ensuring that each participant feels valued and heard. Whether used for healing, spiritual growth, or community building, facilitating such circles requires commitment to authenticity, respect for diverse perspectives, and a dedication to fostering a spirit of unity and trust.
In the Mayan tradition, 1 Ix marks the first stirring of the jaguar spirit, a beginning point filled with quiet power and deep potential. It reminds us that wisdom is not rushed. It is learned through listening, through relationship, through time spent in communion with the living world.
Ix teaches that our connection to Mother Earth is reciprocal. When we pause, offer gratitude, and tend sacred space, we remember that support is not something we force into being, but something that arises through reverence and belonging. Shrines, altars, and circles become places of dialogue with the unseen, where intention is shaped by humility and care.
This workshop is held within that same spirit. A return to harmony, to listening more deeply, and to remembering how to gather with presence around what is sacred.
This practice invites both facilitators and participants to engage in a shared voyage of discovery and growth, much like sitting around a fire, where stories are told, and souls are soothed.
For those who want to join me in-person please note that in the questionnaire. I'll email you the address.
Sliding scale available from $30-$50.
What You’ll Experience
Lighting the Fire — practices to open sacred space with presence and intention
Tending the Flames — how to hold group energy steady, even when the unexpected arises
Gathering Around — rituals and practices that foster safety, intimacy, and belonging
Closing the Circle — graceful ways to honor the journey and release the space
Hands-on Practice — opportunities to try facilitation skills and receive supportive feedback
Who This Is For
This workshop is especially supportive if you:
Have felt the call to gather people but aren’t sure how to begin
Want to deepen your ability to guide groups, whether in person or online
Long to share your gifts in a community setting with confidence
Are a practitioner, healer, or guide ready to kindle circles as part of your path
No previous facilitation experience is required — only the willingness to sit at the fire and learn its ways.
What You’ll Walk Away With
A framework for guiding circles from beginning to end
Practical tools to navigate group dynamics with grace
Rituals and energetic practices that add depth to your gatherings
The confidence to hold circles that reflect your own unique medicine
The Heart of This Work
The fire has always been more than flame — it is a teacher, a mirror, and a gathering point for the soul. When you step into the role of circle holder, you are tending this ancient fire in a modern time.
This workshop will help you translate wisdom into lived experience, turning your circles into alchemical spaces where healing and connection can unfold. You will practice the steadiness that makes others feel safe to open, and the presence that allows transformation to spark.
When you embody this way of holding space, you are not simply leading a group — you are tending a sacred fire that awakens trust, belonging, and renewal.
A replay will be made available for all participants to access for a month.
Be sure to have a journal, dress comfortably and have water and any tools you'll need to help support you in your space.
This workshop is part of a series to support practitioners to connect and share their gifts.