At Yggdrasil, we will encourage dialogue – an ongoing inclusive conversation in which the autonomy of each individual voice is heard and honored, while at the same time we work to broaden common ground. In all dialogues, we will encourage each other to examine our assumptions, preconceived ideas and prejudices, belief systems and inherited patterns of cultural conditioning, so that a more authentic expression of individual truth can emerge through each of us. As we all bring our deepest sense of authenticity to the dialogue, Yggdrasil will help create a more authentic culture capable of supporting and sustaining a soul-based life.
Over time, Yggdrasil will develop its own way of facilitating dialogue – a process central to our third soul task of fostering communication among diverse intelligences. On the way to this goal, we will draw from various models already in existence such as the Native American tribal council; the Quaker meeting; and Bohmian Dialogue.
A basic premise of such models is that the collective wisdom of the group represents a richer, more complete resource than any one individual is capable of bringing to the circle. It will take every one of us, operating from a place of deep alignment with our soul’s calling to create a world in which our collective wisdom is the guiding star, but this is the ultimate goal of true dialogue. Our practice of dialogue at Yggdrasil will aim toward drawing forth the wisdom of the community by empowering individuals to integrate what they know and contribute what they know to the group process and the collective wellbeing. We will do our best to include the more-than-human world and the denizens of the mythopoetic realms in this dialogue. In this way, out of our practice of dialogue will emerge the best possible school-retreat that we can co-create.
