Encircle

This world is indeed a living being endowed with a soul and intelligence … a single visible living entity containing all other living entities, which by their nature are all related.

- Plato, Timaeus

As a symbol, the circle is an archetypal one, shared across cultures and, some say, since the beginning of time. I wear on my right wrist a kara, one of the five articles of the Sikh faith. Wrought of steel in the shape of a circle and worn on the most dominant hand, the kara serves to remind us of the interconnected nature of all life forms, of our dual responsibilities as humans to both the material and spiritual worlds, and the importance of acting always in accordance with those values.  

This idea of the circle, of encircling and of being encircled, took on greater import in my life when I first moved to the United States in late 2001. Not just the context of arriving to a (wounded) post-September 11 USA as an immigrant woman of color, but also the strange cultural dissociation formed by, on the one hand, worship of the dogma of religion and, on the other hand, worship of the dogma of science, instilled a deep sense of alienation in my being. I mostly eschew organized religion for a committed spiritual practice and the lens through which I take in the world – one in which we are connected to each other and to the Earth by threads tangible and intangible – has been severely tested by incessant demands to assimilate to a culture that oftentimes doesn’t tolerate such “magical” ideas.  

Much like the symbol of the circle, however, the idea that we are part and parcel of the living system of nature and not separate from it has roots in many traditional and indigenous cultures. And while those cultures experience ongoing erasure and subjugation to colonizing norms, we are collectively experiencing the fallout of this dissociation from our innate unity with the natural world and ergo each other via rising sea levels, deteriorating air and water quality, increasingly contaminated food sources, widespread human displacement, rampant inequality and worsening mental and spiritual health. It is arguably because we humans are living more and more like machines that we so easily treat the planet and our natural resources (including ourselves) like commodities. Prevailing economic and social systems have subjugated human value to the scales of output, to the quantity of measurable production. Our ability to thrive has become determined by our worth in the marketplace and our legitimacy as persons with agency - indeed the very space we get to claim - measured by access to distorted spaces and notions of power. Is it any wonder then that the collective response to the impending ecological and social crises tend to perpetuate our disconnect from the wholeness of nature, from a deeper understanding of ecology and our role in it? Our efforts, instead of bringing us closer “home” to ourselves, feel more akin to throwing metaphorical drops of water on raging fires.  

Not long after moving to the US and as a way not only to reconnect with my roots but also reclaim my sanity, I began to host full Moon gatherings in my home. Rooted in the cycles of nature and of the planets and inspired by the stories my mother would share of her childhood in the Punjab when entire families would travel to a particular Gurudwara on the banks of one of Punjab’s five rivers to pray in community on full Moon eve, these gatherings – organized in a circle - have served as too-rare opportunities to safely engage with the subtle, interior realm of existence and to remember our innate unity with natural cycles. 

The idea that is circulating in my heart has to do with creating ritual circles centered in the idea of remembering our innate sense of connection and interconnectedness. I am keenly aware that many in our culture are put off by overtly metaphysical references. While I’m not about to abandon the ground I stand on, we need no labels to experience connection - only intentional physical and psycho-spiritual space. I am thinking of this project as a “performance” only as a way to describe the participatory nature of these gatherings during which all present would be invited and encouraged to engage with broader notions of union with nature and in turn unlock a deeper connection to why perhaps we are incarnate in the first place. The work is still nascent and as such I have not fully fleshed out the best approach for manifesting what still seems like an ethereal concept. The “concept,” for lack of a better word, has to do with bringing awareness to our innate power and gifts as human beings and how the simple act of bringing our full presence – physical and energetic – to the circle can be empowering in and of itself. The intention is to elevate humanity.