October Outdoor Gathering

October Message: Spiritual Care in the Midst of Transition

Oct.19, 2025

✧ Featuring Sarah Sicard and Mike Revels

Sarah is a Wisconsin Master Naturalist and serves on our Advisory Council as our Nature Advisor.

Mike Revels offered our community a deeply restorative Sound Bath with his crystal singing bowls.

Connect with Sarah on Facebook, and on Instagram.

Connect with Mike via email at: mikehrevels@gmail.com

OPENING CIRCLE:

We enjoyed our fifth gathering in nature this past weekend, coming together for the second time in Rock River Heritage Park. We opened the circle with a reminder of our central message for October, Spiritual Care in the Midst of Transition, noting the many ways available to us to care for ourselves, like tending to our emotions, finding community and wisdom, opening our hearts to new experiences, searching for meaning and seeking renewal in nature.

We began with a silent, slow, intentional walk in the woods. Our intention was twofold, first to notice the transition into fall -the cooler air, changing colors, and the thinning out of the forest as the trees and the other plant life begin to drop their leaves. The second was to gather natural elements that we found on the ground that spoke to us, but not to harvest from living plants.

After our walk, we made our way to the outdoor Ampitheater to begin creating a nature mandala from the elements we gathered on our walk.

SPIRITUAL PRACTICE:

Group Nature Mandala

A mandala is an integrated structure organized around a unifying center. The word mandala was derived from the Sanskrit word for "circle," and it symbolizes the universe and life in Hinduism and Buddhism. Its circular design illustrates the interconnectedness of all things. A mandala embodies wholeness and serves as a cosmic diagram of life's organizational structure, connecting us to the infinite. Mandalas reflect both material (form) and non-material (formless) realities, manifesting in celestial bodies like the earth, sun, and moon, as well as in social circles of friends, family, and community.

A nature mandala is also an “integrated structure organized around a unifying center.” It is a circular and non-permanent symbol using patterns to represent the circle of life. They are made with organic materials found in nature.

Creating unity
Creating a group mandala is a unifying experience in which people can express themselves individually within a unified structure." The mandala is more than an image seen with our eyes; it is an actual moment in time.

Cross-cultural patterns
Mandala patterns are significant across various global traditions. In the 12th century, Hildegard von Bingen, a Christian nun, designed mandalas to reflect her visions. Native Americans created medicine wheels and sand mandalas, while Tibetan monks crafted intricate mandalas from colored sand, and upon completion, monks hold a colorful ceremony where they chant and then ceremoniously sweep the mandala into a jar, releasing it into water as a blessing and symbol of life's cycles.

Our intention was make something together, as a community. Something to mark this moment in time. Our nature mandala together was offering to the land and a living expression of the way each of us contributes to the whole. It represents the intersection of the creativity of each person gathered in this place on this specific day of the year.

We began with the unifying center - the group deciding what to place in the center, as our unifying element, together. Then we built the mandala one circle at a time, slowing moving outward from the center. A beautifully unchoreographed dance of presence, intuition, creativity, listening and Spirit.

While we were co-creating our mandala, Mike Revels was attuning our energy fields with his crystal singing bowls. Singing bowls have traditionally been utilized to promote healing and relaxation, and in this case, their sound and vibration played a beautiful role in aligning us as a group, supporting our unchoreographed dance of creativity.

When the collective felt the mandala was complete, we took some time in silent prayer and gratitude, followed by a deeply restorative sound bath from Mike.

CLOSING CIRCLE:

We closed the gathering with our reflections and an invitation for all to share what resonated with them.

We sang our community blessing.

We stamped our ancient hearts on the canvas to preserve the memory of all who gathered with us on this day.

COMMUNITY BLESSING:

The heart knows. We go into the heart to remember, we go together, and we belong.


SPIRITUAL INVITATIONS FOR OCTOBER

If you are in the midst of a challenging transition, determine the best way to spiritually care for yourself and then get started.

Spiritual Practice: listening to the trees. Placing one hand on your heart and one hand on a tree, say “Speak to me, my heart is listening.”

NEXT GATHERING

Sunday, Nov. 2nd, 10:00 - 11:45 am

  • Centering Message: “Unity & Abundance”

  • Location: Mocha Moment: 1121 Center Ave, Janesville, WI

  • Featuring Heart Leader, Trish Kalhagen - Certified Spiritual Director.

    • Trish received her certification in Spiritual Direction in 2008 from Spirations for Interspiritual Formation in IA. She has been officiating weddings for the last 14 years, is trained as a Reiki Practitioner, and has been offering labyrinth workshops since 2010. Trish is passionate about participating in and spreading the word about the spiritual practice of the Dances of Universal Peace.

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October Indoor Gathering