Community Responsibility Guidelines

The Spark ritual circle provides a space for creative exploration. It is an open circle where we come together to empower one another.

Here you have an opportunity to explore creatively, test your boundaries, and challenge your limitations. We all have a role in making this circle safe. Making a personal commitment to your own safety is a powerful way to support your creative process. You are empowered to be the guardian of your own safety. You choose when and how you wish to interact with other members of the circle. If you are uncomfortable, challenged, or overwhelmed, ask yourself how you can respond constructively to the situation. Do you need transformational support? To talk directly with someone? To set an explicit boundary with someone? To take a break from the circle? To stick with your process? Do what you need to do, and don't be afraid to ask for help.

Because our community thrives on creative exploration, we don't have a list of what behaviors are acceptable or unacceptable. We're not here to police or judge each other. To make safety in circle, we each take responsibility for setting our boundaries and communicating them. You may need to take someone aside to tell them they're doing something that makes you feel uncomfortable. As a community, we support one another in setting boundaries for safe behavior and holding each other accountable for our community agreements. The Spark core is available to support you in setting boundaries with members of the community. Let one of the ritual facilitators know if you'd like help.

If you feel drawn to interact with someone in the circle, please be conscious of whether that person is inviting you in. Don't take it personally if someone declines to interact with you. Respect that request. They are doing their own work. If someone approaches you looking for help, please take the time to listen and take his or her concerns seriously. If you are not in a place to help, find someone who can. We support each other with our attention and understanding.

Being part of this community carries an agreement to treat each other with respect and to honor each other's boundaries. If someone is egregiously disruptive of the circle or demonstrates that they are unable to honor explicit boundaries, that person will be asked to leave.

Occasionally, conflicts may arise that make it hard for individuals to share sacred space together. Generally, such disputes are best resolved by the individuals involved. The Spark core may be able to assist in mediating or in finding an external mediator, if all parties consent. If there is a legal dispute involving members of Spark that bars anyone from coming to Spark events, all parties to the dispute are asked not to attend until the matter is resolved by mutual agreement or by a court decision. If someone in the core is involved in a dispute that concerns the safety of the circle, that person will take a leave from the core until the dispute is resolved.

Spark is intended to be open to all. It's a place where we can bring our whole selves – not just what's wonderful but also the imperfections, the parts that feel broken, the parts we may be ashamed of. We may not agree with everything that each person does or says, but we hold space for each other to come together in our imperfection and our divine humanity and to be transformed.