Community Rules & Code of Conduct

1The spirit of this place

This space is held for adults who come in good faith — to hold circles, or to be held in them. Meet this place as you would meet a circle in person: with presence, honesty, and respect for everyone in the room. Where these rules ask something of you, it is because a real person on the other side is trusting you.

When someone falls short, our first instinct is a conversation and a chance to make it right — not a closed door. But the door does close on conduct that endangers others, and we say plainly below where that line sits.

2Belonging & non-discrimination

Every soul is welcome here regardless of race, ethnicity, nationality, faith or absence of faith, age, disability, body, sexual orientation, gender identity, relationship status, or background. We hold difference as something to be honoured, not merely tolerated. Slurs, discrimination, or contempt toward anyone for who they are have no place in this village.

On gendered circles. Some circles here are held for men, some for women, some for all. We hold the sacred masculine and the sacred feminine as complementary, never oppositional — two ways of being human, each held with devotion. A circle gathered around a shared experience of gender is an act of focus and care, not a denial of anyone’s worth. We ask every holder to describe who their circle is for with clarity and warmth, and to point souls toward a circle that fits when theirs is not the right room.

3Protecting souls — no abuse, no exploitation

There is no version of this space where it is acceptable to harass, bully, intimidate, stalk, demean, or threaten another person — not in circle, not in messages, not anywhere the village reaches.

4Safeguarding the vulnerable

This village is held for adults; accounts are for people 18 and over, and we do not knowingly hold minors. Some souls arrive carrying a great deal. Holding space for a vulnerable adult is sacred work, and asks for extra care, never less.

If you become aware of a real and serious risk — a child being harmed, a vulnerable person being abused, or someone at risk of serious harm to themselves or another — you do not carry it alone and you do not stay silent to keep a confidence. The wellbeing of a person at risk comes before the privacy of the circle. Act, tell a steward, and where life or safety is in immediate danger, contact emergency services (see below).

Some people in Australia carry mandatory-reporting obligations for child-safety concerns, depending on profession and state. If that is you, those obligations follow you here. If you are unsure whether they apply, treat a child-safety concern as something to raise and report rather than hold.

Read our full Safeguarding & Care of Vulnerable Souls policy →

5Confidence & its one limit

What is shared in a circle stays in the circle. Holders and souls alike keep confidence — you do not repeat, screenshot, forward, or trade in another person’s story, struggle, or identity. This is the bedrock of trust here.

Confidence has one limit, and only one: serious risk of harm. If keeping a confidence would leave someone in danger of serious harm to themselves or another, a holder may — and should — break it to the smallest extent needed to keep people safe, and tell a steward. Breaking confidence to protect a life is not a betrayal of this covenant; it is the covenant working as it should. (Please also know that circle confidentiality is held in trust, not legal privilege.)

6Crisis & real help

Village of Circles is not an emergency or crisis service. No one here is on call to respond to an emergency, and circles are presence — not treatment, rescue, or clinical care. If you or someone near you is in immediate danger, contact emergency services straight away:

After anyone is safe, you are welcome to let a steward know so we can hold you with care — but safety comes first, and professional help comes before us.

7Consent & privacy in circle

Consent is the air this village breathes. No one is recorded, photographed, screenshotted, or quoted without their clear agreement — not in a live circle, not afterward. You speak only for yourself: another person’s story is theirs to tell, never yours to carry out of the room. If you’d like to share something that happened in circle — even gratefully, even anonymously — ask first, every time. When in doubt, the answer is silence and a question, not assumption.

8Resources, lineage & what isn’t ours

Words, practices, and resources shared in The Hearth and across the village remain the creation of those who made them. Share within the village as permitted; do not copy, sell, or pass off others’ work as your own, and credit the source when you carry something onward.

Many practices we hold are gifts of living traditions and lineages — some sacred, some carried at great cost by the peoples they belong to. Honour them. Name where a practice comes from, hold it with humility, and do not strip it of context, claim it as your invention, or trade on it. If a practice is not yours to lead, say so, and point souls toward those who carry it rightly. Respect is the difference between honouring a lineage and appropriating it.

9Online & in person

The platform holds the relationship, but the relationship does not end at the screen. When a circle moves into a room, a retreat, or a call, the way we hold this space travels with it. How you conduct yourself in person with someone you met here still reflects this village, and is still held to this covenant. We cannot supervise every room — but we take seriously what is reported to us about conduct anywhere the village’s relationships reach.

10When someone falls short

We believe in repair. Most harm in a community is not malice — it is a missed step, a hard day, a boundary not yet learned. So when something goes wrong, our first move is almost always a conversation: naming what happened, listening, finding the way back. Where there is willingness, we walk toward repair — making amends, rebuilding trust, learning.

But a restorative heart is not a soft backstop. Where conduct endangers others, or repair is refused, the village protects its people. A steward may:

1. Have a conversation and agree what repair looks like;
2. Set conditions or a pause — a stepping-back from holding or from the village for a time;
3. Remove access — ending someone’s place in the village.

Some conduct skips straight to removal, with no conversation required first: sexual or predatory exploitation of a soul, grooming, abuse, violence or threats, or knowingly endangering a vulnerable person or child. We act with as much dignity as the situation allows — but we act. These decisions rest with the village’s stewards, held with care and confidentiality. If you believe a decision was wrong or disproportionate, you may ask for it to be reviewed; where possible, a different steward will look again.

11Raising a concern

If something here troubles you — whether you are a soul or a holder — please tell us. Speak to a steward through your portal, or write to the village at guide@villageofcircles.org. You do not need proof, perfect words, or certainty; only to tell us what you saw or felt. Every concern is received with care, taken seriously, and handled as privately as safety allows. Raising a genuine concern in good faith will never be held against you. If your concern is about immediate danger to life, contact emergency services first (§6), then tell us.

12What this village is — and isn’t

Please hold clearly what this village is, and what it is not:

• Circles are presence, not treatment. Nothing held here is medical, psychological, psychiatric, therapeutic, legal, or financial advice, and no holder is acting as your doctor, therapist, lawyer, or adviser by virtue of holding space. If you need professional help, we will gladly point you toward it — and we encourage you to seek it.

• Participation is voluntary. You take part of your own free will and may step back at any time. You are responsible for your own wellbeing and choices, and for seeking professional care when you need it.

• Spaceholders are individuals. Holders offer their presence in their own capacity. Village of Circles provides the space in which they gather; it does not employ them, supervise their every act, or guarantee outcomes.

• Honest limitation. We hold this space with real care and take safety seriously — but to the fullest extent the law allows, Village of Circles is not liable for the conduct of individual members, for what is shared in a circle, or for the outcomes of voluntary participation. Where the law gives you rights that cannot be excluded (such as the Australian Consumer Law), nothing here removes them.

13A living covenant

This covenant will grow as the village grows. When we make a meaningful change, we will tell you — clearly, before it takes effect where we can — and we will keep older versions so you can see what changed and when. The version and date at the top tell you which covenant you are reading. For changes that touch your rights or responsibilities, we’ll ask you to agree again rather than assume it.