In a circle, several people voice a solemn reading of Joanna Macy's poem, the Bestiary, which includes a list of endangered animals. After the naming of each species, a clacker is struck or a drum is sounded in one beat. At the end of the reading, members of the group are invited to add other things that are disappearing from our world. The Truth Mandala - I use this ritual every chance I get. It's fantastically ritualized and elicits great depth of emotion.
Participants sit in a circle which has been divided in quadrants.
Usually made out of doors, participants are invited to wander outside alone, reflecting on their love for the natural world and that which has been lost to them or which they are currently losing. One by one, people come to the centre of the circle and place their object into a cairn, speaking if they wish as they do so. At the end, the group often holds hands, chants or sings together. Here's how Epic'ers Catherine Browning and Mark Steiner brought in time for mourning the losses that the world has suffered. The idea for the theme came to us as we were walking along the grounds of the retreat center and realized the land there was the site of a former buffalo trace.