The LIONSBERG Quick Start Guide

Your First 90 Minutes Together

You Are Here

You have read Welcome to LIONSBERG. You have gathered your circle of 3 to 12 resonant souls. You are sitting together — in person or connected by video.

This guide will walk you through your first 90 minutes together — what to read aloud, how to sense-make as a group, and how to choose your first quest.

By the end of today, you will have:

  • Consecrated your circle with a name and simple agreements
  • Read and reflected on The Story and The Great Game together
  • Chosen your first Seasonal Quest
  • Set your ongoing rhythm for gatherings and communications
  • Passed the Flame — identified the 2-3 others each of you will invite next

Let's begin.


Your First 90 Minutes

Minutes 0-10: Welcome & Opening

One person facilitates. Rotate this role in future meetings.

Welcome (~2 min):

  • Acknowledge everyone has read Welcome to LIONSBERG
  • We're here to step into The Story and The Great Game together
  • This is a threshold moment—we're crossing from the Old World into the New

Opening Round (~8 min, ~1 min per person):

Go around the circle. Each person briefly shares:

"My name is _____, and I'm here because _____."

Keep it short. This is connection, not explanation.


Minutes 10-40: Reading Together

One person reads aloud while others listen with full attention. Don't rush. Let the words land.

Reading order:

  1. Prologue to The Story and The Great Game (~10 min)
  2. The Story of LIONSBERG (~10 min)
  3. The Great Game of LIONSBERG (~10 min)

Don't worry about understanding everything. Let the story and the game wash over you. Sensing comes before understanding. Some will resonate immediately, some will need time to unfold.

A note for the facilitator: The Story contains a passage on death and transformation that strikes like lightning when read aloud. When the group reaches it, let the reader slow down. After the passage, allow a brief silence. No one needs to explain it. Simply breathe together and continue when the group is ready. Let it land.


Minutes 40-70: Sensing & Forming the Circle

Round 1: Individual Reflections (~15 min, ~2-3 min per person)

Go around the circle. Each person shares:

  • What resonated most from what we just read?
  • What questions arose?
  • What gifts do I bring to this circle?

No cross-talk during this round—just listen and witness each person's sharing.

Round 2: Forming the Circle (~15 min)

Now discuss together and decide:

1. Circle Name (~5 min)

Choose a name for your circle—or use a placeholder until one emerges.

Examples:

  • Circle of [Your Location] (e.g., "Circle of Sandpoint")
  • Circle of [Your Focus] (e.g., "Circle of Healing Arts")
  • Circle of [Your Intention] (e.g., "Circle of the Sacred Flame")
  • "Vision Weavers"
  • "Map Weavers"
  • "The Fellowship of the Ring"
  • etc.

Or simply: "Our Circle" until something better emerges.

2. Simple Agreements (~10 min)

Agree on 2-5 core commitments that will hold your circle together.

Suggested starting agreements:

  • Confidentiality: What's shared in circle stays in circle
  • Respect: Honor each person's voice and journey
  • Show up: When you commit to attend, attend
  • Universal Principles and Values: Uphold universal values such as Truth, Love, Justice, Stewardship, and Wisdom
  • Communication: Agree to check in and contribute regularly to keep the energy and flame of the group alive. Consider setting up a basic platform for asynchronous communications (text, Signal, Discord, Matrix, messenger pigeons, smoke signals, etc.)

Add any others that matter to your specific circle, but keep it simple—2-5 maximum. You can always add more later as needs arise.


Minutes 70-90: Choosing Your Quest & Setting Rhythm

What is a Quest?

A Quest is a tangible act of goodwill you'll accomplish together before the next solstice or equinox (~90 days from now max depending on when you begin).

It should be:

  • Real: Something that actually transforms your lives or community
  • Achievable: Within reach with several hours per week from your circle.
  • Meaningful: Connected to needs you see and gifts you can offer
  • Together: Requires collaboration, not individual action

Quest Brainstorm (~10 min)

Go around the circle. Each person suggests one possibility:

  • What need do we see in our community or lives?
  • What gift could we offer together?
  • What's practically achievable between now and the next solstice or equinox?

Example First Quests:

  • Plant a community garden in a neglected space
  • Plan and host a neighborhood gathering to build connection and discuss this initiative
  • Create a mutual aid network for elders or families in need
  • Document local wisdom from indigenous elders or long-time residents
  • Build or repair something needed locally (playground, bench, library box)
  • Teach a skill to youth (music, martial arts, gardening, coding)
  • Clear and maintain a local trail or natural space
  • Map and begin a directory of local offers and needs

Choose ONE Quest (~7 min)

Discuss which quest resonates most with the group. Look for:

  • What lights people up when they talk about it?
  • What aligns with gifts people named earlier?
  • What's realistic given time and resources available?

Choose your first quest. Keep it simple—you're learning to play.

Set Your Rhythm (~3 min)

Decide together:

  • How often will we meet? (Suggest at least weekly for 90 minutes to begin)
  • What day and time? (Choose a consistent slot that works for everyone)
  • Where? (Physical location or video link)
  • Who will send reminders? (Rotate this role or assign to one person)

Pass the Flame (~5 min)

Before closing, each person answers one question:

"Who are the 2 or 3 people I already know who are ready for this?"

Write the names down. This is not optional — it is the heartbeat of everything. Within one week, each person shares The Invitation with their 2 or 3. Those who resonate gather their own circle. Those circles pass the Flame forward. This is the ancient organic pattern by which 3 become 13 become 144 become 250 million — not through campaigns, but through trust passed from hand to hand.

You are now part of two Circles: the one that invited you, and the one you form with the 2 or 3 you invite. This is the double helix through which the DNA replicates and the movement becomes unstoppable.

Close with Gratitude (~2-3 min)

Go around one final time. Each person completes this sentence:

"I'm grateful for _____."


What Happens Next

Your Weekly Rhythm

Use The LIONSBERG Playbook for detailed guidance on circle practices. Your typical meeting structure will be something like:

Opening Ritual (5 min)

  • Brief centering practice (breath, meditation, or prayer)
  • Remember who we are and why we're here

Check-In Round (10-15 min)

  • Each person shares where they are and how they are coming in to the gathering (emotionally, spiritually, practically)
  • No fixing, no discussion, just witnessing

Quest Coordination (30-40 min)

  • Progress updates: What's been done since last meeting?
  • Obstacles: What's blocking us?
  • Planning: What are the Wise Right Next Steps?
  • Support: Who needs what from the circle?

Harvest (10 min)

  • What are we discovering as we work together?
  • What is working well?
  • What would we do differently?
  • What are we learning — about ourselves, each other, the quest?

Closing Ritual (5 min)

  • Gratitude round
  • Commitments: What will each person do before next meeting?
  • Benediction or closing word

Your Seasonal Rhythm

Every solstice and equinox (~every 90 days):

1. Complete Your Quest

  • Celebrate what you've accomplished together
  • Acknowledge the transformation in your lives and community
  • Share stories of what emerged through your work

2. Retrospective

  • What worked well in our circle?
  • What would we like to do better in the future?
  • What did we learn that we can carry forward?
  • What would we like to offer or share with other groups?

3. Choose Your Next Quest

  • What's calling us now?
  • What's the next tangible act of goodwill we can offer?
  • How do we want to grow or evolve as a circle?

4. Join Seasonal Gatherings (as they emerge)

  • Connect with other circles in your region
  • Share stories and learnings
  • Celebrate together as the movement grows
  • Begin aligning Circles into Communities, Guilds, and Bioregions from the bottom up

Passing The Flame

This is not a later step. It begins now — in the first gathering.

Each person in your circle already named 2 or 3 others who are ready. Within one week:

  1. Share The Invitation with them — a single link is all it takes
  2. Support them as they read and gather their own circle
  3. Be present for their first gathering if they ask

Each person you invite becomes a carrier of the full DNA. They don't need to be convinced. They need to be found.

This is how The First Three Percent emerges — through the ancient organic pattern of flame passed from hand to hand, Circle to Circle, community to community. Not through campaigns. Not through central control. Through trust.

The mathematics are the mathematics of life itself — the Fibonacci sequence. In just months, not years, the sacred organism shelters and nourishes the world.


A Nameless Instance of The Game

For those desiring deeper community, connection, and guidance, a first living instance of The Game is already underway — the nameless emergence.

Commitment: The first tenth of your time — several hours per week
Structure: Your sovereign circle, connected to the larger emerging body
How to join: Let the person who invited you know you're in and ask them to communicate word back to the center.

You have everything you need to play — you are sovereign, self-governing, and free to adapt the patterns to your context. And by connecting to this first instance, your circle becomes part of something larger from the start.


Resources for Your Journey

Core Documents (You've Read These)

Practical Guides (Use These Weekly)

Strategy & Depth (Explore When Ready)

Advanced Initiatory Paths (For Later)


Closing Word

You have everything you need to begin.

The Golden Seed is in your hands.
Your circle is formed.
Your quest awaits.

The rest will emerge through living it together—week by week, quest by quest, season by season.

Heaven On Earth is not a distant dream.
It is the Game you are now playing.
Right here, right now, together.


The Great Game has begun.
It is now your move.

Proceed to your first quest with courage and joy.
The world awaits what your circle will co-create.