What is Daré?

Daré (pronounced dar-ray), means a sacred gathering for healing purposes. Daré is rooted in the African Shona tradition of Council.  The members of Dare see this as both an ancient yet new universal language with immense potential to contribute to global peace; peacemaking that we believe necessary to healing the innumerable wounds that divide the globe.

About Toronto Daré

 Daré practice originated in Africa. Healer and shaman Mandaza Kandemwa hosts and lives the Daré way of offering compassionate healing and support to his Zimbabwe community. American writers, poets, activists and healers Deena Metzger and Michael Ortiz-Hill, after powerful initiations with Mandaza created a Daré in California. Over time other North American Darés were created. In 2005 a small group of people who knew or knew of Mandaza and/or Deena formed the Toronto Daré and have since committed to the care of this growing community.  

Principles of Daré

Daré needs to be experienced and lived in order to be known. Still, there are certain principles that are fundamental to it.  The strength and essence of Daré is in the circle and its intelligence. Council is its heart. And in Council one always speaks from the heart and allows the spirits and ancestors to speak through one. Wisdom comes from the combined voices and presence of everyone who is participating. The purpose of council is to seek answers from the community that we can't find ourselves. Asking and addressing a single question coheres the community. For example, "how do we heal what needs to be healed in ourselves and the planet?" Daré is about peacemaking and healing. None of us at Daré presumes to say we know what healing is, how it occurs, or even how, always, to recognize it. Sometimes one is the healer and sometimes one is desperate for healing. Sometimes the two activities are one in the moment. We believe that healing is, thus, an interchange, the dynamic of giving and receiving. Everyone is welcome and welcomed in Daré. Everyone is listened to and heard without judgment. This generous mind is not easy to attain, it takes time, practice and dedication. Daré is the place where each person's individual genius, intelligence and particularity is sought out, acknowledged and called forth.  And finally, Daré is truly composed of all the members of the community, living and non-living, visible and invisibles, the humans and the non-humans, the people, trees, birds, animals, stones and elementals.

If you want to learn more about Daré or interested in attending, please email us

Links

• Cape Cod Community Daré

• Web site for Deena Metzger

• Information on Deena's book about Daré,  "Entering The Ghost River: The Theory and Practice of Healing"

If you are interested in learning more about Dare. Click here.