More Than Human Live Action Roleplay

Welcome to the Interspecies Mediation and Sharing Circle. 

We are here to build empathy pathways to other lifeforms. We’re going to use our imaginations and a bonding ritual to enter the body and consciousness of a different kind of organism, and to reflect on the nature of their existence. 

This ritual will transport us to the Interspecies Multiverse, where we will sit for a guided meditation.

This meditation can be practices alone, or with others. If you are with a group, you might like to follow the mediation with a sharing circle to describe the experience you have of your new bodies and sentients. By listening to each other, you will understand more about your place in the web of life. 

When the session is over, we will perform another ritual to separate from our other species body and return back here.

So let’s begin.

First, choose your species. You could be any kind of species. Plants, animal, insect, fungi, bacteria, reptile or sea creature. It’s really up to you. Have you chosen? 

Now you’re ready to perform the bonding ritual. 

Hold your hands, palm up, in front of you. In your right hand, you see a small version of yourself exactly as you are now sitting there in the palm of your hand. Observe how you look and what you are made of. Notice your human feelings and thoughts.

Now, look to your left hand and see the species you have chosen. Observe how they look. How does this body feel? How does this kind of mind think?

Invite these two beings to turn towards each other and regard each other with a friendly curiosity. We’re now ready to bond. 

Slowly, gently, bring your hands together to introduce your human-self to the body and mind of your new species. 

When your palms are fully together, start to rub them till you feel a good strong bonding heat. 

Then, when you’re ready, clap your hands to enter your new body in the Interspecies Multiverse. 

Take a deep breath, and settle into your new body. How does it feel? 

Start at the surface of your body. Turn your attention there. What is the surface of your body like? Do you feel warm or cold right now?

Think about the kinds of things you touch on the surface of your new body. What do they feel like to you?  

Do you have a skeleton? How big are you? Are you wider than you are tall? 

Start at the bottom of your body, however that makes sense to you, however you orient yourself in space. Try to feel the things your species would feel. Are you supported by the ground? Are you part of the ground? Are you floating? Or flying? 

How does gravity feel in your body? 

Now, if you feel ready, move your attention to the middle or centre of your body. Do you have a belly? Or a stem? Do you breathe into, or sway from, your centre? Do you have a spine?

Now, move your attention to the top of your body, whatever the top of your body is for you. Do you feel the sun? Or the wind? Are you underground? Or under water? 

Take a moment to appreciate your new body- the top, the bottom, the centre and the surface. 

Now, turning your attention from your own body to your environment. 

What kind of sensory organs does your body have? How do you perceive the world around you? Do you hear? See? Smell? Feel? To what range do your senses extend? Which of them is the most important for the way you navigate the world? 

What features in your environment are most relevant to you? What other things and beings are taller than you? What is smaller? 

Can you move yourself, or are you moved by your environment? Or by other species? How does it feel to move? Do you move quickly? Or slowly? How does it feel to you to move in your new body?

Do you perceive weather? If so, is it a food? Or a threat? 

What other species are your neighbours, or co-inhabitants? Do you live within another species? Does another species live within you? 

Think about what you eat, and how you eat. Do you experience taste? Are you food to others? Are you afraid of being eaten?

What kind of emotions do you have about your environment? What frightens you? Take a moment to feel the emotions your species would feel. How do the emotions appear in your body? 

Do you know about human civilisation? If so, how do you feel about humans? Do you think humans know about you? If so, how do you think they feel about you?

Who are your ancestors? Or community? Or hive? Or pack? What do you understand about how you came to exist? Do you know your parents, or have children? How do you relate to other people from your own species? 

Who are your friends? Are they from your own species, or from other species? How do you hang together? How do you communicate with them? 

Try to imagine or remember the best you have ever felt. What kind of environment or community or sensory experiences are the most pleasing for you? How do you feel when you’re feeling your best?

And now, returning again to your body, however it is shaped. However it feels when it’s in its best environment. Keeping your eyes closed, let yourself begin to move your new body. 

Your movements can be small, or big. Let your body move into the form that best suits it. It can wriggle, or curl into a ball. Or turn towards the sun, or stretch. 

Move around the space in whatever ways you like to move. 

Does your body make sounds? Make whatever sounds your species makes, if you want to. 

And now, coming back to stillness and silence. 

When you feel ready, open your eyes. 

If you’re doing this mediation with others, you can pause now and open the Sharing Circle.

What would your species like to share? What do you have to say? 

Take turns to reflect on your feelings about your experiences. Listen to what others have to say. Long periods of silence are fine.

When one of you feels that it’s time to stop, just say, the circle will close soon. Leave time to allow people to share any last reflections. Then declare the circle closed.

When you have closed the circle, you can continue to the debonding ritual. Or you can continue to the debonding now.

We are now going to perform the debonding ritual, and exit from the Interspecies Multiverse. 

Hold your hands, palm up, in front of you. In your left hand, you can see the species that you chose. Observe how they look, and how this body feels right now. What is in their mind? 

Now, look in your right hand, and see a version of your human self exactly as you are now, sitting there in the palm of your hand. Observe how you look, and what you are made of.

Notice your human feelings and thoughts. 

Invite these two beings to turn towards each other, and regard each other with friendly appreciation. We are nearly ready to separate.

Slowly, gently, bring your hands together. Start to rub your palms till you feel a good strong debonding heat. When you are ready, clap your hands to exit your other species body in the Interspecies Multiverse and to return to this place together.

Welcome back.