The Round Table and the Inner Circle

Paul V Young © 2026

 Read these words slowly
and let your inner voice
confirm their truth.

Here is the final treasure
I want to reveal to you—

one you may have missed
while searching distant horizons,
never noticing the resource
hidden in plain sight.

This wonderful opportunity
surrounds you,
waiting to be discovered
lying dormant until called upon
available to those who seek.

For you are never alone.

Separation is an illusion
of the material world.

While the outer mind forgets
the inner heart remembers
It holds the key
to something deeper than knowing—
the truth of who you are.

Within you stands
a company of companions
a circle of advisers
awaiting your call.

Your own Inner Circle
ever mindful of your needs.

Kings and heroes
were said to gather such companions
around a table of counsel—
a tradition remembered
as the Round Table.

Perhaps the story was telling us
something more important
than history.

Perhaps the table
was always within us.

***** 

We share our world
with many invisible presences—
more unseen than seen.

Many people sense at least one
being at their side:

a guardian angel,
a guide,
an ancestor,
a spiritual master.

Some of us sense a whole company—
a quiet fellowship of benign companions
waiting patiently
for us to notice them.

If you sense them nearby
then turn toward your own tribe.

Attune yourself to them.
Keep the channel open.

Become still enough
to notice their presence,
and quiet enough
to hear their messages.

I suggest that the ideal place
to meet them
is at your Round Table.

*****

Some of us instinctively know
the companions who belong there.

We have felt their touch
somewhere deep within
heard their whispers
beneath the noise of ordinary thought.

And if you have not yet met them,
do not imagine they are absent.

Open your inner senses.

Call them to your side.

Perhaps at first
you will sense only a number.
Perhaps a name will arise.
Perhaps nothing will happen at all.

There is no need to hurry.

Let the information seep in slowly,
like rain into thirsty earth.

And while you wait,
use your imagination.

Begin there.

Imagine a table of ten—
yourself,
one seated opposite,
and four companions
on either side.

Some may discover four.
Some twelve.
Some many more.

Mine is a company of ten:

nine companions
and myself.

If you do not know their names—
give them names.

If you cannot see their faces—
give them forms.

In time
an image may come to you.

Visualise the one seated opposite
as someone who resembles yourself.

There is empathy there.
Recognition.
Rapport.

In my own Round Table—

I see, to the left:
the Guardian
the Minstrel
the Warrior
the Healer

And to the right:
the Oracle
the Record-keeper
the Wayfarer
the Muse

And opposite me
sits the one who looks most like me—

perhaps the one
who knows me best.

*****

Find a place in your home
where you will not be disturbed.

A private place
where you can sit or lie quietly.

Breathe deeply.

Relax.

Allow the noise of the outer world
to fall away.

Then, when you are ready
form the picture in your mind.

See your Round Table.

See the ancient stone.
See the chairs.
See the faces waiting.

Think of the old images
of King Arthur—
peers gathered around
a rustic circular table.

No throne at its centre.
No place of superiority.

Everyone seated there
is of equal worth.

You are not the centre
of their attention.

You are part of the company.

Yet you are also
the chairperson.
You call the meeting.
You set the agenda.
You ask the questions.

*****

Summon your council of nine.

Call them by name
if you know their names.

If you do not,
use a nickname
until they reveal themselves.

Some practitioners
may call upon famous figures
from history,
or ancestors,
or departed friends.

And perhaps,
after a few meetings,
they will simply appear.

Do not concern yourself
too much with where they came from.

What matters is
what they bring.

Ask them:
“Master,
I desire to learn from you…”

Or:
“Dear friend,
what is the pathway
through this problem?”

Ask them to show you
the possible roads ahead.

Let them reveal
the consequences
of the choices before you.

*****

Ask the questions
that trouble the heart.

Should I follow the crowd
to gain the approval of friends?

How do I know
what is true
in the media,
in artificial intelligence,
and in a world
where truth and falsehood
can wear the same face?

Am I valuable?

Am I worthy?

Am I lovable?

Will I find the person
with whom I truly belong?

What is the right path
for my work?

How will I cope financially?

What does all this mean?

Where do I belong?

Why am I here?

Will my generation
inherit a stable future?

Is society falling apart—

or am I simply
looking at the world
through frightened eyes?

And beneath all these questions
lies the question
that matters most:

Who am I?

Not the little self
constructed from appearances,
possessions, fears
and the opinions of others.

But the true Self—

with a capital S.

The one beneath the story.

The one behind the mask.

The one you were
before the world told you
who you were supposed to be.

*****

When you arrive at a fork in the road,
bring the choices
to your Round Table.

When one path rises steeply
over the rocky mountain
and another wanders easily
through the valley,

lay them before your companions.

When you cannot see
a way forward at all,

ask them for a map.

When fear prevents you
from taking the next step

ask them to take your arms
and steady you.

When the harsh winds of fate
drive against you

when debt becomes a weight
around your neck

when every road appears
to end at a dead end

when you find yourself
deserted

abandoned

shipwrecked
and alone—

do not despair.

There is still a place
where you can go.

Still a table
at which you can sit.

Still a circle
waiting for you.

So close your eyes.

Breathe.

Step beyond the noise
of the outer world.

And when the room within you
becomes quiet

take your place
at your Round Table.

Your companions are waiting…

And perhaps
when you finally sit among them

you will discover
the greatest secret of all:

they were never waiting
for you to find them.

They were waiting
for you to remember
that they were already there.

Paul V Young © 2026