Leaning Into Grief: Personal and Planetary Sorrows
This event is a full weekend, in-person, facilitated retreat designed to introduce participants to the embodied and communal work of grief.
Grief is an integral part of life that requires our attention if we want to be fully available to life. In our culture, however, we have forgotten how to share our grief with one another. In addition to our personal losses, given the emergent climate crisis and its impacts – the extinction of species, the COVID pandemic, and the unrest and turmoil within human societies – the burden of grief that we are carrying as individuals can begin to feel unbearable. There are very few spaces where we are invited to experience and express this complex grief in community. This retreat will utilize Francis Weller’s “Five Gates of Grief” to connect participants to their distinct and multifaceted experiences of grief in the context of a "sudden village."
The weekend will be facilitated by experienced grief mentors who have apprenticed in the grief ritual tradition of the Dagara tribe as brought to the U.S. and shared by Malidoma and Sobonfu Somé. We have been oriented to this tradition through mentorship with Francis Weller and others. Participants will be guided through chanting, poetry, teaching, writing exercises, small group sharing, and the creation of a grief shrine. Our time together will culminate in a communal grief ritual. All participation is invitational; nothing is "required" beyond being present with and sharing the griefs you are carrying, to the best of your ability.
Fee: $500. If the fee presents a barrier to your participation, please let us know.
Recent significant loss: If you have experienced a significant or traumatic loss within the last three months, please reach out to speak with a facilitator before registering.
Registration Deadline: Friday, May 3. Registration is limited to 30 individuals.
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To learn more about the facilitators, visit the event page at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/leaning-into-grief-personal-and-planetary-sorrows-tickets-789806220667.
