GRIEF ALCHEMY: Awakening love
a transformative community ritual
“Grief and love are sisters, woven together from the beginning. Their kinship reminds us that there is no love that does not contain loss and no loss that is not a reminder of the love we carry for what we once held close.”
- Frances Weller, The Wild Edge of Sorrow
Next GRIEF ALCHEMY: Awakening Love gathering:
Sunday, November 17, 2024
Grief is really about what matters most to us. It’s important.
Through this practice, we find belonging, we have the opportunity to learn somatic tools that help us stay grounded as we navigate this challenging emotional terrain. We invite grief to move through our expression while holding it gently, with courage and compassion. We reconnect to the love in our hearts.
This ceremony is inspired by the Celtic practice of "keening" - singing to express sorrow and other emotions that come alongside grief. While we won't necessarily be singing, this circle invites us to express our feelings. The role of the Bean Chaointe (keening woman) was to bridge the passing of a soul to the spirit world by speaking truth of the person, naming both their virtues and vices. She also acted as a "truth teller" for the community, speaking about social injustices or communal losses. Her voice gave permission for those holding back their emotions to begin to express them, to feel less alone, to begin the healing journey through grief and loss, to transmute suffering through communal expression of emotion.
Through this practice, we find belonging, we have the opportunity to learn somatic tools that help us stay grounded as we navigate this challenging emotional terrain. We invite grief to move through our expression while holding it gently, with courage and compassion.
Flow of Ceremony
Welcome and grounding
Naming grief and acknowledging it's complexity
Somatic tools for grief and other emotions
Community connection, sharing stories
Community Keening - expressing grief
Somatic tools to recenter
Closing
Community gathering with tea and snacks
Past participants have described this ceremony as "powerful," "transformative," and "healing." While the specific benefits of this practice vary from person to person, here are a few you might experience:
increase vitality by not using energy to avoid or mask your feelings
become more deeply connected to yourself
feel stronger and more capable of managing your emotions
learn tools to support your well-being in times of stress
feel a sense of belonging and connection to community
feel less burdened by sadness, guilt or regret
gain clarity about your feelings and needs
“Grief tending is sacred work. While we can, at times, feel so alone in our grief, grief binds us together in ways no other experience can. No one who loves anything in this impermanent world escapes it. Grief strips us to our core, takes us deep into what makes us human, to what matters to us most. It’s rocky, wild terrain. You don’t have to travel it alone.”
— Wendy