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. When we add to our personal losses the experience of economic instability, ecological degradation, the extinction of species, individual and collective health crises, 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 co-created “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, in which we will witness and support each other as we move into the shared experience and expression of our sorrows and losses. All participation is invitational; nothing is “required” beyond being present with and sharing the griefs you are carrying, to the best of your ability.
Cost: $525 Early Bird (available to first 15 to register) / $625 Regular Registration (includes lodging and meals). If the fee presents a barrier to your participation, please let us know.
Registration Deadline: Friday, May 2. Registration is limited to 30.
Facilitators: Peter Jabin, M.Div., LMHC, Pastoral Psychotherapist
Cristina Manzoni, MA, CCC, FT, Palliative Care/Hospice Chaplain
Reve Shannon, Grief Mentor