This retreat is an opportunity to support each other and feel and express our emotions deeply while being held in the basket of a supportive community.  There are so few places that grief is welcome, honored and given space to be.  For deep healing our grief needs to be witnessed and expressed.  This creates an alchemical process of transformation so that grief changes from a burden to bear... to compassionate, open hearted connection with others.

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The spiritual framework for these retreats include time-honored and earth-based modalities such as invoking the protection and support of the 7 Directions, utilizing the power of drumming and chanting, the belief that the natural world is a rich source of support and connection, the importance of prayer and working with the unseen realms including the ancestors.

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This retreat welcomes grief from any source, from the most personal (losing a beloved spouse, family member, friend or pet) to grief about wars, violence, the state of our nation/world and everything in between. 

 

The ritual includes talking circles, singing and drumming, poetry, movement, practice in sacred listening, witnessing and being witnessed, ceremony, sharing food and quiet time. The heart of the retreat is a ceremony inspired by Sobonfu Somé and shared by Laurence Cole and his Grief Tenders.

 

The work is also inspired by the Five Gates of Grief from Francis Weller:

• Everything we love we will lose,

• the places that have not known love,

• the sorrows of the world,

• the things we cannot even name that we ache for, and

• intergenerational or ancestral grief.

 

Timeframe:(when in Ritual, time is fluid, not set...this timeframe is the intention not the law)

 

Friday: Gates open at 3pm for those that are camping onsite, time to set up camp.

            5pm - Community Potluck (bring your favorite "Ancestor" dish)

            7pm - Opening Circle

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Saturday: 8:00 am Breakfast 

                 9:00 - am Circle 

                 1 hour lunch break

                 5:30 - Dinner 

                 7 pm - until complete : Grief Ritual

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Sunday: 8:00 am - Breakfast 

               9:00 am - Circle

               (light snack break)

               Grief Ritual

               5 pm - COMMUNITY FEAST 

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Investment

​ choice A: $550 includes : Grief Work, breakfast & dinner on SAT / SUN, (4 Beyond Organic Meals), onsite camping​

 

choice B: $350 (for those that live locally) includes : Grief Work (Friday 5 - 9, Saturday 9 - 9, Sunday 9 - 5)

 

choice C: work-trade & scholarships available for both options

Payment plans available if needed. ​

 

Lodging

​Rejuvenation Sanctuary has a list of rooms available for rent, Please contact us for more info. 

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"Grief has always been communal, always been shared and consequently has traditionally been regarded as a sacred process".

- Francis Weller, The WildEdge of Sorrow

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