“Embrace your grief, for there your soul will grow. - Carl Jung.

An all-day grief ritual workshop with Francis Weller. During our time together, we will create a space to share our stories of loss and have them held in a circle of care. Utilizing the potent tools of writing practice and ritual, we will build a community of concerned hearts and coax our grief and suffering into the visible world. It is the heart aroused, the heart willing to acknowledge the sorrows in our soul and in the soul of the world that is also capable of loving the world fully.

This gathering will include:
• Writing practice to assist in opening our stories of loss
• A community grief ritual, one of the most ancient art forms
• Avenues to express our grief over world events
• Small group work to deepen your writing process
• Deepening our trust in our emotional and body wisdom
• Awareness of cultural obstacles to grief such as ‘private pain’
• The poetic imagination to encourage our entry into the well of grief

Francis Weller, MA, has been working with the emotional, creative and spiritual life of men and women for over thirty years. Francis is a community builder, writer, teacher and psychotherapist in Northern California. He draws from an extensive background in depth psychology, mythology, group work and indigenous traditions. His work embodies his love of soul, the arts, ritual and his devotion to bringing these into living and sustainable community. He has taught at numerous colleges, including New College of California, Sonoma State University and the Sophia Center in Oakland. He is the founder/director of WisdomBridge and is the author of a new book: Entering the Healing Ground: Grief, Ritual and the Soul of the World.

“Entering the Healing Ground takes us into the sacred territory of grief and ritual. Francis sees the importance of ritual as a language that speaks to the deepest layers of being human. He brings a healer’s touch to a terrain often neglected and denied in Western Culture. As such, he guides us into the difficult geography of sorrow and helps us find our way back to our souls. He brings much needed medicine to a culture that relies upon distraction and anesthesia to cope with the daily losses that surround us. This is a bold book, one that does not turn away from the immense territory of loss and suffering. He has kept faith with his indigenous soul and this offering is greatly needed.”

Malidoma Somé, The Healing Wisdom of Africa: Finding Life Purpose Through Nature, Ritual, and Community