“From Grief to Joy”
Join us in an intimate, powerful grief ritual I will be facilitating on December 2 – 4 here at our ranch. I have felt the nudge to offer this healing ritual for long enough! Together we'll honor and call in our ancestors, create a grief shrine, and become a supportive village for each other as we "dance with Spirit" to powerful daily drumming.
I was initiated into this practice by Sobonfu Somé, an African healer from the Dagara village in Burkino Faso, with whom I studied for over 5 years. I went through her "Ritual Healing Village" two-year training that culminated with an African initiation. The wisdom that she shared from her village was impressive. We learned how to lead many powerful rituals, including the grief ritual, a "radical ritual," meaning that those who go through this process are transformed. The Dagara people regularly have grief rituals because they know we are always grieving. The whole village attends to support their community and encourage the release of anything impinging their joy. I have assisted in many grief rituals with Sobonfu and have facilitated many grief rituals personally.
It was a huge reckoning for me to enter my first grief ritual with Sobonfu. I was petrified. I didn't know how to express my grief! I struggled to overcome 50 years of enculturation to "keep my composure" at all costs. I sat in front of the shrine, numb and frozen with fear. Sobonfu told me, "Take your mind on a vacation to the Bahamas, and let your body do what it knows." She came over and cradled me, putting her hands on my womb. As I surrendered control over my body, I could experience the freeing release of authentically expressing my grief. Participating in this ritual has transformed and empowered me time and time again.
I experience that authentically expressing grief is discouraged in our American culture. I was enculturated to never yell, scream, rant, or rage, --civilized people are expected to be "in control" of their emotions--even at funerals and wakes, the American culture's rituals for grief. We encourage using anti-depressants and sedatives to avoid feeling the grief that wants to be expressed.
Unexpressed grief gets stuffed down into our bodies, which becomes toxic. Repressed grief can turn into depression, aggression, suicide, homicide, mental illness, shame, guilt, and so on. New grief attaches to old grief, building up in the body to the point that some people feel they mustn't grieve due to the magnitude of the grief that has been withheld. I once held a woman in a grief ritual for over two hours who had not cried for over fifteen years.
The act of grieving is similar to delivering a baby. It is a primal instinct that we have been given for the sake of our well-being. Just like birthing contractions, grief comes in waves. The body's wisdom knows what to do and takes control, ushering the grief up and out. The body expresses and releases the suffering when we respond rather than resist.
We grieve whenever we experience any kind of loss, such as losing a loved one, a pet, a relationship, a job, our health, Mother Nature's health, and the world's discord.
Choosing to courageously honor our need to express the grief that we hold enables us to reclaim our joy and discover "the gifts beneath our wounds," a favorite quote of mine by Sobonfu!
Ashe!
AN INVITATION
Join us at Gates of Inanna Ranch, 240 Leons Place, Lyons, CO 80540
Friday, Dec. 2, 3:00 pm - 8:30 pm MDT; Dinner will be provided
Saturday, Dec. 3, 9:00 am – 8:00 pm MDT; Lunch and dinner will be provided
Sunday, Dec. 4, 9:00 am – 2:00 pm MDT; Lunch will be provided.
There are only 7 - 9 spaces available!
The cost is $630.00 per person. This includes all meals which we will create from organic produce and products. This also includes a 30-minute coaching call with me before and after the ritual. A $300 non-refundable deposit is required to hold your space. I can suggest lodging if you will be traveling from afar. Please connect with me if you are interested!
All attendees must be vaccinated. We will be in a very intimate, close space.