How do we bear the grief?

     How do we re-orient ourselves when the world we have known is coming undone and new configurations seem so elusive?

     How can we step up, witness, and change the dream?

Finding ways to shift is the challenge and gift of living in these times!     

Deep inside, our grief overwhelms us. When we are unable to acknowledge and name it, we get stuck. It weighs us down. 

If you are immobilized, unable to focus, unable to act, it’s probably grief and despair getting in the way. 

Facing our despair empowers us. Filling up our depleted reservoirs with resilience and compassion, love and light, and community support empowers us.

In the indigenous world, the whole community heals together and finds the joy beyond the trauma. So, for example, a whole tribe might weep with a woman who has lost her babies until the tears are done; then they dance together to come back to life and find resilience together. This is a model for modern shamanic ceremony: to move beyond the isolation of individual healing by coming together in community. 

I've been called for a while to offer a grief despacho ceremony for the community. It's a beautiful, traditional way in the Andes to release heavy, dense energy to the earth and draw in lighter energy. We create our mandala of intent by calling in stars and mountains, ancestors, and all the foods, flowers, and sweets of life. 

In a grief despacho, we are each invited to name our personal and collective griefs. We all witness and support each other. On May 25 we'll come together in ceremony in a safe and sacred space. Together we'll witness for each other, feed a beautiful mandala with our grief offerings, and find resilience.