Grief Tending in Community for Younger Adults (20-35 years old)

• Are you grieving or feeling heartbreak…?

         … for the devastation of our Earth 

         … for losses that you have experienced in your life

       … for a future which holds so much uncertainty

• Are you missing a deeper sense of belonging?
• Do you wish that you had elders to guide you or ancestors to call upon?

You are warmly invited to join us in an intimate gathering to tend our grief.   We will meet together to cocreate a sacred ritual space to honour the grief that we bring and share.  All kinds of grief are welcome.

The gathering will be facilitated by Janey Francis and a team of one older adult and two younger adults.  For Bios see bottom of page.

We will be offering a cermonial space for grief tending, informed by   a grief tending training programme.which emerged from Francis Weller's 25 years of experience of ritual process. The training covered an exploration of the cultural context of grief and loss, the  architecture and purpose of ritual,. aspects of leadership  ,and how to create a clearly held container that supports participants to open deeply to their own process.

The gathering will incorporate poetry, music, movement, paired and group sharing time, as well as the grief tending ceremony itself.  We will meet on the Friday evening to establish a sense of the group and start to build connections between us.  On Saturday morning we will begin to stir the well of our grief  until we are ready to enter into the ceremony.  The ceremony continues until everyone has had enough time to be with their grief and comes to a natural close.  There will then be time for integration and settling before we share food together.

There is no right or wrong way to grieve.  For some it may be a completely silent, internal experience.  For others, it may be more externally expressed with a lot of emotion.  Each participant is honoured and valued for the contribution they make to the whole group, with a sense of being part of a  “village” and being welcomed and acknowledged for the communal sharing of our grief.

What to bring

Bring whatever you need to make yourself comfortable i,e, cushions, blanket, sheepskin. 

A notebook and pen for journalling.

An item to place on the grief shrine that represents your grief in some way.

An time that represents a resource for you.

Water and snacks.

Food to share for the evening meal.

Herbal teas will be provided.

Venue:  Ashprington Village Hall  is a lovely spacious hall with toilets and kitchen.  There is not much parking in front of the hall so it is best to park higher up in the village and walk down to the hall which is slightly set back on the left.  There is a small grassy area ini front of it.  Access is up a sloping concrete path with a few small steps.

  Dates:  Friday 27 Sept 6.30 – 9.30 p.m.

                   Saturday 28 Sept 10.30 a.m – 6.30 p.m.

Location: Ashprington Village Hall (near Totnes), Devon

Any other questions?  Please email Janey Francis at janeyfr@yahoo.co.uk

                                                        “Grief and love are sisters, woven together from the beginning. Their kinship reminds us that there is no love that does not contain loss and no loss that is not a reminder of the love we carry for what we once held close.”  Francis Weller

 Bios for the team:                                                                                                                                                         

Janey Francis:  I  work both as a teacher of young adults and as a psychotherapist.  I have completed a five month training with Francis Weller (one of the founders of grief tending work in the West) and feel passionate about offering grief tending gatherings to younger adults.     From my own experence of participating in grief tending rituals, I know how healing and powerful it is to grieve together as a community.   I love to share the deep nourishment that we receive from the astonishing beauty of our Earth, and hold a deep sense of the sacredness of all life in my heart.

Michael Brown:  I am a father of 4 children and grandfather of 2. I am located on the edge of Dartmoor where I love to walk and sit in contemplation. Dance is also my medicine.  Alongside working as a transformative coach, Alexander Technique teacher and a role player/facilitator in the corporate and medical worlds, I have run and assisted on many personal growth workshops, including several grief tending programmes. It is in my personal experience of moving through deep grief that has allowed me to see the true value of tending to grief as a gateway to open-heartedness and love. And this is the place from which I choose to live! 

Willow Wynne:  I am a Reiki practitioner, and space holder with a background in grief tending, mental health, and youth work. I draw upon my teachings & experiences to weave together a blanket of compassion to hold others in. As a sensitive being, I spend a lot of time with the tree and plant beings - seeking magic in the little moments & listening closely to what wisdom I can draw from the rhythms of the earth. This is a fundamental part of my daily experience that supports me to root deeper into my reverence for the cycles of life and death. Through this practice, I meet the impermanance of life and learn to honour the transitions we go through as humans. I believe this honouring is vital to creating a sense of belonging.

Adam Powell:  I am  a facilitator in the Mankind Project UK and  experienced in being present with the holding of grief.   A painful separation catalysed my personal journey to explore death, and facing mortality.  I also enjoy co-holding ceremonial space at the Glade in Dartington as part of the Totnes Wheel of the Year Collective. and bringing the indigenous British Isles to life through story and song.