We’re so used to grieving alone in our culture…[grief ritual is] learning how to do this in a village and be held by our fellow brothers and sisters who all have experienced loss in our lives.
Grief is at an unprecedented level during Covid-19 and yet we are losing the normal in-person ways we grieve. How can we create connected ways to grieve? Siena Tenisci is a facilitator, or “grief tender,” of the Pacific Healing Circle’s online grief rituals. She brings her background in body-based somatic healing practices, group therapy, and ceremonial work to community grief tending. Siena and I talk about the ways the Grief Tenders are holding a sacred online space for grieving during these times. We talk about how there’s no right way to “do” grief, and Siena covers some of the many ways people express grief through their online sessions. We also talk through the importance of beauty in ritual, and the ways we can take care of ourselves while taking part in ritual.
Siena and I discuss:
Ritual and beauty as a form of honoring our ancestors and recognizing the grief we collectively feel.
How to embody grief, to connect back to ourselves and to each other, even when online.
The concept of the sacred witness, or deeply present listening.
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Additional Resources:
The Geography of Sorrow - an interview with Francis Weller and Tim McKee for Sun Magazine
The Wild Edge of Sorrow by Francis Weller
Of Grief and Reverence (Episode 04, A New and Ancient Story Podcast, Charles Eisenstein)
The Seen and the Unseen: Spirituality Among the Dagara People by Sobonfu Some, Cultural Survival Quarterly Magazine
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