Living in the world means experiencing grief. We lose loved ones to death or distance, places we care about get destroyed, we are forced to let go of important dreams, our bodies and abilities change, and the violence of empire causes unnecessary suffering that we feel powerless to stop.

There are many doors into grief, all worthy of our attention, and we are remembering how to feel it all instead of stuffing it down. We can’t do it alone. We need each other.

Grief is universal. It is shared. And through our shared grief, we can have access to incredible love, joy, and connection to the larger whole—a remembrance deep in our bones and lineages.

Through song and beauty-making, story sharing and embodied releasing, we’ll bring our sorrow and grief, our anger and rage, our shame and guilt, even our joy and love, all to a cocreated communal shrine to what is possible inside and between us.

With that intention and prayer, we invite you to a Communal Grief Ritual to be held at Om Culture on Sunday, March 1st.

While this ritual will include song, music, movement, council circle, and an invitation for expressive emoting (including wailing, weeping, etc.), we will also be working to ensure the space feels accessible for those with sound sensitivities (no drumming, asking for screams to be in pillows, etc.). If you have any questions or concerns on if this ritual may be for you, please reach out to Jordan at jordan.s.lyon@gmail.com or Carey at careyfrench206@gmail.com.

This gathering is directly inspired by the Truth Mandala ritual created by Joanna Macy (learn more about that here), as well as the lineages and wisdom of so many others who have influenced our personal and communal grief work—Malidoma and Sobonfu Somé, Francis Weller, Martín Prechtel, Bayo Akomolafe, and of course our dearest elders in community—Laurence Cole, Thérèse Charvet, Tere Carranza, Mary Hart and many more.

PLEASE ARRIVE AT 3PM. We will begin in circle promptly at 3:30pm and end around 9pm "spirit time". After the ritual you will be nourished with a delicious home-cooked meal cooked by Chef Jordan. (If you have any dietary restrictions, please email them jordan.s.lyon@gmail.com.)

Reciprocity: To ensure this work is valued and tended to in sustainable, regenerative ways, we are asking for an upfront contribution for the facilitators and space to cover the work, food, space upkeep, supplies, and investment of energy, learning, and time spent dedicated to this work.

These communal grief rituals are held on the traditional lands of the Coast Salish Peoples, specifically, the Duwamish, a Native tribe that still has never been recognized by the US Federal Government.

We share in reciprocity a portion of net sales towards supporting the Dagara Peoples of Burkina Faso in West Africa, the roots of where much of this lineage of communal grief tending comes from (learn more here) as well as towards the local Duwamish people (through Real Rent Duwamish).

Ticketing Tiers:

$150 - Supporting Tier - This tier supports your community by allowing more need-based and BIPOC scholarships to be offered. Additionally, it helps cover the holistic costs of running this ritual by supporting fair wages for the facilitators and greater program accessibility through sliding scale options. Please select this tier if you are able to comfortably meet all of your basic needs and have the means to contribute towards greater economic and racial justice in this way. Thank you for supporting this work!
$100 - Sustaining Tier (General Admission) - This tier covers the full costs of running this ritual by supporting fair wages for the facilitators and greater program accessibility through sliding scale options. Please register at this tier if you are able to comfortably meet all of your basic needs. If you have the means to contribute more towards greater economic and racial justice by enabling more need-based and BIPOC scholarships to be offered, please consider registering at the Supporting Tier above. Thank you for your support.
$50 - Supported Tier - This tier falls short of covering the costs of running this retreat, but does offer some financial reciprocity towards this work. As a guide, this tier may be right for you if you stress about meeting your basic needs (food, housing, etc.) but still regularly achieve them. If you are able to comfortably meet your needs, please register at the Sustaining or Supporting Tiers above, which covers the full costs of running our retreat.

Alongside the sliding scale tiered ticketing options, to continue making this accessible for everyone, we have scholarships available for those in need. Please email jordan.s.lyon@gmail.com if you're interested.

The sliding scale framework used here is based on a model developed by Siena Tenisci of Northwest Grief Tending, designed to make programs more accessible and support economic justice.

Refund Policy: Partial refunds of 50% are available up to 14 days prior to the event date. Within two weeks, refunds are no longer available unless under extreme circumstances. We view these investments as much more than just a financial flow, and this policy helps to hold us all accountable and creates some protection for the facilitators and organizers. Please let us know as soon as you possible if you can't join us.

Whether you can join us or not, thank you for honoring yourself and showing up in all the ways you do. And if you are feeling this call, we hope to see you then. Thank you!

— Jordan Lyon and Carey French

Contact the host of Communal Grief Ritual