Saturday, Feb 22 at 6:00 - 9:30 p.m
Location: Village Witch Hive | South Seattle
Sliding scale $40-$100, limited scholarships available

DESCRIPTION:

"Sing / Because this is a food our starving world needs.

Laugh / Because that is the purest sound." - Hafiz

Fellow villagers, friends, elders-in-training, ancestors-in-training & the like, with our hearts open and tender, strong and resilient, we humbly and enthusiastically invite you to the first iteration of Community Grief Choir.

What is it?

Community Grief Choir is a friendship-led, non-performative relational and musical healing space. In this sacred container, we welcome in the multi-faceted expressions of grief, joy, anger, desire, fear, longing (etc.) — emotions that are so often suppressed and stuck in our bodies — to be honored, expressed and, ultimately, transformed in the sacred witness of others. No need to be “good” at singing — this space is open to anyone who feels called to explore and express grief and praise through rhythm, vocal movement, beauty, and sharing what’s on your heart.

All are welcome!

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"Embrace your grief. For there, your soul will grow." - Carl Jung

Why is it happening?

Community Grief Choir is a space to swim out into the waters of collective depth, attunement and belonging, together.

This is a place to try things out, unlock our hearts and encourage one another to explore our depths as a people and as a collective. Through our gathering, in presence and emergence, we will cocreate a space together that leans into the collective intelligence of the group for its wisdom and direction. We do this tender work so that we can show up for ourselves, our families and our communities with more fullness and presence. We do this with the intention of learning how to acknowledge and transform our personal and global grief into something that opens us up to the true preciousness of life; something that is beautiful, generative and nourishing for each of us, our loved ones and the greater web of life of which we are all a part.

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What can I expect?

Expect tears, big laughs, tender heartache and healing attention. Expect to feel things. Expect realness and an encouragement to be vibrant, beautiful, and messy in our aspirations toward wholeness. Expect to be offered a courageous space to loosen your armor, let go of your masks, and open up your voice - and heart - with the essential aid of supportive community and care.

Everything here is an invitation. We'll begin by circling up and orienting the group around a collectively-created central altar. We'll then make our agreements, offer our acknowledgements to the land, to the ancestors, to seen and unseen allies (etc.), and invoke a collective intention that we'll use to guide us throughout our time together.

There will then be a time of go-arounds where each person will be given the chance to express their voice and heart in a way that feels genuine for them (sincerity and courage is the name of the game, here). We'll then drop into a space of deeper sharing, and co-created music. We'll do this by opening up the floor for an extended time of emergent discussion, movement, sound-making, rhythm and singing held and supported by Brian 'Yam' Dwyer & Siena Tenisci.

It will likely not be what you expect because we tend to lean into improvisation, freedom of expression and whatever is most alive in the circle at any given moment. Here is where we most heavily lean into our collective knowing and the inherent wisdom of our ancestors to show us the way. Meaning, the best parts of this container cannot be planned, anticipated or premeditated.

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What do you mean by choir?

We use the term 'choir' with a loose grip here! This is a low-pressure, highly participatory, judgement free environment. No prior experience with singing, choirs, playing music, grief-tending or being in groups is necessary to join in. Or even a need to be a “good singer.” No one is singled out and everyone is welcome to join in exactly as they are.

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"Rituals are the churches without walls, the antidote to our denial. Feeling together can both bring us together and free us."

- Prentis Hemphill (What It Takes To Heal)

LINEAGE OF TEACHERS

The style of grief-tending in this container is informed by - but not a direct descendant of - the teachings and offerings of Malidoma Patrice Somé, Sobonfu Somé, The Dagara People of Burkina Faso, West Africa, Resmaa Menakem, Francis Weller, Joanna Macy, Martín Prechtel, Laurence Cole, Thérèse Charvet, Tere Carranza, Collin Brown, and others. We give thanks and praise to each of them for their ongoing guidance, and recognize that none of what we are offering would be possible without their vital and ongoing contributions to the world of grief-tending.

FEES & REGISTRATION:

We offer sliding scale pricing in support of economic justice, which requires your active participation in determining where you fall on the scale. We ask that you be as generous as you are able in order to increase accessibility and support facilitator well-being. Please read the tier descriptions closely as a guide for selecting the tier that best fits your resources and/or limitations.

$55-100 - Supporting Tier ($15-28 per hour)- This tier covers the holistic costs of running this circle by supporting fair wages for the facilitators and greater program accessibility through our sliding scale options. Please register at this tier if you are able to comfortably meet all of your basic needs and have the means to contribute more towards greater economic justice across our programs. Your support not only sustains this gathering but also allows us to offer more need-based and BIPOC solidarity scholarships across our grief support offerings. Thank you for supporting this work!

$55 - Sustaining Tier ($15 per hour)- This tier covers the direct costs of running this circle. 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, and have access to income, transportation, financial savings, and health care. If you are able to comfortably meet your needs and have the means to contribute more towards greater economic justice across our programs, please register at the Supporting Tier, which covers the holistic costs of running our circle.

$40-55 - Supported Tier ($10-15 per hour) - This tier falls short of covering the costs of running this circle, but it is important to us to help make this circle accessible to those who otherwise could not afford to join us. If you are able to comfortably or regularly meet your needs and will not suffer long-term consequences for paying at a higher tier, please register at the Sustaining or Supporting Tier to help cover the costs of running our circle.

Scholarships - We offer a limited number of scholarships to help make this work accessible to those who otherwise could not afford to join us. This registration option is available to participants who have completed the Scholarship Application Form in the event description and received an email confirmation to proceed with the Scholarship Registration option.

Refund policy: Full refunds are available up to 15 days prior to the start date

COVID Protocol: We ask that all participants take a COVID home test the day of our event. Once gathered, each participant will be at choice as to what feels good to them in terms of masking, distancing, contact, etc. If you are COVID positive or showing any flu-like symptoms on the days of the ritual, please stay home.

23 participant max

FACILITATORS:

Brian "Yam" Dwyer is a community song leader, music weaver, rhythm bringer, and student of emergent ritual space. His interactive, inclusive teaching style is rooted in the belief that music is every human’s inherent birthright and that singing together in community helps us remember who we truly are—as humans, as a people, and as a living, dreaming planet. He views music as a living line of connection to our ancestors, the cosmos, and our more-than-human kin. A cisgender white man of Irish, Italian, Polish, and Jewish descent, Brian has studied music, rhythm, and improvisational singing for over 30 years, and transformative men's work for 7 years, focusing on the intersection of men, grief, and singing. Since 2022, he has held grief ritual space for men in the Cascadia Bio-region. He currently resides on the stolen ancestral lands of the Lummi, Nooksack, and Coast Salish peoples (Bellingham, WA), where he is a dedicated friend, partner, co-parent, and father to a 10-year-old son.

Siena Tenisci, MA, LMHC, is a therapist and founder of Northwest Grief Tending, a practice dedicated to the facilitation of grief rituals and community healing. As a descendant of Abruzzese and Celtic lineages, Siena has been working to revive ancestral keening traditions, where women once held central and respected roles in helping communities metabolize grief through vocal and communal rituals. With over ten years of experience, her approach to grief work has been shaped by many teachers, including Sobonfu and Malidoma Somé, Joanna Macy, Therese Charvet, Laurence Cole, Francis Weller, and Vince Horan. Siena’s work is also grounded in her MA in Counseling from Antioch University in Seattle, integrating Internal Family Systems, body-based methods, and anti-oppression frameworks to support clients on their healing paths.

Questions? Please email Siena at nwgrieftending@gmail.com

Contact the host of Community Grief Choir - Feb 2025

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