Eugene Community Grief Ceremony October 24th

This is a one-day ceremony to come together as a community for the intention of releasing Grief to make space for healing. 

We have heard the community calling for us to gather and grieve together more frequently. We are all feeling the loss, pain, and rapid change that is touching so many lives, all around the world. All of it has had a deep effect on us, not only emotionally but also physically, mentally, and spiritually. At this Grief Ceremony, you will be safely held so you can express the visceral sensations of grief in a supportive communal context. This expression will help you find a release that creates more space for joy, aliveness, clarity, and strength to emerge in the healing process.

This ceremony will be a simplified version of the two-day Grief Ceremony that Cascadia Quest has facilitated in our community in the past. We will all gather and build a caring and safe container together. We will co-create a grief altar, ancestor altar, and forgiveness altar to support our grieving process. We will have some singing and movement supported by a drummer, who will hold the collective heartbeat as we release grief at the altar together. 

"Grieving is a way to say yes to life. When we grieve, we let out the toxins, so that we can embrace life again. When we don’t grieve, our creativity becomes dim or almost nonexistent. But when we grieve, especially when we grieve together as a community, there’s almost a like magic that happens in the dance of the community and the individual, where the gift begins to flow, and the people can begin to drink from the Well of this gift so that they can begin to heal together and know the value of what we’re bringing." --from Sobonfu Somé, The Spirit of Intimacy: Ancient African Teachings in the Ways of Relationships

What is Grief?

We define grief quite broadly as the painful feelings from experiencing loss and change in our lives. Grief can arise from many different large and small life changes, wounding and traumas from our present, past, and even concern for possible future events. Grief can be around short-term, chronic, and even ancestral events. Grief can be caused by the death of a loved one, accident or injury, loss of a job, divorce or separation, loss of a dream, sadness about ecosystem loss, fears about the current socio-political situation, feelings about the state of the world and more.

Why be in Ceremony?

Traditional cultures around the world have known that people need safe, supportive places to let go of their grief, especially big deep grief. There is only so much one person can hold alone and big deep grief needs many to hold for healthy release. Some Native American tribes would dig a hole, cry and scream their grief into it, then bury it. Catharsis at South African funeral processions is well-known. Jews to this day have a practice of sitting shiva—visiting the bereaved for a week after a death—where expressions of grief are welcomed and expected. The Dagara people of Burkina Faso in West Africa have three- to four-day village-wide Grief Rituals. Traditional cultures know that the health and happiness of the community is based on the health and happiness of each person. Grief must be expressed and released for the community's well-being.

Your Facilitators

Hanna Scholz

Hanna Scholz first experienced the power of a Grief Ceremony in 2015, at an event held by Cascadia Quest. She was inspired by how deeply she could release her grief when surrounded by others who also felt the call to come together in kindness, courage, and compassion for collective healing. She has since assisted and co-guided many grief ceremonies and traces her grief tending lineage to Rob Miller of Cascadia Quest, who passed on knowledge given to him by Subonfu Somé of Burkina Faso in West Africa. In addition to being a sister, mentor, and manufacturing business owner, Hanna also leads day quests and co-guides rites of passage for young women.

Nicole Medema

What is it like to be human? Nicole explores the question through her practice of poetry, spirituality, and theater. A longtime ritualist, Nicole is also a Vision Fast Guide whose style is informed by her other job as a professional clown. She aims to bring love, levity, and a mythic perspective to the guide chair. Nicole has supported several of the Cascadia Quest grief ceremonies and believes in the rich value of healing ceremonies that bring opportunity for a special depth when people come together for mutually supported healing.