Ancestral Grief Ritual

ANCESTRAL GRIEF RITUAL

Kedar Brown (U.K)

Rites of Passage Council

Reawakening Our Indigenous Wisdom

LIMITED CAPACITY. IF YOU ARE CALLED TO THIS WORK,

PLEASE SECURE YOUR SPACE AS EARLY AS POSSIBLE!

JULY 25-28, 2024: Thursday + Friday + Saturday + Sunday

Early Bird $650 (CAD) / $480 (USD) before May 1, 2024

Late Bird $780 (CAD) / $580 (USD) before June 1, 2024

Full Workshop Tuition $930 (CAD) / $690 (USD) after June 1, 2024

Payment Options: Eventbrite / Email Transfer hub@ecstaticdancetoronto.com

As modern culture has moved further away from the cycles of the natural world we have learned to avoid the natural turning of the wheel of life. We push away the darkness with electric lights and screens, shield ourselves from winter with central heating and heated seats and shy away from our grief with endless entertainment or busy-ness. Indigenous cultures know all too well that night always falls, winter is inevitable and we all experience loss at some point.

This Indigenous African Grief Ritual offers a soul cleansing rite to release grief, lighten our soul and let our true spirit be heard, deepening our sense of balance and fulfillment.

Join us for a four-day encampment with deep ritual designed to release blocked grief and make space for joy. This grief ritual is based on a traditional Dagara ritual from Burkina Faso in West Africa.

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Transforming Grief Into Gratitude

We live in a culture skewed to the expression of joy and enthusiasm and avoidant of grief and emotions considered “negative”. Grief is as natural a part of the human experience as are all our emotions - just as night is to daylight. Yet grief in our culture is often run underground, hidden behind shame and denial, left to fester in the further recesses of our psyche without the same loving attention and open sharing we offer to our more jubilant emotions.

Unexpressed grief, like all forms of energy, has to move. It searches for a way out of the box in which we have attempted to lock it. Grief needs to be seen and heard, given to dance and song. Our experiences of loss acknowledged as profound rites of passage in our lives. Grief is the continued conversation of love.

Loss is part of Life

As modern culture has moved further away from the cycles of the natural world we have learned to avoid the natural turning of the wheel of life. We push away the darkness with electric lights and screens, shield ourselves from winter with central heating and heated seats and shy away from our grief with endless entertainment or busy-ness. Indigenous cultures know all to well that night always falls, winter is inevitable and we all experience loss at some point.

Whether it be loss through the death of a loved one, the end of a signifiant relationship, transitioning out of a job, moving away from a beloved community or the growing awareness of the loss of species and precious ecosystems on our planet grief finds each of us in time. Our personal grief can also be a manifestation of ancestral trauma or unresolved loss that has move down though our lineage continuing to look for release and healing. We all must apprentice ourselves to grief at some point.

Grief is to be Shared

We are not designed to experience our grief alone, however personal it might feel. Since the beginning of time humans have come together to share their grief and help move it though so it doesn’t get stuck in the body and psyche causing lingering sadness, physical pain and disease or disruptive behavior patterns passed down through generations. In indigenous cultures grief rituals are held for the health and wellbeing of the individuals and the community. It is our collective responsibility to hold each other through the most challenging times in life. Indigenous cultures have always known this. It is only in modern times that we have banished our grief and so we turn to cultures with intact rites and rituals for dealing with grief in community.

“Grief is not a personal dilemma. It is a community, ritual responsibility to tend to the wellbeing of both the living and the dead. Our communal tears will flow as a river from this world to the other as an offering that activates connection, healing and belonging in both worlds.” — KEDAR S. BROWN

What is a Grief Ritual?

The Dagara tribe are from Burkina Faso deep in West Africa. One of their respected Elders and medicine men is Malidoma Somé whose first name means “friend of the enemy”. His purpose in life - ascribed to him before birth - is to help bring the teachings of his tribe to the modern world to reconnect us with our hearts. The Grief Ritual offered by Rites of Passage Council is an adaptation of a three day grief ritual traditional in his village. With Malidoma’s blessing we bring this offering to you.

During our time together we will deepen our connection to the natural world, gather and share the stories of grief from our lives and bring them together in ritual space for respect, honoring and release.

This indigenous African grief ritual offers a soul cleansing rite to release grief, lighten our soul and let our true spirit be heard, deepening our sense of balance and fulfillment. Our version is a closed container that brings people together for four days in a beautiful natural setting. Here we create our own village, build community and learn to lean in towards one another like a tree thirsty for water. We come together to create the ceremonial space of the village fire, an ancestor shrine and a grief portal to the other world. That evening, through drumming and song we grieve together as a village, as a people who share a common life experience.

“From an indigenous perspective, the individual psyche can be healed only by addressing one’s relationship with the visible worlds of nature and community and one’s relationship with the invisible forces of the ancestors and Spirit allies. It is in ritual that nature, community, and the Spirit World come together to support the inner building of identity.” — ELDER MALIDOMA SOME´

Why do a Grief Ritual with Rites of Passage Council?

We have been guiding people across their personal thresholds for more than 35 years. Our team of facilitators and ceremonial midwives have all trained under the guidance of Kedar S. Brown M.Ed. Our team has varied backgrounds in psychotherapy, wilderness rites of passage, somatic therapy, professional counseling, Hakomi body-centered psychotherapy, depth psychology, marriage and family therapy, ecotherapy, shamanism and sound healing.

Rites of Passage Council is the premier organization of the East Coast USA and the UK offering wilderness rites of passage and group ritual work.

During your four day and four night encampment you will be supported by highly skilled guides through the various phases of this powerful ritual, including:

• Learning how to access and express hidden emotions
• Building community and safe, open communication
• Unleashing your creativity, joy and connection with other
• Deepening your connection with Nature

Our guides are all highly trained through the 18-month Rites of Passage Guide training and are certified in Wilderness First Aid.

Watch Video: Grief Ritual West African Origins

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlC5uDNW93c

“In this ritual, I was able to experience an eye opening weekend. I went in with an open mind and came back with a better understanding of where I came from. I was able to leave with a feeling of a connection with a higher power that I can call my own. I feel as though someone is looking over me trying to guide me on the right path now.” — 27 YEAR OLD MALE

What’s Included?

Bring your camping gear and everything else is provided, including:

• Two Organic, Gluten-Free Delicious Healthy Meals (Breakfast + Dinner)
• Traditional West African Grief Ritual
• A beautiful private property to camp, roam and plunge in the waterfall
• The full attention of our dedicated, highly-trained staff
• Drumming, Movement and Poetry
• Instruction in the Four Seasonal Shields of Initiation
• Personal myth making and storytelling
• Self and Group Generated Ceremony
• Ritual process, body centered, group psychotherapy
• Healing ancestral trauma

Private Rooms and Shared Rooms are available on the premises. Let us know if you would like to book a room by emailing your needs at: hub@ecstaticdancetoronto.com.

We will provide you with a full gear list and many more details on the activities after registration.

Suggested Resources Prior The Grief Ritual: “Ritual Healing and Community” by Malidoma Some´ and “The Smell of Rain on Dust: Grief And Praise” by Martin Pretchel. Both are available on audio and in paperback.

When and Where can I Participate in a Grief Ritual?

July 25-28, 2024
Madoc, Ontario

Canada K0K 2K0

What’s the Cost?

Super Early Bird $495 before March 1, 2024

Early Bird $650 before May 1, 2024

Late Bird $780 before June 1, 2024

Full Workshop Tuition $930 after June 1, 2024

For our US and International friends, tuition is in Canadian Dollars.

Payment Options:

Eventbrite / Email Transfer

hub@ecstaticdancetoronto.com

Facilitated by: Kedar Brown, Founder of Rites of Passage Council & CoSponsored by Julia Ray and Ecstatic Dance Toronto, CANADA

“The Well of Grief”

Those who will not slip beneath

the still surface of the well of grief

turning downward through its black water

to the place we cannot breathe

will never know the source from which we drink,

the secret water, cold and clear,

nor find in the darkness glimmering

the small round coins

thrown away by those

who wished for something else”

— DAVID WHYTE

Cancellation Policy (PLEASE READ CAREFULLY)

A full refund, less a $50 processing fee, will be issued if notice is received by April 1, 2024.

A full refund, less a $150 processing fee, will be issued if notice is received by May 1, 2024.

No refund will be issued for cancellations after June 1, 2024.

*If you are cancelling your place in the workshop at any time due to testing positive for COVID, or a known exposure to COVID, then we will offer you a refund for your workshop fees less a $100 processing fee.